There will be a new album

[Flathead]

In other words, it's over. Been over for a long time. I've met old men who are still pretending DSOTM is as good as it was when they first heard it over 40 years ago. Like a drug addict still chasing that first high.

I'm a big believer in personally evolving your music taste, and seeking out new stuff. But great art is never "over".

Pink Floyd dominates the best music review site, Rate Your Music. Look at the top 100:

https://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/album/all-time

And for all of you who only own a few 70's records, hit up those best of year lists from 2000 until 2017, and have your minds blown.

As far as the new Waters clips, I have no doubt this will be his best solo album. The engineering is easily the best I've heard since The Wall, and Godrich is the best producer in music right now.

[Annoying Twit]

His 1984 album is awesome.
Radio KAOS is cheesy 80s pop but its has four brilliant pop songs on it
"Who needs Information
The Powers That Be
Me or Him
Home"
And HIS 1992 solo album is some of the best Pink Floyd has ever recorded. Such a brilliant album.

I'd agree with most of that. AtD isn't quite the best PF solo for me, nor the best that PF has ever recorded. But, it's a pretty good album. Some of the individual songs since then have been nice, and I have hopes for the upcoming album.

But this new album is gonna suck. I just know it.

I'm not sure where that came from. I think the album will be good.

[raisemyrent]

So with the track list now out, we know 1 song is indeed a rehash of Have a Cigar, and another of Mother.
Just realised the last concert is in my city. Debating going after all. No chance of a Gilmour surprise appearance though.

[mastaflatch]

Smell the Roses
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEh7Ip4yvH8

[Morty]

Welcome to the dogs and cigar machine!

I am not sure about this single track. Some good, some...questionable? "Wake up! Wake up and smell the roses?" Welcome to the third grade poetry band.

[Jimi Dean Barrett]

I was thinking it pleasant but not ground breaking. But then around 2.20 kicked in, and if the album has moments like that throughout the album, then it's going to become Roger's best solo, and Smell The Roses beats most of TFC!

Pink Floyd Tribute Band Member:
This gigs going well! Wait a minute! Roger Waters has just got up from he audience and started singing!

Another Pink Floyd Tribute Band Member:
Just do as he says! He could murder us all!

[mastaflatch]

After several listens, a few random thoughts:

The familiarity of the bass riffing and overall sound of the song annoyed me at first but it's a trademark 70s Floyd thing. PF expanded on it many times (Echoes, Childhood's End, Time, Have A Cigar, Pigs, Waht Do You Want From Me) so it's not like it is a lazy rehash. Smell the Roses goes in a completely different direction than the aforementionned songs but uses a familiar canvas.

Roger's voice is actually pretty good, as expressive as ever. He sounds much better than he should at his age, considering how he sounded in Berlin and on Amused to Death more than 25 years ago.

Love the lyrics. Roger may say that he isn't a cynic but he sure sounds like one on this but still it's an entertaining cynism. "Wake up and smell the phospohorus" is pretty funny. Don't know what to make of the Doors quote though. First he calls a song Hello (I Love You) and then he quotes the chorus of Light My Fire? Weird.

From 1.50 onwards, this song keeps on getting better until the end. Something Roger rarely managed to achieve lately as most of his new songs just seemed to go on and on and on. Godrich may not be alien to this.

I don't know if Lucius is on this song but I think that working with them is the best move he did in a long time regarding female backing vocals. Those girls have awesome voices and have a complicity that goes beyond makeshift female choirs of his previous tours. They also have an image that I find quite refreshing. Anyway, the backing vocals on Smell the Roses are perfect. It's all in the dosage.

I'm glad that the "no guitar solos" means intelligent guitar playing. He will be forever associated with David Gilmour who is irreplaceable even by Clapton or Jeff Beck so what's the point? Roger has always been a master at creating soundscapes, having a guitarist contributing to this is the best thing he could do to avoid unfair comparisons. Any proper soloing on this song would have been dwarfed by Gilmour's on Have A Cigar. Nobody can win this.

Roger isn't a great melodist. I mean, he is sometimes but that's not his forte. This song is great showcase of his voice though.

I'd say bring on the new album - I'm pretty confident that it'll be fun.

[raisemyrent]

Yawn. That was not a good thing to listen to first thing Friday morning at work. Need more coffee now.
Total rehash. Nothing to offer. The melody is clumsy at times, almost amateur. Cheeky lyrics. What happened to the classicism and timelessness of DSOTM? the phosphorus, really? The novelty wears off by the time the chorus comes back after the Dogs/Time/heartbeat rehash in the middle. It's more focussed than his previous efforts, but my has he got nothing to offer. In a blender went a few songs from the 70s and some political words, and that came out. No full pieces, just chunks mixed here and there.
I wish I'd been a fly on the wall, if you pardon the expression, when Roger told Nigel G he wanted to stop the song abruptly, and go to some sound effects. What sounds are you thinking of, Roger? Dogs barking, ticking clocks, and a heartbeat. Rolls eyes?
I can't help but be grateful now that he left Pink floyd. They would've turned into a band living off their past, releasing progressively worse albums abd progressively trying harder and harder with the themes.

[Flathead]

Loved it!

With the geriatric blandness of The Endless River and The Division Bell, people forgot that Pink Floyd was actually a rock band.

Nigel knows what he is doing.

Great stuff, looking forward to the rest. If the other songs are are fun as this, it will be the best Floyd-related work since The Wall.

The section from 2:00 until 3:50 is just kick ass.

What I like about the production on this song is how pronounced the instrumentation is, something that's been missing on all of Waters studio stuff and TFC. His voice is pushed further back, and all the cool instruments are up front.

[Flathead]

No chance of a Gilmour surprise appearance though.

Good news. This is a rock record, and David has been doing adult contemporary easy listening muzak (ala Sting) since the 90's.

[kjek1]

It's decent, I can listen to it and enjoy it to an extent

However, it's a rehash and further proof Roger is a spent force creatively. It's also further proof that his vocals have deterioratd significantly.

As far as the production goes? It's standard, no better and no worse than pretty much anything else you'll hear. I've got a good ear for these things. His words are just a bit soulless without the backing of the mighty Gilmour and Wright

[YetAnother]

It doesn't sound like something I'd skip when I play the album. Musically, I am not blown away and the lyrics haven't clicked (yet?).

You can't expect everything to be a fucking masterpiece, I guess.

Can't wait to hear the rest!

[raisemyrent]

No chance of a Gilmour surprise appearance though.

Good news. This is a rock record, and David has been doing adult contemporary easy listening muzak (ala Sting) since the 90's.

I meant at the final concert. Or is Roger's version of comfortably numb better because REASONS?

[Flathead]

IMHO, neither one of them should do Comfy Numb without the other.

It's probably the greatest piece of music ever crafted, and showcases a light and dark juxtaposition better than anything (Roger is the dark in the verse, David the light in the chorus).

[Wolfpack]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEh7Ip4yvH8

With the geriatric blandness of The Endless River and The Division Bell, people forgot that Pink Floyd was actually a rock band.

Thankfully, Waters has recycled some old tunes to remind people of the past.

From the comments:
- 'Have A Cigar', 'Echoes' and 'Any Colour You Like' bass solos...
- 'Welcome to the Machine' and 'Dogs' effects
- 'What God Wants'
- a little 'One of These Days' at 2:08

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