The Wall

“The Wall” by Pink Floyd (1979) (Superlatives alert!) This concept album is a genre-defining progressive rock opera that became a classic immediately upon its release. It is an exquisite work of art, treating of the theme of individual introspection on a level with Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment”, St. Augustine’s “Confessions”, and the book of Job. Sublimely harnessing all aspects of production, “The Wall” excels in composition, musicianship, engineering, storytelling, and performance. But the album’s power lies in its symbolic exploration of the human psyche, summarized in its central metaphor—traumatic phenomena which are defensively reduced to symbolization as “bricks in the wall”—as the cumulative antisocial and life denying effect of anesthesia, denial, and isolation. While the dramatic vehicle (autobiographical reminiscences of a ‘fictional’ rock star) can be fairly criticized as self indulgent, pretentious, overblown, and narcissistic, “The Wall” shares these features with other introspective works of art. Can one imagine trying to fully understand the works of Van Gogh without a progressive series of his self portraits? In order to come to grips with the human condition, the artist must look inside. And others might be put off by what the artist sees. But does the artist see with clarity? Does the artist see what might also be seen within the viewer/listener? Does the artist see the good, the true, and the beautiful? In “The Wall”, this vision becomes vivid. And it leads to redemption, if only in the discovery of the safe haven of stasis. We are richer, healthier, and more integrated as a result of joining Pink Floyd on the journey. Rock music as art doesn’t get any better than this. Music as art doesn’t get any better than this. Art doesn’t get any better than this. 5/5

I’m sure it’s very important and intellectual but here’s a “Concept” for an album: write some songs that I actually want to listen to.

Comfortably shit

Some classics on here but god is it long. Never been in to Pink Floyd and this doesn't change my opinion - self indulgent with occasional decent songs. Some of the vocals are dreadful!

Definitely a big part of my youth. I was captivated by this as a teenager. The fact that there was a film certainly added to the mystique/mythology. Listening to it now still has a strange emotional effect on me. I think it easily holds up as the best rock opera of all time, for me at least. I absolutely love the way it flows and the sound effects that are used throughout. Very cinematic listening experience. Always been a fan of Pink Floyd's experimentation and ever evolving sound. It all sort of culminates here. It always amazes me that they were able to be so successful while being so experimental/conceptual. Their last masterpiece made in the process of their own implosion. In my wildest fantasies RCE would produce something like this.

Overblown, overlong, overrated and just fucking boring.

Oh boy, The Wall. I audibly sighed when this came up as the next album. Not that I dislike Pink Floyd in anyway (quite the contrary!), but The Wall is such a behemoth of a thing to tackle. Plus, having heard it before, I need to find the words to explain my feelings about this album. It's difficult, but I'll try. The Wall is impressive. It's Pink Floyd's most ambitious, sweeping work that tackles, sex, drugs, and rock n' roll but in a realistic way. It's not fun or cool or sexy, it's depressing and antisocial. It's a way to cope. It's also a double album, 80 minutes long, and I've got issues with double albums...but alas! We've got music to listen to, not just bemoan about. There's a great flow to the album which helps with pacing and overall structure. There a few what I'll call "bridge songs" that help get the track playlist from point A to B. For example, The Happiest Days of our Lives helps bridge Another Brick in the Wall Part 1 to Part 2. I would be fine with this, but then you have a bunch of great songs that string together without any sort of "bridge songs" (Brick in the Wall Part 2 through to Goodbye Blue Sky is particularly excellent), so it calls into question whether it acts as padding for the album. For what it's worth though, they all string together to form a cohesive story of mental breakdown and eventual isolation. Side 1 and 2 are good at this, making for a solid first half of the album. The second half, in my opinion, isn't nearly as strong. The songs wallow a bit in the depression, which I understand is the point, but they don't quite stack up until it hits Comfortably Numb. This song is so goddamn good. This is a turning point for the rest of the second half (with The Show Must Go On starting side 4) and things really pick up here. In The Flesh! is a great retread of In The Flesh? but now we have more context as to what's happening. It's great storytelling as far as the album goes. This side as a whole is about as climatic as it gets, with a huge build up to The Trial that, eventually, tears down The Wall in a big fashion. For this, we get to take a look around Outside the Wall. It's kind of nice, actually. The soft accordion, the children singing...hey, isn't this where- The Wall is a magnificent piece of work. It's The Goddamn Wall. It also stops itself short of being perfect in more than one way, which kind of hurts because it feels like it should be perfect. It ends up being really good, and that's not a bad thing. It just isn't what I hoped it would be.

Despite a good chunk of this album being ruined due to overexposure via classic rock stations nationwide, The Wall still holds up in its entirety. 5 stars.

One of the greatest albums from one of the greatest bands of all time. Emotive, storytelling, beautiful, everything art rock should be.

For all its grandiosity and self-indulgence, this is an incredibly tight 26 track album. As a concept album, it works commendably well, telling a coherent story throughout and moving through a notably diverse range of musical styles as it does. Some of Pink Floyd's best regarded tracks, like Comfortably Numb and Hey You, but there's so much more to enjoy here, such as the desperately sad yet beautiful 'Nobody Home' or the bombastic opening notes of 'In The Flesh'. Not Pink Floyd's greatest album, but this is their last great album.

A bloated affair, where the concept weighs down the music and the need to tell what is a pretty unoriginal tale (and somewhat self regarding) requires skit like tracks to move us along between the few highlights - tighter rock record is in here somewhere. The production is as exquisite as you would imagine from Pink Floyd. But overall it does not thrill, it drags.

The downward slope after Dark Side Of The Moon was steep. Indulgent and inappropriate, I fail to see how anyone could identify with this album. Definitely not worth the time.

its amateur dramatics, shit musical theatre. if i'm going to get my jazz hands out and get into some musical theatre its gonna be meatloaf for his name is robert paulson. so in summary, this album is like regurgitated meatloaf.

