Roger Waters The Wall - Blu-ray

Content: The Wall by Pink Floyd is undoubtedly one of the most successful and important albums in music history. Released in 1979, it has sold over 30 million copies, featuring the young musician Pink. Due to the elaborate stage constructions, this last album of the original line-up of Pink Floyd was rarely performed live in the early 1980s. After a successful film adaptation by Alan Parker in 1982, a spectacular new production by Roger Waters with new arrangements and various great artists from pop and rock followed even after the fall of the Berlin Wall. After that, it became somewhat quiet around this groundbreaking work. It wasn't until 2010 that Waters brought the album back to the stage in its entirety for the first time, and by 2013 had performed 219 concerts in front of more than 4 million people, showing that The Wall had lost none of its intensity even after more than 30 years.

The live staging, acclaimed by fans and critics alike, is out now on DVD, Blu-ray and 2-disc Special Edition Blu-ray. Yet the whole thing is not just a straight concert film. The footage of the spectacular show is repeatedly interrupted by some very personal moments in which Waters and his family embark on a journey into the past. The musician sets out to trace the legacy of his father, who was killed defending a beachhead in Italy in 1944. Waters dealt with his father's death directly in The Wall by also making his main character, Pink, the son of a soldier who died in World War II. The track When Tigers broke free in particular, written especially for the film version of the album, is a personal coming to terms with his own past. Through the scenes showing Waters at his father's grave and other locations, it's meant to illustrate how much of Waters' own life is actually in The Wall.

Although some of these scenes seem a bit thick, they ultimately don't miss their mark. Still, there will probably be more than a few who hit the fast-forward button here and there to get back to the show as quickly as possible. And there's a good reason for that. Because this restaging of the album is a real spectacle for the ears as well as the eyes. There are great moments like the classic Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 alternating with quiet goosebump moments like Nobody Home. But one of the absolute highlights is Comfortably Numb with its grandiose guitar solo. You'll be swept away by the terrific live atmosphere even in your living room.

Roger Waters The Wall is a great mix of concert film and road movie that will not only delight fans of Pink Floyd. The first-class camera work during the stage show, which lets the viewer get up close and personal with this concert, but also the good editing and the excellent sound mix make this disc a must-have for all lovers of outstanding musical events. Absolutely recommendable!

Picture + Sound: The technical realization of the live recording is on a very good level throughout. The picture is very clean and pleases with a coherent color scheme as well as very good overall sharpness. The Dolby Atmos mix sounds very lively, with the songs convincing with rich bass, spatial effects and clearly mixed vocals. It almost turns your living room into a concert arena!

Extras: As a bonus, the disc has a visit to the grave of British naval officer Frank Thompson (approx. 4:58 min.), as well as time-lapse footage of the stage set in Athens (approx. 6:27 min.) and Buenos Aires (approx. 4:14 min.).

Conclusion: The Wall is music history, there's no question about that. The live staging of the masterpiece that Roger Waters has put on absolutely does justice to the importance of the concept album. The show is spectacular, musically top notch and visually stunning at times. You don't have to be a fan of Pink Floyd to be enthralled by this show. The interspersed scenes about Waters' personal search for traces sometimes seem a bit thick, but in the end they show well that The Wall is also a very personal album. For fans is therefore also due to the very good technical realization quite clearly: Recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp