1990 Wall Live In Berlin [Live]

Like McCartney without Lennon, Waters without Gilmour suffers the same fate and this album is no exception. The Wall:Live in Berlin, while a carnival of 80's rockers and political drama, more than anything else makes us long for the magical synergy of Roger Waters and David Gilmour. What we are left with on this album (as well as the two post-Waters Floyd albums) is a hapless failure that results when one of these two brilliant musicians and songwriters is missing from the equation.

There are brilliant moments on this set. Brian Adams is thrilling on Young Lust and Joni Mitchell is quite good on Goodbye Blue Sky. Paul Carrack gets a pass on Hey You, but his vocals are uninspiring compared to Gilmour's. Sadly, it is the disappointments that speak the loudest on this set. Van Morrison's vocals on Comfortably Numb literally could not have been any worse. He is so bad that it almost ruins the entire album. He sounds drunk and bloated and can barely even stay in the right key. Cindy Lauper's inclusion on Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 did not help much either.

What else can you say about a celebrity reenactment of Pink Floyd's swansong? I am sure this was a magical concert to witness. But in the end, it is the Waters-Gilmour Floyd that will be remembered.

When I borrowed this CD from a friend, I was very excited to hear Roger Waters play The Wall in its entirety live, plus guest stars like Van Morrison, The Band, Sinead O' Conner, and Cyndi Lauper, raising my anticipations even more.
Overall, the CD wasn't a complete disappointment. The first thing I noticed is that the instrumental equalization wasn't as great as I had hoped. The drums seem to overpower the guitar, and being a guitarist myself, it was a bit irritating. I do not think that the guitar level was quite there; it wasn't as audible as I would've liked.
Also, one thing that has really griped me about this album are the vocals. Having guest stars perform is a good idea, but I think that the choice of who-sings-what-songs was done poorly. "Happiest Days of Our Lives" really builds up the drama, but once you hear Cyndi Lauper singing "We don't need no education," the mood is killed. No offense to Lauper, she's a good singer, she just wasn't right for the song. Also, Gilmour's vocal part during "Comfortably Numb" was replaced with the voices of a few men singing. In my personal opinion, it just doesn't quite make the cut.
Now don't get me wrong here, there are plenty of things I like that Waters did. For instance, he elongated "Empty Spaces" a couple minutes longer and added a guitar solo, which I think was done wonderfully. Second, "Another Brink in the Wall Pt. 2" was also elongated, featuring two guitar solos (by two different guitarists) and a solo by a keyboardist, which doesn't really do anything for me, but it doesn't detract from the song. Unfortunately I don't know who they were by name. And lastly, I like the performance of "The Tide is Turning" at the end, it's a nice touch. It helped make up for some of the other gaps.

Overall, it's not too bad. It has its pros, it has its cons. If you have a few spare dollars, it wouldn't hurt to get this. But if you're looking for an excellent Pink Floyd/Roger Waters album to spend your precious money on (if you're poor like me), then you might want to move on from this one.

There have been a lot of criticisms of the 1990 Berlin performance, but they all miss the point. The 1990 Wall concert was a social commentary, and was a part of the historical backdrop. Moreover, it was never intended to be experienced only by the ears. For Floyd purists, the original studio tracks that were laid down cannot be surpassed. If one simply listens to the 1990 performance you will come away disappointed in many respects. If, however, you watch the concert (BTW, it is playing on DirecTV this month, Aug 2003) and THEN listen to the audio tracks with the memory of the visuals, you will have a much greater appreciation of the event. Cyndi Lauper, for example, has been panned by every reviewer here. I think the energy she brought to the performance was exactly what was called for and is a credit to Waters for selecting her. I hate Sinead O'Connor but her performance here was brilliant, as was Joni Mitchell. I do think Van Morrison's performance was the low point of the concert but was not sufficiently bad to detract from the overall effect. The Wall concert in Berlin is one of my favorites, and I grew up listening to Waters & Gilmours sublime perfection in the studio. My recommendation? SEE the concert first. Once you do, you'll want this soundtrack in your audio library, and it won't get old no matter how often you listen to it. If you have both a good sound system as well as video, this is one you'll watch over and over, and like a fine wine it will age well.