Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
78 of 94 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Three stars from a die hard Pink Floyd fan, May 4, 2000
Why would a devoted Pink Floyd fan only give this three stars?This live album comes from an interesting time in PF history. The Wall was a departure from the sound and style of the previous 3 albums and marked the end of PF's golden period. The band also broke up shortly after this tour. These factors makes this a worthwhile time to note in PF history. The quality of the recording is not that bad. It was better than I expected (I had heard that the master tapes were in really bad condition). The musical quality is also not bad. They don't miss a cue and the songs sound tight. But, PF has always been a really great live bad, just take a listen to Ummagumma's live side or Live at Pompeii or Gilmour's extended Comfortably Numb guitar solo on Delicate Sound of Thunder for proof. What this album lacks is real feeling or a new way of looking at the songs. All live albums could learn a lesson from Van Morrison's "It's too late to stop now..." "Is there anybody out there?" sounds almost exactly like the studio version and rarely strays from it. There is no new insight here. That makes it not worth buying if you already have The Wall. I wish they released this as a video. I was too young to see this concert live when it originally came around. This concert seems like it was more of an audio and visual experience. Having it on CD is like missing half the concert. So, if you don't have The Wall already or you are a completist by nature (and I understand all too well), this is not a bad buy. It does also contain two extra songs not on The Wall, but they are nothing new. "What shall we do now?" is in the movie, listed on the album, and you can hear a really awful version of it as a duet between Bryan Adams and Roger Waters on The Wall: Live in Berlin. The other song is really a reprise of all the previous themes on the album. But, if you have The Wall already, it is not necessary to get this album. Instead, try to get some good live 70's bootlegs of "Careful with that Axe Eugene".
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
 
|
|
|
|
|
|
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I was out there., April 14, 2005
When Pink Floyd toured, they only performed The Wall in New York and Los Angeles. Through a ticket broker I bought two tickets that were seventh roll center on the floor. The tickets were $45 each!
I remember every nuance of the show and I still wonder if there is a video of this excellent concert lurking somewhere.
Even though the recording is excellent, it can't touch the sonic/visual bombast that the show was. To see Roger Waters just giving his emotional heart in the performance, the visuals projected on the Wall, and the sonic effects gave the performance a eerie/creepy vibe. Some audience members were actually crying at some portions. And when the wall came down in the end and the band came out spotlighted in a golden glow, it felt like a healing.
Waters and Mason elected to wear earphones. Waters was singing into a wireless microphone (a technological first) that he would stuff into his back pocket when it wasn't in use. Each band member had a supporting musician, so everyone was doubled, even Mick Mason. Plus there were supporting vocalist.
To me, The Wall touched on many layers. The show had all the themes that Waters likes to vent about, losing his father at a young age, confining English upbringing, divorce and unhappiness at seeing people acting like sheep. Waters also touches on war rallies as he withdraws into his internal mental hell.
Let me give you some of the visuals.
When the MC (Cynthia Fox from radio station KLOS) came out and did her shtick, the stage had lots of "technicians" walking around the stage and adjusting equipment. While she was talking, the technicians parted and the group was already on stage ready to go, surprise, surprise. And they cut her off in mid-sentence.
There were speakers on stage as well as the sides of the Sports Arena, just like the "Wish You Were Hear" tour. So when 'In the Flesh" started, I thought that the sound wasn't as full. Then the end came and as the band played the last long chord and the airplane came over the audience, symbolizing the death of Water's dad during the war, the side speakers and the true wrap-around sound kicked in. Quite a rush.
When the helicopter section played, on stage the lighting technicians sat on top of flying saucer that were on the stage floor. They took off into the air and lit up the band, following the musicians around the stage.
The puppets (you can see them on the Waters show at Berlin) were mind blowing. Quite a feat to control their movements, so a nod to the supporting cast/roadies that you never see or hear about.
The movies were being played on a round screen above the band. Seeing the intertwining flowers turning into monsters during sex and one snapping the head off the others to the song "Empty Spaces" was quite a wallop.
When Waters sang "One of my Turns", he was outside the under-construction wall. Next to him was a little Pink doll which he mimics as he sang. As he screamed "Oh No" and the band went into solo, he jumped back behind the wall, and the wall continues to close.
