Floyd's final nightmare

Roger Waters wrote most of his music with the Floyd tormented by the ghosts of his childhood: War, overprotecting mother, abusive teachers, and the death of his father. He showed his brilliance and pain though all those years of deep, dark, genial music. It reached a peak in The Wall and concluded in this album. (Has been said that this was originally the end of the wall, but came too long) But in most of this album You can hear his final catharsis and exorcism of his inner demons. After this album the floyd music never was the same again, and Roger was free. You only need to hear "Paranoid eyes" and "Take your filthy hands of my desert" and You will understand.......

"The Final Cut": Pink Floyd's Final Masterpiece

1983's The Final Cut not only has the distinction of being front man Roger Waters' last recording with Pink Floyd nor the only one not to utilize Richard Wright's keyboards, which, shockingly, doesn't hurt from their absence; it is also quite simply their best work-without a single radio hit. Dedicated to bassist/writer Waters' father Eric Fletcher, who died in combat during World War II before they met, the concept album is a self-proclaimed "requiem for the post war dream."

From the first track, "The Post War Dream," the listeners realize they're in for a treat. Beginning with a sparse musical arrangement, Waters enters almost a cappella, lamenting his father's loss and blaming himself for, among other things, his disappearance and even Jesus' crucifixion. In one of his best-penned lines, Waters asks: "Was it you?/Was it me?/Did I watch too much T.V.?" True Floyd fans will understand the hint that most of their concept albums, including this one, The Wall, and even Wish You Were Here, feature a buzzing television set in the background.

The subject matter of "One of the Few" echoes the lyrical content of Waters' often played "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)." Taking a potshot at teachers coming home from the war, Waters sings: "Make them me/Make them you/Make them do what you want them to."

"The Hero's Return" starts off with a strong enough melody but eventually loses its way, suffering from too many dynamics. It's quite a shame; under a different direction, the song could have been transformed into a Floyd classic in the tradition of "Money" or "Hey You." "Your Possible Pasts" and "Paranoid Eyes" are propped up midway by stunning guitar solos by David Gilmour, the first one electric and the latter acoustic, highlighted by Nick Mason's frenetic drumming.

"The Gunner's Dream," Floyd's best song ever-at least the band's greatest narrative-is a mini-masterpiece. Based on the story of a gunner whose plane is shot down in action, the five-minute song manages to pack as much emotional intensity and drama as a two-hour opera. As the title character parachutes down to the earth, he reminisces about his life, including witnessing his own funeral, knowing that death is near. In the aftermath, and not unlike Martin Luther King, Jr.'s famous speech, he poses a dream to mankind that would take someone made of granite not to be moved. The song also happens to include the most incredible saxophone solo of any Floyd tune, courtesy of Raphael Ravenscroft, which takes the melody, literally, to new heights.

"The Fletcher Memorial Home" lists a bunch of political figures who, Waters believes, were responsible for the woes of the late 20th Century, among them Margaret Thatcher, Richard Nixon, and even Ronald Reagan. Stepping briefly into dark hyperbole, Waters wishes a "final solution" upon the residents of the fictional home named after his father. The throwaways "Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert" and "Southampton Dock" accurately paint pictures of anger and loss, respectively.

Although the title track borrows the Michael Kamen string orchestration of The Wall's "Comfortably Numb," it's powerful nonetheless and fun just to hear Waters guiltily admit: "There's a kid who had a big hallucination/Making love to girls in magazines." Later on, he opens his heart in a rare but beautiful sentiment: "And if I show you my dark side/Would you still hold me tonight?" The explosive, near bombastic "Not Now John" surprisingly features the mother of all curse words in the chorus and even a Waters-style rap.

The last track, "Two Suns in the Sunset," wraps up the war-torn theme nicely, illustrating an apocalyptic vision of a nuclear bomb mirroring a sunset ("The sun is in the east/Even though the day is done"). Waters ends this solid, dozen-track album with a frightening realization that still rings true, especially in today's unprecedented times: "Ashes and diamonds/Foe and friend/We were all equal in the end."

Something Stinks

I thought when they said "the final cut" that this would be their last, alas, unfortunately it wasn't.
Floyd was a bad band in their day, but this CD tops it all off in terms of awful.
Please people, I'm begging you, do not even take a chance on this one.
Verrry Bad, verrry, verrry bad!!!!!!!!!!!

The Wall was great, but . . .

The Wall was great, but this greater. Enough said, now listen to it again and again.

Waters Under the Bridge

Originally released March 1983, on Harvest/EMI in the UK, Eire, and Europe. I have the UK tape. As you all know, this was appropiately the last with Roger Waters, who turned in his walking papers to CBS and EMI two years later. He beaugards this record, as he wrote and sang each track, much to the chagrin to David Gilmour, which was setting the duo apart which endures to this day. Both would retaliate with solo debuts the following year. Nonetheless, this was another stepping stone in Waters' unique lyrical style of what I see as socio-political commentary, which he would go further with in his solo career. A handful of these tracks were used on his solo tours, but not by Floyd without him.
The Final Cut is supposed to be a follow-up (besides just in sequence) to The Wall. It's darker than Dark Side and The Wall, the anchors of the Floyd lexicon, yet this album was overlooked here, since The Wall LP, tour, and movie had become overkill.
I heard a rumour that this will be reissued worldwide by EMI/Capitol with "When the Tigers Broke Free" as a bonus track. Maybe even the "obscured" version of "Not Now John". I saw it on the EMI Australia site.

Weakest Floyd Album

While there are a few scattered good songs on this album, it has too little involvement by other members of the band. While I agree that Roger Waters was clearly the stronger lyricist (vs Gilmour), the band performs the best when all members are involved in the writing. In addition, I think the musical quality is better when Gilmour writes solo as opposed to Waters. Waters never got over the death of his father in WWII, and this album simply describes his feelings and the war itself. He puts emotion into it, but the writing quality itself is weak. He focuses too much on himself and not the band.