Roger Waters - Amused To Death

Discussions about Pink Floyd and Solo Official Album CDs and DVDs.

Rate this album

5 - Best
57
50%
4
29
26%
3
16
14%
2
5
4%
1 - Worst
6
5%
 
Total votes: 113

ZiggyZipgun
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Re: Roger Waters - Amused To Death

Post by ZiggyZipgun »

Who wrote the album notes that are on the NPF blog? It claims that Roger refused to release Amused to Death while Pink Floyd were still on the Columbia label...which they were until the early 2000s (again, supporting my theory that he only releases albums to finance his divorces).

It also points out the line "I looked over Jordan" in "The Bravery of Being Out of Range" as a reference to "Sheep", but both songs are referencing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot".
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Re: Roger Waters - Amused To Death

Post by cigar73 »

I bought this on the day of release in 1992 aged 19. It was the first release by a Floyd member since I’d become a fan.

I’ve fallen in and out of love with some Floyd albums (The Wall, DSOT and AMLOR - permanently in its case) but I’ve never stopped loving ATD.

Incredible production, lyrically very strong and musically quite
Floydian in places. It’s certainly a much easier listen than Pros and Cons and has much more heft than KAOS.
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azza200
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Re: Roger Waters - Amused To Death

Post by azza200 »

why have you lost interest in AMLOR-DSOT?
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Re: Roger Waters - Amused To Death

Post by cigar73 »

azza200 wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 9:20 am why have you lost interest in AMLOR-DSOT?
I enjoyed them when I was 17 and wasn’t fully aware of the bands history. As time has gone by and I’ve got older and more aware I’ve realised they’re not Floyd in the truest sense and the lyrics and 80s production are pretty awful. I’m more aware that these albums are cynical cash grabs by Gilmour and Mason.
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Re: Roger Waters - Amused To Death

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i disagree they are not cash grabss when they are not. The record company wanted a floyd album in 1987. 1994 they toured with a new album where David Nick and Rick worked as a band on the album for the first time since Wish.

I take it you are anti david and hate him for continuing the band after roger quit. I got into floyd thru Pulse in 2002 i was 16 i like all eras of floyd and i grew out of the petty Roger V David arguments years ago. Just because Roger quit does not mean post waters floyd is crap you may not like it cool fair enough. I didnt like Roger from when i got into the band and learned about the history seen him live twice over the years The Wall & Us & Them. Seen David live several times and Nicks shows.

Have you seen David live over the years or our that biased you would never see him in person way i see its better too them all live solo now because they wont be around much longer sadly. Like i said All Floyd is all good different eras style but still PF.

If it was not for David continuing the band and watching Pulse i would not be here so i am thankful for David for being my introduction to Pink Floyd.
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Re: Roger Waters - Amused To Death

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azza200 wrote: Wed Oct 14, 2020 8:53 pmIf it was not for David continuing the band and watching Pulse i would not be here so i am thankful for David for being my introduction to Pink Floyd.
I agree - had The Final Cut been their last album, they really wouldn't have found a new audience in the way that they did. Roger still hasn't found his audience, which is why it upsets him that he can't promote his recent efforts on Pink Floyd's social media accounts (even though he and Dave have close to the same number of followers on their own accounts). Neither Dave, Nick, nor Rick had any desire to stop working, nor did any of them ever express any interest in starting all over from scratch and establishing themselves as solo artists. Dave definitely did most of the work on AMLOR, and being a tech-minded gearhead, it sounds the way it does because it's just him exploring the equipment that was available, in very much the same way that they'd done on Meddle. He always wanted to experiment, but in a way that was enjoyable to listeners; it would still have done very well under his own name, while Radio KAOS would've hurt Pink Floyd's reputation far worse than The Final Cut did.

None of these were cash-grabs.

The only real cash-grab in their entire combined discography is Is This the Life We Really Want? Roger had virtually nothing to do with the production of the album, hired someone he was not familiar with ("I don't listen to other people's records") but knew could sell records, and let them hire everyone else to assemble the album ("I sat on my hands...I sing and play on it, but Nigel made the album"). They even shelved most of what Roger wanted to put on the album, and had him whip up lyrics to some filler material ("throwaway songs" as he called them) that sounds almost too much like classic Floyd.