Shite. Shack eats lamb chops

It feels wrong to give The Wall a 4/5. It's a mammoth maximal space rock opera epic that shoots for the moon and actually hits it. Somehow they pulled all the grandeur, ego, storytelling, instrumentation, production, and vision together into a fully realized monument. So what if there are at least 4 Pink Floyd albums I'd put on before this one (WYWH, Dark Side, Animals, Meddle). Maybe I'm as disillusioned as the protagonist? A-

A pretty boring listen for such a hyped album. Other Floyd is better

Genre: Art Rock 5/5 Let me preface with this: I am not a fan of Pink Floyd. In my quest to listen to as much prog rock as possible, I blazed through their entire discography not very long ago, and I was rather disappointed with nearly everything I listened to. However, The Dark Side of the Moon is an unabashed classic, transcending genre, and is one of the all time greats. But this, in my opinion, is Pink Floyd's best album, and one of my all time favorites. The Wall is a tight knit, pop/art-rock opera, focusing more on storytelling in short bursts of musical energy, rather than spending their time indulging in prog epics. It features some of their biggest songs ever. Another Brick in the Wall, Hey You, *and* Comfortably Numb, all genuine classics, are all present here. Roger Waters takes over nearly all songwriting, and it's all really tremendously done. Whichever soundscape he seems to choose here, heavy and drudging, light and sweet, or cold and depressing, Waters hits the mark every time. They nearly go full Boston here. Young Lust sounds like a Tom Scholz ripoff (in a good way). Goodbye Blue Sky does the CSN sound to perfection here as well. Sitting beside Tommy and Metropolis Pt. 2, this is one of the greatest rock operas ever made.

Groundbreaking concept album that bores the life out of me. With a few exceptions, it hasn't aged well in the age of mental health and actually trying to avoid misery and existential angst.

🧱🗣🎸

What an icon. I am biased, but this is my first 5 star album. Such an explosive piece of history.

I have to admit I have never actually listened to the entire album. It was an experience. I'm glad I listened. I also read the album description provided by Apple Music. They had a pretty wild ride.

Not much to be said about this one. It's one of the greatest albums of all time. Another Brick in the Wall, Comfortably Numb, Hey You, Is There Andybody Out There?... the hits just keep coming on this one. It's an all-time great for a reason.

Idk man. I'm starting to think I just don't vibe with Pink Floyd that much. It feels like the middle ground between full-on prog and classic rock, but not in a good way. There's so much downtime padding out this track list, it felt like more often than not I was just waiting for something interesting to happen. Comfortably Numb is amazing though.

It's kitschy and disjointed, far from Pink Floyd's best work. A chore to listen to from beginning to end.

It really is an amazing album. Not sure what I can say that hasn't already been said but I do really love concept albums like this and the repeated refrain of Another Brick in the Wall is great. I remember telling someone at uni about the Wall gig Pink Floyd did where they built the wall in front of them throughout and she told me that it was really pretentious (the gig, not me telling her). So I guess she doesn't like any kind of theatre. And for the record, we probably should educate children.

I don't have the words to describe how much I love this album. It was the first CD I ever purchased, and I bought it before I even owned a CD player! The only thing I will say is that it's important to listen/critique it as an album, not as individual tracks. It's too easy to focus on Comfortably Numb or Brick in the Wall as hit singles. It's a concept album and as such needs to be listened to from start to finish. It represents such awesome storytelling, art and music. One of my all-time favourite albums. Thanks for landing on a weekend!

This is Pink Floyd's (Waters in particular's) magnum opus. This theatrical masterpiece wonderfully demonstrates a raw perspective of the human condition, someone who has become so desensitized to the world, only to turn against reality and become closed off. Leaving only hatred as a front. Powerful stuff.

Well, here we are at The Wall. Probably the most successful, both commercially & artistically, rock concept album ever made. Some may argue for The Who’s Tommy, but for my money, Pink Floyd's artistry is just better, deeper, more satisfying. It’s hard to separate the original album from all of the other incarnations: the movie, the various concert “stagings”. Those versions surely have a lot going for them, on some instances allowing the story to get more fleshed out & giving some fantastic actors & musicians the chance to interpret PF’s work. Live in Berlin, a personal fave of mine, brings together an amazing cast or actors & musicians (Albert Finney & Tim Curry for The Trial! I mean, come ON!), while constructing their wall right alongside an equally menacing wall in the real world. Talk about meta! But when it comes down to it, a pair of headphones and this original recording just can’t be beat. Get lost in the stupor of Comfortably Numb, shout with rage at the teachers to leave them kids alone, or celebrate in the wall finally coming down, but go on this journey with Floyd, and, musically at the the very least, your soul will be better for it.

Now this is a brilliant concept album! An exquisitely executed emotional journey. I used to have the poster with a formation of marching hammers (the college years), which is still my favorite music poster. This album is a level above 5 stars, or at least the other 5 star albums so far. So going back to the fictitious 10 star system, this is a 10/10. I love the echoing guitars on Another Brick In The Wall (Part 1). I prefer it to Part 2, mostly because Part 2 has been overplayed soooooo much. But the guitar solo in Part 2 is beautiful. Call me crazy, but the guitar lick in Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2), right after “Hey! Teacher! Leave them/us kids alone!” and before “All in all, you’re just a-nother brick in the wall,” sounds like it is borrowed right out of the Doobie Brothers’ guitar lick catalogue. I have thought this forever, and I can’t unhear it. Mother lacks the theatrics of much of the rest of the album in a good way. It’s an intimate song, straight forward musically, with a window into the author’s mental anguish. “Mother, do you think they’ll like this song?” “Momma’s going to make all your nightmares come true.” The lead guitar work on Comfortably Numb is inspirational. Other songs that stand out: Goodbye Blue Sky, Young Lust, Hey You, Is There Anybody Out There?, In The Flesh, Run Like Hell, and The Trial. This is the first album to pop up where I already knew ahead of time it is a five star without a doubt. Too bad it didn’t arrive on a Friday.

