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''The Wall'' is the eleventh studio album by the English
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
band
Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...
, released on 30 November 1979 by
Harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...
/
EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
and Columbia/
CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records, a former name of Sony Music, a global music company * CBS/Sony, a former name of Sony Music Entertainment Japan, a Japanese music company division of Sony * CBS Records International, a label for Columbia Re ...
. It is a
rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...
which explores Pink, a jaded rock star, as he constructs a psychological "wall" of social isolation. ''The Wall'' topped the US charts for 15 weeks and reached number three in the UK. It initially received mixed reviews from critics, many of whom found it overblown and pretentious, but later received accolades as one of the greatest albums of all time. The bassist,
Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...
, conceived ''The Wall'' during Pink Floyd's 1977 In the Flesh tour, modelling the character of Pink after himself and the former member
Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, guitarist and songwriter who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Until his departure in 1968, he was Pink Floyd's frontman and primary songwriter, ...
. Recording spanned from December 1978 to November 1979. The producer
Bob Ezrin Robert Alan Ezrin (born March 25, 1949) is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, best known for his work with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, Andrea Bocelli and Phish. As of 2010, Ezri ...
helped to refine the concept and bridge tensions during recording, as the band members were struggling with personal and financial problems. The keyboardist, Richard Wright, was fired by Waters during production but stayed on during the tour as a salaried musician. Three singles were issued: "
Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2 "Another Brick in the Wall" is a three-part composition on Pink Floyd's 1979 album '' The Wall'', written by the bassist, Roger Waters. "Part 2", a protest song against corporal punishment and rigid and abusive schooling, features a childre ...
" (Pink Floyd's only UK ''and'' US number-one single), "
Run Like Hell "Run Like Hell" is a song by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, written by David Gilmour and Roger Waters. It appears on their eleventh studio album '' The Wall'' (1979) and was released as a single in 1980, reaching #15 in the Canadian ...
", and "
Comfortably Numb "Comfortably Numb" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on their eleventh studio album, ''The Wall'' (1979). It was released as a Single (music), single in 1980, with "Hey You (Pink Floyd song), Hey You" as the A-side and B- ...
". From 1980 to 1981, Pink Floyd performed the album on a tour that featured elaborate theatrical effects. In 1982, ''The Wall'' was adapted into a feature film written by Waters. ''The Wall'' is one of the best-known
concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
s. With over 30 million copies sold, it is the second-best-selling Pink Floyd album behind ''
The Dark Side of the Moon ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973, by Capitol Records in the US and on 16 March 1973, by Harvest Records in the UK. Developed during live performances before ...
'' (1973), the best-selling double album of all time, and one of the best-selling albums of all time. Some outtakes sessions were used on the next Pink Floyd album, '' The Final Cut'' (1983). In 2000, it was voted number 30 in
Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British music writer. He founded and was the editor-in-chief of ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. Along with the ten-volume encyclopedia, Larkin also wrote the book ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'', and edited th ...
's ''
All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...
''. In 2003, 2012, and 2020, it was included in ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
''s lists of the "
500 Greatest Albums of All Time 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...
". From 2010 to 2013, Waters staged a new ''The Wall'' live tour that became one of the highest-grossing tours by a solo musician.


Background

Throughout 1977, Pink Floyd played the
In the Flesh In the Flesh may refer to: Film and TV * ''In the Flesh'' (1998 film), an American gay-themed murder mystery film * ''In the Flesh'' (2003 film), an Indian documentary about prostitution in South Asia * "In the Flesh" (''Star Trek: Voyager''), ...
tour to promote their new album ''
Animals Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, have myocytes and are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and grow from a ...
''. Bassist and lyricist
Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...
despised the experience – angered by the audience's rowdy behavior (such as setting off fireworks in the middle of songs) and convinced that they were not really listening to the music. During the final show on 6 July 1977 at the
Montreal Olympic Stadium Olympic Stadium (, ) is a multi-purpose stadium in Montreal, Canada, located at Olympic Park in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district of the city. Built in the mid-1970s as the main venue for the 1976 Summer Olympics, it is nicknamed "The Big O ...
, a group of noisy and excited fans near the stage irritated Waters so much that he leaned over the side and spat on one of them. Said Waters of the incident, "Immediately afterwards I was shocked by my behaviour. I realised that what had once been a worthwhile and manageable exchange between us (the band) and them (the audience) had been utterly perverted by scale, corporate avarice and ego. All that remained was an arrangement that was essentially sado-masochistic." That night, Waters spoke with producer
Bob Ezrin Robert Alan Ezrin (born March 25, 1949) is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, best known for his work with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, Andrea Bocelli and Phish. As of 2010, Ezri ...
and a psychiatrist friend of Ezrin's about the alienation and despair he was experiencing. He articulated his desire to isolate himself by constructing a wall across the stage between the band and the audience. The concept was an instant source of inspiration. While Gilmour and Wright were in France recording solo albums, and the drummer,
Nick Mason Nicholas Berkeley Mason (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He has been the only constant member since the band's formation in 1965, and the only member to appear on every ...
, was busy producing
Steve Hillage Stephen Simpson Hillage (born 2 August 1951) is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s. Besides his solo sound recording and reprodu ...
's ''
Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...
'', Waters began to write material. The spitting incident became the starting point for a new concept, which explored the protagonist's self-imposed isolation after years of traumatic interactions with authority figures and the loss of his father as a child. In July 1978, Pink Floyd reconvened at
Britannia Row Studios Britannia Row Studios was a recording studio in Islington, London N1 (1975–1995), and then Fulham, London SW6, England (1995–2015). It was built by the English rock band Pink Floyd, who used it to record their albums ''Animals'' (1977) and '' T ...
, where Waters presented two new ideas for concept albums. The first was a 90-minute demo with the working title ''Bricks in the Wall''. The second was about a man's dreams on one night, and dealt with marriage, sex, and the pros and cons of monogamy and family life versus promiscuity. The band chose the first option; the second eventually became Waters's debut solo studio album, ''
The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking ''The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking'' is the debut solo studio album by Roger Waters, bassist/songwriter and co-founder of English rock band Pink Floyd; it was released in 1984. The album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Associati ...
'' (1984). By September, Pink Floyd were having financial problems and urgently needed to produce an album to make money. The financial planners Norton Warburg Group (NWG) had invested £1.3–3.3 million, up to £ in contemporary value, of the group's money in high-risk
venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...
to reduce their tax liabilities. The strategy failed when many of the businesses NWG invested in lost money, leaving the band facing tax rates potentially as high as 83 per cent. Waters said: "Eighty-three per cent was a lot of money in those days and we didn't have it." Pink Floyd terminated their relationship with NWG, demanding the return of uninvested funds. Gilmour said he became closely involved in the business side of Pink Floyd afterwards: "Ever since then, there's not a penny that I haven't signed for. I sign every cheque and examine everything." To help manage the project's 26 tracks, Waters decided to bring in an outside producer and collaborator, feeling he needed "a collaborator who was musically and intellectually in a similar place to where I was". They hired Ezrin at the suggestion of Waters's then-wife
Carolyne Christie Carolyne Anne Christie (born 27 December 1946) is a member of the British aristocracy, known for having been married to Rock Scully, manager of the Grateful Dead, and later to Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, who wrote songs about her. Their son Ha ...
, who had worked as Ezrin's secretary. Ezrin had previously worked with
Alice Cooper Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...
,
Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...
,
Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...
, and
Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...
. From the start, Waters made it clear who was in charge, telling him: "You can write anything you want. Just don't expect any credit." Ezrin and Gilmour reviewed Waters's concept, discarding what they thought was not good enough. Waters and Ezrin worked mostly on the story, improving the concept. Ezrin presented a 40-page script to the rest of the band, with positive results. He recalled: "The next day at the studio, we had a table read, like you would with a play, but with the whole of the band, and their eyes all twinkled, because then they could see the album." Ezrin broadened the storyline, distancing it from the autobiographical work Waters had written and basing it on a composite character named Pink. The engineer Nick Griffiths later said: "Ezrin was very good in ''The Wall'', because he did manage to pull the whole thing together. He's a very forceful guy. There was a lot of argument about how it should sound between Roger and Dave, and he bridged the gap between them." Waters wrote most of the album, with Gilmour co-writing "
Comfortably Numb "Comfortably Numb" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on their eleventh studio album, ''The Wall'' (1979). It was released as a Single (music), single in 1980, with "Hey You (Pink Floyd song), Hey You" as the A-side and B- ...
", "
Run Like Hell "Run Like Hell" is a song by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, written by David Gilmour and Roger Waters. It appears on their eleventh studio album '' The Wall'' (1979) and was released as a single in 1980, reaching #15 in the Canadian ...
", and " Young Lust", and Ezrin co-writing "
The Trial ''The Trial'' () is a novel written by Franz Kafka in 1914 and 1915 and published posthumously on 26 April 1925. One of his best-known works, it tells the story of Josef K., a man arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority, wi ...
".