In the past 30 years, Roger has released so little, but nearly every album has coincided with a divorce: #2 (Amused to Death, aka "I refuse to release it while Pink Floyd is still signed to Columbia Records" or maybe I'll put it out 15 years before they change labels), #3 (In the Flesh), and #4 (ITTLWRW). In between, he could almost be accused of riding Brit/Aussie Floyd's coattails, touring classic albums without any new material, and playing the hits, which he used to love to criticize the latter-day Floyd for. He is his own worst enemy, and I don't doubt that it took a long time to recover financially from spending much of his steady Floyd royalties on three failing tours and a few failed lawsuits - and it takes a serious work ethic to maintain his standard of living these days. The many Pink Floyd boxed sets have been labeled as cash-grabs (by Roger), and no one has to buy them (they're all included with any streaming subscription anyway, which works for me), but there clearly is a demand for them, and they've done very well (which has also made Roger a lot of money); The Early Years could not possibly have been released without Roger's blessing, just as he prevented them from putting out Is There Anybody Out There? for several years - that is, until divorce #3 was underway, and he could launch his first tour in a decade at the same time.

Roger is the king of the cash-grab and the master of self-sabotage; he has to be both to stay afloat. Kinda reminds me of another public figure...
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Re: Roger Waters - Amused To Death

Post by azza200 »

Roger has played a variation of the DSOTM set list 3 times over the years ITF an abridged version with his solo songs in the 2nd set. A Full on DSOTM tour 06-08. Then there was his last tour built around a DSOTM set list. The Wall 2010-13 spectacular show visuals no denying that but when he went too Stadiums he was going against what The Wall was about originally and his first solo tour since where has played new material.

In The Flesh is still his best live release performance wise and band wise imo not as much lip syncing on that tour compared too his DSOTM TW & his last tour.
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Re: Roger Waters - Amused To Death

Post by FreeFour »

azza200 wrote: Thu Oct 15, 2020 11:04 pm In The Flesh is still his best live release performance wise and band wise imo not as much lip syncing on that tour compared too his DSOTM TW & his last tour.
Totally agree, the AMtD tracks and Dogs are brilliant. Jon Carin’s talent really shines through during this tour. Such a shame he wasn't used as much in the latest current touring line up
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Re: Roger Waters - Amused To Death

Post by Jimi Dean Barrett »

It might be the years to dig in, but I'm finding this my favourite of solo Roger. Is This The Life We Really Want? doesn't touch Radio Kaos, and Hitchhiking... is the closest to a Roger Floyd as it were.
Amused To Death, although not having the short sweet three sequence of his last album has, just seems more comfortable. And the humour is better. Yes, even the Lloyd-Webber reference!
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Re: Roger Waters - Amused To Death

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FreeFour wrote: Sat Oct 17, 2020 7:42 pm
azza200 wrote: Thu Oct 15, 2020 11:04 pm In The Flesh is still his best live release performance wise and band wise imo not as much lip syncing on that tour compared too his DSOTM TW & his last tour.
Totally agree, the AMtD tracks and Dogs are brilliant. Jon Carin’s talent really shines through during this tour. Such a shame he wasn't used as much in the latest current touring line up
Which begs the question he left Davids band mid tour too join Rogers and has taken his side in a lot Behind The Scenes tension between Roger & David again snide digs at David on Facebook etc.

Yet on the U&T all he is doing is being a filler musician guitar parts here and there not being as prominent as he was during The Wall and other Roger tours. The new band seem too play a majority of everything
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Re: Roger Waters - Amused To Death

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azza200 wrote: Sat Oct 17, 2020 10:09 pm Which begs the question he left Davids band mid tour too join Rogers and has taken his side in a lot Behind The Scenes tension between Roger & David again snide digs at David on Facebook etc.
There wasn't any overlap with David and Roger's original tour dates, but David added two more legs to his tour. David’s earlier tours were always planned to be short excursions, because his kids were younger and he didn't want to be away from home for long periods of time. With his last tour, their children were old enough to travel with them and enjoy it, and he booked cities that they wanted to visit. Once he decided to go back to Pompeii, it took a long time to work out the logistics for those two shows, so they just kept adding dates in the meantime. He is known for being very accommodating, so if Carin and Manzanera turned down an opportunity to play at Pompeii, he may have been a bit pissed about it. Carin has said that he finds touring with David more enjoyable than touring with Roger, but he certainly doubled-down on the awkwardness to publicly complain about the lack of credit he received on The Later Years set.

Roger has always sounded like a filler musician on songs like "Us and Them", which is why the shows of his that I've seen felt more like Brit Floyd, but with the added shame of lip-syncing.
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Re: Roger Waters - Amused To Death

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ZiggyZipgun wrote: Sun Oct 18, 2020 2:39 am the shows of his that I've seen felt more like Brit Floyd
As much as you seem to know and love about pink floyd I can't imagine why you'd pay enough attention to some lame tribute band to know what they "feel" like. Either a band is special and no one can duplicate it or the band is generic and any marginally skilled group of hacks can reproduce their shows. One or the other. If pf cover groups are good it would have to be because pink floyd is nothing special. Otherwise you'd need at least some of those pink floyd members to make it worthwhile. I've never bothered with brit floyd because I like PINK floyd.
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Re: Roger Waters - Amused To Death