I need more stars to rate it correctly

When I was younger I thought Pink Floyd was the most overrated band in history. Then I actually listened to stuff like this and realized I was way off.

So Roger Waters spat on a fan during a concert and instead of having some self reflection and becoming a better, more humble person he instead writes an 80 minute ego stroke about how its all everyone else's fault. 6/10 Comfortably numb is probably my favourite pink Floyd song though.

This felt like if Tommy by The Who was somewhat better but still not great. Concept albums are a high risk high reward thing for me, if the concept and the songwriting grabs me I’m ALL in but if not it just feels goofy and this felt goofy at a lot of points. Some good songs, but as a whole project it’s a bit overlong and self-important.

67 The Wall - Pink Floyd 26 tracks. I have absolutely no idea how I am meant to mark an album like this out of 5. Is it automatic 5 and anyone who gives it anything else should be stoned to death using Celine Dion CD's? ?/5 Ground-breaking & astonishing at the time is all well & good, but is it still enjoyable to listen to 42 years down the line? Until now I didn't know there were 2 parts of "Another brick in the wall". OMG there is a pt 3! Face with open mouthFace with tears of joy I wonder if I I have missed something 1st time around & maybe I need to just immerse myself in it & give it another go without interruptions & other things/sounds competing for my attention The question is do I want to listen to it again, and the answer is unfortunately no. And if it's not enjoyable to listen to 40+ years later then doesn't that tell it's own story? Maybe the question should be, what would the reaction of my kids/step-kids be to this, & the truth is they wouldn't give it the time of day. I think it would have been too easy to give this a 5/5 "Amazing and ground-breaking", or a 1/5 "there is some right hard to listen to dross on there", but the truth is probably somewhere in between. I'm dipping back in and out at the moment and the "Run Like hell" rift seems strangely familiar. Did Sky Sports used to use it as an intro? It seems very familiar? Maybe someone else has sampled it? Thinking face I've listened again and I just can't give an album 5/5 if I wouldn't listen to it again & again. I just can't. I know it's special, but I also think it's just wasted on me (in 2021). People call it an amazing piece of art, (and I accept that), but the thing with art is that it's subjective. The likes of Van Gogh and Picasso do absolutely nothing for me, and I still think that Munch has basically hoodwinked the art World and is actually an 8 year old with very savvy parents. At the same time I don't think I can ignore the impact that this has on the time and on others. The problem isn't the album. The problem is me. My favourite Floyd track is Wish you were here and I think that's probably much more commercially sounding than your average Floyd fan's favourite. The truth is that they have never produced an album of songs in that style and while Floyd fans probably wouldn't like it, I would. The absolute lowest I can give it is 3/5.

overrated shit. When can we stop pretending it’s good lol. Was a chore to get through. Though, will say a 1 is too low because this wasn’t the worst I’ve heard. Still bad

i cant really stand this, it generally has a nice sound, but the ideas sound like people I cant stand making music today, so all over the place, but going nowhere at all. I loved Nobody's Home and Comfortably Numb going into this, but nothing else came close, no chord sequence, interesting instrumental part or fully realized and honest-feeling sentiment really has not aged well I feel, i always heard my dad praising this and DSOTM and Animals, those other two i found great, and here I kind of despise this. It kind of just made me realise how I love Genesis and everything they did until 1980, cause at least they never were this musically middling. here its like they do absolutely nothing, expect pads and slow drum fills until a guitar solo comes through. Side C is pretty good tho

Can one truly know despair if one has never known happiness? This is my first time listening to The Wall in it's entirety, having only heard snippets before. It is a gargantuan, ambitious work, a rock opera following the story of a young man (rock star?) who proceeds to whine to us about all the struggles in his life. Listening to this album felt like being a shrink with a clipboard, listening to a patient tell their miserable life story. Daddy left me to fight in the war. Teachers at school were mean. Mommy was overbearing and overprotective. My wife cheated on me, while I was out trying to shag groupies. On \"One of My Turns\" the protagonist sings \"Nothing is very much fun anymore\", which made me do a head turn. At which point so far in the album has anything been fun? And so it goes, through suicide attempts, drug induced hysteria, depression, flashbacks of war, flirtations with fascism. Each of these are a brick that get added to the proverbial wall that the protagonist erects around himself to protect himself from the cruel world. Eventually the protagonist is put on trial and forced to take down the wall for the crime of showing human emotion. This must be some sort of commentary on British stoicism. I dunno. Musically, it's a well produced, painstakingly made album. There are some great moments, especially with the heavier guitars on "In the Flesh" which I wish were present more throughout the album, some very nice, emotive guitar solos throughout, and dramatic climaxes like at the end of "Waiting for the Worms". The harmonized ooohs and aaahs really got on my nerves though, and in general the vocals were very hit and miss (mostly miss). Lyrically, we got edgy jams like; "If you wanna find out what's behind these cold eyes, You'll just have to claw your way through this disguise", the ever so seductive "Ooooh, I need a dirty woman. Ooooh, I need a dirty girl.", and lets not forget the incredibly deep "When I was a child I had a fever, My hands felt just like two balloons", followed later by "I can't explain, you wouldn't understand." How could we? A child with a fever? The poor soul! Conclusion. There are 2 songs I enjoyed, "In the Flesh" (including the redux) and "Hey You". The album would easily get a 3 for those 2 songs alone, along with the generally excellent instrumentation and production, but there are too many annoying, self-indulgent, boring or at best forgettable songs, and they do bring the score down. For those who want to enjoy a good rock opera, I recommend Zappa's Joe's Garage, released just a month before this, it has a more humorous story, wider range of emotions, much more scathing social commentary, and yes, better guitar solos.

