Flickering Flame – The Solo Years press release.
Columbia Records is releasing “Flickering Flame – The Solo Years, Volume 1,” the first-ever overview of the solo musical career of rock legend and Pink Floyd founder Roger Waters. Personally supervised by Waters, “Flickering Flame – The Solo Years, Volume 1” has been assembled from the original master recordings by Pink Floyd/Roger Waters producer James Guthrie.
The selections for “Flickering Flame – The Solo Years, Volume 1” are culled from all of Water’s solo albums — “The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking” (1984), “Radio K.A.O.S. (1987), “Amused To Death” (1992), and “In The Flesh – Live” (2000) — “Flickering Flame – The Solo Years, Volume 1” brings together for the first time: two hard-to-find Waters’ rarities (“Towers of Faith” from the 1987 “When the Wind Blows” soundtrack and the never-before released demo for “Lost Boys Calling” from the 1999 film “The Legend of 1900” ) together with a cover version of Bob Dylan’s classic “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” and the original recording of a brand-new Roger Waters composition “Flickering Flame.”
The release of “Flickering Flame – The Solo Years, Volume 1” in Asia, Australia (April 1st release date), Europe (April 29th) and South America coincides with Roger Waters “In The Flesh” World Tour 2002, the artist’s first international shows in 18 years.
In 1990 Water performed “The Wall” in Berlin, an historic event which took place in front of more than 350,000 people at the site of the then- newly-destroyed Berlin Wall. This extravaganza attracted a live television audience of more than 100 million viewers.
The summers of 1999 and 2000 found Roger Waters and his newly-created “In The Flesh” shows selling out 50 North American concerts. Demand for tickets was so intense that many concert venues were changed mid-tour and upgraded to larger capacity arenas and amphitheatres.
The popular demand for seats was matched by critical acclaim for the shows. Music writers praised the power of Waters’ performances, the timelessness of his music, the show’s intimate production values and seamless structure. The San Jose Mercury News reported that the show “was rock as art, with the kind of concern for sound rarely seen today.” And the Fort Worth Star Telegram raved that “his long, luscious two-set show made up mainly of Floyd classics was on a more human scale… this show felt like a celebration.” The Los Angeles Times was equally enthusiastic and wrote, “the show illustrated the extent to which Waters operatic rock has influenced generations.”
The “In The Flesh” tour presents, for the first time, a comprehensive overview of Waters’ music including: early Pink Floyd material; classic compositions from his masterpieces “The Wall” and “Dark Side Of The Moon”; less well-known pieces from “Animals,” “Wish You Were Here,” and “The Final Cut”; songs from the solo tours de force “Amused To Death” and “The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking”; and the live debut of two new songs: “Each Small Candle” (also available on 2000’s “In The Flesh – Live”) and the never-before-performed “Flickering Flame.”
The “In The Flesh” shows utilize elaborate large-scale video projections, theatrical set-pieces, and a dazzling array of special effects to underscore and accentuate the power of the music which is delivered via a state-of-the-art 360° quadraphonic sound system immersing the audience in a 3-dimensional hyperworld.
On the “In The Flesh” 2002 World Tour, Waters is accompanied by his hand-picked group of world-class musicians: Andy Fairweather-Low (guitar), Snowy White (guitar), Chester Kamen (guitar and vocals), Graham Broad (drums), Harry Waters (keyboards), Andy Wallace (keyboards), Norbert Stachel (saxophone), Katie Kissoon (vocals), Linda Lewis (vocals), and PP Arnold (vocals).
Roger Waters co-founded the groundbreaking Pink Floyd with Syd Barrett in 1966 and became the group’s sonic architect upon Barrett’s departure, creating such undeniable classics as “Dark Side Of The Moon” (which spent nearly 15 years on the Billboard 200 album chart), “The Wall” (which has been certified 23x RIAA platinum), “Animals,” “Wish You Were Here,” and “Final Cut.”
His first full-length solo album, “The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking,” was released in April 1984, to great critical and popular success, generating his first solo tour. June 1987’s “Radio K.A.O.S.” continued the path of solo success, bringing Roger back to the stage. His last full-length solo album, the moody and ironic “Amused To Death,” considered by many to be a comparable achievement to “Dark Side Of The Moon” or “The Wall,” was released in August 1992.
Waters has been working on “Ca Ira” (pronounced “sa-ira”), an opera in English and French, as well as a new rock album to be released in 2003.
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