Customer Reviews

Roger Waters - The Wall: Live In Berlin 1990

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

As a die-hard Pink Floyd fan, I wasn't very stunned by this DVD.
It's a big spectacular show and it must have been fabulous to all of the people who were there, but I'm not really fond of all the 'stars' like Brian Adams or Cindy Lauper who just don't fit in.
The Wall is a very good but also a very dark album, and it's not the right album to be played by a bunch of famous rockartists.
Most of the time I skip to the parts that Waters sings, for me, these are the highlights.

I really hope someday the original Wall-show (of '81) will be released on DVD of VHS.

Saturday, July 21, 1990 is a day I will never forget. Former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters & special guests performed a charity concert of the classic Floyd rock opera, "The Wall," at Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, Germany, to celebrate the tearing down of the Berlin Wall. I just so happened to be in England at the time, and I watched the worldwide broadcast of this staggering rock concert on BBC TV that evening, and it left an impression on me that has never gone away. This phenomenal show was and IS the ultimate in rock theater, and has never been surpassed. Since I never got to see Pink Floyd perform "The Wall" live back in 1980, watching the Berlin concert more than made up for that. 13 years later, this landmark concert has finally been released on DVD at last, and it still holds up magnificently. Granted, Pink Floyd themselves had nothing to do with this concert, as Roger Waters was (and still is) not on good terms with his former bandmates, but Roger, the main composer of "The Wall," is in top form in this show, and he alligned himself that evening with some pretty huge names in music---Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, members of The Band, Bryan Adams, Sinead O'Connor, the Scorpions, Paul Carrack, James Galway, Ute Lemper, as well as 80's staples Cyndi Lauper & Thomas Dolby, and many more. Along with an orchestra & chorus conducted by Michael Kamen---as well as the Marching Band Of The Combined Soviet Forces---Roger & his own Bleeding Heart Band, including guitarists Rick DiFonzo & Snowy White, play this famous rock concept album superbly, and the vocal turns by Roger and all the guest vocalists are marvelous. The production values, including the mammoth Wall itself (reportedly measuring 550 feet wide and 82 feet high), the gargantuan inflatables of the Teacher and Pig characters, the colorful costumes, props, lighting effects, Gerald Scarfe animations and other provocative projections shown on the Wall itself are all absolutely astonishing. And when you see that mighty Wall come crashing down brick by brick at the concert's end, it is one of the most phenomenal sights you will ever see. "The Wall: Live In Berlin" is also outstanding in that it is probably the only concert ever staged that is actually *better* to watch on TV than if you had actually been there live. The camerawork throughout is amazing, and takes you places that the live audience couldn't go: into the specially-built living room in the high corner of the Wall as Roger sings "One Of My Turns" and "Don't Leave Me Now," behind the Wall as Paul Carrack sings "Hey You," and high atop the Wall as Difonzo & White do their awesome guitar solos on "Comfortably Numb."Admittedly, the video version of "The Wall: Live In Berlin" has a little bit of touch-up work done on it, or, what is affectionately known in the business as "cheating." The power went out early in the show during Ute Lemper's "The Thin Ice," Roger's "Another Brick In The Wall Part 1," and again during Sinead O'Connor's "Mother," so the performances you see of "The Thin Ice" & "Another Brick...Part 1" were actually shot several hours *after* the concert had ended, and "Mother" was taken from footage of the final rehearsal that was done the previous night (Roger's lack of sunglasses during these songs is the giveaway). Also, Ute's portrayal of The Wife during "The Trial" sequence was also shot *after* the concert, as the camera malfunctioned during her live performance. But it certainly goes without saying that these touch-up performances were absolutely necessary in order to present the show in it's entirety, and besides, they blend in with the genuine live performances very seamlessly.Following in the footsteps of Pete Townshend, who brought The Who's classic rock opera "Tommy" to the Broadway stage, Roger Waters has been working for many years on a "proper" theatrical staging of Pink Floyd's "The Wall." Whether or not "The Wall" ever makes it to Broadway still remains to be seen, but, at the very least, Roger successfully brought the live rendition of the album to the masses in this landmark concert, blessedly recorded for posterity to be enjoyed again and again. "The Wall: Live In Berlin" is one of the most sensational rock concerts ever staged, and is a must-own DVD for every fan of this legendary concept album. Thank you, Roger!

