I've been listening to this release for a while now. I can see how some listeners might anoint this as the best of the Waters solo albums. The disk is loaded with many things that will remind you of post WYWH Floyd music. So many in fact, that it almost sounds a little too recycled. The Waters list is there (ya know, a list like "Home" from KAOS, The ending part of "Dogs", "Eclipse" from DSOTM). The Waters echo is there (where the last syllable for the lyric is repeated over and over), on one track its overly used. Youll hear melodies that sound much like the material on "The Wall" and "The Final Cut". Even the opening track will sound familiar, like a re-do of "The Ballad of Bill Hubbard". There are ticking clocks and heartbeats and barking dogs throughout.
The sound is very Floydian... except...
The electric guitar work is very subdued. In the past Waters always had some guitar god step in and do his best, be it Clapton, Beck, whoever. Not so this time. Piano and acoustic guitar is at the forefront of this music, along with a lot of string arrangements. Very few of the tracks feature any substantial electric guitar work at all.
Its political as all get out, and in the true Waters tradition, there are lots of rants and observations made, but never is a solution offered.
The Audio is OK. Not great. I cant put my finger on it, but this one just sounds a bit more lifeless than the previous solo outings. I have the CD. Its been mentioned that the vinyl is better sounding.
At any rate, if you like the acoustic portions of "The Wall", "The Final Cut", "Animals", and most of Waters solo stuff, You'll like this too. Its all cut from the same cloth. If it had an excellent surround mix, I'd give it an 8.5, and surprisingly, it wouldn't loose much for the content.... it IS that Floyd-like.