Concept and storyline

''The Wall'' is a
rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...
; ; that explores abandonment, cycles of violence, and isolation, symbolized by a wall. The songs create a storyline of events in the life of Pink, a fictional rock star based on Waters and Pink Floyd's former frontman
Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, guitarist and songwriter who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Until his departure in 1968, he was Pink Floyd's frontman and primary songwriter, ...
. The first half of the album largely features events from Waters' childhood and young adulthood, such as the death of his father in WWII, and his wife's infidelity. The album also includes several references to Barrett, namely the track "
Nobody Home "Nobody Home" is a song from the Pink Floyd album ''The Wall''. This song was one of several to be considered for the band's "best of" album, '' Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd''. Background "Nobody Home" was written late into the development of ' ...
". "
Comfortably Numb "Comfortably Numb" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on their eleventh studio album, ''The Wall'' (1979). It was released as a Single (music), single in 1980, with "Hey You (Pink Floyd song), Hey You" as the A-side and B- ...
" was inspired by Waters' injection with a
muscle relaxant A muscle relaxant is a drug that affects skeletal muscle function and decreases the muscle tone. It may be used to alleviate symptoms such as muscle spasms, pain, and hyperreflexia. The term "muscle relaxant" is used to refer to two major therapeu ...
to combat the effects of
hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver parenchyma, liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), Anorexia (symptom), poor appetite ...
during the In the Flesh tour in
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
. Also paralleling the In the Flesh tour was the song "In the Flesh", a satirical commentary on fascism that is also representative of Waters' feelings of hostility towards his audiences.


