Customer Reviews

Back Against the Wall

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

O.K., this is faithful to the original, but not as slavishly as other people who have reviewed this say. I just picked this up and am amazed at the subtlety of the playing. The person who reviewed and said that this is a "note for note" reproduction has never seen the sheet music.

The musicians, as has been said before, are amazing. Steve Morse was understatedly brilliant. Ian Anderson was an interesting pick. It's nice to see Gary Green (Gentle Giant) recording again. There are so many, I'm not going to continue naming them. They all bring something interesting to the table.

Is this CD close to the original? Yes. The same? No. Is it a tribute? Absolutely.

If you are a fan of Pink Floyd, or The Wall, and don't want other's interpretations, don't get this. In fact don't get any tribute albums, ever. If you want to hear some of the best musicians around lovingly rework The Wall material, you've come to the right place.

Buy this album, it's very good.

It's interesting to read the previous reviews for this album. It is definitely a tribute that will be either loved or hated. I like it but find some tracks a little too faithful to the originals, especially given the caliber of talent gathered for the project. The arrangements, particularly the keyboards and tempos, are too much like the originals.

On the other hand, I really like hearing what some prog rock and classic rock stars do with the vocals. I always found Roger Waters' whisper-to-a-scream vocal style a little over the top (particularly on The Final Cut). I also prefer this tribute to Waters' live "Berlin Wall," recently aired on television.

My favorite tracks on this disc are the ones that vary from the originals (Vera, Young Lust, The Thin Ice). I would very much like to hear what this collection of musicians could do with other classic albums (The Beatles White Album, e.g.), particularly if they checked their hero worship at the door and played around with the songs more and made them their own.

It's interesting to see that there are two totally conflicting reviews on here but a review is just one person's opinion after all and the rules of the game say that we're all permitted to state our opinion. I happen to be a huge fan of the original and was intrigued to see this in the Floyd section at my local Tower store. The caliber of the players involved was enough to make me reach for my wallet - Rick Wakeman, Keith Emerson, Steve Howe, Robby Krieger, the list goes on. These aren't studio musicians looking for that next gig. Yes, (no pun intended) it's a track-by-track "reconstruction of Roger Waters' epic master piece" (as the sticker on the front will tell you.) If you are fan of "The Wall" hopefully you'll be as impressed by what you hear as I was & if you aren't, chances are you probably wont even have read my two cents regarding this CD. I'm just amazed that someone was able to get this many great names together to work on this project. Enjoy the music.

I am a Jethro Tull "completist" so I was obliged to buy this simply because of Ian Anderson's appearance on two tracks. I was not disappointed.

I have been a Pink Floyd fan for 35 years and have nearly all their recordings. I always liked The Wall, but THIS version is, if anything, a bit (dare I say) BETTER than Pink Floyd's original (or the 25th Anniversary reissue).

This has prompted me to also order Roger Water's The Wall (Live in Berlin) on DVD.

If you can, take a listen to "Back Against the Wall" and compare/contrast to the other versions available. I think you will find MUCH to like here.

Some say why reinvent the wheel..hell why not when it is this perfect.Any major deviation from the original masterpiece will make most people very upset.Producing a perfect duplicate of the the original makes some people unhappy but its just what the doctor ordered for me.Don't get me wrong,i have the original Japan made masterpiece..but my opinion is that this cover album stands on its own and is highly recommended..get the Japan version.

If you are looking for a new way to listen to a great piece of work, this is the CD for you. It keeps the spirit of the music and gives the listener a good perspective of one of rock most talked about works. The mix of musicians and their distinctive styles is hard to listen to at first but it is not as hard as when Roger Waters did the one in Berlin. Sherwood does a great job in producing the work and makes us feel that the Floyd gave its blessing to do the work in the first place. The listener will like this or hate it, there will be no in-between.

I like this recording. It just was not made to be Pink Floyd's "The Wall"; it was made to honor a great band and recording. And it does do that.

Excuse me? "Not one minor deviation from the source material?" Anyone who would say this must not be very familiar with the source material. For one thing, I don't remember any (Ian Anderson) flute on the original "The Thin Ice." The tempo of "Another Brick... pt. 1" is about half a measure slower. The vocals are different, for the most part (check out "Young Lust). And there's a Japanese-style guitar interlude in the middle of "Comfortably Numb."

This is not a Xerox copy, it is a faithful tribute.

Besides, would you prefer a hack job with extreme liberties taken? Would you prefer it sound nothing like the original? Halfway like the original?

Wouldn't be much of a tribute, then, would it?

Yes, it's faithful, down to the sound effects and background voices. But it is distinctly different from the original, on every track.

I do have a couple of reservations, but ironically, they are about the parts that deviate too much from the original. At times they are jarring--at least, if you know the source material as well as I do.

If you're a collector, this is a must-have. Don't pay attention to the naysayers. They just don't get it.

This was very good! Very true to the original with subtle but clever twists. In almost every song, the right musicians were selected. Sherwood & Sherwood meddle (pardon pun :-) in every song, but they're mostly good for it. Here's the breakdown of notable guest performances.

"In The Flesh?" wastes no time bringing out two of the best available people with Keith Emerson and Alan White.
"The Thin Ice" nicely uses Ian Anderson.
"Mother" was a great collaboration of White with John Wetton and Adrian Belew.
"Goodbye Blue Sky" was a wonderful use of guitar master Steve Howe - great enhancements here!
"Another Brick...Pt.3" brought Levin and Steve Porcaro together for a great performance.
Tommy Shaw was great for vocals on 3 songs and Tony Levin was great for a few songs on bass.
"Hey You" brought together White, Wetton, Tommy Shaw (on guitar) and Geoff Downes and it sounded excellent.
"Is There Anybody Out There" brought back Ian Anderson for great flute enhancement.
"Nobody Home" featured kayboard wizard Rick Wakeman for a good performance (not extraordinary.)
"Vera" was a nice collaboration between Howe on guitar and Shaw on vocals.
"Comfortably Numb" was probably the highlight of this album - Chris Squire on bass & vocals along with White and Sherwood gave a Yes/Conspiracy twist to this classic.
"Run Like Hell" was very good but strange. Dweezil Zappa did guitars and Tony Kaye is credited with a "keyboard solo." I put that in quotes because, in my educated opinion, playing 5 or so chords does not constitute a solo.
"Waiting For the Worms" - phew!!! they brought back Emerson with Levin.
"The Trial" starred Malcolm McDowell in a command performance - still not to be taken too seriously.
"Outside the Wall" featured narration by DJ Jim Ladd - an odd but effective choice.

One odd thing about my copy of this CD (purchased from Amazon,)the liner notes were screwy. It lists a few tracks out of order and the last track, "Isn't This Where We Came In?" is missing completely. Not a hidden track as far as I can tell - the CD just ends.

Still, I am very happy with this all-star performance!

Back Against THE WALL / A tribute to Pink Floyd (2 CD set): This is Pink Floyd's The Wall, complete, done by other artists. This was done with the permission of Pink Floyd as the album has many of the same sound effects and fillers. For those who have the DVD movie of The Wall, then you already have the best of the original. This set gives us a chance to have something a little different that the same old Floyd. The performances here are great and this set has earned Five Stars.

More recently repackaged and renamed 'Rebuilding the Wall,' a product which also includes the 3 remixes of 'Another Brink in the Wall pt 2' which was a CD-single companion to this album.

A fine album, but certainly no need to purchase it twice, as I did.