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71 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Two flaws -- one is major., September 28, 2003
I would love to give this book five stars. I agree with the thrust of the other reviewers. Phil Rose knows his stuff -- I say this as an amateur musicologist myself, who grew up analyzing Pink Floyd albums, sometimes sitting at the piano to perform 'The Final Cut' or 'Pros and Cons' in one sitting. Mr. Rose has tried, and mostly succeeded, to write an indispensable work for the more intellectual fans of Roger Waters's Pink Floyd.However, readers deserved to be warned of, at least, the biggest flaw in this product: It is VERY POORLY BOUND. Pages began to fall out of this paperback during my first read. Because this is such a quality piece of writing, I want to consult it over and over again. Thus, the majority of pages in my copy are loose -- something like, pages 16 thru 54. Knowing this, would I not buy the book? No. It's essential. I just wish for a properly-bound edition. I'll gladly buy the work a second time, if it's not the piece of junk this paperback edition is. Second complaint -- and this one is directed at the author himself: Phil Rose relies too much on the film version of The Wall, in his analysis of the actual music. This is unfortunate and misguided. We know Roger Waters is not satisfied with the film, that it is heavily-weighted with director Alan Parker's ideas, that there were conflicts about this, and that Waters hopes to re-cast The Wall as a lighter, more elevating musical. Parker's "Wall" is a non-dynamic "downer" which has probably caused more MISinterpretation of Waters's work than a generation of Floydophobic journalists were able to. A separate sidebar on the film might have been appropriate, or perhaps just a reduction of film-related analysis. What's obvious is that Rose managed unassailable insight into the other four concept albums, WIHTOUT the guidance of a movie -- so why was it necessary at all to include the Alan Parker film? I hope it's clear that I am STILL recommending you BUY and READ the book! But this is an academic work, not a fluff piece -- thus we owe it to the the publishers, the author, and the consumers to be vigorously honest about it's failures and missteps.
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