Roger Waters – The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking Review

When not drumming up controversy with his appearances on stage, Roger Waters is getting to grips with the bold artistic motives of the time. Where does a rockstar draw the line between personable family life and living in the luxurious lap of fame? It is not an issue for Waters now, whose pockets are lined with the never-ending amplifications and remakes of The Dark Side of the Moon, but it was when he embarked on a bold solo career. Being defined by a band means the artist on their own must overcome it with a sound better than what is perceived as their best work. The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking is a powerful endeavour, a personable experience from Waters who tried to do just that. Get bigger than he was with Pink Floyd. You cannot fault him for trying.  

Waking up at this ridiculously early time is bound to bring on the screams, the nightmare, heard in opener 4:30 AM (Apparently They Were Travelling Abroad). A sense of storytelling from song to song is crucial to this Waters release, much of it dependent on the guitar flourishes which would guide David Gilmour in his solo efforts too. For those who are fearful of this being a swipe at Pink Floyd, well, there is no way of escaping that feeling given the constant back-and-forth between Gilmour and Waters. Yet here is an instrumentally charged shift away from the progressive rock which defined their efforts together. Waters dives head-first into this acoustic and electric battle. It lifts more from the standards of rock opera and narrative-driven songs than anything else. Rogers does not reinvent himself but he does give his style and tone a fresh layer, a new edge.  

Shimmering string sections, lush guitar tones and the occasional moan from a backing vocalist. These are the fresh layers which give Waters a literal, bright morning. It feels like the reawakening of some narrative spirit he was trying to mould with Pink Floyd. Granted, they are the best of his efforts, but there is something rather fascinating about The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking. Waters plays well with silence and the build it can create, the boom and rush of instrumental brilliance heard on 4:33 AM (Running Shoes) claws at the obvious notions of what to do in a mid-life crisis. Early mornings and taking up running is not the solution, the screams and carnival-like mockery heard on 4:37 AM (Arabs with Knives and West German Skies) should be enough to stave off the usual routes of a personal catastrophe.  

What The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking suffers from, and also excels at, depends on what you want from Waters at this point in his career, is an inability to stand out. Everything flows so well, the crashing waves of life and the erosion of the crossroads come for us all. This is where uniqueness dies. Nothing from Waters stands out here and yet they should, there are subtle saxophone additions which feel like rigid and defining points and yet Waters cannot land them all. The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking feels like it needs a visual presence as The Wall had, but no such luck for Waters. Instead, he relies on the self-revolution and the bold markers we seek out for the sake of keeping ourselves interesting. It is a fantastic first listen, though it is rather stunning how little of it sticks around in the mind.  

4:41 AM (Sexual Revolution) should have a far greater impact than it does. Yet for all its brilliance there is little separating it from the rest of the tracks. Perhaps it is too slick for its own good. Concurrent recording with The Wall certainly gives Waters trouble, but it appears he reserved the best project for himself. Gilmour was the man who found more interest in The Wall, and the switch to Eric Clapton’s instrumental choices on The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking is a damning move. They do on The Wall. Still, there is plenty to feast on, with the fret brilliance of these first six parts and the groove holding up the latter half of the album. It is a project better than a lot of the Pink Floyd output.  

The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking benefit wholly from its concept. What few weaker moments there are embedded in these tracks are overhauled by the wider cause, the greater good at play. Instrumentally sound but never catching a stroke of brilliance, Waters has a powerful presence here which he had in Pink Floyd. Maintaining that is the greatest surprise because he is without the band which had defined his career up to this point. We must never forget how band leaders leaping into the solo fray are taking a monumental risk which could become their undoing. For Waters and the concept albums to follow, are often neat and rich with influences from the early 1970s of fiction, and that much has left an impression on his work since. The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking benefits best of all.