Plot

The album opens with Pink, a rock star, addressing a crowd of fans at one of his concerts, to whom he is about to give an apparently unexpected performance of his life story ("
In the Flesh? "In the Flesh?" and "In the Flesh" are two songs by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on their eleventh studio album, '' The Wall'' (1979). "In the Flesh?" is the opening track, and introduces the story concept of the album. "In the Fl ...
"). A flashback on his life up to that point begins, in which it is revealed that his father was killed during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, leaving Pink's mother to raise him alone. Beginning with the death of his father, Pink starts to build a metaphorical wall around himself (" Another Brick in the Wall, Part 1"). Growing older, Pink is tormented at school by tyrannical, abusive teachers ("
The Happiest Days of Our Lives "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd. It appeared on their eleventh studio album '' The Wall'' (1979). Composition The song is approximately one minute, 46 seconds in length, beginning with 24 seconds of ...
"), and memories of these traumas become metaphorical "bricks in the wall" ("
Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2 "Another Brick in the Wall" is a three-part composition on Pink Floyd's 1979 album '' The Wall'', written by the bassist, Roger Waters. "Part 2", a protest song against corporal punishment and rigid and abusive schooling, features a childre ...
"). Now an adult, Pink remembers his domineering, overprotective mother ("
Mother A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...
") and his upbringing during
the Blitz The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a co ...
("
Goodbye Blue Sky "Goodbye Blue Sky" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd. It appears on their 1979 double album, ''The Wall''. Plot In a brief prologue, a skylark is heard chirping. The sound of approaching bombers catches the attention of a child (voi ...
"). Pink soon marries, and after more "bricks" are created through more traumas, he is preparing to complete his "wall" ("
Empty Spaces "Empty Spaces" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd. It appears on the 1979 album ''The Wall''. It contains a backmasked message. Composition The song is in the key of E minor, and is two minutes, eight seconds in length. It features ...
"). While touring in the United States, he seeks casual sex to relieve the tedium of touring, though in making a phone call home, he learns of his wife's infidelity (" Young Lust"). He brings a groupie back to his hotel room, only to trash it in a violent fit of rage, terrifying her out of the room ("
One of My Turns "One of My Turns" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, appearing on their 1979 album '' The Wall''. The song was also released as a B-side on the single of " Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)". Composition The song is split into dist ...
"). Depressed, Pink thinks about his wife and fantasizes about committing violence against her (" Don't Leave Me Now"). Feeling trapped, he dismisses the impact his past has had on him while rejecting human contact and medication (" Another Brick in the Wall, Part 3"). Pink's wall is now finished, completely isolating himself from the outside world (" Goodbye Cruel World"). Immediately after the wall's completion, Pink questions his decisions ("
Hey You Hey You, Hey You!, Hey, You, Hey, You!, or variants may refer to: Music Albums * ''Hey, You'' (EP), an EP by the Japanese post-rock band Mono * ''Hey You'', a 1999 album by Jack Ingram * ''Hey You: The Essential Collection 1988–1990'', a 1998 ...
") and locks himself in his hotel room ("
Is There Anybody Out There? "Is There Anybody Out There?" is a song from the eleventh Pink Floyd album, ''The Wall''. Music The first half of the piece has the same concept of " Hey You", being a distress call from Pink. Musically, it's a droning bass synthesizer with v ...
"). As his depression worsens, Pink turns to his possessions for comfort ("
Nobody Home "Nobody Home" is a song from the Pink Floyd album ''The Wall''. This song was one of several to be considered for the band's "best of" album, '' Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd''. Background "Nobody Home" was written late into the development of ' ...
"), and yearns for the idea of reconnecting with his personal roots ("
Vera Vera may refer to: Names *Vera (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Vera (given name), a given name (including a list of people and fictional characters with the name) **Vera (), archbishop of the archdiocese of Tarr ...
"). Pink's mind flashes back to World War II, with the people demanding that the soldiers return home ("
Bring the Boys Back Home "Bring the Boys Back Home" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd released on their 1979 album, '' The Wall''. The song was released as a B-side on the single, " When the Tigers Broke Free". Composition As the final notes of the previous ...
"). Returning to the present, Pink's manager and roadies break into his hotel room, where they find him unresponsive. A paramedic injects him with drugs to enable him to perform at a concert later that night ("
Comfortably Numb "Comfortably Numb" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on their eleventh studio album, ''The Wall'' (1979). It was released as a Single (music), single in 1980, with "Hey You (Pink Floyd song), Hey You" as the A-side and B- ...
"). The drugs kick in, resulting in a hallucinatory on-stage performance ("
The Show Must Go On "The show must go on" is a phrase in show business, meaning that regardless of what happens, whatever show has been planned still has to be staged for the waiting patrons. There is no evidence to suggest that it is the abbreviation of a longer p ...
") where he believes that he is a
fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...
dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute Power (social and political), power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a polity. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to r ...
, and that his concert is a
Neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
rally, at which he sets
brownshirt The (; SA; or 'Storm Troopers') was the original paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party of Germany. It played a significant role in Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and early 1930s. Its primary purposes were provi ...
-like men on fans that he considers unworthy ("
In the Flesh In the Flesh may refer to: Film and TV * ''In the Flesh'' (1998 film), an American gay-themed murder mystery film * ''In the Flesh'' (2003 film), an Indian documentary about prostitution in South Asia * "In the Flesh" (''Star Trek: Voyager''), ...
"). He proceeds to attack minorities ("
Run Like Hell "Run Like Hell" is a song by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, written by David Gilmour and Roger Waters. It appears on their eleventh studio album '' The Wall'' (1979) and was released as a single in 1980, reaching #15 in the Canadian ...
"), culminating in him imagining holding a violence-inciting rally in suburban London ("
Waiting for the Worms "Waiting for the Worms" (working title "Follow the Worms") is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on their eleventh studio album ''The Wall'' (1979). It is preceded by "Run Like Hell" and followed by " Stop". Composition and plo ...
"). Pink's hallucination then ceases, and he begs for everything to stop (" Stop"). Tormented with guilt, Pink places himself on trial before his inner judge, who orders him to "tear down the wall" as punishment for his actions ("
The Trial ''The Trial'' () is a novel written by Franz Kafka in 1914 and 1915 and published posthumously on 26 April 1925. One of his best-known works, it tells the story of Josef K., a man arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority, wi ...
"). This is the opening of Pink to the outside world (" Outside the Wall"). The album turns full circle with its closing words "Isn't this where...", the first words of the phrase that begins the album, "...we came in?", with a continuation of the melody of the last song hinting at the cyclical nature of Waters' theme, and that the
existential crisis Existential crises are inner conflicts characterized by the impression that life lacks meaning and confusion about one's personal identity. They are accompanied by anxiety and stress, often to such a degree that they disturb one's normal funct ...
at the heart of the album will never truly end.