I checked out of the Pink Floyd fan club after they released Wish You Were Here, perhaps their most accomplished work. (YMMV). So I never paid much attention to The Wall when it was released, though it was hard to avoid entirely due to the massive airplay it got. In fact, watching this DVD was the first time I'd heard The Wall in its entirety (minus the Outside The Wall song, which was not performed at the show). As such, it's caused me to dig out the CD and listen to it closely, gaining new appreciation for the work.

But think for a moment what this concert must have represented to the youth of E. Berlin when it was performed in 1990. Soon after the wall came down, some of the biggest names in music came to town and welcomed the former communists to western Europe. The parallels between the psychological prison of the CD and the real prison of the country must have brought much emotion to the surface. Too bad there wasn't much video coverage of the massive crowd of spectators.

Having different artists each sing a song from the album was inspired, and the choices of their songs seemed appropriate to me (when I later heard the CD, I could easily visualise how they came to choose Bryan Adams to sing that one song. And for me the Van Morrison rendition of Comfortably Numb was a great cover. Sure, it wasn't the same as the Floyd would do it, but that's not the point - he was paying homage to the band and participating in their success.

If you get a chance, block out some time and watch this DVD at one sitting on a surround-sound system. It's a great night out!

Ok, first of all you need to go into this realizing that The Wall is a performance piece...it really has very little to do with PINK FLOYD (other than the fact that one of it's members composed it)...similarly, just as you would with any proper opera...you need to forget about the celebrity status of the various performers and vocalists and just take their talents for what they are...there were less than half of the performers whom I care about the body of work they've produced, however...you can't argue with the fact that every single performer was talented enough to pull off their part and did a fine job...the casting wasn't ideal...but it was very inspired in my opinion.
I will admit I am a Roger Waters fan...Roger Waters was Pink Floyd (as in it's earlier incarnation Syd Barrett was) - the other members were just a very very good backing band...I certainly was never a fan of David Gilmours mumbling, monotone drone of a voice, but he is an excellent guitarist - as is the guitarist in Waters band...
If you think you can look at this as the spectacle that is The Wall ... in and of itelf... then go for it...if not...then take a pass on it...it will only annoy you.
I personally loved it and was glad to hear it being done differently from the Pink Floyd version (although that will always be the standard to judge it by)...I mean, I've heard it like that a zillion times in it's original incarnation.
The sound is fantastic and the visuals are excellent...it's a very good performance ...if you can get into it with no preconcieved notions...you'll enjoy yourself considerably.

I was floored with this concert. I sat in awe as I watched and listened in surround sound. If you haven't seen it, you are missing one of the best concerts ever. It is an unbelieveably huge production. It was so good I bought the CD as well.

with all the 'Should David G have been here or not' aside, this was a very good presentation. And since I had actually viewed it when it was presented way back when, I was concerned about the presentation of this DVD. (also curious as to why it took so long) All concerns were settled when I watched it. I love the performances, and the only one I really didn't care for was Cindy Laupers, but to great relief Joni Mitchell really spooked up the mix and so did S. O'Connor.. . those two gals really grasped the fear and anxiety in the music greatly...

And how about the Scorpions with IN THE FLESH.. quite a good job.

Last but not least, watching R. Waters sing Goodbye Blue Sky from a hole in the bricks was just great stuff.

I really hope Pink Floyd fans get this cd, and Roger Water/David Gilmore fans too... at least the fans can bridge the gap with this excellent product.

