Is This the Life We Really Want?

Not sure why anyone woud conisder a hasbeen genius to come up with a good album after over 20 years after putting out a rock album that wasn't even good in the first place. He hasn't had a decent album since The Final Cut or a great one since The Wall. Roger Waters obviously doesn't have an itch he NEEDS to scratch, artistically. Every once in a while he wakes up groucny... like when Hillary Clinton got beat, which a lot of people were happy about... and so he decided to put his moody, old man's straining vocals to use. The only decent song sounds exactly like classic Pink Floyd ("Come in here dear boy, Smell the Roses"), which will tell you: He knows to progress is to regress, especially since repressing means to jump back on when he used to progress. But without the melodic voice of David Gilmour to counter him (and Gilmour has the same problem lacking Waters' depth), or those guitar solos that left a timeless impression upon Roger's canvas, our man, once great, resides where he predicted he would in his heyday... On the dark side of the moon.

Another liberal full of himself and let Trump get in the way of reason.

Beautiful album throughout but it falls short of amused to Death which is possibly his best work ever. Most underrated song The Most Beautiful Gitl

I am coming back to this review which I wrote after I had a few good listens to the album. Now, nearly two years later, I am liking it even more. It has worn incredibly well with time. It is probably my most listened to album in the last several years - It is that good. Lyrics are par for Waters, but musically this is the most ‘Pink Floyd’ of his solo albums...though Amused to Death may still be my favorite. It’s close. They are both excellent. A lot of the reviews here are from folks who don’t care for his politics - or outright disagree with them, so I understand why there is such a mix of reviews. You have to give the man credit. He is willing to stand up and say what he thinks is right. As albums go - it is well produced and well written. The tracks are tight - and while Waters may not have the best voice on the planet, he sounds very good. I like the vast majority of the tracks. Give it a try “What do you have to lose?”

I am a huge Floyd fan, and Roger waters will always be one of the best song writers of all time. But he has chosen to write about politics in his old age. And unfortunately he put politics in front of music, very BORING

Giant fan of Roger but this album is weak as it seems to just recycle many previous "sounds" or paths. Ok, I still like it but it pales in comparrison to "Amused to Death". Wish he would sing about banksters....ok, subprime loans mentioned is close. UPDATE July 2019. After listening and listening I now find this album shallow. Why? Poor guitar, poor theme over and over and over, poor keyboards and just plaint unlistenable more than once. It really is a bad album. Roger, get over yourself and write full songs, not rehashed sounds and laments. I don't like it.

True to form Pink Floyd influenced with a strong protest flag for progressives! Viva Gilets Jaunes!!!

Sonically pleasing and lyrically disturbing. To be listened through in entirety with no distraction. Incredible piece of work.

Almost a continuation of Amused To Death, some people might be disappointed with the lack of guitar solos. Those people are missing some real Great music. The music is largely hidden behind the lyrics, in other words he doesn’t stop singing or playing sound effects to let you hear the intricacies of the music. He gives it to you all at once and it’s amazing but the casual listener will miss out. Like with most of waters work you have to listen to every sound there is not a single sound on the album but is not intentionally there. When his voice cracks, his voice cracks intentionally, it’s part of the mood of the song and the album. Likewise when you hear a snippet of music from an earlier album, it’s not Waters reusing old material. It’s Waters reminding listeners of the concept covered in that earlier work. It’s pure Genius he manages to convey entire concepts with a few well placed notes! It’s an incredible idea as far as I know a completely new idea, and very well executed!

This would have not surprised me had it been the first album after Waters broke from Pink Floyd, but after listening to his other three albums (four counting The Final Cut) extensively (Radio Chaos hasn't really aged well though), this just does not seem like a progression of the Roger Waters sound. It really sounds like Pink Floyd minus the influence and spark that Wright and Gilmore gave (not trying to cut out Nick Mason, but he was not a huge creative driving force in the band like the others imho). I feel some of this may have to do with the production of the album. Why hire a man who was critical of your earlier work when it was so successful? Also on the production side, putting more focus on Waters' vocals while stripping down the music is probably not the greatest idea considering Waters' vocals are aging. While that sound has worked for many artists (Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash, etc) it does not work here especcially with how bare bones they went with the vocals: no reverb, echo, or anything for the most part thorughout the album. A lot of rehashed Pink Floyd riffs and straight up rip offs just makes it all sould so...over. I love Floyd and I love Waters' music, but this is just a been there done that sooo much better before. Even his angst sounds weak and forced. OK album but on the entirety of the "Floyd Family Tree" of albums, this is down the list a long ways.