Zolcaro's Infamous The Final Cut In The Wall

[Hudini]

For something that's even been called 'the Holy Grail of Pink Floyd bootlegs' by some fans, it's rather disappointing.

[jambo]

Yeah I have no idea why people would call it the Holy Grail...

[danielcaux]

Yeah, most of it is just amateurish remixes of studio and live stuff... not thrilled at all by it either. What's the difference with his Animals version? I wasn't particularly paying attention when I listened to it.

I guess all this experiments are a fun way to kill the time though, but I'm more interested in the famous Project KAOS, does any of you know where I could find that?

[Alternative 4]

To me the ultimate Animals fan version is from the 8 track.

And the ultimate fan bootleg would be a soundboard from the In the Flesh Tour.

[UsNotThem]

I have to say that after years of hearing about this bootleg, and now listening to it, I'm massively dissapointed. A lot of the songs just don't fit where they are, particulary coming out of Empty Spaces and into The Hero's Return part 2.

One transition that really grates me is from The Happiest Days of our Lives into ABITW Part 2. The original album versions had a perfect transition from Roger's scream right into the first verse, whereas this goes from the scream into the main guitar riff, like the radio single cut of the song.

It's an okay mix, but after all the hype and mystery after about 10 years, it's a bit of an anti-climax.

One good two album mashup bootleg is Forever and Ever, which mashes up The Division Bell and The Endless River, and the songs flow a lot better than on The Final Cut In The Wall.

[PooF]

Quite honestly, it's like listening to someone wanking. I guess that if you are interested in this kind of derivative stuff, then you're a bit of a wanker yourself, so maybe you do appreciate it, or at least empathise.

Each to their own - as they say.

[theaussiefloydian]

I'm currently listening to this edit, and I have to say that it's a little uneven. Some of the edits are tastefully done, others (HDoOL - ABitW2) are quite harsh and not great. The editor also plays around a little too much with mixing sources of the same track together, which can be a little jarring. Sometimes it sounds pretty good though - there was some editing in 'Mother' that I liked from the film to the studio, but then it was followed by something of a needless fade into the live version. The biggest issue is that for the god-like height it seems to have been raised to, it seems the editor didn't have the ability to slow down or speed up recordings just that little bit to make some of the transitions work. It's a decent edit for the most part, but there is room for improvement.
I also consider myself an amateur editor though, and have thrown together a couple of my own amateur pieces of work (shameless plugging, here we go). I have also done an edit of The Wall (called The Last Few Bricks). It's a project in which I mostly left the original album alone, but added some songs, took off 'Hey You' (for reasons) and threw in a couple of live versions (again, for reasons). For a first try I think it sounds all right. If anyone's interested, pm me.

[AtomHeartBrother]

I wasn't too impressed with this mix, either. Some of the transitions were pretty clever, but I thought several of the others were rough. For me, the constant flipping between the studio and live versions took me out of the album a lot. I can see using that when it's necessary, but not all the time.

I think not all of The Final Cut should be combined with The Wall. Mostly, I don't think the sequencing was very logical. Your Possible Pasts before The Thin Ice? How can anyone remember you? In theory, you haven't been born yet. And Hero's Return belongs much earlier in the story than at the end of Programme 1.

I like fan edits. I like to hear how others personalize The Wall saga and make it their own. I had been looking forward to finally hearing this one and was pretty disappointed. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it a "meh."

[theaussiefloydian]

I wasn't too impressed with this mix, either. Some of the transitions were pretty clever, but I thought several of the others were rough. For me, the constant flipping between the studio and live versions took me out of the album a lot. I can see using that when it's necessary, but not all the time.

I think not all of The Final Cut should be combined with The Wall. Mostly, I don't think the sequencing was very logical. Your Possible Pasts before The Thin Ice? How can anyone remember you? In theory, you haven't been born yet. And Hero's Return belongs much earlier in the story than at the end of Programme 1.

I like fan edits. I like to hear how others personalize The Wall saga and make it their own. I had been looking forward to finally hearing this one and was pretty disappointed. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it a "meh."

Hmm. None of the segues between albums made a whole deal of sense to me, save for possibly 'When the Tigers Broke Free, Pts. 1 and 2'. 'Empty Spaces' to 'The Hero's Return, Pt. 2' made no bloody sense at all. It seems like this Zolcaro fella had very little understanding of the story of The Wall, or even of The Final Cut. Because (and feel free to disagree) I feel like there is a story thread that runs through The Final Cut (the original, mind you - not the version from 2004 on). This edit is sometimes technically good and sometimes quite abysmal, but this guy doesn't understand the story. And that is what drives me buggo. I am a (self-described) story writer, so when the story doesn't make sense, it drives me crazy.

Now what I would have done if I were undertaking mashing these two together is the following tracklist:

In the Flesh?
The Thin Ice
Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 1
When the Tigers Broke Free
The Post War Dream
The Happiest Days of Our Lives
Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2
The Hero's Return I
The Gunner's Dream
The Hero's Return II
Mother
Goodbye Blue Sky
What Shall We Do Now?
Young Lust
One of My Turns
Don't Leave Me Now
Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 3
Goodbye Cruel World

Hey You
Is There Anybody Out There?
Paranoid Eyes
Your Possible Pasts
Nobody Home
Vera
Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert
The Fletcher Memorial Home
Bring the Boys Back Home
Comfortably Numb
The Show Must Go On
In the Flesh
Run Like Hell
Waiting for the Worms
One of the Few
Stop
The Trial
Outside the Wall
The Final Cut
Not Now John