Product Description

This is not a pretty album. Described as "a requiem for thepost war drama" it is Pink Floyd at their most miserable. In addition to the somber lyrics and themes explored by RogerWaters, it was recorded while the band were so fragmented, they had effectively broken up. Gilmour and Waters' feud hasbeen well documented and this could well have been titled THE FINAL STRAW. The only hint of lightness and humour throughout is in "Not Now John", but only in the shape of irony ("Can't stop lose job mind gone silicon"). Not an album to be played at parties or anniversaries.

Track Listing

1. The Post War Dream
2. Your Possible Pasts
3. One Of The Few
4. When The Tigers Broke Free
5. The Hero's Return
6. The Gunners Dream
7. Paranoid Eyes
8. Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert
9. The Fletcher Memorial Home
10. Southampton Dock
11. The Final Cut
12. Not Now John
13. Two Suns In The Sunset

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2583 in Music
• Released on: 2004-03-29
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered

Customer Reviews

Sign of the Times
Although subjected to much criticism, The Final Cut is Pink Floyd (or rather Roger Waters) firing on all cylinders. Less operatic in tone than The Wall, this is a sad lament for the period in English history that was effectively strangled by the watershed that was the early nineteen-eighties. The beligerent 'forward' march of Thatcherism, and the shallow nationalism and electoral opportunism that this entailed is documentaed in painful detail. The end of the 'Post-War Dream' that was ushered in by the Falklands war, and the sustained attack on collecetive society is charted here in all its painful 'glory'. The horror of war that was airbrushed out of the consciousness of the body politic, and replaced by carefully controlled and managed spin which stressed a bastardised 'Dunkirk spirit' under the reign of Thatcher and the acolytes of the political right runs through the The Final Cut like some cancerous growth. This makes the album difficult listening in parts, but essential nonetheless. From the opening lament of The Post War Dream, via The Gunners Dream, The Fletcher Memorial Home and the stunning The Final Cut, this is the most essential Floyd album, notably because it offers an insight into a lost world, and the emergence of a new world order where priorities fundamentally changed and the belief in collective betterment were submerged beneath shallow jingoism and the triumph of the individualistic spirit. This is not just a requiem for Waters, but for everyone, and for this reason alone should be required listening to all who seek to understand the human spirit in all its frailties, and how this can be betrayed by the selfish actions of a delusional few in their quest for glory and personal gain.

Ignored for too long.........
Having studiously ignored this PF effort for decades (mostly on the misguided advice of friends) I have had a wonderful awakening.
Always shied away from Rogers solo stuff until recently (Thanks Classic Rock for the heads up) and having seen the excellent recent o2 show I took the plunge and delved into the RW back catalogue and finally the Final Cut.
Wow what a revelation !. RW dishes up the usual doom and gloom but dig deep and the voice of the work shines thru. Seems fantastically relevant today as much as it did in the eighties but what really suprised me was the depth and texture crafted in. Obviously not enough DG but this is not the clunker I thought .
Tigers broke free is one of the most heart breaking tracks ever recorded and feels totally at home in this collection
Listen carefully because this album has a lot to say

High End Pink Floyd
This is my favourite Floyd work. The tensions of the band spill over and the bitterness comes through in Waters eloquent cynicism. How often have bands produced their best work whilst breaking up. It is as if each member wants his own swansong. This is one album to play on the headphones right the way through. You cannot fail to be moved by the lyrics, the orchestration and Gilmour's sublime fretwork. The final cut, yes it was. It is better that together (Mason, Wright and Waters) they made so few albums as it enables to appreciate their works as rare art. I am glad the real Pink Floyd ended with the final cut.