The Final Cut [Original recording remastered]

Between July and December of 1982, 'The Final Cut was born via various recording studios in England. Pink Floyd no longer featured Rick Wright who had played out the live 'Wall shows (1980 and 1981) knowing he was no longer required as Pink Floyd's keyboard player. His replacement on the next Pink Floyd record would be Michael Kamen; who would play piano and harmonium on the album. While Rick Wright didn't appear on the album at all, David Gilmour, who's vocal requirements on 'The Wall had been more sparse than previous Pink Floyd albums, would now only sing lead on one song 'Not Now John. Indeed Dave's very recognisable guitar solos would also hardly appear on the album, it seemed Roger saw 'The Final Cut, more as a solo project. In sound and vocal delivery 'The Final Cut has far more in common with Rogers' solo album 'The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, than any previous Pink Floyd albums. History would show that 'The Final Cut was Rogers last studio album with the Pink Floyd, his announced quitting of the band in 1985 did not surprise those close to the band or journalists who had witnessed close at hand the defragmenting of the band over the last 10 years. 'The Final Cut, is a very personal record for Roger Waters, something that is only fully understood when you discover the small dedication in the CD booklet, "For Eric Fletcher Waters 1913-1944, Eric was Roger's father who was killed during World War II. The subtitle for the album is 'a requiem for the post war dream. Roger's strong belief and concern that ran through the album, was that the promise of peace, post the second world war was being ethically and morally compromised.

As advertised on the circular sticker on the outer case of the CD, this album is remastered, but wasn't the 1997 reissue of 'The Final Cut also remastered. Well yes it was but, it is common knowledge that the understanding of digital transferring and the techniques now mastered by James Guthrie; have seen a huge leap in the abilities to remaster original analogue master tapes. Auditioning this new remastered version through headphones, reveals a fantastically rich sound and the space between each instrument is instantly recognisable. The CD booklet is also exactly the same as the 1997 reissue, which is 16 pages revealing additional art work over the 1983 original album release. The inclusion of the track 'When the Tigers Broke Free, has aroused some comments of concern but after a few plays it becomes part of the over all story and while Roger's vocal delivery on it does differ from the other songs on the album, the placing between the tracks 'One of the Few and 'The Hero's Return doesn't detract in any way the natural running order of the story. A pre-release CD was sent out (many thanks to Stuart) which comes in a simple paper cover with track details. In some European Countries a white label video EP was sent out as a promo item, this originally fuelled hopes that the OOP video EP might get a re-release but EMI and Pink Floyd Management Ltd (previously EMKA) have revealed there are no such plans. Although the album failed to chart in the UK this time, (in 1983 the album reached No. 1 with poor reviews!) it did receive positive reviews via the music press.