Customer Reviews

Pros & Cons of Hitchhiking

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I expect that everyone who's listened to this album, or is a fan of Roger Waters, is at least somewhat familiar with the music of Pink Floyd. Therefore, most of them compare "Pros and Cons" to Waters masterworks like "Final Cut" and "The Wall." I won't. I'm just going to write this for the music lover who's been directed to this page by a "best of" list of friend's recommendation.

Most importantly, "Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking" is a concept album in the ultimate sense. This means that it is not actually twelve different tracks that go together -- it means that the entire album is really one long track, telling one story. It includes a multitude of sound effects and imbedded dialogue to enhance the narrative. Many musical chords are used repeatedly in various parts of the album to reinforce the cohesiveness. It is virtually impossible to appreciate "Pros and Cons" without sitting down and listening to it all the way through at least a dozen times. Like all of Roger Waters' work, he requires his listener to put as much thought into the album as he did.

Minor problems do crop up. For instance, it's a godsend that the lyrics are included with the album, as well as the dialogue, because some of it is quite difficult to understand with no outside reference. Then there's the usual problem with Waters work: if you don't pay full attention, you WILL NOT "GET IT." I can't put it any more clearly. Waters demands your full participation. Also, some portions of the music don't run quite as deep as the lyrics. This makes the album as a whole seem shallower than it really is.... And sometimes, if you're not in a patient mood, some parts seems to drag on. This may be due to Roger not having the safety net of collaborators during the composition process. (This was his first solo album, after all. So he's allowed to be a little shaky.)

The execution of the music is flawless, though! Mr. Waters is an accomplished bassist. The Legendary Eric Clapton is lead guitarist (and if you don't know Floyd, I have to assume that you must know at least SOMETHING by Clapton...) Michael Kamen plays the piano and conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra. So despite showing signs of lacking in musical composition, the performance of the material gives it an operatic quality. Roger Waters himself gives a go-for-broke vocal performance that quickens the strain of the protagonist's conflict.

I think the main reason that this album is a bit obscure (except among true Floyd and Waters fans) is that there really are no tracks that could be marketed as radio singles. As I've mentioned before, the entire album is the only track on the disc. But for posterity's sake, I'll say that there are a few cuts that might have made excellent singles. "Sexual Revolution," "Every Stranger's Eyes," and the title track may have made it... But stripped of the album's context, they do in fact lose some of their power.

What really kills me is that I can't think of a single other artist to whom I can compare this album. It has a quite different sound from classic Pink Floyd, and Roger Waters' later work is even a little more audience-accessible than "Pros and Cons." I'd say that it could possibly be just summed up as a "country rock opera." I do think that you would not enjoy this album quite as much unless you first go back and investigate some of Pink Floyd's earlier work. "The Wall" and "Final Cut" are absolute essentials in Roger Waters ouevre, and listening to them would help considerably in appreciating this. If you like those, then you'll probably appreciate this album a bit more. Definitely don't make this your first Roger Waters purchase. "Amused to Death" is a much more polished work. If you want a good overview of his work, try his "In the Flesh" live album. Then move on to "Pros and Cons."

Now, if you do happen to be a Pink Floyd fan, and you're reading this review, you already know what a brilliant lyricist Mr. Waters is. Since this was his first solo album, it's easy to see his attempts to make his own musical mark, and that's probably what detracts a bit from this. But I can say that it is a very satisfying work, and anyone with a deeper sense of sophistication would certainly give "Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking" a thumbs up.

I consider the work of Roger Waters to be quite personal. I only listen to Waters when I'm alone. Most everyone I know just doesn't get his music. It actually requires you to listen to it get a feel of what he's going after, not just singing an overplayed chorus of the pop song of the day. Pro's and Con's, Roger's first solo album after leaving Pink Floyd, is filled with emotion. Whether it's a flailing guitar passage by Eric Clapton, or a haunting vocal sung by Roger, this album never seems to grow old. The plot remains interesting throughout as you follow Roger through a series of alternating dreams and reality. "Sexual Revolution" and "Every Stranger's Eyes" stand out as my favorite tracks. This is a true concept album. "I recognize myself, in every strangers eyes."