Production


Recording

''The Wall'' was recorded in several locations. Super Bear Studios in France was used between January and July 1979, and Waters recorded his vocals at the nearby
Studio Miraval Miraval Studios is a recording studio located in the Château de Miraval, a 900 hectares estate located in Correns, in the Var department of Provence (France). Founded in 1977 by French jazz pianist Jacques Loussier and sound engineer Patrice Q ...
.
Michael Kamen Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, record producer and musician. Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was born in ...
supervised the orchestral arrangements at
CBS Studios CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount (Network) Television, as a re ...
in New York in September. Over the next two months the band used
Cherokee Studios Cherokee Studios is a recording studio facility in Hollywood founded in 1972 by members of 1960s pop band the Robbs. Cherokee has been the location of many notable recordings by such artists as Steely Dan, David Bowie, Journey, Toto, Michael J ...
, Producers Workshop and
The Village Recorder The Village (also known as Village Recorders, or the Village Recorder) is a recording studio located at 1616 Butler Avenue in West Los Angeles, California. History The building was built by the Freemasons in 1922 and was originally a Masonic t ...
in Los Angeles. A plan to work with the
Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by thei ...
at the Sundance Productions studio in Los Angeles was cancelled (although Beach Boys member
Bruce Johnston Bruce Johnston (born Benjamin Baldwin; June 27, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter and musician who is a member of the Beach Boys. He also collaborated on many records with Terry Melcher (his bandmate in Bruce & Terry, the Rip Chords, and ...
does sing backing vocals on "In the Flesh?", "The Show Must Go On", the side 4 version of "In the Flesh", and "Waiting for the Worms"). James Guthrie, recommended by previous Floyd collaborator
Alan Parsons Alan Parsons (born 20 December 1948) is an English audio engineer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Parsons was the sound engineer on albums including the Beatles' ''Abbey Road'' (1969) and '' Let It Be'' (1970), Pink Floyd's ''The ...
, arrived early in the production process. He replaced
engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...
Brian Humphries, who was emotionally drained by his five years with the band. Guthrie was hired as a co-producer, but was initially unaware of Ezrin's role: "I saw myself as a hot young ''producer'' ... When we arrived, I think we both felt we'd been booked to do the same job." The early sessions at Britannia Row were emotionally charged, as Ezrin, Guthrie and Waters each had strong ideas about the direction the album would take. Relations within the band were at a low ebb, and Ezrin became an intermediary between Waters and the rest of the band. As Britannia Row was initially regarded as inadequate for ''The Wall,'' the band upgraded much of its equipment, and by March another set of demos was complete. However, their former relationship with NWG placed them at risk of bankruptcy, and they were advised to leave the UK by no later than 6 April 1979, for a minimum of one year. As non-residents they would pay no UK taxes during that time, and within a month all four members and their families had left. Waters moved to Switzerland, Mason to France, and Gilmour and Wright to the
Greek Islands Greece has many islands, with estimates ranging from somewhere around 1,200 to 6,000, depending on the minimum size to take into account. The number of inhabited islands is variously cited as between 166 and 227. The largest Greek island by ...
. Some equipment from Britannia Row was relocated in Super Bear Studios near
Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Gilmour and Wright were both familiar with the studio and enjoyed its atmosphere, having recorded solo albums there. While Wright and Mason lived at the studio, Waters and Gilmour stayed in nearby houses. Mason later moved into Waters's villa near
Vence Vence (; ) is a commune set in the hills of the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France, north of Nice and Antibes on the Mediterranean coast. Ecclesiastical history The first known Bishop ...
, while Ezrin stayed in Nice. Ezrin's poor punctuality caused problems with the tight schedule dictated by Waters. Mason found Ezrin's behaviour "erratic", but used his elaborate and unlikely excuses for his lateness as ammunition for "tongue-in-cheek resentment". Ezrin's share of the royalties was less than the rest of the band and he viewed Waters as a bully, especially when Waters mocked him by having badges made that read NOPE (No Points Ezrin), alluding to his lesser share. Ezrin later said he had had marital problems and was not "in the best shape emotionally". More problems became apparent when Waters's relationship with Wright broke down. The band were rarely in the studio together. Ezrin and Guthrie spliced Mason's previously recorded drum tracks together, and Guthrie worked with Waters and Gilmour during the day, returning at night to record Wright's contributions. Wright, worried about the effect that the introduction of Ezrin would have on band relationships, was keen to have a producer's credit on the album. Their albums since ''
More More may refer to: Computing * MORE (application), outline software for Mac OS * more (command), a shell command * MORE protocol, a routing protocol * Missouri Research and Education Network Music Albums * ''More!'' (album), by Booka Shade, ...
'' (1969) had credited production to "Pink Floyd". Waters agreed to a trial period with Wright producing, after which he was to be given a producer's credit, but after a few weeks he and Ezrin expressed dissatisfaction with Wright's methods. A confrontation with Ezrin led to Wright working only at nights. Gilmour also expressed his annoyance, complaining that Wright's lack of input was "driving us all mad". Ezrin later reflected: "it sometimes felt that Roger was setting him up to fail. Rick gets performance anxiety. You have to leave him alone to freeform, to create ..." Wright was troubled by a failing marriage and the onset of depression, exacerbated by his non-residency. While the other band members brought their children, Wright's children were older and could not join as they were attending school; he said he missed them "terribly". The band's holidays were booked for August, after which they were to reconvene at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, but Columbia offered the band a better deal in exchange for a Christmas release of the album. Waters increased the band's workload accordingly, booking time at the nearby Studio Miraval. He also suggested recording in Los Angeles ten days earlier than agreed, and hiring another keyboardist to work alongside Wright, whose keyboard parts had not yet been recorded. Wright refused to cut short his family holiday in
Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...
. Accounts of Wright's subsequent departure from the band differ. In his autobiography, ''
Inside Out Inside Out may refer to: * Backwards or inverse Books * '' Inside Out: A Personal History of Pink Floyd'', by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason * ''Inside Out'', Christian book by Larry Crabb * ''Inside Out'', espionage thriller by Barry Eisler * ...
'', Mason says that Waters called the band's manager,
Steve O'Rourke Steve O'Rourke ( – ) was an English music manager and racing driver. He was the manager of Pink Floyd, a position he held from 1968 until his death. Among his accomplishments was negotiating Pink Floyd's split with bass player and main songwr ...
, who was travelling to the US on the ''
QE2 ''Queen Elizabeth 2'' (''QE2'') is a retired British ocean liner. Built for the Cunard Line, the ship was operated as a transatlantic liner and cruise ship from 1969 to 2008. She was laid up until converted into a floating hotel, operating sin ...
'', and told him to have Wright out of the band by the time Waters arrived in LA to mix the album. In another version recorded by a later historian of the band, Waters called O'Rourke and asked him to tell Wright about the new recording arrangements, to which Wright responded: "Tell Roger to fuck off". Wright denied this, stating that the band had agreed to record only through the spring and early summer, and that he had no idea they were so far behind schedule. Mason later wrote that Waters was "stunned and furious", and felt that Wright was not doing enough. Gilmour was on holiday in Dublin when he learnt of Waters's ultimatum, and tried to calm the situation. He later spoke with Wright and gave him his support, but reminded him about his minimal contributions. Waters insisted that Wright leave, or he would refuse to release ''The Wall''. Several days later, worried about their financial situation and the failing interpersonal relationships within the band, Wright quit. News of his departure was kept from the music press. Although his name did not appear on some editions of the album (it does appear on the UK gatefold sleeve), he was employed as a session musician on the band's subsequent tour. By August 1979, the running order was largely complete. Wright completed his duties at Cherokee Studios aided by session musicians Peter Wood and
Fred Mandel Frederick Lawrence Mandel is a Canadian session musician, keyboard player and guitarist. Career Born in Estevan, Saskatchewan, Mandel started playing the piano at four and picked up the guitar aged eight. Growing up in an Orthodox Jewish h ...
, and
Jeff Porcaro Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer. He is best known for being the co-founder and drummer of the rock band Toto, but is also one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working on hundr ...
played drums in Mason's stead on "
Mother A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...
". Mason left the final mix to Waters, Gilmour, Ezrin and Guthrie, and travelled to New York to record his debut solo album, ''
Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports ''Nick Mason's Fictitious Sports'' is the debut solo album by drummer Nick Mason, most known for his work with Pink Floyd, released in May 1981. Mainly creatively driven by American jazz composer Carla Bley, it is Mason's first major work outsi ...
''. In advance of its release, technical constraints led to some changes to the running order and content of ''The Wall'', with "What Shall We Do Now?" replaced by the similar but shorter "Empty Spaces", and "
Hey You Hey You, Hey You!, Hey, You, Hey, You!, or variants may refer to: Music Albums * ''Hey, You'' (EP), an EP by the Japanese post-rock band Mono * ''Hey You'', a 1999 album by Jack Ingram * ''Hey You: The Essential Collection 1988–1990'', a 1998 ...
" being moved from the end of side three to the beginning. With the November 1979 deadline approaching, the band left the inner sleeves of the album unchanged.


