chyeah duuuuude

just saw The Wall and I can't say I'm greatly impressed... visually it was good, I guess, but the storyline seemed rather shoddy...

I have seen the movie The Wall in excess of 20 times and I consider The Wall (the recording) to be the best album ever recorded. I know there are plenty of great albums out there but considering The Wall's brilliant lyric make up and the broad scope of styles covered on the record then to think of the film possessing the underlying theme regarding the importance of communication and how it fits so well with the record conceptually, just rather puts it 'over the top' for me.
Aside from the strength of lyrics on the record, the music is composed fantastically with the highly acclaimed Gilmour making the guitar weep, wail and scream as if it were a voice without words. Waters is at his best delivering the vocals with such angst at times, aggression at other times and yet other times with a dreamy calming quality.
Especially powerful is the music (record as a whole) when coupled with some of the visuals of the film with the brilliant performance of Bob Geldof as the main character with his eyebrows shaved off addressing a throng of characterless faces and becoming the puppetmaster or that of him in a public toilet composing a poem/letter/lyric while sitting on the floor not to mention the nostalgic references to war and ongoing alienation/abandonment themes/imagery.
I think that the only problem with the 'movie' today is that we have become so accustomed to seeing brilliant special effects and whatnot in movies that the animated portions of The Wall do not 'stand up' so to speak. I would really like to see a 'remade version' with all of the filmed parts remaining yet the animated portions redone with modern technology.
One of the few records that I can honestly give a 10 out of 10.
The interesting thing about Pink Floyd is the differences in opinion among their own fans. Myself, having enjoyed many of their recordings including the odd ball Umma Gumma and Animals right through to the music made after Waters' departure, have often found Pink Floyd fans with the same passion for recordings like Dark Side Of The Moon or The Final Cut which are on the same level as my reverence for The Wall.
Suffice to say that this band has had a way of connecting with many people in many different ways and, more often than not, very profoundly. Most who don't 'get it' will likely get to a point where they DO 'get it'...and those who never get to that point will simply miss out.


and no...Fender isn't the best guitar...but they've made some really good ones...

I did found the images nice, but I guess you were supposed to follow the lyrics really closely while following the film, but that was not really possible because I found it hard to focus on the words and on the images and I couldn't turn up the sound anyway as that would have annoyed my corridor mates, I guess...

Anyway, I read some summaries on line afterwards and I clearly didn't get the full story when watching it... also the link between Pink's story and the nazi party are still a bit lost on me... I couldn't feel any empathy for Pink either, something that is not essential, but it helps to like a film at least...

I thought the Wall the album was rather spotty, and as I've now heard it more times than I thought I was going to have to in one lifetime, I don't anticipate playing it again anytime soon. Some of the songs are always going to be great, taken individually. But to me the time invested doesn't yield enough to make it worthwhile. I've had other Floyd albums that were only loosely based on a concept take me in more than a full-fledged story like the Wall. Wish You Were Here and Animals are both better by far.

The movie wasn't anything great, although I thought Geldof was good. If you are looking for something profound, forget it. If the album didn't even hint at that, than there's no way a movie is going to, especially one that Waters himself ended up hating. If you are looking for cool effects or something to trip to or be stoned to, then the movie handles that nicely. The Trial was done well, I thought.

Like I said...



...as for Waters hating the record...I've never heard that before-I'm not saying that it isn't true...it isn't a requirement for the artist to appreciate his own work...a masterpiece at that...

No he hated the movie, not the record. Sorry if I was not clear on that poiint.

Pink Floyd Rul's! But I have posted this in so many pink Floyd threads, it's getting boring