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Kerry King wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 4:34 amAs much as you seem to know and love about pink floyd I can't imagine why you'd pay enough attention to some lame tribute band to know what they "feel" like. Either a band is special and no one can duplicate it or the band is generic and any marginally skilled group of hacks can reproduce their shows. One or the other. If pf cover groups are good it would have to be because pink floyd is nothing special. Otherwise you'd need at least some of those pink floyd members to make it worthwhile. I've never bothered with brit floyd because I like PINK floyd.
Well said Kerry King. [-D-]
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Re: Roger Waters - Amused To Death

Post by Keith Jordan »

Image



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Long-time audiophile favorite returns as a 45 RPM on four 200-gram LPs!

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Roger Waters' take on America's entertainment-obsessed society

This audiophile favorite — and a brisk seller since its Analogue Productions 33 1/3 reissue in 2015 — is back with an upgrade. Now a 45 RPM 4LP 200-gram set, the remastered audio completed by longtime Roger Waters / Pink Floyd collaborator and co-producer James Guthrie is chillingly detailed — every cricket chirp and dog bark on this distinctive album has even more sonic intensity and dimension.

An unblinking look at an entertainment-obsessed society, Amused to Death addresses issues that have only grown in complexity and urgency over the past two decades. With Amused to Death, Roger Waters sounded the alarm about a society increasingly - and unthinkingly — in thrall to its television screens. Twenty-three years later, Amused to Death speaks to our present moment in ways that could scarcely have been anticipated two decades ago. In 2018, television is just one option in an endless array of distractions available to us anytime, anywhere, courtesy of our laptops, tablets and smartphones. With eyes glued to our screens, the dilemmas and injustices of the real world can easily recede from view.

The 2018 4LP 45 RPM 200-gram vinyl edition of Amused to Death features remastered audio completed by longtime Roger Waters / Pink Floyd collaborator and co-producer, James Guthrie, and has been pressed at Quality Record Pressings. The updated cover and gatefold art is by Sean Evans, the creative director of Waters' 2010-2013 "The Wall Live" tour and movie.
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Re: Roger Waters - Amused To Death

Post by ZiggyZipgun »

Kerry King wrote: Mon Oct 19, 2020 4:34 am
ZiggyZipgun wrote: Sun Oct 18, 2020 2:39 am the shows of his that I've seen felt more like Brit Floyd
As much as you seem to know and love about pink floyd I can't imagine why you'd pay enough attention to some lame tribute band to know what they "feel" like. Either a band is special and no one can duplicate it or the band is generic and any marginally skilled group of hacks can reproduce their shows. One or the other. If pf cover groups are good it would have to be because pink floyd is nothing special. Otherwise you'd need at least some of those pink floyd members to make it worthwhile. I've never bothered with brit floyd because I like PINK floyd.
I wholeheartedly agree. As I've mentioned in other posts, I've seen Aussie Floyd once, about ten years ago, and Brit Floyd once, earlier this year. On both occasions, I got a free ticket - when a friend asked if I'd go with them this year, I actually said, "No, I think it's weird" - but then they ended up not being able to go, and gave my wife and I both tickets. And I do think it's weird, not only for the fact that people can build an industry around singing with fake accents to imitate other artists, on a much larger scale than the Elvis and Beatle impersonators that came before, but that lifelong Pink Floyd fans seem to go and get every bit as emotional as if they were seeing Pink Floyd...and also, that David and Roger allow this shit to continue! I've also mentioned that I feel that "rock and roll" has just become a form of cosplay, so it's bad enough that "original artists" take themselves seriously when their music has zero substance, but now you can apply for a full-time job where you just try to sound like one of the few bands that focused more on the content of their output rather than their appearance. With that said...I've also seen Roger twice. The In the Flesh show was a big "WTF" moment in my life: it felt like I was watching a cover band, and during the show I found myself thinking, "when do we get to hear Roger?" And then, I got to see him lip-sync to the climax of "Every Stranger's Eyes". What a day. This was at a time when you'd hear about "artists" like Britney Spears lip-syncing, so it really was a shameful realization, and yeah - I really am still bitter about it, 21 years later. It says a lot about the guy that he has never been able to sing that particular song live, but has felt the need to include it on most of his tours, which then made it easier to transition into his current practice of using pre-recorded vocals for a number of other songs that he simply shouldn't be performing, or should find another way of doing them to the best of his current abilities. I did see The Wall, knowing to expect some of that, but also knowing that it would be a top-notch production, and it was - but I can't compare it to the feeling of hearing and seeing David Gilmour performing live, with his guitar solos different from one night to the next, and every crack and strain in his voice very honestly amplified in stunning detail.