The Wall overrated?

Personally, I think you have to keep the context of The Wall in mind in order to fully appreciate it...

There wasn't anything new about concept albums in '79, but the Wall was a much bigger project than most. I think, too, that you have to keep in mind the technologies used in production were far behind what is available today. Ever heard of an Echoplex, or a Prophet, or a Rhodes? All hybrid electromechanical (well, not the Prophet; it used comb filters and VCO's, NOT digital) and really touchy to get set up.

To get an idea of the progress since then, try watching the original Star Wars... The special effects are cheesy by today's standards, but no one had seen anything like it at the time. And the comparison holds true for the Wall.

Things that any musician can buy over the counter in a local music shop today had to be specially constructed (like, say, the cash register in DSotM). Plus, the songs were unique compared to other mainstream music at the time... Led Zeppelin, Supertramp, Rolling Stones, Queen (Fat-Bottomed Girls. Yeah!) were all great sellers, but none of them sounded like PF.

It was widely understood at the time (at least among my peers) that the Wall was going to be PF's last album, with one and only one* public performance (in LA). So there were very high expectations... Money and WYWH were pretty much PF's only radio hits** back then, and the Wall was expected to surpass them. Which it did.

We played the hell out of it... The Wall isn't my favorite, either, but it was unique at the time and completely deserving of the attention it got.

*This turned out to be as true as the Rolling Stones farewell concert in '82... and '83... and '84...

**Yes, Animals was incredibly popular, but didn't fit the three-minute play limit very well... The stations used to try editing, but it just bitched it all up. I seem to recall hearing Sheep once in awhile...

i think the wall is very much so overrated.

Overrated? The Wall? Well, maybe a little but not really, musically not the greatest, but lyrically definetly one of the better ones.

Wow! RT : Footnotes and all! Cool...

I agree with you Rob to some extent, but I also believe that it stands up as a piece of work regardless of context. At face (er, ear) value it still sounds huge and wonderfully produced (probably far denser than anything they'd done to date) and as rich in creativity as many things that have been recently produced with comtemporary sound design techniques. Considering The Wall is very much 'of its time', in terms of band development/relationships and being at the edge of 1970's production techniques, its beauty is that it has that 'timeless' quality that so many great pieces of music have. If you can purloin a copy of MOJO Magazine #73 (December 1999), Bob Ezrin recounts some fascinating insight into how this record evolved.

For my money, it's a great but flawed record. Too sprawling in concept to fit into the format (of what was at the time) of a single piece of vinyl, but deficient in music to truely sustain all four sides.

Two out of three of these criteria were met by DSOTM.

Does that mean it's 66 percent overrated?

Ah, I think that's another debate entirely...

I don't mind the way the songs are structured, really. I enjoy The Wall very much, I might call it a bit overrated but not sold-out.

Over-rated? Maybe, but I want some better reasons.
Roger Waters let out his inner most feelings on his life. It was all about him, that may have been the only problem, sort've self obessed. But then again, look at all the things he said..

And another reason it was so popular. One song, Another Brick In The Wall Part II. The line "We don't need no education," made people like it. I can tell ya that with all honesty. All my friends know that one song, but no other. It was played more than others, and even when you listen to "Is there there anybody out there?" the cd, whne the start that song, everyone...EVERYONE goes wild. It's a crowed pleaser. Becuase not many people are into school..

But a sell out album? Becuase they didn't make any spacey sounds, with high pitched screams? I don't think so, it's a differnt genre all together. Because then again, listen to all their songs...they all are differnt..

::EDIT::
Think how many males could relate to the whole thing to. It was the generation that was born from the WW2 generation, and many divorced males whos fathers died in WW2 could relate.
I mean I'm only 13, and I'm totally obessed with Pink, I mean Animals, Meddle, The Piper At the Gates of Dawn are all awesome, and they have a few more plus's. But The Wall, I feel you could relate to. I mean, have you ever had someone you really liked, not pay attension to you? Or ignore you? Or even cheat on you? I'm sure. And Roger is just expressing his feeligns..Nothing is wrong with that. Is is?

Life's a bitch when you're 13 huh?

The Wall would be my least favourite PF album. I think the statement a few posts back that CN sounds like an Elton John song and that metalheads love the two solos defeats itself. I doubt metalheads love the song but I can tell you that guitarists love it and in a favourite PF song poll it came in as number one with the fans.
The Wall is the first album that made me want to strangle Roger even though he is a great lyricist. At the time I thought it was a depressing record and that Roger besides whining about his dad showed his general contempt for the fans. I have not listened to it for years and never bothered buying it on cd. These days when the average person thinks of Pink Floyd they do think of The Wall which is a pity because there are far better PF albums.

Check, check, check. I should be a complete reject susidal person who blows up the school. Because I went through the divorce, death and all that other crap. But in all honesty, I have nothing to complain about, and i'm as happy as can be! I guess it's because i'm so damn selfish

What are you waffling about YS8??

Wrong thread..hehe.

Hair where there wasn't hair before.

Strange...er...growths.

A new found interest in Fuzzy Bunny.

How confusing