Hello again folks, this week I will be reviewing the second disc of this classic album. I'm this took over a week to write, I just started a new landscaping job in my hometown and boy will doing that stuff make you sleepy later in the day. The songs and meanings are very different from disc one. Disc two tells the story of Pinkerton slowly regaining his sanity after feeling confusion, loneliness, anger, and numbness inside of the wall.
Title: The Wall
Year: 1979
Genre: Progressive Rock, Rock Opera
Artist(s): Pink Floyd
Copyright: © 1979 Columbia Records, US Release
Songs:
1. Hey You-
This song starts off low key, and slowly has the other instruments come in one at a time. The emotions that come into mind is a sense of longing for help, and considering the lyrics this makes perfect sense. In this song Pinkerton is asking people if they can hear, touch, feel, and help him form outside the wall. Pinkerton also narrates a vision of worms eating into his brain in the third person after him being hopelessly trapped inside the wall, showing how he has lost his grip on reality. As the singing progresses the song gets louder and heavier, and when the singing stops we get to hear the band jam out with Gilmour soloing providing more depth to Pinkerton's insanity. After the jam spot we get a bridge where the worms are mentioned, and the song returns to the way it started before but with more ambient noises. In the third verse Wright sings asking people for help. Throughout this song we get to hear Gilmour playing fretless bass guitar to amazing effect. Overall, this song is both trippy and scary, and very well written. 5 out of 5 stars.
2. Is There Anybody Out There?-
The song starts off with echoes of the previous song's vocals and a TV set being heard, followed by the synth being droned out with Waters singing and having the synth add more chords and notes. In this song Pinkerton asking if there any one outside the wall, because he feels alone. After the singing stops we get to hear David Gilmour play a classical guitar to great effect. The playing turns form dire, to beautiful, then back to dire and ends slowly to the sound of a tv playing. Though I would normally complain about the lack of bass, this song is put together and transitions very nicely so I can ignore that. Overall a nice little piece that manages to be both scary and beautiful. 5 out of 5 stars.
3. Nobody Home-
The song starts to the sound of the TV form the previous song to sounds of someone beating their child. The song starts off with a sort of jazzy Billy Joel like piano intro and the lyrics start up afterwards. The lyrics are hard for me to decipher but from what I can gather he is saying that he has many objects but doesn't really have anyone around to spend time with and he is tired of being alone. This may also be Pinkerton saying how much he misses his wife. As the singing continues we get to hear a string orchestra accompany Waters and Wright. The song comes to a slow halt and then transitions to the next. The song overall is very beautiful and Waters ability to emote properly never ceases to amaze me. 5 out of 5 stars.
4. Vera-
This song starts off with more ambient noises from a television set playing followed by a mortar explosion. The music starts up with Waters, and Wright playing, along with Gilmour and a string orchestra before they are finally joined by Water's bass.
Pinkerton is wondering what happened to famous World War Two era Vera Lynn asking, where has she gone? This means Pinkerton thinks he is in the second world war and thinks Vera is dead, which she isn't because she is still alive today. The song is short and straight to the point, but you can tell the music is set very sad because Pinkerton believes that Lynn is dead. The song ends with a sudden volume swell that is not as smooth as the other ones. Overall, a good song but does not transition as smoothly as the others on the album. 4 out of 5 stars.
5. Bring the Boys Back Home-
The song starts off with marching drums and a full marching band with the singers being operatic along side a professional quire. Continuing on his belief that he is in World War Two, he is calling for all of the troops to come back home in a sort of Le Miz/triumphant musical style of singing. The song ends with voices from disc one with Pinkerton having flash backs to his childhood. Overall, a very short but masterfully composed piece. 5 out of 5 stars.
6. Comfortably Numb-
This song starts off flatly with all the instruments coming in at once with the guitar making the ambulance melody. The songs to me feels numb and careless thanks to the music and the lyrics. Pinkerton has now gone completely insane. Pinkerton thinks his entire body is numb. Pinkerton is pretending to be a doctor asking himself if he can hear what he is saying and saying that this needle will help himself. Pinkerton then answers as himself saying that he can't hear what the doctor is saying and he begins to tell random tales about fevers and dreams in his youth but now he has grown up and is literally comfortably numb showing he is delusional, but is content with it. When Waters sings the song is very laid back, but when Gilmour sings we get a full string orchestra and it sounds amazing. When Gilmour finishes we get the first guitar solo of what is considered to be one of the best guitar solos of all time, and I can see perfectly why. The solo is very happy and slightly triumphant and fits the music perfectly. The little piano note and the screams in Waters second verse never cease to amuse me. In Gilmour's second verse his singing really picks up in emotional intensity in perfect buildup for the solo. The bass plays harder and we hear the best guitar solo on the entire album, one of the best of all time. The solo is two minutes long, sometimes longer live. It is very hard to write a good guitar solo, and even harder to write one over 30 seconds long. I tip my hat off to Gilmour for just how amazing this solo is because of how it builds up in intensity and doesn't let go of you. Overall, an amazing piece with a great balance of simplicity, technicality, humor, and excellent composition. The only way the song can get any better is when Pinky Floyd performs it live and the bass fills up the stadium setting the perfect mood for a song like this. 5 out of 5 stars.
