Roger Waters - In the Flesh Live
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Free Music Notes for In the Flesh Live
Free Music Review: Not everyone's cup of tea...
Hit: 3 Stars
This is certainly not an all-bad album at all. But I'm not sure if it really stacks up to Pink Floyd (in any incarnation). My biggest wish for this album is that Mr. Waters would have stuck to his solo work; this he does a pretty good job on, and I will say that "Each Small Candle" was an immediate hit with me. I think it may show that Mr. Waters has made some real strides in coming to terms with his past. Although I might have asked the drummer to back off a little on "It's a Miracle", I'd say the solo works were all excellent.However--here's what lowers the rating of this album. The Pink Floyd stuff. If you have a sensitive ear, you may not take well to this part of ITF. Mr. Waters does not do as Mr. Gilmour did in PULSE and take over the "missing" vocals; instead, he has one of his guitarists sing. I think this was a mistake--though the singer in question has a pleasant voice, it's rather sad hearing someone trying to imitate Mr. Gilmour, rather than Mr. Waters at least trying to put his own unique spin on it. Admittedly Mr. Waters DOES do this on "Wish You Were Here", and it's one of the few PF songs I really enjoy. The keyboards, under Jon Carin, aren't too bad--after all, this guy played alongside Mr. Wright on the PULSE tour. But the guitars...it's just not Mr. Gilmour. Not even close. I think the guitars really ruin some songs--"Comfortably Numb", for instance. Instead of going with the flow of the song, it turns into a flashy duel of the guitars that I think doesn't fit very well with the song. And the drums--I don't think "Time" came off very well at all; the drummer overdoes it in a major way.
Now, as I said, not all of the PF material is bad. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" is excellent (it's worth noting that the sound of the sax has an interesting resemblance to a certain Farfisa organ!), and the material from The Final Cut is pretty good. I also thought that "Wish You Were Here" showed Mr. Waters' personal concert style at its best; you can almost feel a finger being pointed in your direction: "And I wish that YOU were here". But most of the Pink Floyd material really falls short, in my opinion.
Now, a hardcore Roger Waters fan might well like this. I'm not saying it's a bad album, which is why I gave it three stars. But if you have a sensitive ear and are attached to the traditional Pink Floyd musical sound, you may not want to buy this album. It's just not EVERYONE'S cup of tea.
Free Music Review: CD's?????????????
Hit: 1 Stars
I gave it a 1 because it is a CD. Forget these CD's. Forget all CD's. The format along with stereo is dead. It's around 20 years old now and is showing its age. Buy the DVD instead. You won't believe the difference and it's cheaper in this case...Don't invest in old technology and inferior sound. The video enhances the surround audio which is spectacular in comparison to the CD. A stereo CD is like listening to a hockey/baseball game on the radio (what's a radio?). Why do that when you can have better sound with video added? Come on gang, embrace it. Why not watch Susanah Melvoin rather than just listening to her! I'm almost 50 and at this point, I want the best. This isn't itFree Music Review: Well Done, Roger!
Hit: 4 Stars
Roger Waters tours after 12 long years and shows why he was one of the most important ingredients to the success of Pink Floyd. A great set list and loads of talent in his band made this tour and album a huge sucess. Everything from Floyd's back catalogue and Roger's solo stuff appear on this album. The songs are played very well and sound great. I gave this album 4 stars because you can definetly hear where David should have been. Sorry, Doyle and Snowy but noone can play those solos like David. This can really be heard on Shine On You Crazy Diamond and Dogs as there are notes being skipped or altered. The notes being altered don't belong. Otherwise if you like Roger and like Pink Floyd. I do recommend this album.Free Music Review: "How I Wish They Were Here..."