I first listened to this album back in high school as I crammed for final exams. Having been a Pink Floyd fan even back then, I found Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking a departure from much of the work that came before but still a thought-provoking hallucinagenic tale accented by Eric Clapton's excellent guitar work. "Running Shoes", "Sexual Revolution", and "Every Stranger's Eyes" were highlights for me but I only understood the emotional content album on a superficial level

Its now 20 years later. I've been through college, graduate school, a postdoc, a failed marriage, and assorted highs and lows that come with the human condition. But when I recently found my old tape of Pros and Cons and played it, I no longer heard it with the ears of a 17 year old kid worried about grades, getting into college, and getting into the my then girlfriend's pants. I heard it with the ears of a cynical 37 years old bloke with alimony to pay, a ghastly mortgage, and a stomach ulcer. Now I understand the emotional content of Pros and Cons and it has gotten regular play on my iPod since then.

BTW, in "The Wall" film, Bob Geldof's character "Pink" recites the lyrics to "Moment of Clarity" as he wallows in drug-induced psychosis within a bathroom stall. Moment of Clarity, indeed.

Sometimes a piece of work is so esoteric and eccentric that it defies categorization and comprehension. When Pros was first released in 1984, reviewers and listeners who like their rock music straight balked at having to deal with an album that was nothing like they had ever heard before. Well, almost never heard before. A year before Pros was released, Roger Waters, then still the primary force behind Pink Floyd, had created The Final Cut.

Together both albums occupy a singular place in music, and represent a totally new kind of approach to rock - one that struggled against the linear limitations of the form and strove to express a range and complexity of ideas and emotions within the confines of a 40 minute LP.

The Final Cut, essentially a lament to continuing war 50 years after the end of WWII, remains the more accessible of the two. Pros is far more personal, a seemingly disparate and unsettling journey into the depths of human consciousness and sub-consciousness. The album follows a sequence of dreams and nightmares a man, clearly Roger Waters himself, has in the course of one night. In a deft touch that helps make this point, every song has a time prefix to show the time the man has the dream.

This concept serves as an excellent vehicle for Waters to create what he himself has said is his only album about only sex. But it is sex in its deepest and fullest sense, and Pros explores the fears, fantasies, and challenges of middle age: from dreaming about seducing bright-eyed young hitchhikers, to divorce, loneliness, depression and, somewhat strangely for Waters, the redeeming power of love.

Apparently Waters wrote this album about the same time as The Wall and presented both ideas to the rest of Pink Floyd. That the band chose The Wall is easy to understand, for, as band members later confessed, they felt awkward about working with material that was so intimate. Waters was going through a hard time between 1977, when Animals was released, and 1984, when he broke with the band. In-between, he also got divorced and struggled with some personal issues that he still has not spoken about publicly. But the cliché that pain produces passion is true, and this period was amongst the most creative of Waters' career.

If Waters was exorcising his personal demons through his music, then Pros is where a lot of them collected. The album begins with a guitar lurch that has to be among the most dramatic openings of any rock record. As the song-cycle progresses erratically, shuttling between vitriolic screams, nervous brooding and placid passages that show a gentle side of Waters that remained obscured on earlier albums, they create a nervous tension and sense of foreboding that invade the entire album.

In many ways this is vintage Waters: dark, intense, and evocative. But the one difference is that unlike earlier Waters albums that dealt with broad issues, this time the lyrics are precise, blunt. They don't rhyme as the did on Dark Side of the Moon, and comparing Pros to this 1972 classic is like comparing a Dali dreamscape to a Manet landscape. Waters' verses in Pros are sharp, asymmetrical and at first it seems as if the wordsmith in him didn't quite do the job. But as one settles into the album, especially after a number of listens, one appreciates the dark edgy lines, the ingenious symbolism and the powerful imagery it creates.

Given the album's fixation on sex there's plenty of deep breathing, moaning and grunting. But beyond that there is a sense of urgency and sensuality to the music lurking just beneath its somewhat perplexing exterior.

Waters voice also sounds different from the way it did on previous Pink Floyd albums, and here it has a drier, more somber quality. Waters half-speaks, half-recites his lyrics rather than sings them, and in keeping with the albums startling shifts in dynamics, there are also sections in which he does some of his best singing.