Instrumentation

Mason's early drum sessions were performed in an open space on the top floor of
Britannia Row Studios Britannia Row Studios was a recording studio in Islington, London N1 (1975–1995), and then Fulham, London SW6, England (1995–2015). It was built by the English rock band Pink Floyd, who used it to record their albums ''Animals'' (1977) and '' T ...
. The 16-track recordings from these sessions were mixed down and copied onto a 24-track master, as guide tracks for the rest of the band to play to. This gave the engineers greater flexibility, but also improved the audio quality of the mix, as the original 16-track drum recordings were synced to the 24-track master and the duplicated guide tracks removed. Ezrin later related the band's alarm at this method of working – they apparently viewed the erasure of material from the 24-track master as "witchcraft". While at Super Bear studios, Waters agreed to Ezrin's suggestion that several tracks, including "Nobody Home", "The Trial" and "Comfortably Numb", should have an orchestral accompaniment.
Michael Kamen Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, record producer and musician. Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was born in ...
, who had previously worked with
David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
, was booked to oversee these arrangements, which were performed by musicians from the
New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...
and
New York Symphony The New York Symphony Orchestra was founded as the New York Symphony Society in New York City by Leopold Damrosch in 1878. For many years it was a rival to the older Philharmonic Symphony Society of New York. It was supported by Andrew Carnegie, w ...
Orchestras, and a choir from the
New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through its 2013 bankruptcy, and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, dubbed "the peopl ...
. Their sessions were recorded at CBS Studios in New York without Pink Floyd present. Kamen eventually met the band once recording was complete. "Comfortably Numb" has its origins in Gilmour's debut solo album, and was the source of much argument between Waters and Gilmour. Ezrin claimed that the song initially started life as "Roger's record, about Roger, for Roger", but he thought that it needed further work. Waters changed the key of the verse and added more lyrics to the chorus, and Gilmour added extra bars for the line "I have become comfortably numb". Gilmour's "stripped-down and harder" recording was not to Waters's liking; Waters preferred Ezrin's "grander Technicolor, orchestral version". Following a major argument in a
North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood and district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, El Portal Theater, several art galleries, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Th ...
restaurant, the two compromised; the song's body included the orchestral arrangement, with Gilmour's second and final guitar solo standing alone.


Sound design

Ezrin and Waters oversaw the capture of the album's sound effects. Waters recorded the phone call used on the original demo for " Young Lust", but neglected to inform its recipient, Mason, who assumed it was a prank call and angrily hung up. A real telephone operator was also an unwitting participant. The call references Waters' viewpoint of his bitter 1975 divorce from first wife Judy. Waters also recorded ambient sounds along
Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It runs through the Hollywood, East Hollywood, Little Armenia, Thai Town, and Los Feliz districts. Its western terminus is at Sunset Plaza Drive in the Hollyw ...
by hanging a microphone from a studio window. Engineer Phil Taylor recorded some of the screeching tyre noises on "Run Like Hell" from a studio car park, and a television set being destroyed was used on "
One of My Turns "One of My Turns" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, appearing on their 1979 album '' The Wall''. The song was also released as a B-side on the single of " Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)". Composition The song is split into dist ...
". At Britannia Row Studios, Nick Griffiths recorded the smashing of crockery for the same song. Television broadcasts were used, and one actor, recognising his voice, accepted a financial settlement from the group in lieu of legal action against them. The maniacal schoolmaster was voiced by Waters, and actress
Trudy Young Trudy Young (born 1 January 1950) is a Canadian actress. Born in Ontario, Canada, her career began in 1963 with appearances on CBC's '' Time of Your Life''. She became a regular host of ''Razzle Dazzle'' in 1965 while attending school at Alde ...
supplied the
groupie A groupie is a fan of a particular musical group who follows the band around while they are on tour or who attends as many of their public appearances as possible, with the hope of meeting them. The term is used mostly describing young women, a ...
's voice. Backing vocals were performed by a range of artists, although a planned appearance by
the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...
on "The Show Must Go On" and "Waiting for the Worms" was cancelled by Waters, who instead settled for Beach Boy
Bruce Johnston Bruce Johnston (born Benjamin Baldwin; June 27, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter and musician who is a member of the Beach Boys. He also collaborated on many records with Terry Melcher (his bandmate in Bruce & Terry, the Rip Chords, and ...
and Beach Boys touring musician
Toni Tennille Cathryn Antoinette "Toni" Tennille (born May 8, 1940) is an American singer-songwriter and keyboardist. A contralto, she is best known as one-half of the 1970s duo Captain & Tennille with her former husband Daryl Dragon; their signature song i ...
. Ezrin's suggestion to release "
Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2 "Another Brick in the Wall" is a three-part composition on Pink Floyd's 1979 album '' The Wall'', written by the bassist, Roger Waters. "Part 2", a protest song against corporal punishment and rigid and abusive schooling, features a childre ...
" as a single with a
disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...
-style beat did not initially find favour with Gilmour, although Mason and Waters were more enthusiastic. Waters opposed releasing a single, but became receptive once he listened to Ezrin and Guthrie's mix. With two identical verses the song was felt to be lacking, and so a copy was sent to Griffiths in London with a request to find children to perform several versions of the lyrics. Griffiths contacted Alun Renshaw, head of music at the nearby Islington Green school, who was enthusiastic, saying: "I wanted to make music relevant to the kids – not just sitting around listening to Tchaikovsky. I thought the lyrics were great – 'We don't need no education, we don't need no thought control ...' I just thought it would be a wonderful experience for the kids." Griffiths first recorded small groups of pupils and then invited more, telling them to affect a
Cockney Cockney is a dialect of the English language, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by Londoners with working-class and lower middle class roots. The term ''Cockney'' is also used as a demonym for a person from the East End, ...
accent and shout rather than sing. He multitracked the voices, making the groups sound larger, before sending his recordings back to Los Angeles. The result delighted Waters, and the song was released as a single, becoming a Christmas number one. There was some controversy when the British press reported that the children had not been paid for their efforts; they were eventually given copies of the album, and the school received a £1,000 donation (£ in contemporary value).


