Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site tellab1.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!lll-crg!ucdavis!ucbvax!decvax!bellcore!petrus!magic!nvc!sabre!zeta!epsilon!gamma!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxn!ihnp4!tellab1!barth From: barth@tellab1.UUCP (Barth Richards) Newsgroups: net.music Subject: re: THE WALL Message-ID: <690@tellab1.UUCP> Date: Wed, 6-Nov-85 13:12:47 EST Article-I.D.: tellab1.690 Posted: Wed Nov 6 13:12:47 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 9-Nov-85 07:01:33 EST Reply-To: barth@tellab3.UUCP (Barth Richards) Followup-To: net Distribution: net Organization: Tellabs, Inc., Lisle, IL Lines: 79 Keywords: Pink Floyd, THE WALL Some thoughts on recent net comments about Pink Floyd's THE WALL: In article <4116@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU> quint@topaz.UUCP (Amqueue) writes: >In article <2416@sjuvax.UUCP> kirsch@sjuvax.UUCP (P. Kirsch) writes: > >>even like Led Zep IV that much?? Why is The Wall "history's stupidest >>concept album?? Because it's the true story of Roger Water's life?? Maybe > >I thought it was from Sid Barrett's life... much of Floyd's stuff seems >to be psychologically oriented, form the point of view of a slightly >sick psyche... I always thought it was because Barrett went nuts. What's >this about Waters? There are shades of Syd Barrett in the character of Pink, ("I've got the obligitary Hendrix perm...I've got elastic bands keeping my shoes on") but Pink is primarily based on Roger Water's own life. Roger, like Pink, never knew his father (who was a WWII casualty in both cases), had overbearing teachers that he hated, had a wife who cheated on him, and freaked out during one show on the ANIMALS tour (actually, probably more than one. I have a bootleg from that tour at the end of which Roger rather sarcastically says "Well, it's been really great watching you all beat the shit out of each other. Another time, he saw this kid in the front row who was going crazy: cheering, screaming, yelling, jumping up and down through the whole show, not even listening to the music. Finally, Roger motioned to the kid to approach the stage. The kid, of course, was enthralled. His god was calling, so he stepped forward. Whereupon Roger let forth with a great FTUPMTH and spat square in the kid's face.) In article <198@mit-eddie.UUCP> nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (Doug Alan) writes: >In any case, perhaps "The Wall" is "rediculously self-indulgent >egotistical whining"? But so? A lot of his problems are universal, and >he doesn't endlessly repeat one certain complaint or anything. He >criticises just about everything, and I agree with him on most of them >too. He puts it all wonderfully poetically, and the music is incredibly >atmospheric. "The Wall" is a masterpiece of musical imagery. True. Tragedy is usually one character's story, but the idea is to see how this one person's experience relates to everyone. I think if one stops trying so hard to hate THE WALL, the message might come to mean more than "whining." In article <198@mit-eddie.UUCP> nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (Doug Alan) writes: >> From: rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Rich Rosen) >> Didn't he go through a divorce around this time? > >I dunno. One might think so from the movie.... Yes, he did. In article <1985@pyuxd.UUCP> rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Rich Rosen) writes: >The difference is that the others had something worth saying about their >experiences, and didn't succumb to melodramatic whining (even Lennon's >first solo album, a real catharsis, has more real power than self-pity). > >His message wasn't >effective to me, nothing of substance other than the whining came across. And what is your criteria for "worth saying"? I find that the term "melodrama" comes easily to the lips of those who want to criticize a story of a tragic nature, but aren't sure what they can use to support their criticism. >Though there IS some great music on the album. This is true. Barth Richards Tellabs, Inc. Lisle, IL "A friend of mine sent me a picture postcard with a satelite photo of the entire planet on it, and on the back he wrote, "Wish you were here." -Steven Wright