7. The Show Must Go On-
In this song we get a Beach Boys style opening with doo-wop singing. The emotion is very happy for the most part though the lyrics contradict this. In this song Pinkerton thinks he is talking to both his parents asking them questions like where his soul has gone, and Pinkerton now believes his life is a live performance in a concert hall. I guess they are showing that Pinkerton is happy while he is being delusional and it definitely shows in the music. Overall, an enjoyable little song that heralds back to the late 50s and early 60s. 5 out of 5 stars.
8. In The Flesh-
The song starts off with a crowd the music is very similar to the track with the same name on disc one. The song is basically the same as the other "In The Flesh?" at the start until we hear a quire singing and the music becomes much calmer and more Doo-Wop styled. The lyrics start off similar to "In The Flesh?" but Pinkerton thinks he is back at a hotel and has sent a very bigoted band sent in his stead, which is still him. Pinkerton wants his entire audience shot. Outside the meaning of Pinkerton's life, this song is definitely a two finger salute, which is the British version of the middle finger, to all of the rude fans at the show that inspired this album. The music while the singing is going on is calm, with Waters singing and a quire echoing what he is saying while harmonizing quite nicely. After the singing stops we resume to the band jamming along in the way the song started, and the band plays their instruments really quick on the same notes before the song calmly stops. Overall, a enjoyable if not somewhat offensive song, but that can be ignored because it seems to imply that bigotry is a sign of insanity. 5 out of 5 stars.
9. Run Like Hell-
This song starts off with noise from a crowd and then a guitar playing riffs until the song starts a very New Wave style intro for the song until Gilmour and Waters start singing together. The song sounds happy, but this runs contradictory to the lyrics. From what I can gather this is Pinkerton talking to someone else telling them that they should hide behind a disguise because there are people coming to get them, no doubt a sign of his paranoia. In the second verse Pinkerton is telling the person to avoid being dirty, no doubt a reference back to Pinkerton's sheltered upbringing and pent up sexual feelings. The song remains sounding happy for the most part where there is no singing, but sounds more dire while Gilmour and Waters are trading their lines. The song remains pretty repetitive but I like the emotions they convey, and at the end we are treated a very interesting guitar solo followed by the song slowing down and more ambient noises being heard including people running, an axe murder at the door, and a car driving away quickly. The song ends cleanly followed by the sound of a crowd cheering to soldiers marching. Overall repetitive at first, but has nice vocals with the harmonizing and line trading and a very upbeat feel in the music that I believe had a big influence on the New Wave movement of the 80s. 5 out of 5 stars.
10. Waiting For the Worms-
The song starts off to a person counting to three in German. We then open to a sad doo-wop style of opening with people singing people being behind the wall. After this section we hear some very simple but well played drums along with a simplistic loud bass line until Waters comes in as Pinkerton singing. This song is Pinkerton saying he is safe behind his wall and is waiting for "the worms" to come. "The worms" I think is a Metaphor for the Nazis and their bigotry, and also Imperialism of the British empire taking over the majority of the world again. The pace of this song is slow in the start but enjoyable with loud drums and bass, but switches to more of a march theme when the perspectives of the worms comes in and the emotion becomes much harsher. They switch between the dire and calm theme vary often towards the end of the song. At the very end the song stays dire with men speaking in the background to the crowd cheering until Waters as Pinkerton yells "Stop!" Overall, the songs starts off very calm and can make you feel cozy, then can scare you later at the power of the perceived worms and the emoting of everyone in the song is perfect. 5 out of 5 stars.
11. Stop-
The song has Wright accompanying Gilmour singing Pinkerton wanting to be free.
Pinkerton wants to escape from The Wall as his sanity is starting to return. However, he has to face his mental demons first in a trial with himself as the defendant. The song is very short but still well composed for being as minimalistic as it is. In fact it being minimalistic is perfect because it shows the breakaway in Pinkerton's mind from his insanity and brings out the emotions of regret. Overall, a short but effective piece with nice piano playing in it. 5 out 5 stars.
