Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Pink Floyd’s Former Leader in Bland Album Shocker...!, 18 Jan 2004
I paid more for this record than either of Waters’ other release, both of which are infinitely better than this. Yes, that fact does irritate me greatly. Regardless, I’m trying to stop you from making the same mistake that I did. Here we have many of Waters’ prime lyrical concerns in fine form... cultural alienation, social dislocation, nuclear war, Margaret Thatcher and so on. The problem is there’s no real emotion. If you’re expecting a record that scales the emotional highs of the Wall or the Final Cut (and to a lesser extent the Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking) then this one definitely isn’t it.Here our man Rog spins a yarn about a paraplegic mute Welsh boy named Billy, who following the arrest of his older brother - who was laid off from work down the pit - is forced to go and live in California with his alcoholic uncle and his pet dog. The album takes pot shots at the record industry and the media’s coverage of the escalating war in the Gulf with the inclusion of DJ narrator Jim Ladd (ask your parents...!) who holds conversations with the Stephen Hawking-like Billy about all manner of socio-political problems. If you think that sounds like a Tommy for the ME generation then you’re probably right (though I hate THAT record too). The musical compositions are very much of the decade with clanging guitars drenched in distortion, drum machines the likes of which you’ve never head and more synthesisers than a Rick Wakeman Christmas special. That sounds more exciting than it actually is... let me put it this way, try to image Flock of Seagulls crossed with Bob Geldof singing throw a voice box and covering Pink Floyd. If the word grating came to mind you’re in the right ballpark. Roger seems to have forgotten how to place the listener into the emotional context of the situation and instead creates a series of episodic rambles that do more to appraise his lyrical genius as opposed to enrich the audience in any meaningful way. The best songs on the album (in my opinion at least) are Home - which somehow manages to name check everywhere from Jerusalem to Warrington - Four Minutes, which is incidentally four minutes long, and the closing number, the Tide is Turning. Here Waters finally establishes the all-important emotional connection... only forty-five minutes too late. The song acts as a fitting testament to the live Aid awareness cause, and also features the stunning harmonies of the very same Welch voice choir that gave a dramatic beauty to Waters’ stunning composition from the Wall, When the Tigers Broke Free. If only all the songs here had been this good, eh...! If you already own and love Roger’s other solo works, or for that matter the classics of Pink Floyd then there is really no need at all to waste you’re money on this bland piece of 80’s synth-pop. This is about as far as you can get from the Final Cut... and I certainly expect much more from my bitter old rock stars than this annoying piffle. Two Stars.
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12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Radio Kaos- Roger Waters, 17 April 2000
By A Customer
RADIO KAOS, not one of my favourite albums but still worth listening to, if you've not heard it already. Concentrated around a story about a cripple who can communicate through radio-waves Waters filters his disdain at a host of political issues through the passages of the music. Complimentary to this, there are various references to the narrative, to the albums character Billy, and Billy's communications with a subversive radio station, called KAOS. Billy, lacks the same depth as Pink did in The Wall Video, and the album seems somewhat 80's influenced. Yet, this is still a good album, with The Tide is Turning a gem in comparison to some of the other material. I believe Roger even used his own two children on this album, for texture in one of the songs. (background sounds) Dedicated 'to all those who find themselves at the violent end of monetarism', I would say this is a reasonable album with the occasional hint that it could have been far better, and would still recommend it despite its lack of flair that his other albums contain. For other RW albums, check out Amazon. (see also the When the Wind Blows soundtrack which contains music by Waters with the Bleeding Heart band and other artists)
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This album works on a truly subliminal level, 20 Feb 2002
The story behind this album is great and the pressure slowly builds as things get more and more messed up. Monkeys and dogs, fish with soles (sic), radio transmissions, longing to go home and then the final button pushing magic. If you like Roger Waters other stuff, you'll love this album - totally 5 star !
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~ Roger Waters
~ Roger Waters
~ Pink Floyd
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