Not for me

absolutely loved it. on my favs rn

My dad was a big Floyd fan, but growing up I always felt like their albums didn't have enough "proper" songs - too many great ideas that blend into the next track instead of being fully realized. Now I realize their music needs to be viewed as an album, not individual tracks, and the Wall as a whole is terrific. I love the recurring themes (both musically and thematically) throughout the album, which give it great coherence despite the range of styles. Despite it's length I do wish some tracks were longer, and I could do with the number samples being cut a bit. I prefer Dark Side of the Moon, but it's still a solid 5 for me.

cmon

Fav song: Don’t Leave Me Now/Vera/Comfortably Numb HOW have I never listened to this before. Absolutely amazing album. Truly art. Part 2 left me speechless in multiple places!

Finest exploration of the human ego put to sound

A masterpiece from arguably the best band of all time. People giving this anything lower than a 4 are just desperate to be different and dislike something widely regarded as one of the best albums ever

If I could experience listening to an album for the first all over again, this would probably be my pick. I just cannot fathom listening to The Wall for the first time. With all the melodrama, it really shouldn't work, but boy does it. Waters' vocals are at their prime, his songwriting equally so, and the harder sound really makes Gilmour's guitar and Mason's drums stand out.

Like almost any Pink Floyd album, this one gets 5 stars. It is a complete trip, must always be listened to in one go, preferably just lying down. Pink Floyd's my number one absolute favorite band. Never got the opportunity to see them live though (was too young when Roger Waters left obviously :)). I did see Roger Waters perform The Wall live though, which was a very moving experience nonetheless.

I am in awe of this album. The atmosphere the spoken word creates is not dissimilar to the way how Moby’s Play can make the listener smile or cry. And then, on top we have these layers of swirling guitars, driven by a powerful lead (particularly In the Flesh and In the Flesh?) which shows itself multiple times throughout the album, and is completely cathartic at the end. Goodbye Blue Sky, Hey You, Comfortably Numb and Mother are other big highlights

Gotta be the most excited I've been for an album in this generator. Transition from Happiest Days of Our Lives to Another Brick in the Wall pt. 2 is fucking insane, might be one of the best transitions I've ever heard in an album. Guitar solos in Comfortably Numb are insanely good And it might repeat endlessly?? ahhhhhh Already Saved: Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2 Saved After Listening: Hey You, Comfortably Numb

Fantastic album. Knew some of the songs beforehand but never listened to it before it it's entirety. Great songwriting, instrumentation, arrangements. Definitely needs to be listened to as an album

This is my all time favorite band, so I am biased, however, this double album is simply amazing. So many hits here as well.

Despite being one of their most acclaimed albums, it’s one of my least favourites (of there’s). That being said, it is still incredible and a truly masterful piece of work. They don’t make music like this anymore

This album is a trap. Many young music listeners such as I were introduced to The Wall at a young age, and without much other musical experience, we falsely believe The Wall is the greatest piece of music ever created. We obsess over it and get into arguments to defend the honor of a record that does not need its status defended. Finding this record too soon in one's life can be disastrous for your musical journey. Fortunately, I was able to escape The Wall, and I've heard so much more great music that can stand alongside the wall. After years away from my obsession, I can appreciate the greatness of the album while still recognizing it's sore spots, namely the second disk. Yes, it has Comfortably Numb, the In The Flesh reprisal, and The Trial, but many other tracks just feel so insignificant. The pace of the record as a whole drags in the middle, and while it does eventually pick up again, it's still not perfect. Still, though, disk 1 is nearly flawless. The run from In The Flesh? to Mother is jaw dropping to this day, and later tunes like Young Lust and One Of My Turns keep the good times rolling. None of this even mentions the concept and plot of the album, AKA the biggest reason young tweakers like myself find it so immaculate. Some people call it heavy handed, I remind them that they're listening to a rock opera. If you can't handle The Wall, you can't handle that medium in general. I still love this album. I've reached the other end of the bell curve where I know so much music and can still find a place for The Wall. Issues aside, it deserves its status. They can never take Comfortably Numb, Mother, and Part 2 from me. P.S. this album is making me really mad about only having a 5 point scale, it's like a 9/10 for me which is dead between 4 stars and 5 stars.

🗿

Great album. Maybe it is too long and loses its way towards the end. David Gilmour the g.o.a.t. mood establishing guitarist. Roger Waters vocals are some of my favourites of all time.

There was a period in my life where this was my favorite album. This is not that period. Still mostly good though. 4.5

I don’t love rock operas, but if you’re going to listen to/watch a rock opera, this is the definitive one IMO. The story of a baby boomer, born during the blitz, raised up in lower class England, to become a rockstar, hit the pitfalls of stardom, to grow old and die. It’s good but Just a little too long winded. I looked at the album thinking I was almost done, nope, not even halfway through. I understand with the movie the skits and interludes make more sense, but there’s just so much fat on this album. Some great riffs, epic moments, some awesome songs, 4.5 songs ish. But in my mind this album, though held up as the Pink Floyd gem, will just never stand up to the likes of echoes and dark side—which is a more efficient rock opera about the more existential questions. If I was rating rock operas I’d give this a 5, but since I’m grading albums I give it a 4.