Artwork and packaging

The album's cover art is one of Pink Floyd's most minimal – a white brick wall and no text. Waters had a falling out with
Hipgnosis Hipgnosis were an English art design group, based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, Def Leppard, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black S ...
designer
Storm Thorgerson Storm Elvin Thorgerson (28 February 1944 – 18 April 2013) was an English art director and music video director. He is best known for closely working with the group Pink Floyd through most of their career, and also created album or other art f ...
a few years earlier when Thorgerson had included the cover of ''
Animals Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia (). With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, have myocytes and are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and grow from a ...
'' in his book ''The Work of Hipgnosis: 'Walk Away René. ''The Wall'' is therefore the first album cover of the band since ''
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn ''The Piper at the Gates of Dawn'' is the debut studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 4 August 1967 by EMI Columbia. It is the only Pink Floyd album made under the leadership of founder member Syd Barrett (lead vocals, ...
'' not to be created by the design group. Issues of the album included the lettering of the artist name and album title by cartoonist
Gerald Scarfe Gerald Anthony Scarfe (born 1 June 1936) is an English satirical cartoonist and illustrator. He has worked as editorial cartoonist for ''The Sunday Times (UK), The Sunday Times'' and illustrator for ''The New Yorker''. Scarfe’s other work in ...
, either as a sticker on sleeve wrapping or printed onto the cover itself, in either black or red. Scarfe, who had previously created animations for the band's "In the Flesh" tour, also created the LP's inside sleeve art and labels of both vinyl records of the album, showing the eponymous wall in various stages of construction, accompanied by characters from the story. The drawings were translated into dolls for ''The Wall'' Tour, as well as into Scarfe's animated segments shown during the tour and the film based on the album. It is notable that the stadium drawn in the inner sleeve highly resembles the
Montreal Olympic Stadium Olympic Stadium (, ) is a multi-purpose stadium in Montreal, Canada, located at Olympic Park in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve district of the city. Built in the mid-1970s as the main venue for the 1976 Summer Olympics, it is nicknamed "The Big O ...
where the album's concept happens to find its origin. It seems plausible that the artist was inspired by the stadium's appearance in 1977 and its inclined tower which was completed only at a third of its projected (and present) height, reminiscent of the many "towers" pictured in the artist's stadium.


Release and reception

When the completed album was played for an assembled group of executives at Columbia's headquarters in California, several were reportedly unimpressed by what they heard. Matters had not been helped when
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...
offered Waters smaller publishing rights on the grounds that ''The Wall'' was a
double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording ...
, a position he did not accept. When one executive offered to settle the dispute with a coin toss, Waters asked why he should gamble on something he owned. He eventually prevailed. The record company's concerns were alleviated when "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2" reached number one in the UK, US, Norway, Portugal, West Germany and South Africa. It was
certified Certification is part of testing, inspection and certification and the provision by an independent body of written assurance (a certificate) that the product, service or system in question meets specific requirements. It is the formal attestatio ...
platinum in the UK in December 1979, and platinum in the US three months later. In Germany, the album reached the one million sales mark within three months of its release. In Canada, the album had sold 830,000 copies by January 1981. ''The Wall'' was released in the UK and in the US on 30 November 1979. Coinciding with its release, Waters was interviewed by veteran DJ
Tommy Vance Richard Anthony Crispian Francis Prew Hope-Weston (11 July 1940 – 6 March 2005), known professionally as Tommy Vance, was an English radio broadcaster. He was an important factor in the rise of the new wave of British heavy metal, along with ...
, who played the album in its entirety on
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
. Critical reception of the album upon release was mixed. Reviewing for ''Rolling Stone'' in February 1980,
Kurt Loder Kurt Loder (born May 5, 1945) is an American entertainment critic, author, columnist and television personality. He served in the 1980s as editor at ''Rolling Stone'', during a tenure that ''Reason'' later called "legendary". He has contributed ...
hailed it as "a stunning synthesis of Waters's by now familiar thematic obsessions" that "leaps to life with a relentless lyrical rage that's clearly genuine and, in its painstaking particularity, ultimately horrifying." By contrast, ''
The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...
'' critic
Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...
regarded it as "a dumb tribulations-of-a-rock-star epic" backed by "kitschy minimal maximalism with sound effects and speech fragments", adding in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' that its
worldview A worldview (also world-view) or is said to be the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and Perspective (cognitive), point of view. However, whe ...
is "self-indulgent" and "presents the self-pity of its rich, famous and decidedly post-adolescent protagonist as a species of heroism". ''Melody Maker'' declared, "I'm not sure whether it's brilliant or terrible, but I find it utterly compelling." The album topped the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart for 15 weeks, selling over a million copies in its first two months of sales and in 1999, it was certified 23×
platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
. It remains one of the
best-selling albums This is a list of the world's best-selling albums of recorded music in physical mediums, such as vinyl, audio cassettes or compact discs. To appear on the list, the figure must have been published by a reliable source and the album must have s ...
of all time in the US, having sold over 19 million copies worldwide between 1979 and 1990. ''The Wall'' is Pink Floyd's second-best selling album after 1973's ''
The Dark Side of the Moon ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973, by Capitol Records in the US and on 16 March 1973, by Harvest Records in the UK. Developed during live performances before ...
''. Engineer James Guthrie's efforts were rewarded in 1980 with a
Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
award for Best Engineered Recording (non-classical), and the album was nominated for the
Grammy Award for Album of the Year The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is an award presented by the The Recording Academy, National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the r ...
. ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' placed it at number 87 on its ''
500 Greatest Albums of All Time 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...
'' list in 2003, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list, although this was updated to 129 with the list's 2020 revision. The album was also included in the book ''
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music criti ...
''. In 2008, ''The Wall'' was inducted into the
Grammy Hall of Fame The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...
. ''The Wall'', said
Billy Corgan William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, singer, and only constant member of alter ...
at his induction of Pink Floyd into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...
, was "at my tender age of fourteen… too creepy, too intense, too
nihilistic Nihilism () encompasses various views that reject certain aspects of existence. There have been different nihilist positions, including the views that life is meaningless, that moral values are baseless, and that knowledge is impossible. Thes ...
. And, of course, these are all the things that I believe in now… But at twenty-eight years old, it's one of the bravest records I've ever heard. And I really can't point to anything else that's ever summed up everything that's fucked up about life; everything that's fucked up about rock. It takes on politics, hero worship, rock 'n' roll, and our desires to connect with the universe, all in one fell swoop. It really, truly, is an amazing testament to how far they were willing to go to reach the outer limits of what's important." "''The Wall'' is stupefyingly good," Waters declared in 1992. "Christ, what a brilliant idea that was. It holds together so well… And of course Dave's musical influence on that was considerable. Despite what has happened between us since then, I still have great respect for him as a guitarist."