Hit: 5 Stars
The first I heard of this tour was probably around March (I'm not sure because I don't remember when the tour took place)from a fellow Floyd fan and friend of mine. We were sitting in art when she mentioned that she had gone to this show a couple nights ago. I, however, hadn't heard that Roger was touring, and, since my dad has never allowed me to go to concerts (he says everyone there does drugs-of course, he's not too far off...), I bombarded her with questions of what the show had been like, what songs did they do, etc...Fast forward to late December of 2000. I'm supposed to be videotaping a basketball game for school, but I miss the bus when my dad drops me off. I can't immediately find anyone who's able to come pick me up, so I go over to the record store to browse and kill time. I'm in there, and I see In the Flesh is one of the new featured CD's. At first, I'm not excited. Then I see that it says "Live" and that's piques my interest so I pick it up and look at the track listing on the back. I see Set the Controls, Dogs, and many other rare live songs on it, so I decide to buy it. I leave the store, and then go to McDonald's. After having tried calling more people, I order some food, sit down, and prepare to listen to this because it looks like I might have a long wait ahead of me. I put this in my Portable CD player, expecting Pulse-like renditions of these songs (i.e. exactly like the studio versions, with slightly different solos). I hear Roger count in (in German) to In the Flesh, then the music starts. After just the first song, however, I can see that this is not going to be just another live album. And by the end of the first disc, as the sky gets darker outside, I'm leaning back in the booth, sipping a Pepsi, and thinking that this completely blows away DSoT and Pulse. In fact, I could throw them away and not be missing anything. The second disk is just as good. Roger, despite the fact that many fans think that he is egotistical (because he pretty much ran the show for pink floyd from WYWH on), he only plays 6 of his solo songs (which are great and will lead you to buying his studio stuff), while Gilmour takes up half of Pulse and DSoT with his crap (which leads one to wonder that since Roger isn't egotistical, maybe the reason he was "running the show" for the band was because he was the only one writing quality music, with Gilmour throwing in a couple of songs now and then). Another thing about this wonderful live album is that Roger actually EXPANDS upon the original songs. Take Comfortably Numb for instance. Gilmour plays the same solo every time (albeit it is SLIGHTLY modified). Rogers band, while keeping the same tone of the original solo, changes it a little, and actually brings some emotion to it. As much as it may be sacriligious to say so, I PREFER this solo over the original. It was so filled with feeling it almost brought a tear to my eye. This kind of reinvention of songs harkens back to the days when Floyd actually JAMMED during live shows. (Remember that, Dave? I thought not.) Another thing is that Roger plays stuff from albums besides DSotM, the Wall, and WYWH. I am beginning to doubt that Gilmour even knows that other albums exist! Roger totally reinvents Set the Controls, it has a much more modern feel and is really groovy-you'll be nodding your head to the beat. They really jam in this song. Listen to Welcome to the Machine! It is almost a different song altogether!! Infinitely better than the original!! Waters' new song Each Small Candle is a great new song, which, now that I think about it, is very appropriate considering the contributions of the everyone who helped in for Sept. 11. Everyone who donated money is a "small candle" trying to "light a corner" of the hearts of people who lost relatives.
High points of this live album are:
Dogs, it's nearly 17 min. long, and better than the original.
All of Roger's solo stuff, I never knew that it was this good, you will want to buy Amused to Death after listening to this. The new solo in Comfortably Numb. You will find yourself listening to this over and over.
Welcome to the Machine. As I said before, once you hear this, you will never go back to the original.
And The cuts from the Final Cut. The Final Cut isn't half as bad as everyone makes it out too be, but these songs still sound 200% better than the originals.
Since I am running a little long in this review, let me end by saying this: Roger Waters IS Pink Floyd. He may not have the name, but he has the talent. Gilmour, since he doesn't have Roger's talent (which was okay when he had Roger himself-now he is obviously floundering)is obviously more interested in the money than the music, which is evident because he insists on playing in huge venues (don't you have ENOUGH money? you're a freakin millionaire for Christ's sake!) with mediocre songs. Roger on the other hand, is content to play in front of relatively small audiences, as he must find it more fun and reminiscent of the good old days. And the fun that he is having shows in the quality of the music he puts out.
To make a long review short: Buy this. Buy this now, you will never regret it.
Free Music Review: Only if you must
Hit: 3 Stars
Some of the better moments on this live double recording bring it from two stars to... three. It makes a good first impression, because the sound quality is so good. I was surprised that Disc 2 was much stronger than Disc 1. Waters takes no risks with the old songs by "that other band." Note for note, they are almost the same as the studio tracks released 25 or 30 years ago; but less inspired. It becomes very clear how much alike these songs can sound. It doesn't even take the artistry of Gilmour to bring Waters' songs to life, but the talented back-up musicians made no attempt to own these songs. Shine On is a parody, and I hate to think of Wish You Were Here performed so mechanically. Waters' solo tracks, which are most of disk 2, are treated much better and show how strong this album could have been. But even these tracks sound much the same as they did in the studio.
Bottom line: I'd listen to this CD again, but if somebody stole it, I wouldn't shell out ($$$) for another copy. If you are a loyal fan of Roger Waters and Pink Floyd, you know what you have to do. But otherwise, if you've missed Pulse, and you threw away your copy of Momentary Lapse... keep up the good work and don't buy this album.