1001 Albums to Never Hear Again Before You Die Chapter 4 Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”: Roger Waters Hates You…And Probably Himself…But Mostly, He Hates You. At a time when critics and bands alike were proclaiming progressive rock to be bloated and ostentatious, Roger Waters heard those criticisms, said “hold my beer” and delivered what is arguably the most overblown, self-important double LP Rock Opera of the 70’s: The Wall. Spurred by an incident in which Waters spat upon a fan during the band’s tour for 1977’s “Animals” and his admitted desire to have a wall between himself and the audience while preforming, The Wall tells the tale of a power-tripping, drug addled rockstar whose concerts devolve into Fascist Rock and Roll Rallies as a result of unchecked power, substance abuse and untreated mental health issues. Without a doubt, there is a 5 star single LP that could be culled from this 80 minute monument to Roger Waters’ ego. There are absolutely great songs on The Wall: several career highlights for Pink Floyd, in fact. The issue with turning it into a single LP is that if you divorce the actual songs from the interstitial pieces that act as plot forwarding devices / self psycho-analysis, would the album still work as a concept record? Probably not very well. Frankly, this record should stand as it is, because it serves quite well as insight into Roger Waters as the leader of Pink Floyd at the tail end of their career together. Waters, in addition to being disillusioned with the band’s fans, had started to sour on his bandmates, referring to them as “the muffins” and would imply / state outright in the press that he was the visionary behind the band. During the recording of The Wall, he exerted significant control over the process, with the other members of the band taking their cues from him and without much ability to provide significant input. Keyboardist and founding member Richard Wright would be fired from the band during these sessions for a lack of interest (an accusation he does not deny), but would later be re-hired as a touring member for live performances of the album. On the band’s follow up to The Wall, “The Final Cut” (an even more self-absorbed record than its predecessor), remaining members David Gilmour and Nick Mason would act only as studio musicians, fully ceding control of the band and its artistic vision to Waters. The Final Cut was a flop and Waters soon left the band for a solo career. For a guy who seemed to recognize that he was putting up walls around him and becoming an authoritarian within the confines of his band, it doesn’t seem to have changed his perspective when it came to making music with Pink Floyd in The Wall’s aftermath. So, is the story contained within The Wall simply performative, or is the Wall an admission of character on the part of Waters? Given the origins of this story, I’m not sure that the character of “Pink” can be or is supposed to be seen as anything but an avatar for Waters. Sure, his “wall” comes down at the end of this record, but it is followed by a loop back into the album’s first song. We are led to believe that this story is cyclical and the main character will end up back on the same path that he started on. He is stuck in an unending pattern of tearing down walls only to build them back up. Momentarily putting aside the philosophical implications of the content of this album, which are far more interesting than much of its actual music, The Wall is a taxing listen. The interstitial pieces, particularly towards the end, drag the album down. By the time “The Trial” comes on, if you haven’t already checked out, any sympathy you might have had will vanish and you’ll hope that the band (read: Waters) gets locked up for the crime of “not getting to the point”. But, again, why would Waters bother getting to the point or giving the story any sort of closure? The central theme of this album is that he feels the need to keep the audience walled off from himself. Giving the audience closure to the story of The Wall would nullify his creation and give fans access he does not want them to have. Ending the story with an open interpretation / loop back to the start effectively keeps them at bay, because Waters knows that he cannot (and likely does not want to) change.

There are a couple great songs here that we all got sick of long ago - the rest is surprisingly uninteresting filler.

Look, not even a top 5 pink floyd album for me. I can appreciate what it is trying to do, but lacks the bangers and bops. Cool concept album, but also a whole load of wank.

I definitely think this is one of the greatest albums ever based on reach and execution and the sum is greater than the parts with only a few great or even good songs present. But it's not that enjoyable. I've always felt pink Floyd's popularity with the main stream is surprising given how experimental they are. Good for them. I like this album and them but if someone told me they hated it, it wouldn't surprise me. Waters is a dreadful singer too.

Touchstone album for me. I was about to turn 18 when this album came out, from my then, un-challenged favourite band. I was transitioning from a high school geek that loved prog and hard rock to a college radio geek (though I didn't really know that was what it was called at the time), that was discovering an energy that I had not yet tapped into. I hated The Wall when it came out. Coincindentally London Calling came out within a couple weeks of The Wall thus completing a musical transition that has stuck to this very day. Taking this opportunity to give this album another thorough listen. Maybe I was unfair to it when it came out, just because of where my head and heart were at. So let's listen and I'll have a few thoughts afterwards.... So, was I unfair; yes and no! There is definitely songwriting and storytelling chops here, but the music plods along with no energy nor momentum. I blame it on the rhythm section which seems slow and uninsired. Compare this to the rhythm sections of some of the releases from then newer bands like The Clash and Joy Division and The Stranglers and Pink Floyd sounds boring and uninspired. Maybe they're at their creative peak but I find it pretentious and boring. 2 stars

I have always liked Pink Floyd and I loved The Wall when it was released in 1979. Back then (when I was 17) I thought it was a very profound piece of work. Listening back 45 years later (and not having played the album for many years) I would now side with the critics who described it as pretentious and self-indulgent. Worse still, the music is not that great, being mainly a pastiche of Pink's notional band; only Comfortably Numb stands comparison with the best of Pink Floyd. The Wall reflects Roger Waters' obsessions and, if like me, you now regard him as a swivel-eyed loon, you would do well to give this a wide berth

Almost listenable, but it is still Pink Floyd at the end of the day

I listened to this album many years ago when someone older and wiser than me told me I should. I’m now older and wiser myself and I’ve listened again … It’s still terrible.

It's a classic. It's a production. It's masterful. It's Kafkaesque.

Amazing.