12. The Trial-
The song starts with people coming into a court room and a the orchestra starting on cellos and violins. There are instruments harmonizing with the vocals. The emotion that comes into mind varies between anger, terror, regret, and pity. This song is the most lyrically complex as Pinkerton is on trial against his mental demons from his past. There are a number of figures speaking to Pinkerton. First is the Plaintiff saying that Pinkerton has been feeling human feelings and deserves to be punished, he then calls in the school master. The school master said that he knew Pinkerton was a rotten apple from the start and said he should have just beaten it out of him by hammering him. After the school master we see Pinkerton saying how crazy he is. After that Pinkerton's ex-wife is speaking angrily at him asking if he has broken up any more homes and that she should have gotten more attention, followed by Pinkerton's overprotective mother saying she never wanted him to be in any trouble and wants to take him back home.
Pinkerton then says how crazy he is again and that he wants to go outside the wall. Afterwards the judge goes on a long angry rant saying for the way he has acted and hurt his wife and mother he will have the wall torn down as his punishment. The vocalists are switching between many characters, but there is also a chorus singing after Pinkerton narrates how crazy he is. In this song the orchestra is switching around the sound and emotions constantly by character, with the orchestra and band being the scariest when the judge joins. When the judge comes in they use a vocal effect to make him sound satanic and they use full on distorted guitars to show how threatening he is. At the end of the song we hear the jury cheering for the wall to be torn down and demonic laughing until the song finally ends with the sound of the wall being torn down. Overall, a masterfully composed, sung, and truly frightening piece that shows me that Gilmour and Waters could have been actors if they had wanted to be, and that Waters should also write books in addition to having his solo career right now. It is also interesting to watch the clip from the movie "The Wall" because the wall was a metaphor for Pinkerton's overprotective mother. 5 out of 5 stars.
13. Outside the Wall-
The song starts off with the wall being torn down, and Pinkerton being content with life. While Waters is singing their is a kids quire echoing what he is saying along to the soft melody from "In The Flesh?" bringing the melody full circle. Also, the emotions in this a song are pure happiness and partial amusement at the final lyric. This song is Pinkerton narrating on the people who have helped him escape the wall and how he is thankful for their struggle of having to deal with "some mad buggers wall." Overall, a nice way to close the album. 5 out of 5 stars.
Audio Mixing:
The mixing on the CD is amazingly clear, just like on disc one. After hearing some of the songs on the movie on Youtube I know the only difference between this and the original is that original was even clearer. I will say however I definitely had an easier time hearing the bass and drums on songs like "Waiting for the Worms" and "Bring The Boys Back Home" off this album rather than disc one.
Singing:
The singing is absolutely fantastic, with the operatic singing in "Bring the Boys Back Home", the vocal trading in "Waiting for The Worms", "Comfortably Numb", and "Run Like Hell." The harmonizing in "In The Flesh", "Run Like Hell", and the kids quires harmonizing in "The Trial" and "Outside The Wall." The emotion in everyone's voice is absolutely perfect for what the are portraying, and I can thoroughly feel that they both believed in the part and that they were well prepared for it. I also love how easily Gimlour and Waters can play off each other musically and vocally. The singing on this album is very, very good.
Instrumentation:
One word: varied. That is in the good way. Sometimes it was very simple as with "Stop" and other times it was amazingly complex like with "Comfortably Numb" and "The Trail". This is where the album truly shines through with the amazing guitar solos like in "Hey You, "Comfortably Numb", and "Run Like Hell". The orchestra in "Nobody Home", "Vera", "Bring the Boys Back Home", and "The Trial" added amazing depth to the feel and texture of the music. Overall the instrumentation is to die for, and and in some instances it was the instrumentation that showed what Pinkerton was doing.
What I didn't like:
I didn't like the sudden volume swell at the end of "Vera".
What I did like:
The singing, instrumentation, noises, lyrics, and how the entire story played out.
Who would enjoy this album:
Well since it's been out for a while obviously Pink Floyd fans would like it, but I think people who like classical music, rock music, some new wave music, and concept albums that play out like a story should definitely check this out. And like I said before, anyone with a strong constitution should also listen to this album if they don't mind some of the lyrical content.
Overall:
This album as a whole plays up and down perfectly as a massive story. Seeing as I like every song off this album pretty much I am not going to list all of them, but "Comfortably Numb" is definitely in my mind one of Pink Floyd's best accomplishments alongside this entire album. I love this entire album because of how solidly written and composed it is. I am also glad I took the time to review it and check it out.
Rating: *****
"Run Like Hell" and "Waiting for the Worms" video from the 1982 film "The Wall":
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