During "Don't Leave me Now, two giant puppets were on top of the wall and just glaring at Waters while he sang with all that creepy loud breathing flowing around the speakers just overpowering him. And the wall gets completed except the one brick where Waters sings "Goodbye Cruel World". I never forgot the music that was playing between "Another Brick in The Wall Part 3" and "Goodbye Cruel World" and it is so nice to hear it again after all these years. What was weird was that the band was playing behind the Wall and you could only see the top portion of the stage, with all the supporting lights and flying saucer pods doing their thing. Gave a strange visual vibe.
The second act was performed with the audience having to deal with the wall. The movie was projected on the Wall itself and was done using three interlocked projectors. It was perfection. Even though sometimes only the center projector was showing a scene, the side ones were still on and the side film was pristine, you wouldn't know that they were on.
"Nobody Home" was done with a portion of the Wall that opened up showing a hotel room with Waters reclining in a chair watching TV.
"Comfortably Numb" was a high point, with Gilmore singing and soloing from the top of the wall. You could see that he was really into it. Must have been a thrill for him to be so high up and overlooking the crowd as his guitar solo spun around the monitors.
When the MC came out again, the band was pushed onto stage in darkness on a platform on rollers. When they were illuminated, everyone was wearing the masks that are on the cover of this CD and acted like robots.
In "The Show must go on", as Waters sings 'Are there any queers in the audience", the flying saucer light technicians actually go out over the audience looking for offenders going as far as their supporting booms let them.
On the CD right before Waters introduces "Run Like Hell", you hear him let out a shout as a spacey guitar cord is hit. That is when the inflated pig breaks through the wall.
"Waiting for the Worms" of course had the hammers marching across the entire wall which made it look like the whole wall was moving. "Stop" and "The Trial" was just Waters solo in front of the wall just spilling his guts out.
Then the wall came down to the booming base notes that shook the seats. The whole audience just let out screams of relief as it came down. The musicians came out from the side of the stage as themselves with Waters leading and playing the clarinet while kicking debris out of the way. They stopped and sang "Outside the Wall", then continued the march off to the other side of the stage. During the applause, the four members of Pink Floyd came out, took a bow, and everybody went home knowing that they had witnessed something special and never to be duplicated again.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tearing down The Wall -- a note-for-note live rendition, April 30, 2000
This live recording of The Wall, played before a packed house at Earl's Court, breathes fresh life into the awesome, yet arguably sterile, studio album, The Wall (Deluxe Packaging Digitally Remastered). Though "Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live" rarely strays from the studio rendition, Pink Floyd let loose in some spots, especially guitarist David Gilmour. Plus, all the background noise heard on the album -- the phones ringing, people yelling, women chattering, screams -- sounds crystal clear and invigorating in concert. Curiously, the crowd is mostly subdued throughout, indicating Floyd treated this as a mixture of a play and a rock concert. It's possible that the band's adoring fans showed a great deal of respect, restraint and even a bit of awe at what they were witnessing.
What's accentuated on this stellar recording is the magnificent vocal interplay between Roger Waters and Gilmour. Whatever their problems offstage, these guys worked fluently and harmonically as they sang separately or together within "The Wall's" songs. Waters, despite his need to always take credit for everything Floyd did in its latter years, needed top musicians like Gilmour to pull off this stunning and elaborate set.
Here's a recap of highlights on this album:
* The funny and urgent "Master of Ceremony" beginning
* The chilling start of "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)," plus the drawn-out guitar solo at the end
* The added-on track, "What Shall We Do Now," which was also featured in the movie
* The haunting and expertly played "Is There Anybody Out There," which features cool TV background noises that differ from the studio album
* The extended solo at the end of "Comfortably Numb"
* The intense and revved-up start to "Run Like Hell," where the normally placid Waters goes wild
* The barber shop rendition of "Outside the Wall"
* The excellent singing, keyboards and drumming throughout
* The lucky crowd who got to watch all this
Finally, the informative CD booklet, which feature insights and information about this live performance from the major players involved, is a real treat for fans.
What more can be said? If you already love the studio version of "The Wall," this album won't disappoint.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
See all 16 tracks on this disc
is one of Pink Floyd's 64 releases. Browse Pink Floyd's Discography 