Insane that they came out with anything decent from the sessions, let alone this. This is an album I typically rate lower in my head until it's been a while and chuck it on and it rocks my shit. Though it did take me a while to appreciate the theatrical elements as it it's really what differentiates it from the previous Pink Floyd albums. I love that listening to it on Spotify you can tell when a side finishes. The album as a whole flows so well that any stop is so noticeable and really shows how considered it was a whole album. Some of the best song transitions around in this one album. The contrast from the start and end between the two 'In The Flesh's is interesting as a corruption of Pink and then leading into the best transition between songs ever into Run Like Hell. The album looping back into itself is so good, both to notice as a listener as novelty and also as a major theme of a cyclical nature of destruction brought on generation to generation. In a way you can read the true end of the album as Goodbye, which is certainly the darkest and most cynical way to read it. My personal Floyd preference rates this as the lowest of that awesome 4 album run, but there is just something special here. It's a tough balance between each member and I think this is the most Waters I can take but it's a shame that the balance couldn't have been maintained but that's the way of most bands with such a string of hits. Highlight: Mother (when the guitar solo halfway through kicks in it's magical)

C'est un classique pour une très bonne raison !

This and the movie are so good. Favourite Songs: Another Brick In the Wall, Pt. 2, Hey You, Comfortably Numb, In the Flesh, The Trial. Least Favourite Songs: NO

In love with this album :) such talent from all the members of the band. I loved the presence of phone calls and conversations, it made the music stand out even more. The seamless transition of one song to the next makes listening an addictive experience. One of the best albums of all time.

An ambitious concept album that actually hits the mark. Everything transitions naturally and the standout tracks are well spaced out among the storytelling bits

Good listen.

We are in a good roll

Probably in the top 10 of albums of all time. love every bit of it.

I have done this listen through before, so I doubt I'll have a lot of surprises. That said, it's a good album. I paid the most attention to the non-singles of the album, especially the interstitial tracks that are admittedly quite strange. Songs like The Show Must Go On, Stop, and Goodbye Cruel World are all cool in the tone setting for the rest of the albums bigger hits. There are the most obvious repeat songs with Another Brick in the Wall (Parts 1, 2, and 3), but the repeat of In The Flesh? and In the Flesh, one for our first introduction of the character and the second being the drugged up performance of the show going on is a great contrast. The statement of the second, when it is sort of the "true face" saying what comes to mind with no filter and full of prejudice, makes for a fun contrast to the start where he jeers that you aren't seeing the full picture. Lots of fun, I wonder if in another world, the Trial hits the same operatic popularity that Bohemian Rhapsody did. Probably not, the works while similar have different scopes and production behind them and the Trial is much more off putting to the average listener

I have known this album backwards and forwards for more than 30 years. It’s a masterpiece but it’s not even one of Pink Floyd’s top three albums.

So I know that I start a lot of my reviews by saying that I wasn't familiar with the band or album. but today that is so not the case. I have listened to this album countless times over the last 40+ years and Pink Floyd has always been one of my favorite bands. I mean, what can I say about this album that hasn't already been said. It's a classic. It's iconic. It's a master class in theatrics and storytelling. Lyrically brilliant, musically beautifully complex, and - well - it's a great fucking album. It's actually been a while since I sat down and listened to the whole thing but I remembered every word and every note. I probably could have just sat and listened in my head without hitting play... I'm glad that I put it on though, I need to listen more often.

You can’t have any pudding! I thought I already had The Wall but I think I just listened to it because I never had before. Great album to listen to start to finish. Covers a lot of different styles while sticking to a thematic journey. Couple songs I could do without but it also has arguably the best Floyd songs as well. Some call it a masterpiece, I call it a masterpuddin. 9/10

Day516 - it’s incredible, one hit after another

I get why people would dislike this album, it is very story driven and maybe can be seen as an ego trip but this whole album lands. Comfortably Numb has one of the best solos ever written. Every song connects and transitions into one another. Mood changes throughout the album create hurricanes of sound. The whole album also creates a compelling story about the costs of social isolation and what leads to it, and how opening yourself to others frees yourself. also funny pudding and worms

Oh, this one is special to me. Firstly, all parts of Another Brick in the Wall are just great - Pt. 2 was my first introduction to Pink Floyd (I imagine that’s the case for many fans as well). Secondly, Mother, Goodbye Blue Sky, Young Lust, and Run Like Hell are also among my top picks. And finally, Hey You and Comfortably Numb hold a particularly special place in my heart. The latter has simply magnificent and inimitable solos, filled with so much emotion. Gilmour, as always, is a true wizard

Automatic 5 stars. I played this over and over and over in my teenage years. I would wake up to it, fall asleep to it, take LSD and listen to this with my eyes closed and let the drug take over behind my closed eyelids

This might be one of the first “Big albums” that I really fell in love with when I was young and had begun my musical journey

One of the best ever made

So.. I'm biased on this one. I'm sitting in my home office with a Pink Floyd poster behind my monitors and I'm wearing one of my many Pink Floyd shirts, so feel free to take my review with a block of salt. I first got into Pink Floyd right as I started college in '98. I had of course heard of them and had picked up on the occasional song from the radio, but never got deep into their music. My college dorms had an internal cable channel that would play whatever movies the AV club or whomever controlled it wanted to. One night they played The Wall, and I was expecting a rock opera along the lines of Tommy. What I didn't expect was the mind fuck journey that I was taken on. I remember wondering when Pink Floyd's music would start. It wasn't until Young Lust came on that I thought the music finally started. It was the first song that I associated with the musical style that I anticipated to be on a popular rock band's music video. Clearly, I had no idea what Pink Floyd's style was, and once it clicked I fell in love. I voraciously consumed any and all Pink Floyd I could find from then on. I spend an entire summer playing Dark Side of the Moon on repeat in my truck. I love the entire catalog up to and including The Final Cut (sorry.. once Roger left the band, it was not the same band). I've tried to chase the high of discovering my favorite music for the last 27 years and nothing has hit the same way. Maybe I discovered them when I was particularly susceptible to being influenced by novel experiences, but I don't think I'll ever find anything like it again. I know it's not for everyone. I know it is extremely long. Some say it is overwrought. But it is, by a wide margin, my favorite album of all time. I've listened to it innumerable times, but still get goosebumps when I listen to it. I will always love it.

