A political review of "Is this the life we really want?"

All discussion related specifically to Roger Waters.
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A political review of "Is this the life we really want?"

Post by Sentience »

I found this while browsing; it's sympathetic to the themes in Roger's new album, but also has some criticisms which I think are valid.

Enjoy.
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Re: A political review of "Is this the life we really want?"

Post by snifferdog »

Interesting, thought-provoking review. I agree that Roger's political outlook isn't for everyone but I like that he still has something to say in 2017.
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Re: A political review of "Is this the life we really want?"

Post by danielcaux »

Yeah. I guess the author isn't very fond of Amused To Death then, since he doesn't have a very good opinion of Postman!

I'm really happy with this new Waters album: very musical, emotional and conceptually relevant! It's really a great addition to his ouvre and really shows him as a true artiste, instead of just a musician.
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Re: A political review of "Is this the life we really want?"

Post by Kerry King »

danielcaux wrote:really shows him as a true artiste, instead of just a musician.
Yeah. On all his other solo albums he was just a musician. How many tracks did he play on from ATD? Incredible.

I guess it took 25 years of almost no new work to bring out the "true artist" in Waters. The need to create and express himself must have just been burning inside of him. Just dying to get out. It must have been tough in 1993, '94, '95, '96, '97, '98, '99, 2000, '01, '02, '03, '04, '06, '07, '08, '09, '10, '11, '12, '13, '14, '15 and '16 to hold in all of that "true art".

The album cover is majestic, too! Amazing what a true artist can do with a Sharpie.
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Re: A political review of "Is this the life we really want?"

Post by danielcaux »

Seriously? Are you going to bring your hate towards Roger Waters to every single thread about him?

By the way, it was a comment about the different nature of Waters' work, when compared to that of other rock musicians. Not to his previous work, which has always showed him as an artist with a vision, and not just another maker of "collections of great dance songs".
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Re: A political review of "Is this the life we really want?"

Post by Hammer »

danielcaux wrote:Seriously? Are you going to bring your hate towards Roger Waters to every single thread about him?

By the way, it was a comment about the different nature of Waters' work, when compared to that of other rock musicians. Not to his previous work, which has always showed him as an artist with a vision, and not just another maker of "collections of great dance songs".
Spot on sir.
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Re: A political review of "Is this the life we really want?"

Post by Kerry King »

Hammer wrote:
danielcaux wrote:Seriously? Are you going to bring your hate towards Roger Waters to every single thread about him?

By the way, it was a comment about the different nature of Waters' work, when compared to that of other rock musicians. Not to his previous work, which has always showed him as an artist with a vision, and not just another maker of "collections of great dance songs".
Spot on sir.
It's not spot on. I don't hate Waters. Waters has been amusing you guys to death for at least 18 years now. He's made a killing off 10 years of work. He's still singing Pigs in 2017 and charging 60 dollars for a t shirt. He doesn't seem much different than Mary Whitehouse.
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Re: A political review of "Is this the life we really want?"

Post by petey twofinger »

kerry king , are you aware of the fact that this is what the public wants ?

the public does not want new RW material performed live . the people make the biggest clamor for the worst / most played out songs as well : ie brick 3 CN etc . You coming in the thread i made to ask for assistance and spouting off your opinion demonstrates the fact you are nothing more than a low intellect troll . have fun commenting in every post in a forum that tends to be pro RW , you go in and think its funny to rag on the guy . this is how you choose to spend your time , i cant imagine what the rest of your life must sum up to .
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Re: A political review of "Is this the life we really want?"

Post by Hammer »

Kerry King wrote:
Hammer wrote: Spot on sir.
It's not spot on. I don't hate Waters. Waters has been amusing you guys to death for at least 18 years now. He's made a killing off 10 years of work. He's still singing Pigs in 2017 and charging 60 dollars for a t shirt. He doesn't seem much different than Mary Whitehouse.
Yes, his post is spot on.
It's way too obvious you're just being like that cause you don't like what RW is saying, your argument reminds me of a teenage metal head whining about a thrash band going soft. But hey, get your kicks out of it man.
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Re: A political review of "Is this the life we really want?"

Post by Kerry King »

Kerry King wrote: Kerry king , are you aware of the fact that this is what the public wants ? You coming in the thread i made to ask for assistance and spouting off your opinion demonstrates the fact you are nothing more than a low intellect troll .
The public wants what they've been conditioned/manipulated to want by the exploitative and oppressive machine Waters pretends to be fighting. If you want to have a "high intellect" discussion with me, first you need to have a high enough intellect to realize that people are exploited by other people from the moment they are born, and a public that once wanted fresh music now wants recycled trash.
Hammer wrote:It's way too obvious you're just being like that cause you don't like what RW is saying

You say it's spot on when it's not. You say it's obvious and you're wrong. Please accept my explanation. I have absolutely no political or philosophical bone to pick with Waters. What he's saying is all old news to me. I couldn't care less. I'm saying that he's spoiled and decadent. He has nothing to say that could possibly be controversial to me. I'm not Jewish. I'm not a Trump supporter. You think something about me is obvious when it's not even reality. Roger Waters has been allowed to coast for two decades now due to the "public" having been so relentlessly dumbed down and willing to accept less while paying more for it. In the 70s the pink floyd fans wanted something new. Something honest. Now they want something old. Waters is a phony because he takes credit for other people's talents. He's not even secure enough to give credit where credit is obviously due. His 75 dollar salmon appetizer is a disgrace in a world of suffering which he pretends to give a shit about. His new album sucks but not because of what he's saying. The new album sucks because it's nothing but Product.
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Re: A political review of "Is this the life we really want?"

Post by mosespa »

Didn't he write "The Wall" as a protest against the very stadium rock he is currently engaging in?

Hmmmmmmmmmm...
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Re: A political review of "Is this the life we really want?"

Post by Vlad The Impaler »

mosespa wrote:Didn't he write "The Wall" as a protest against the very stadium rock he is currently engaging in?

Hmmmmmmmmmm...
Glad someone else noticed that too.
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Re: A political review of "Is this the life we really want?"

Post by Isntthiswherewe »

mosespa wrote:Didn't he write "The Wall" as a protest against the very stadium rock he is currently engaging in?

Hmmmmmmmmmm...


I would say not. You don't write something against stadium rock and then immediately put on a massive production in Earls Court. Some idea may have come out of the spitting incident but The wall is not really about that directly is it. Its about the physcological wall we all build around ourselves as I'm sure you well know
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Re: A political review of "Is this the life we really want?"

Post by Vlad The Impaler »

Waters went on record back then stating he hated stadiums...that it was all about money...and also said it got him started thinking about The Wall. Whatever other baggage he added subsequently doesn't change that.
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Re: A political review of "Is this the life we really want?"

Post by mosespa »

Isntthiswherewe wrote:I would say not. You don't write something against stadium rock and then immediately put on a massive production in Earls Court. Some idea may have come out of the spitting incident but The wall is not really about that directly is it. Its about the physcological wall we all build around ourselves as I'm sure you well know
Earls Court isn't/wasn't a stadium.

The Schaffner book has it that the reason Waters didn't want to play RFK Stadium (which was suggested by a promoter who promised them something like a guaranteed million dollars,) was that it was a protest against playing in stadiums.

In the interview below, he clearly states that the idea for The Wall came out of his dissatisfaction of playing in large football stadiums.

http://www.rogerwaters.org/79wallint.html