This was a fabulous show if not for THREE points:

1. David Gilmour wasn't there
2. They just "had" to put Sinead onstage, staring at her feet the whole time. I fail to see whats so great about her.
3. Roger Waters made a mistake in choosing Van Morrison to sing "Comfortably Numb." Van is a classic singer, no doubt, but he just doesn't have the right type of voice to sing "Comfortably Numb." If David Gilmour couldn't have been there to sing it, they should have used someone with a soft, mellow voice that could have sung the song the way it was MEANT to be sung. By the way, is there anyone out there that can tell me who the two main guitarists were? One guy was kinda skinny and had black shoulder length hair and played most of the guitar parts. The other guitarist played a Les Paul, mostly. Thanks. JonM11100@aol.com

My expectations were rather muted going into this. Primarily due to the "Celebrity" cast. I also had some real concerns over sound quality since it was recorded almost 15 years ago. The sound however is flat out amazing though. Although my issues with the Celebrity cast did not disappear, the quality of the sound and enormity of the production itself made the cast of characters seem less important. The list of those performers seems really stale today, but at the time of the show, they were all "A" list. I think some complaints I've read hold little merit or were the product of lack of understanding of the original source material. Someone said the scorpions attire was in bad taste for such an event. Well folks, that was on purpose! They were the "Surrogate" band which was supposed to be representative of all of the excess in rock and roll that has at one time or another caused many of us to lose sight of the music.

Although, I've never been a Sinead O'conner fan, I thought she was a perfectly appropriate representation of the child in Pink. Her vocals were also very moving. Again, I'm not a Brian Adams fan, but his gritty voice was an excellent fit for "Young Lust". And, no he wasn't really playing guitar, or at least he wasn't wired for sound. He, like the scorpions were there simply to provide vocals and window dressing. The music was thankfully performed strictly by Roger's amazing band. Joni Mitchell's performance was flat out creepy (in a good way)perfect for "Goodbye Blue Sky". Cindi lauper was nothing but annoying. Van morrison (who I love), seemed painfully out of place in this production. I ached for the return of David Gilmour's silky voice during Van's performance of "Comfortably Numb"

My biggest issue with the DVD was the camera angles and distances used for the bulk of the show. The show was so enormous that I think the best overall perspective would have been maybe a hundred and fifty feet or so from the stage. This view was curiously entirely absent. Everything was shot either up close (Like most concert footage), or so far away that the perfomers were merely a speck in the camera lense. These longs distance shots were used primarily between songs though and really did give the viewer an idea of just how huge the show was. In fact I would say the production was probably 4 to 5 times the size of Pink Floyds original prodution. All of the tight camera shots made me feel too much like I was watching a concert video rather than experiencing the show. Another interesting perspective was the footage shot behind the wall after the band had been completely closed off from the audience. It really made me appreciate how weird that must have been for Both Pink Floyd in the original performance and for Roger's band in this version. I mean here you are playing your heart out and you can't even see your audience, and you know they can't see you either. I would liked to have seen a little more of the audience perspective during this part of the show.

And to those Floyd fans who don't think the wall should be done without the original band, I do sympathize. But the fact is, they were asked to perform, and declined. Understandably, the bad blood between the Waters & Floyd camps was too much to overcome under such short notice, even for such a meaningful event and cause. But, the bottom line is that "The Wall" is Roger's brain child. You can count both the musical & lyrical credits of other band members for the double album on one hand. The wall is the least musical of the Floyd creations due to the lack of input of those other band members. But in pure lyrical and conceptual terms, I still feel it is once of the most brilliant and important works of my generation. I still hold out hope that some day, all of the members including Roger will be able to put their egos and bitterness aside and re-unite to produce new music and tour. Until that day however, I feel very fortunate to re-live the wall experience in this powerful incarnation.

Outstanding Rock/Stage performance. Waters did an excellent job of putting an ensemble of talented and complimentary musicians together for a momentous gathering with great music. With the exception of Van Morison and Cindy Lauper, the cameo musical quests did not detract from the great original score of The Wall. The DVD 5.1 re-mastered soundtrack sounded great and added to the nice visuals.

I'm a Pink Floyd fan, so anything about it is valid. Of course I did prefer the original band doing this concert, but Water's and his guests performance was fabulous! Remind me my youth at the best. I could give 6 stars if someone else could had sing instead Sinad. Great DVD, the image and sound is very nice for something recorded 15 years ago. You get a interview with Water (who complains about Sinad too)and producers at the end. A must for any Pink Floyd fan. It's no doubt the best musical DVD I have.