Musically, the roots of Pros are pure blues. But, like Wish You Were Here that is also rooted in a slow blues rhythm, the blues blood in this album sometimes becomes unrecognizable because of the variations Waters takes it through.

The sound on many songs is sparse, much like The Final Cut, and at first listen a lot of the material sounds like just filler. But Waters makes the best of the few notes and harmonies that frame many of the songs with his traditional attention to musical detail. The timing on the album is excellent, and the arrangements, sound effects and instrumentation Waters uses combine to give all the songs poignancy and weight. The 3 or so more traditionally structured songs on the album, such as Sexual Revolution and the title song, simply explode through your speakers. These tracks are the closest Pros gets to previous Floydian albums, excepting The Final Cut, though here the sound is tighter and less atmospheric, so space rockers will be disappointed.

That Waters used his hunting mate Eric Clapton to replace David Gilmour as guitarist on this album is now part of rock lore. Clapton's guitar work is masterful, and whether whispering or exploding into incendiary blues riffs, Clapton's guitar follows Waters erratic and innovative musical ideas effortlessly, giving perfect voice and tone to the range of moods the album demands. True, Gilmour's mournful, moving sound would have been more suited to the album, but Clapton's precise and fluid playing is a pleasure. People who attended the Pros concert tour said the music was even better live, though it was rumored Clapton found Waters' demands for precision tiresome. Still, the two remain good friends.

To compensate for David Gilmour's absence in the vocals department Waters makes extensive use of background singers Doreen Chanteer, Katie Kissoon and Madeline Bell, who rise exceptionally well to the challenge. Interestingly, Waters also makes extensive of the saxophone, the first time he has done this since Dark Side of the Moon. David Sanborn is the man he chose on this album, and what a good choice it is. In fact, Clapton, Sanborn and Michael Kamen, who co-produced the album and played piano on it, got along so well that they worked together to create the soundtrack for the movie Lethal Weapon.

Ultimately, it is the story Waters is trying to tell in Pros, and the message he is attaching to it, that make this album an essential part of any serious music lovers collection. When a man tears his heart out and places it on vinyl, as say Leonard Cohen does, it is hard not to sit up and listen. Pros may try our patience at first, but once inside this incredible work, it is hard to leave it, or have it leave you.

I guess I can understand some people giving this CD low marks based on their expectations of another Pink Floyd album. If you think Dark Side is the greatest and The Final Cut isn't, than you should probably not bother with this. For me this is the number one, most fantastic CD I have ever heard. Hands downn. Period. It's almost 20 years later and I can quote nearly every line - and every line is brilliant. It creates such a mood that it sucks you in completely. I agree that musically it may not be the greatest thing ever, but yet it works perfectly. And Roger's voice is perfect. This CD is about life. It's sort of like reading a book. No, its not for everyone, but at least for me I connected with this better than anything I have ever heard before or since. The Final Cut is also in my top 5. Thank you Roger.
I said go then.
She said, OK.

i love this album as much as I don't. I can't figure out what exactly I am to feel about this record by the lyrics and feeling.. and that is what makes the cd so good, the feeling that you are feeling while listening to the music. You get bombarded with feeling.... and at times it is too much, at times it is not enough and leaves you wanting more... but, something about it is not total... not sure what it is, the song MOMENT OF CLARITY is so darn powerful... I recommend it, but I am not sure I can fully endorse everyone will enjoy it. One weakness is, Roger Waters screams like a banshee through most of it, and whispers throughout the rest, with little singing inbetween. Good for effect every now and then, but this whole record seems to be missing the nice voice to sing the INBETWEEN parts, and maybe that is what Dave Gilmore gave to pink floyd vocals... I like the record, it is great, but not great. O forget it.

I bought this album on vinyl back when it came out originally. Recently picked it up on CD, finally. I think this is the most underrated album of Roger's long and distinguished career.

Caveat: It's more like Final Cut than Dark Side or the Wall. I believe Final Cut really was more a Roger Waters solo effort than a Pink Floyd album. So, if you liked Final Cut, you'll probably like this.

