Great Rock Albums of 1980: Pink Floyd- The Wall
For many people, this was the album of 1980. It was one of those albums I got to listen to extensively without ever having to buy it because everyone I knew had it. Of course, in the realms of top 40 singles, the album is best known for the number one single, “Another Brick In the Wall Part 2.” That single crossed a huge section of listeners as I remember both country music lovers and soul music lovers all listening to the song. Even my then disco loving little sister liked it and an ex girl friend said this was their school’s rallying song when her school walked out of class in protest. I can’t remember what they were protesting about.
As anyone who wasn’t blinkered by the singles charts could tell you, that song didn’t define the album. There were some other great songs on it and for me these included, “Mother,” “Goodbye Blue Sky” and “Comfortably Numb.” “The Wall” continued Pink Floyd’s tendency to want to listen to them when you needed to lay back and mellow out, especially after you have been puffing the magic dragon. That is what defines this album the most. For me and many others I knew, it was THE party album of 1980. This album was listened to over and over again to while consuming many beers and other substances and in that year, there was no other album where I could enjoy so much while catching a buzz.
It wasn’t just the fact that “The Wall” carried on the Pink Floyd tradition of making music conducive to the party atmosphere. Like some of their earlier albums, I was very much amused by the some of the talking parts between and during the songs. I still smile when I hear “Look mummy, there’s any airplane in the sky” before “Goodbye Blue Sky” and of course the teacher at the end of “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2” who bellows, “If you don’t eat your meat, you can have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat?” Back then, there was an X- rated version to that as well.
Track Listing:
1. In the Flesh?
2. The Thin Ice
3. Another Brick in the Wall Part 1
4. The Happiest Days of Our Lives
5. Another Brick in the Wall Part 2
6. Mother
7. Goodbye Blue Sky
8. Empty Spaces
9. Young Lust
10. One of My Turns
11. Don’t Leave Me Now
12. Another Brick in the Wall Part 3
13. Goodbye Cruel World
14. Hey You
15. Is Anybody Out There
16. Nobody Home
17. Vera
18. Bring the Boys Back Home
19. Comfortably Numb
20. The Show Must Go On
21. In the Flesh
22. Run Like Hell
23. Waiting for the Worms
24. Stop
25. The Trial
26. Outside the Wall
Dave Gilmour- guitars, vocals, clavinet, sound effects
Roger Waters- vocals, bass, synthesisers, sound effects
Nick Mason- drums, percussion
Richard Wright- organ, piano, electric piano, bass pedals
If you want to either mellow out at the weekend or take a trip back in history, you can kill two birds with one stone with this iconic album from Pink Floyd. This is an ultimate party album, not just for 1980 but for all time.
Next Post: Rush- Permanent Waves
To buy Rock And Roll Children, go to http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/RockAndRollChildren.html
Also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Froogle and on sale at Foyles Book Shop in London
April 11, 2013 at 11:02 am
Top album Mike. Your review sums it up precisely. Looking forward to the next one.
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April 12, 2013 at 2:59 am
You picked a whiz-bang album here from Pink Floyd and that’s for certain! Iconic to the maximum degree \m/\m/
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April 12, 2013 at 4:08 pm
Definitely, I think this album is considered iconic universally
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April 12, 2013 at 4:08 pm
Thanks John, and I’ll try to do the next one justice
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April 13, 2013 at 5:31 pm
Funny thing, I’m listening to “comfortably nunb” as I stumbled on your post. Floyd was my first door which lead me to rock & today after 11’yrs am a proud \,,/metal head \,,/
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April 14, 2013 at 5:59 pm
Maybe it was a sign from the Gods of Metal, lol. This album led many people such as yourself into rock and then metal, that’s why it is such a classic.
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April 14, 2013 at 6:09 pm
True again.
And in a way to thank and to contribute to Metal, I’m doing my Masters dissertation on ‘Heavy Metal Music in India’. Peek in: http://wp.me/3kW7h
\,,/
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April 16, 2013 at 7:09 pm
Your dissertation sound cool best of luck on it. If you are looking for historical information on heavy metal in the 1980s, then I can recommend my book Rock And Roll Children. While it is fiction, I went through great pains to ensure historical accuracy in regards to the decade and heavy metal. Just click the link on any of my posts.
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April 17, 2013 at 1:03 pm
Thank you will be sure to check it out \,,/
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April 17, 2013 at 5:42 pm
I can also recommend reading “Rock And Roll Children”. Mike paints a picture of how it is to be very isolated from the mainstream in terms of how we were looked down on by the majority of our peers and elders. What they could not understand is that we were proud to be in a club that they would never be part of. They had an open invitation, but they just didn’t get it. I got into Metal when I was 15, nearing my 50th birthday now and it still has to be fast and really loud.
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April 18, 2013 at 5:59 pm
Thank you very very much Shaddrack! Thanks for stating the very point that I was trying to make when I wrote the book. See, critics have accused me of over pounding the point about metalheads being discriminated against. Well we were, but it did not stop us from going out and enjoying the music we love so much. Thanks again!
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April 22, 2013 at 3:30 pm
This is a band I only got into recently and this is definitely my one of my favourites of there’s. The opening is fantastic. Great songwriting and playing. Strange to think the band was starting to come apart at this point.
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April 24, 2013 at 9:18 am
Yes it is strange to think that especially with such a great album as this
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