Pink Floyd fans have pointed to a post-The Wall album as one of the “best” releases by any member of the band.
The solo concept albums created by Roger Waters were highlighted as a magnificent continuation of the band after his departure in 1985. His last work with Pink Floyd was 1983’s The Final Cut, and his solo career began just a year later with the underrated The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking. Eight years on and he released Amused to Death, which fans of Pink Floyd are saying is the best release from any band member after The Wall. David Gilmour’s self-titled debut, which released in 1978, has also been credited as one of the best solo efforts from a member of Pink Floyd.
Taking to the r/PinkFloyd subreddit, one fan asked: “Thoughts on this album? I like Amused to Death but to be honest I still prefer The Division Bell and the best tracks off A Momentary Lapse of Reason.” Fans of the album have since weighed in on Amused to Death’s legacy, and many cited it as their favourite solo effort from any Pink Floyd member.
One wrote: “It’s my favourite solo Pink Floyd album, albeit a tad long.” But another user suggested it was too short, and wanted to hear “more of the story” it was creating. Another added: “It’s good, but it’s very Roger. Take that how you want. I would recommend every Pink Floyd fan give it one spin.”
A third added: “It’s Roger’s best solo work, yeah, maybe take out just a couple of songs. I really didn’t know it until the ‘in the flesh” live album came out, and then I bought it, I recommend it listening all the way through on headphones.” Other users suggested another release from Waters could be slightly better than Amused to Death.
They wrote: “My second favorite Roger solo after Is This the Life We Really Want?” Another agreed, adding: “Is This the Life We Really Want? is the best Pink Floyd-related release since The Final Cut.” But others believe Amused to Death is his last great work, and say Waters’ work in the studio has not reached this level since.
They wrote: “Roger’s last recorded masterpiece. His live work from 1999 onwards has been outstanding but he has not created a work of this magnitude in the studio since.” Another wrote: “I would say if it had the name ‘Pink floyd’ on it, we would be talking about it in the same breath as The Dark Side of the Moon or Wish You Were Here.
“I think it’s easily the best Pink Floyd solo album and I also think of all the many, many 5.1 albums I own, it is the best. It is almost like it was designed for 5.1. The closest in my collection would be Aero by Jean Michel Jarre, that is just CRAZY.”
Another user disagreed with this assessment, adding: “I think this is a bit of an exaggeration. It would not break the top five Pink Floyd albums for me and while I think it’s a great album, I think there is a wide margin between it and albums like Wish You Were Here and The Dark Side of the Moon.”
FWIW , why didnt Roger redo Radio KAOS?
– am I alone in this? Great material with horrible production
That album NEEDS it!!! Those synths are so dated , no one has heard its message and its a great album, great concept…totally Floyd…iust f____ by 1980s production?
Damn, I forgot about that album! It was great! Used to listen to that and, “The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking”. over and over in my cassette player while driving.
Totally agree he should redo Radio Kaos. On his last tour he played ‘Powers That Be’ which was reworked and it sounded amazing.
For me, a huge Floyd fan, AtoD is an absolute masterpiece and the best PF/PF related album. It’s a complete desert island disc for me. Perfect!
I agree, KAOS could use a redo. It came out around the Momentary Lapse album. If that music had been used with the KAOS story it would have been another Floyd masterpiece.
And as far as ATD Jeff Beck is on fire on that album. Brilliant guitar work.
The Final Cut is a miserable listen, which is fitting, given how awful of a person Waters ended up being from that point forward, to his bandmates and supposed friends, no less. It blows my mind to see people saying things like Amused To Death is the best Pink Floyd related album since the Final Cut, since Momentary Lapse of Reason, The Division Bell, On an Island and Gilmour’s other solo outings are up there run the very best of Floyd. The Final Cut is the bitter rantings of an Englishman turned old and crotchety well before his time. There’s a reason people don’t even know it exists. It’s sad to see what Waters’ ego led him to become, abs how badly he wanted to see Pink Floyd and his former friends fail. Polly Samson is twice the lyricist that Waters has been since The Wall, and it seems to really bother him.
Talking of ego’s , is this you Polly pretending to be William? Twice the lyricist Roger is?!?!? Haha, this is a post for bites surely
Lol, you must be joking. Polly Samson. Hahaha.
You sound very bitter if you ask me, final cut is a great album, far better than the division bell and there last album which is so bad I don’t even count it as a floyd album
You ever had a album that you really wanted to like? You go as far as picking out 1 or 2 songs to justify keeping it in your collection. The final cut is the pink floyd that did it for me, as i played it over and over lookibg for something good. Not now John is the inly thing that feels like a pink floyd song. The rest is deppresing snoize fest. So i bought his 1st solo album, just was not punk floyd felt like what ever demons and obsesions he has about his childhood, is not something he can move on from. Sad because he is brillant. David Gilmore st solo album does not feel like a pink floyd record either. But oh the playing of david is great abd is telling that his guitar playing is what drive pink floyd to the dreamy soundscape that allows your mind to go to the places that yoyr mind would go with a pink floyd album. Did not care for davuds other solo releases until this last album. Davids 1st solo would be great in ATMOS cab somebody make this happen?
Although I like Amused to Death, The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking is better end to end, and Roger’s best work was done in Pink Floyd.
Totally disappointed with Division Bell. Maybe it’s just no-Waters syndrome, but the songs were lackluster and missing that special something. I love Amused to Death, and even Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking, and Final Cut is my favorite late-stage Floyd (although I still admire Dark Side and Animals). Not Now John (FC) and What God Wants II and The Bravery of Being out of Range (ATD) are my favorite cuts.
The Pros And Cons Of Hitchhiking will always be my favorite post Floyd album. Eric Clapton’s guitar with Rogers story telling was so so very good.
I personally feel the Division Bell is for whatever reasons an album often overlooked and never given the credit it deserves. The creativity combined with the orchestrated soundscapes, lyrical content, background vocals, sprinkled with an occasional whimsical bridge or interlude makes it my favorite album post Waters (including all the other solo releases), and easily in the top 2 or 3 PF of all time. The album is a hypnotic venture looking through the eyes of a yearning, lost, sometimes depressed but vindicated soul. It’s evident there was a significant amount of time, resources and energy to make that album happen.
Not just my favourite Roger album, it’s my favourite album of all time. Remember getting this on cassette on the day it was released. A masterpiece
Amused to death, was his best writing I think he ever did lyrically. Jeff Becks guitar work is amazing. And many songs from “the ballad of Bill Hubbard” to “what God Wants parts 1-3, “perfect sense” and “when you add it all up, the tears and the marrow bone, there’s an ounce of gold, and an ounce of pride, in each ledger … “…..