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The Final Cut

Pink Floyd - The Final Cut Audio CD

A fair review of the Pink Floyd "The Final Cut" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Pink Floyd reviews here, or go back to the Pink Floyd tabs.

Band: Pink Floyd
Title: The Final Cut
Rating:

Release Date: 2004-05-04
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Post War Dream 2: Your Possible Pasts 3: One of the Few 4: When the Tigers Broke Free 5: Hero's Return 6: Gunner's Dream 7: Paranoid Eyes 8: Get Your Filthy Hands off My Desert [Roger Waters Music Overseas] 9: Fletcher Memorial Home 10: Southampton Dock 11: Final Cut 12: Not Now John 13: Two Suns in the Sunset

The Final Cut: Intellectually and Musically a Must
Reagan and Thatcher fighting the Cold War and the UK coming off the heels of The Falklands conflict. We were in a conservative era. Hippies and punk-rockers had pretty much put down their protest signs and angst and were migrating to the suburbs. Seemingly out of nowhere comes this powerful political statement from Pink Floyd. I am grateful Gilmour and Waters were able to maintain until they finished this project.

On The Final Cut, Pink Floyd leads us through the hellish depression and trials of a war veteran while dabbling in commentary on nationalism, consumerism, and economics. This album features outstanding lyrics by Roger Waters (yes he is bitter still, so what). And where previous albums had plenty of rocking out tracks, The Final Cut relies much more on the subtleties, i. e. Waters' vocal delivery (think Comfortably Numb's "pin pricK") or the holophonic sound effects. Add this to a subtle orchestration, and some fantastic Gilmour guitar work and you have a powerful, sad, and haunting album.

Every track gets a four or five star rating. The strongest being "One of the Few", "The Gunner's Dream", and "Paranoid Eyes". If you have a comprehensive appreciation of Pink Floyd, you won't be disappointed.

-footnote- Regarding the Waters' Solo versus Pink Floyd debate, the amount contributed by each of the band members is irrelevant as one only need listen to the album to see it could never have been legitimately labeled a solo work.

It's even sadder than it wants to be.
I hold this inferior opinion doubly, as I felt that "The Wall" was itself an inferior musical statement to "Animals". Many of these comments for "The Final Cut" sound like apologies to me, their writers obviously aware of the albums inferior reception following the blockbuster "Wall". "The Wall", to me is a detour, a sideways swipe at social norms that "Animals" had already attacked more directly and musically. "The Wall" retreated to grand theatrics and literal exposition to advance its ideas whereas "Animals" relied much more so on the abstract quality and tone of its compositions. "Animals" is more musical, much more compelling, haunting. "The Final Cut" follows "The Wall" in its expressionistic, personal style, but without the theatrics. Its more modest production leaves it feeling very sparse at times. I assume it's intended to be more intimate, but oddly, without the overblown theatrics of "The Wall" to buoy the more somber, dour moments, it comes off leaden and plodding at times.

Water's aim is to express disgust and contempt for the powers that be, but resignation and depression dominate, overwhelming any sense of hope. That's a major burden for any listener, and I image the main complaint of many. While the themes of "The Final Cut" are certainly dense and heavy, I found the tone and effect more suited to even more bleak, morbid subjects, such as "All is Vanity", or "Futility Rules All". These nihilistic themes are not the subject of the album, and so "The Final Cut" is even sadder than Roger Water's wants it to be.

I liked it enough to buy it when it first came out and still listen to it 'cause some of it, alot of it is just brilliant, especially Gilmour's solos. I wanted to give it 3 1/2 stars to be precise, but 4 stars would be pushing it. Also, even tho its entirely a Water's idea, it's still a Pink Floyd sound. And that's good.

Great Album
It was not promoted well and ignored by rock radio at the time but this does not mean it was a failure. This is a great album, 2nd only to The Wall and not by much. Roger Waters and Pink Floyd at their best here. It's an album you need to hear all the way through to appreciate it. Very powerful material by one of the greatest rock bands of all time.

Underrated and overlooked. I love it!
This is purely Roger Waters, and that's nothing wrong with that. I just love this album.

Roger was totally different from, let's take for instance, Lennon & McCartney. He would never restrain himself to one theme, and would refuse to write love songs. You have no labels to define his style, he was just complete, going from one extreme to other, always in perfect shape. He's like the Kubrick of Rock N Roll, and that's why his music will never be dated.

"Two Suns in the Sunset" is just a perfect song, closing the album with a mixed feeling of desolation mixed and melancholy. "Paranoid Eyes" is another perfect example of Roger distinctive vocals and lyrical interpretation.

You don't necessarily need to get into the mood of the album to appreciate it, but is somewhat important to know that this album is like The Wall part II, as it follows the timeline of the character Pink. He's now off the wall, and depression is all that he can find now that his shelter is gone. But the album is above all a collection of amazing musical jewels.

I won't deny that even thought the album is almost as perfect as The Wall, the more intense collaboration of Gilmour would have added a lot to the album, but you can't change the past, and the album is what it is. The circumstances of the band at the time wouldn't allow a level of collaboration between them like the ones that happened in Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here.

The Wall 2, Well Sort Of . . .
First, Wright's keyboard virtuosity is missing (he had left the band by this time)and Gilmour's presence is like a ghost scared to show itself. Listening to this recording you can clearly hear that it is the beginning of the end for Pink Floyd as we know. Despite these absences, Waters is truly amazing in his intensity of feeling making The Final Cut worthwhile to own and have in your CD collection. As far as concept albums go, it is one of the best--it continues the anti-war ravings and isolation themes evident in The Wall. Also, it anticipates the primary theme in Water's solo album Amused to Death. The gems of this release are: The Post War Dream, When The Tigers Broke Free, The Final Cut, Not Now John, and the incredible closing song Two Suns In The Sunset. While The Final Cut is not nearly as remarkable as The Wall, it is a great link from that masterpiece to Waters' solo career beginning with The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking.

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You can see a complete list of all Pink Floyd discography, or go back to the Pink Floyd tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.