The album is really the story of a rocky relationship between a man and a woman between 4:30AM and 5:11AM travelling in their car. Complete with the trademark Roger Waters anxiety ("I just cowered in the corner/ My pyjama coat over my head . . . ") and psychological neuroses ("Arabs with knives/ at the foot of the bed/ Oh my god how did they get in here?'), it paints a dark, gritty and often bluesy (thanks Eric) portrait of a short moment in time just before dawn showing the strain of a disintegrating relationship near the end of already distant itimacy (another of Waters favorite themes).

An album where the lyrics matter, but the music really helps create and support the emotion of the story. The musicians couldn't be better - Eric Clapton on guitar, Michael Kamen on piano, Ray Cooper on percussion, David Sanborn on sax (taking a break from his light jazz work to really sauce it up), and of course Roger on bass (and some guitar). The music is more bluesy than other Waters work, but rockin as well. Wide spectrum of emotional timbre.

I highly recommend this album, which I believe becomes more interesting each time I listen to it. Not really designed for casual listening or dinner parties, but then you probably knew that. Roger Waters is one of the great storytellers of music. Definitely pick this up.

The Pro's and Con's of Hithchiking is more than an album. When you sit down to listen to it, you become curious of what the album is really about, and why. True music makes you feel something and even better music takes you there, which PACOH does. Roger Waters uses Eric Clapton on guitar throughout the album and he is complimented by a number of other excellent musicians in general. This album showed me how much Roger Water's ideas contributed to the music of Pink Floyd: musically and lyrically. The music and words connect from beginning to end in this album, creating (in my mind) a vivid picture of life as a hitchiker. You can feel an almost lost man searching for something through the musical chords and timely lyrics that the Pros and Cons contain. This is a great record for all true Floydians fans and those who see Roger as "the man behind script".

I've read a number of these reviews and enjoyed the sparring from various parties. Many people swear this is the best album ever, some see it as great but flawed, others ridicule the approach and output.

Before I start, I'll baseline my background. I worshipped Pink Floyd and identified early that Waters was the driving force. I love Gilmore's guitar work and have (and enjoy) all of his solo work but remain a Waters fan.

So where do I stand ?
I don't think this is the technically best album ever;
I think Dark Side, Wish You Were Here and Animals were all stronger albums;
I think Amused to Death was Waters highest quality work;
But this is my favourite.

Why ? Because, I value the little flaws. I enjoy the rawness of the production, the risks with the arrangements, the challenge of keeping track of the story. I don't look for singles and therefore savour the lack of accessibility of the individual songs.

Importantly, as much as I love Roger Waters, I enjoy the rare sentimentality of this album. Roger is a great story teller and lyricist but so often tells such a cynical story. Pros and Cons provides respite and relaxation within the Waters catalogue.

The magic of listening, uninterrupted, to the duration of the album and finishing with 'Every Strangers Eyes' and 'A Moment of Clarity' is a joy to behold. I challenge anyone to put down their headphones at albums end with less than a satisfied grin.

This album will never leave my collection as long as I live.

I have owned The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking for 10 years now, and consider it the best album to come from the brilliant mind of Roger Waters--surpassing even The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon. The imagery of the lyrics transports you directly into the head of a man dreaming of love, loss, family, sex, and horror. The dream logic which melds one song into the next is smooth and flawless. If you are evaluating this album on a song-by-song basis, you have missed the point. To appreciate the whole picture you have to make time to sit down and listen to it beginning to end--as is the case with most of Waters' works. The lyrics are jarring, haunting, Blakean.

The music is similarly inspired. Even if you don't normally go for Eric Clapton's music, this album features him doing what he does best: slowhand improvisation. This album would be nothing, musically, without him. His guitar work complements and interweaves with the lyrics in the kind of musical partnership that you just don't hear much coming out of a recording studio. The man can speak through a guitar like no one else I know of. He is melodic yet unrestrained, prominent yet subdued. Listening to this album, you find yourself thinking, "wow, this is a great song," and only later, "wow, there's almost nothing happening but the guitar."

I heartily recommend this album to anyone who reveres Roger Waters and anyone who lives for a well-formed concept album from someone who actually has a concept. This CD has a plot and characters you feel you know.

This is an excellent CD for long car trips at night, nights spent sitting on the couch listening to the stereo and sipping scotch, or nights spent tangled in carnal bliss atop sweaty sheets.

Roger Waters' The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking is a true masterpiece.