Reissues

A remastered CD was released by Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs in 1989, this version and all following CD reissues had the "Pink Floyd The Wall" text printed directly onto the cover, rather than a sticker (as it was on vinyl copies). Another remastered CD was included in the band's 1992 box set Shine On remastered by Guthrie and
Doug Sax Doug Sax (April 26, 1936 – April 2, 2015) was an American mastering engineer from Los Angeles, California. He mastered three The Doors' albums, including their 1967 debut; six Pink Floyd's albums, including '' The Wall''; Ray Charles' multiple ...
. The remaster was released as a two-disc standalone in the UK and in Europe in 1994. The remastered CD would be released in 1997 for the world excluding Europe using a new 1994 remaster which was done for the short lived Mini Disc format. The China version of the album omits "Young Lust", but retains a composition credit for Waters/Gilmour in the booklet. The album was reissued in three versions as part of the '' Why Pink Floyd...?'' campaign, which featured a massive restoration of the band's catalogue with remastering by producer James Guthrie: a "Discovery" edition in 2011, featuring the remastered version with no extras, and the "Experience" edition, which adds a bonus disc of unreleased material and other supplementary items, and the "Immersion" edition, a seven-disc collection that also adds video materials, in 2012. On both the "Discovery" and "Experience" editions, the text on the cover changed from black to red, meanwhile the "Immersion" edition featured new artwork altogether. The album was reissued under the Pink Floyd Records label on 26 August 2016 along with ''
The Division Bell ''The Division Bell'' is the fourteenth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 28 March 1994 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and on 5 April by Columbia Records in the United States. The second Pink Floyd album re ...
''. Vinyl copies of the 2016 reissue featured the plain cover with the black text once again printed onto a sticker, while CD copies continued to feature the red text from the "Discovery" version.


Tour

''
The Wall Tour ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
'' opened at the
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena The Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena was a multi-purpose arena at Exposition Park, in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was located next to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and just south of the campus of the University of ...
on 7 February 1980. Touring continued throughout 1980 and 1981 in New York, London, and Dortmund, Germany. In comparison to previous tours, the audiences were much smaller (Waters' having tired of large inattentive crowds). By this time, Pink Floyd concerts had garnered a reputation for spectacle, which The Wall tour built upon. Most famously, as the band played, a wall of 340 cardboard bricks was gradually constructed between them and the audience. Gerald Scarfe was employed to produce a series of animations to be projected onto the wall. At his London studio, he employed a team of 40 animators to create Pink's nightmarish visions, many of which were re-used in the film version of The Wall. Unbeknownst to the audience, at the beginning of each show the real Pink Floyd would not actually be the ones performing. Instead, a "surrogate band" played, wearing hyper-realistic face masks of each of the real members. At the end of the opening number ("In the Flesh?"), the surrogates would freeze in place, and lights would reveal the real band behind them. The surrogates would then later re-appear without the masks as backing musicians. Pyrotechnics were also involved. Most prominently, towards the beginning of each performance, a model
Stuka The Junkers Ju 87, popularly known as the "Stuka", is a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion during the ...
aeroplane was flown over the audience, crashing and exploding as it hit the wall. This stunt caused a mishap during the first night of the tour, when it set the stage curtains on fire. The stadium had to be evacuated, but following the revelation of the surrogate band, Waters had difficulty convincing the audience that the fire was not also part of the performance. No serious injuries occurred. Throughout the show, three characters were realised as giant inflatables looming over the stage – Pink's schoolmaster, his mother, and his wife. During "In the Flesh", an inflatable pig also floated over the audience (a carryover from prior tours), this time sporting a crossed hammers logo to match the uniforms of the band and stage crew. Unlike prior tours, The Wall required precise timing and staging (allowing for little improvisation). For "Comfortably Numb", while Waters sang his opening verse, Gilmour waited in darkness at the top of the wall, standing on a
flight case A road case, ATA case or flight case is a shipping container specifically built to protect musical instruments, motion picture equipment, audio and lighting production equipment, theatrical property, props, firearms, or other sensitive equipment ...
on casters, held steady by a technician, both precariously balanced atop a hydraulic platform. On cue, bright blue and white lights would suddenly illuminate him. At the very end of each concert, the wall would be dramatically torn down, controlled carefully by tipping mechanisms in order to prevent the front rows of the audience from being harmed. Along with the songs on the album, the tour featured an instrumental medley, "
The Last Few Bricks "The Last Few Bricks" is an instrumental bridge/Medley (music), medley used by Pink Floyd and Roger Waters at ''The Wall'' live shows, between "Another Brick in the Wall#Part 3, Another Brick in the Wall, Part 3" and "Goodbye Cruel World (Pink F ...
", played before "Goodbye Cruel World" to allow the construction crew to complete the wall. "Empty Spaces" was also replaced by a longer version of the track, "What Shall We Do Now?". During the tour, band relationships dropped to an all-time low; at one point, they stayed in four Winnebagos parked in a circle with the doors facing away from the centre. Waters, however, used his own vehicle to arrive at the venue, and stayed in separate hotels from the rest of the band. Ultimately, Wright, returning as a salaried musician, was the only member of the band to profit from the tour, which lost about £400,000.