Riding my bike home up the steep incline of Bayberry Street bridge proved too strenuous one particular day, so I hopped off and walked it uphill the rest of the way. In doing so, I noticed a cassette tape of Pink Floyd's The Wall on the side of the road and picked it up. It was in fine condition, albeit without a case. I grew up seeing all of the Wall-screaming, marching hammers, and pig-themed Pink Floyd shirts amongst the Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, and Mötley Crüe shirts on numerous cool teens at Six Flags (Great Adventure) or at the Burlington Mall, so I assumed that Pink Floyd were a metal act of sorts; you know, derived from Satan. That tape I found was mid-wind, so when I popped it in when I got home, I heard the Nazism of "Waiting For The Worms." This has hate and slurs and xenophobia, but also sounds like Beach Boys at times; why did so many people like this, and why isn't it heavier?? It must be Satan, and the alluringly smooth sounds of his trickery. It was also confusing to elementary-school me, and I didn't get it. I put Pink Floyd away until I was older, when I became the teen wearing the tee shirt at Six Flags (over Georgia, this time). I grew to really like Pink Floyd. Despite teen experimentation with the devil's lettuce on various weekends for months on end, it never 'took.' I never felt anything. I thought perhaps it didn't work on me. So when it finally hit me one night maybe 8 months later, my guard was completely down, and I was with a different group of friends than typical for these experimentations. Luckily, they gave me cozy chair and propped up my feet and played The Wall, and though I was very familiar with it, I finally UNDERSTOOD it, and it was amazing. And I munched on some Bugles. There's more, but this ain't the time nor place. Anyways . . . I've since became a huge Pink Floyd fan, and I find value in all of it: the Syd Barret era, the pre-Dark Side of the Moon era, the Waters-led era, and the post-Waters era. Concerning The Wall specifically, I felt that I could write a paper on all of the symbolism and musical themes present on The Wall. How each complication in life is a brick that builds a wall to shelter us and ultimately isolates us; how the main bricks are the loss at a young age of his father due to the war, his well-intentioned but over-protective mother not preparing our hero for the larger world, his cheating wife, his detachment from real love with subsequent girlfriends, and the oppression of creativity through mockery, derision, and embarrasement in instituional education; how that "we don't need no education" musical theme repeats throughout the album over different songs, musically suggesting more complications and bricks piling up than explicity stated; how that wall is built up slowly and finally completed by the first half of the album, and the second half is the attempt to balance the weight of the outside world against the strength of this wall and ultimately failing, and failing publically. And visually: the mother's brick wall arms folded in front of her body, keeping conditional love and comfort at bay; the girlfriend portrayed as a praying mantis (notorious for eating their mate); the teacher presented as a puppet, who's controlling wife is pulling the strings and affecting the school children through him, the judge who is a literal asshole. I saw an article once where someone ranked every Pink Floyd song. Most of the songs of The Wall were at the bottom, arguing that, out-of-context, there are many short segue songs that don't have a traditional verse-chorus-verse. There's a point to be made, but I think such little ditties as Vera Lynn or Bring the Boys Back Home are still complete without need of a traditional song structure. In time, I've even grown to love the crazy chords of "Don't Leave Me Now." So much great music and musicianship on this album, and such a complete and total vision of a storyline. I typed enough; no need to go song-for song. Individually and as a whole, these songs are some of their best. This is music as theatre, as pure art. Roger Waters has created many such conceptual works both with and without Pink Floyd, but The Wall feels the most developed and inspired of them all. In the world of concept albums, I can think of none as great and ambitious as this.

Easy full 5 plus stars here. Yes it’s a concept, yes it’s long AF. It has the handful of tracks that stand alone as singles which I have enjoyed through the years on radio play and my own playlists. It’s been quite a few years since I digested this as a full play through experience, and I was super stoked to see it pop up for the weekend listen. It did not disappoint. More than holds up. Considering albums such as this one, 2112, Sgt. Peppers, Ziggy Stardust, and Tommy; it’s both interesting and telling that I can’t really think of a band that’s been able to successfully pull off this type of work with this magnitude and staying power in nearly five decades.

I put this up there with Dark Side of The Moon. Yes it’s long. Yes it’s overblown and pretentious in places. Yes it has a lot of really good songs that have stood alone for 40+ years on various radio stations. And yes…it’s still pretty awesome.

My only nit with this is that it’s heavy on the Waters, would prefer more Gilmour. But that probably just speaks to my respect for Dave. This is a masterpiece, really glad to get this one over the weekend.

Here's my expert review... this is good. Real good. 4.5/5

Svært langt. Mye som føles som fyll, men også mange bængers. Kult at temaet går igjen så mange ganger med ulik feel. - sim Bralbum. Langt og dramatisk men bra. -sof

This album definitely gets the point of the project; this is definitely an album everyone should listen to before they die. One of the greatest concept albums of all time, maybe the greatest. The story of this concept has two intriguing and capturing layers that make this album enthralling to listen to; Pink’s backstory and mental breakdown alongside his drug induced authoritarian streak. The two of them mix together so easily, masterful storytelling.

Really liked some songs. Didn't like others. Long album. Lots of different styles.

There is a Pink Floyd for every age. It tends for follow this trend: high school age-Dark Side; college-The Wall; mature age-Wish…; and when you get old and senile: Ummagumma, because that shit don’t make sense anyway. I think what resonates in the Wall of the combination of self-questioning, feelings of hopeless, and the feelings of rage against the system combined. Few arts (if any) have ever been able to pull from such a feat, especially with the dynamic flow of songs, odd time signatures, and David Gilmore’s legendary guitar tone and licks. This album is practically one of Erickson’s Stages of Development, right between Industry and Identity. Key tracks: well, all of them. I love listening to this entire album at once, and potentially repeatedly. HOWEVER, Mother, Comfortably Numb, Another Brick and Goodbye Cruel World, are favorite parts. This album is an all—time must for anyone who appreciates music or is forced to listen to it by their over enthusiastic fathers.

