Tracks:
1. In the Flesh?: 8/10 despite confusing lyrics, this is overall a strong start with terrific guitar riffs.
2. The Thin Ice: 8/10 the opposite in some ways- the lyrics are great while the music isn't as memorable- but just like the first track it's a blast.
3. Another Brick in the Wall Part 1: 8/10 while less famous than the legendary part 2, this is a more atmospheric and melancholy beast that should not be forgotten.
4. The Happiest Days of Our Lives: 7/10 while a good piece of music, this is the first of many short, superfluous songs in this album that could easily have been trimmed.
5. Another Brick in the Wall Part 2: 9/10 just because this is Pink Floyd's most well-known song (Aside from Wish You Were Here) don't let that put you off. It's a terrific little song; with fun anti-authority lyrics, addictive guitar-work and the wonderfully subtle David Gilmour guitar solo. The use of the schoolchildren shouting is particularly brilliant.
6. Mother: 8/10 a fascinating, refreshingly dark song which offers a good look at the album's concept, some interesting psychology and Pink Floyd's musical skill when it's at a quieter level. Fun fact: This sounds very similar to Pigs (Three Different Ones) from Animals at times.
7. Goodbye Blue Sky: 8/10 an unsettling and stirring war song.
8. Empty Spaces: 6/10 it's got some good music, but it fails to sustain the concept and feels pointless. Apparently the main character is married now and depressed. How exactly are we meant to know?
9. Young Lust: 7/10 a more generic rock song than normal and the revelation that the wife is cheating on him isn't conveyed clearly. Nevertheless, there's enough Pink Floyd atmospherics and musical skill to make this a decent listen.
10. One of My Turns: 9/10 a terrific song that imitates someone freaking out remarkably well.
11. Don't Leave Me Now: 6/10 a song that's a good piece piece of writing that propels the narrative forward but largely underwhelming as a piece of music.
12. Another Brick in the Wall Part 3: 7/10 the weakest of the 3 Brick songs still manages to close the trio in a satisfying way.
13. Goodbye Cruel World: 7/10 this is a very important moment in the story and the quieter instrumental works (Slightly) better this time.
14. Hey You: 8/10 one of the album standouts undeniably, even if it's nowhere near as good as most Pink Floyd album standouts.
15. Is There Anybody Out There?: 6/10 atmospheric music aside, there's not a lot to remember here.
16. Nobody Home: 7/10 an undeniably sad and clever song, but more in an exhausting manner.
17. Vera: 6/10 who's Vera? It's well-played enough though.
18. Bring the Boys Back Home: 7/10 a good one and once again a choir is used very well, but it's still too confusing.
19. Comfortably Numb: 10/10 an epic masterpiece, this makes all the monotony of disc 2 of this album worth it. Even after all the brilliant writing and the sheer power of the music, in the end the song is still dominated by those amazing guitar solos, which are the best David Gilmour ever did.
20. The Show Must Go On: 6/10 a well-done but highly slight bit of music.
21. In The Flesh: 8/10 actually even better than the first song with this name and it's a fascinating, if once again obscure, hallucination.
22. Run Like Hell: 8/10 another bright spot in an album full of phoned-in moments.
23. Waiting for the Worms: 7/10 entertaining up to a point, if under-cooked.
24: Stop: 5/10 a 30 second waste of space that could easily have been put into another song.
25. The Trial: 8/10 as a piece of music? Incoherent. As a part of the story? Hilarious and highly striking.
26. Outside the Wall: 7/10 an anticlimactic but moving end to the epic album.
Best song: Comfortably Numb
Worst song: Stop
Summary: As much as I love Pink Floyd, after 3 listens I'm still not into this album. It just doesn't quite hold up. It's an album of moments, since some of the songs are terrific. Musically of course it's relatively outstanding but a lot of the songs are weak filler which could easily have been cut out. 10 songs into the album the many short pointless songs start to grate, and much of the album is too focused on moving the story forward and not enough on being enjoyable music. Also, speaking of trimming I think all those whiny, depressing songs in the middle could definitely have been removed. It's an ambitious thought-provoking story but there's too much filler and musically it isn't as good as most Pink Floyd albums. There's a reason people only ever seem to mention 2 songs (Comfortably Numb and Another Brick in the Wall Part 2) when discussing this.
Final rating: 7/10
