18-05-2010, 17:52
I was 16 when I saw my first Wall show, and it blew me to pieces. They played again the following year to get some film for the forthcoming movie - which was never used - so I managed to see the show again.
I am familiar with the Berlin show, but it's always left me a bit cold. Spectacular, certainly, but a little disjointed with the frequent vocalist changes. It's not on DVD, but the live Is There Anybody Out There ? album would be my preferred live version.
Regarding the Waters/Gilmour question, I'm firmly in the Waters camp. DG is a brilliantly talented guitarist & a good singer IMV, but he can't write songs. The creative writer was always Waters, and whilst he can't sing at all his vocals are full of character.
On balance, guitarists are easier to replace than song-writers - especially one as strong as Waters - as Waters' previous tours have demonstrated, where he's used a string of excellent guitarists who have done a good job of emulating DG. So comparing Waters' solo work with the Pink-Floyd-lite albums released under the band name, I'd have to opt for the Waters stuff as the most Floyd-like.
As to whether the band would have survived with Waters remaining, I doubt it. By the time of the split, he'd fired the fragile Richard Wright, and by all accounts was every bit the ego-maniac "Rock Star" arsehole, so I think solo status was inevitable sooner or later...
BTW the fave quote on your profile is familiar from the Take no Prisoners live album, which I've always loved to bits...
I am familiar with the Berlin show, but it's always left me a bit cold. Spectacular, certainly, but a little disjointed with the frequent vocalist changes. It's not on DVD, but the live Is There Anybody Out There ? album would be my preferred live version.
Regarding the Waters/Gilmour question, I'm firmly in the Waters camp. DG is a brilliantly talented guitarist & a good singer IMV, but he can't write songs. The creative writer was always Waters, and whilst he can't sing at all his vocals are full of character.
On balance, guitarists are easier to replace than song-writers - especially one as strong as Waters - as Waters' previous tours have demonstrated, where he's used a string of excellent guitarists who have done a good job of emulating DG. So comparing Waters' solo work with the Pink-Floyd-lite albums released under the band name, I'd have to opt for the Waters stuff as the most Floyd-like.
As to whether the band would have survived with Waters remaining, I doubt it. By the time of the split, he'd fired the fragile Richard Wright, and by all accounts was every bit the ego-maniac "Rock Star" arsehole, so I think solo status was inevitable sooner or later...
BTW the fave quote on your profile is familiar from the Take no Prisoners live album, which I've always loved to bits...