Random thoughts: - this was a fun revisit. I’ve been listening to Dark Side and Wish You Were Here more lately so it was surprising to remember how good the music and story is. - I remembered the 2nd half dragging but on this listen it was brisk and flowed so great. - this is more broadway rock than just rock album. The story is almost as important as the music. - when listening to the album I actually was getting confused since I’m pretty sure the movie has a different track order. Not vastly different but enough for me to notice. - the song quality on here is ridiculous! There are like 10 excellent songs. “Mother” was one that I kind of forgot and was happy to hear again. - I’m not sure if this is better than Dark Side or Wish You Were Here, it’s more a matter of preference. This is an absolute classic that everyone should listen to.

Yes it is an exceptional album. Love “in the flesh”, “goodbye blue sky”, “young lust”, “stop”, and “run like hell”. Also captured “isn’t this where we came in” moment when I turned up the volume on a quiet Thursday night. It’s also a very very long album. But all songs are enjoyable. So I don’t really know what I expect them to do to make it shorter. Nevertheless, I’m still debating on a five because of its length. The very last thing I did after I had spent over 20 hours on this album was to check when it was released. I told myself it’s a five if it’s dropped before 1980, and a four otherwise. And it was released on 30 November 1979. Maybe it is indeed the special one for me. It’s a 6, and -1 for its length.

“Isn’t this where we came in?” I was a philosophy major and a history minor in college. I wrote a A LOT of 10+ page essays, often many times a week, and in my senior year almost daily. Aside from the Vitamin String Quartet covers which were plentiful, familiar, and wordless, the only music I could listen to consistently while writing was The Wall. Perhaps because it is a masterpiece in of itself, it works perfectly on a loop, it has reoccurring themes and natural crescendo and lulls, etc etc. Or maybe because I listened to it a dozen times in high-school. I can tell you for a fact, and this fact is derived from my ITunes account which tracks your listens, that by the time I graduated from college I had listened to this album over 50 times while just in college. That was 10 years ago, and though my essay writing days are mostly behind me (excluding this comment), my Wall listening days are not. It’s still one of my go-to albums to get into a working mind space. I think I’ve listened another dozen or two times since then, but suffice to say this album is my shit. It’s probably top 3 greatest albums in my mind. It IS the template for a concept album, and while Dark Side of the Moon is obviously dope af too, I’ll die on the hill that the Wall is Pink Floyd’s greatest work. It’s a full fucking rock opera, and while the movie is great as well, and a big part of the legacy of this album, the soundtrack doesn’t actually line up 1:1 with this album. Not just omissions from this album but they include a few other Pink Floyd songs as well. Plus all of the ties with England and I believe both the affects of WW1 and WW2. It’s art. It’s opera. It’s theatre and poetry and shredding rock solos and creepy child choruses (peep the music video for Another Brick in the Wall for a sense of the movie’s visual style). It’s beautifully haunting and such a deep and valuable insight into what isolation and depression and hatred and anger and addiction and sadness and love and hope all are. Plus it fucking rocks. The music is so solid, and while it’s Pink Floyd it’s almost entirely Roger Waters driving the whole thing. The format and track-list order is also deeply important with the themes and anyone who listens to this shit on shuffle is deranged. There’s the mood shift at the halfway point as an intermission and then the downswing of the second half of the album gets darker and darker. Another Brick in the Wall has 3 pts because he keeps building the Wall. How should we fill the Empty Spaces? The ending loops into the beginning as a full circle, which is just screaming about how cyclical things like depression and addiction can be. Even when you think you’re out you can find yourself back the beginning “isn’t this where we came in?”

My only complaints about Dark Side of the Moon were that there wasn’t enough singing and catchiness. The Wall delivered on both fronts, while still maintaining some of the “flowiness”. “We Don’t Need No Education” - I didn’t realize this motif was from The Wall, but on this listen it sent me into a lot of deep thoughts about how people have been educated throughout history, and how technology (the internet and social media) have drastically changed this in recent years. Now, people tend to get most of their information from completely unregulated online sources. Education is no longer a part of a single wall, or government “thought control”, but it’s probably worse. Anyway, great album. 5 stars.

Just epic in scope and musicality. The guitar riffs and solos are excellent and super memorable. I was starting to get a little unengaged around the middle but then that crazy operatic “bring the boys back home” automatically brings you back in with its jarring change of pace only to let u down back easy right into comfortably numb. Not what I was expecting from this album and I’m ashamed of myself that I didn’t get into Pink Floyd earlier.

It has been a long time since I've listened to this full album. I was dreading it a bit going in because of its length, but I knew it had some songs I loved on it to get me through. I forgot how many songs I really do love off this album. "Another Brick In The Wall", "Mother", "Young Lust", "Hey You", "Comfortably Numb", "In The Flesh", and "Run Like Hell" are all songs that I love on their own. I can listen to them anytime anywhere. This is first time I really paid attention to the other songs. Reading the quick synopsis on Wikipedia about the albums theme really helps when listening. The entire story of a man's life who isolates himself from society really comes through. The interstitial songs that I ignored in the past help paint the picture that the album is trying to show. I was really invested in the outcome of this life by the time we got to "The Trial". It's one of the few rock operas that I truly enjoy. Before this listen I thought I would give this album a 4. Some good songs but way too long. However, I learned something this go around. I learned that you can't just have your dessert without eating your dinner. Listening to one or two songs off an album will be nice in the moment but will ultimately leave you empty. Consuming the entire course will introduce you to new flavors and leave you completely satiated. After all... How can you you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?