Now spinning…. Pink Floyd – The Final Cut (1983)
After living with the 2018 Remix of Animals for five days, I thought I’d go back and give The Final Cut another spin.
I remember my expectations for this were sky-high back in ‘1983 when I one day saw it in the window of my local record store. No internet back in those days, so I had no idea that Floyd had another album in the works. But the moment I spotted that album art I knew it was a new album by Pink Floyd.
I remember so well how I struggled my way through 11 tracks (which all moved a at snail’s pace) with Roger Waters whining about his dad, Thatcher and various war issues before David Gilmore finally got a chance at Not Now John.
But The Final Cut proved to be too much in the end. At first, I couldn’t believe that Pink Floyd had released such an un-Floydish album. And where were the elegant keyboard textures of Richard Wright?
Throughout the years I’ve given The Final Cut more chances than I’ve had hot meals (not quite true, but you get the picture), but the album refuses to click with me.
Animals is also a Roger Waters album, but it is being played and recorded as a band where every member not only is very audible but also sets personal marks on the music. The Final Cut sounds very much like a Waters solo album (which it is, only not in name), but with some (very minor ) input from Gilmour and Mason.
I’ve tried so hard to like this album but I think I’m now ready to throw in the towel on it. It is so…whiny. And the songs are hardly songs at all. Except for Not Now John there’s no melody, guitar solo or musical theme for the brain to grab onto.
I know that both A Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Endless River was given much flack from fans and critics alike, but I find myself preferring both of those albums before The Final Cut.
And for the record, the only Waters solo album I kinda liked is Amused to Death, but even that doesn’t hold a candle to those two scolded Pink Floyd albums I just mentioned.
What about you? The Final Cut. Yay or nay?
Frode Singsaas | Now Spinning Magazine
The Gunner’s Dream is beautiful.
An absolutely heartbreaking introspective song, with very clever and evocative lyrics.
Hi Phil
Really looking forward to you reviewing dark side of the moon redux and later on Motörhead another perfect day box set ( my favourite Motörhead album , a bit of a come taste the band for Motörhead
Ron ( Ireland )
I never listened to it and totally ignored it. Then my father died and some weeks later it randomly appeared on Spotify so I gave it a go. I never cried so much while listening to music ..
I think your review is fair. I agree that the album is one giant lament, and in places it does degrade into whining–although at least it isn’t the pity-the-poor-rockstar type of whining we get on Wish You Were Here or The Wall (both vastly superior albums to The Final Cut). I also agree that by far the best song on the album is Not Now John, where he finally “lets out” David Gilmore and Nick Mason.
Waters just seems pathologically incapable of acknowledging the gifts of his band mates. Yes, Waters is clearly the driving force and the brains behind the group. So why can’t he just be happy with that and realize that without the contributions of the others, his albums are nowhere near as good as when they’re all playing as a band.
I agree with Ryan (comments below) that there is one other fine song on the album–The Gunner’s Dream–which is quite beautiful. But as you said, the rest of the tracks on the album are barely songs. They sound more like musical bridges than complete songs. Also, I’m not a fan of Rogers’ non-singing, spoken lyrics. He seems able to speak and able to shout, these days, but very little in between. I saw him in concert in 2024 and listening to him croak his way through some great songs was pretty painful.
One last note on The FInal Cut: I do think it’s Pink Floyd’s best-sounding album from a pure audio standpoint. The stereo imaging and definition is astonishing. It was recorded in something called Holosound, and I don’t know why Waters didn’t continue to use this process, because it sounds fantastic–particularly on Paranoid Eyes. Just amazing stereo imaging.