The Wall

The Wall (1977) is the title of a rock-and-roll concept album produced by Pink Floyd. Hailed by critics and fans as one of Pink Floyd's best albums (along with Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here), the album is known as a rock and roll classic, and its morbid, depressing anthems have inspired many contemporary rock musicians.

Though The Wall is seen as the last true collaboration of Pink Floyd's major songwriters, Roger Waters and David Gilmour, the album's concept and most of the songs are primarily by Waters. The album portrays the fictional life of an anti-hero ("Pink") who is hammered and beaten down by society from the earliest days of his life: smothered by his mother, oppressed at school, he withdraws into a hate-filled fantasy world of his own. The ending of the album is ambiguous: during the operatic "The Trial," the hero either goes insane (the lyrics state "Tear down the wall!"), or he is freed.

The album produced a number of hit singles for Pink Floyd, including Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2), Mother, Young Lust, and Comfortably Numb. These songs are a staple of many classic rock[?] radio stations, receiving daily airplay over twenty-five years after the album's release (and overshadowing later efforts by Waters and Gilmour).

Pink Floyd began a tour to promote The Wall, but the gigantic, elaborate state show was so expensive that it quickly lost money. The tour was cancelled after only a few performances.

A musical movie version of The Wall was filmed in 1979, under the title of Pink Floyd: The Wall. The film, directed by Alan Parker[?] and starring Bob Geldof, was a heavily symbolic, feature-length music video that added new elements to the storyline of The Wall. It drew on autobiographical material from Floyd members Roger Waters and Syd Barrett, combining Water's early childhood (Waters' lamentation over the loss of his father in World War II was well known to Pink Floyd's fans) with Barrett's withdrawal and mental breakdown. This storyline was intercut with abstract, mind-blowing animated sequences by Gerald Scarfe.

After Waters left the band, a legal battle ensued over the rights to the name "Pink Floyd" and its material. Waters retained the right to use The Wall and its material, and his name has been most closely associated with the album. Waters staged a gigantic concert performance of The Wall in Berlin in 1990 to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall. He also embarked on a tour in the late 1990s, performing The Wall live, allowing many fans to see it performed live for the first time.

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails has stated that The Wall was a major influence on his musical career.

Song Listing

Album 1

1. "In The Flesh?"
2. "The Thin Ice"
3. "Another Brick In The Wall (Part I)"
4. "The Happiest Days Of Our Lives"
5. "Another Brick In The Wall (Part II)"
6. "Mother"
7. "Goodbye Blue Sky"
8. "Empty Spaces"
9. "Young Lust"
10. "One Of My Turns"
11. "Don't Leave Me Now"
12. "Another Brick In The Wall (Part III)"
13. "Goodbye Cruel World"

Album 2

1. "Hey You"
2. "Is There Anybody Out There?"
3. "Nobody Home"
4. "Vera"
5. "Bring the Boys Back Home"
6. "Comfortably Numb"
7. "The Show Must Go On"
8. "In The Flesh"
9. "Run Like Hell"
10. "Waiting For The Worms"
11. "Stop"
12. "The Trial"
13. "Outside The Wall"