Adaptations

A film adaptation, ''
Pink Floyd – The Wall ''Pink Floyd – The Wall'' is a 1982 British live-action/animated musical surrealist drama film directed by Alan Parker, based on Pink Floyd's 1979 studio album '' The Wall''. The screenplay was written by Pink Floyd vocalist and bassist ...
'', was released by
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
in July 1982. It was written by Waters and directed by
Alan Parker Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English film director, screenwriter and producer. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After abo ...
, with
Bob Geldof Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead singer of the Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved popularity as part ...
as Pink. It used Scarfe's animation alongside actors, with little conventional dialogue. A modified soundtrack was created for some of the film's songs. On 21 July 1990, Waters and producer
Tony Hollingsworth The Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute was a popular-music concert staged on 11 June 1988 at Wembley Stadium, London, and broadcast to 67 countries and an audience of 600 million. Marking the forthcoming 70th birthday (18 July 1988) of the ...
created ''
The Wall – Live in Berlin ''The Wall – Live in Berlin'' was a live concert performance by Roger Waters and numerous guest artists, of the Pink Floyd studio album '' The Wall'', itself largely written by Waters during his time with the band. The show was held in Berlin ...
'', staged for charity at a site once occupied by part of the
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...
. The concert included several artists and celebrities popular at the time, including
Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...
,
Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper ( ; born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Known for her distinctive image, featuring a variety of hair colors and eccentric clothing, and for her powerful four-octave vocal range;Jerome, ...
,
Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada' Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor; , ; 8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) was an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and activist. Her debut studio album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and achieve ...
,
Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...
,
Ute Lemper Ute Gertrud Lemper (; born 4 July 1963) is a German singer and actress. Her roles in musicals include playing Sally Bowles in the original Paris production of ''Cabaret'', for which she won the 1987 Molière Award for Best Newcomer, and Vel ...
,
Tim Curry Timothy James Curry (born 19 April 1946) is an English actor and singer. He rose to prominence as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the musical film '' The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 London, 1974 L ...
,
Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...
,
Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...
, and
Thomas Dolby Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher. Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me ...
among others. The concert was broadcast on television in 52 countries, and was later released as a video and album at the end of that same year. The band omitted the song "Outside the Wall" and instead played "
The Tide Is Turning "The Tide Is Turning (After Live Aid)" is the closing track from Roger Waters' second studio album, '' Radio K.A.O.S.'' It was released as the album's third single, in November 1987. A live version of the song was released as the second single fro ...
", a song from Roger Waters' 1987 solo album '' Radio K.A.O.S.'' In 2003, the album was remastered and for the first time, the video was released on DVD. In 2000, Pink Floyd released ''
Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81 ''Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81'' is a live album released by Pink Floyd in 2000. It is a live rendition of ''The Wall'', produced and engineered by James Guthrie, with tracks selected from the August 1980 and June 198 ...
'', which contains portions of various live shows from the Wall Tour, but mainly the shows in the
Earls Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...
in London. In 2012, it was remastered and released on The Wall "Immersion" Box-Set as an extra.


Waters tours and opera

Beginning in 2010 and with dates lasting into 2013, Waters performed the album worldwide on his tour, '' The Wall Live''. This had a much wider wall, updated higher quality projected content and leading-edge projection technology. The tour included a one-off performance at
The O2 Arena The O2 Arena, commonly known as The O2, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the centre of The O2 entertainment district on the Greenwich Peninsula in southeast London, England. It opened in its present form in 2007. It has the third-highest seat ...
in London on May 12, 2011, which marked only the second time in 30 years that Gilmour, Waters, and Nick Mason played together, the last having been Live 8 in 2005. Gilmour played his guitar solo on top of the wall during "Comfortably Numb," as he did on the original 1980/81 tour. A film of the live concert, '' Roger Waters: The Wall'', was released in 2015. In 2016, Waters adapted ''The Wall'' into an opera, '' Another Brick in the Wall: The Opera'' with contemporary classical composer Julien Bilodeau. It premiered at
Opéra de Montréal LOpéra de Montréal () is an opera company in Montreal, Canada. It performs at the Place des Arts theatre complex in downtown Montreal, in the borough of Ville-Marie. It was founded in 1980 as a company focused on productions in French. Hi ...
in March 2017, and was produced by
Cincinnati Opera Cincinnati Opera is an American opera company based in Cincinnati, Ohio and the second-oldest opera company in the United States (after the New York Metropolitan Opera). Beginning with its first season in 1920, Cincinnati Opera has produced opera ...
in July 2018. It is orchestrated for a score of eight soloists, 48 chorus members, and a standard 70-piece operatic orchestra.


Tributes

In 2018, a
tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...
''The Wall edux' was released, with individual artists covering the entire album. This included
Melvins Melvins (sometimes the Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Primarily a trio, they have also performed as a quartet, with eith ...
' version of "In The Flesh?",
Pallbearer A pallbearer is one of several participants who help carry the casket at a funeral. They may wear white gloves in order to prevent damaging the casket and to show respect to the deceased person. Some traditions distinguish between the roles o ...
covering "Run Like Hell", former
Screaming Trees Screaming Trees were an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington, in 1984 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bassist Van Conner, and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel was replaced by Barrett Martin in 1991. Screami ...
' singer
Mark Lanegan Mark William Lanegan (November 25, 1964 – February 22, 2022) was an American singer and songwriter. First becoming prominent as the lead singer for the early grunge band Screaming Trees, he was also known as a member of Queens of the Stone Age ...
covering "Nobody Home" and Church of the Cosmic Skull reworking "The Trial". On 19 September 2019,
Channel Awesome Channel Awesome, Inc. is an American online media production company based in Lombard, Illinois. The company was created in 2008 by Mike Michaud, Mike Ellis, and Bhargav Dronamraju. Channel Awesome operated the ''That Guy with the Glasses'' we ...
's internet series, ''
Nostalgia Critic ''Nostalgia Critic'' is an American review comedy web series created, directed by, and starring comedian Doug Walker. The series initially launched on YouTube on July 3, 2007, before moving to Walker's own site, That Guy with the Glasses, and f ...
'', released a music video review of the album called '' Nostalgia Critic's The Wall'', featuring
Corey Taylor Corey Todd Taylor (born December 8, 1973) is an American musician, songwriter, author and actor. He is the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Slipknot (band), Slipknot, in which he is designated #8, as well as the lead vocalist, guitarist, ly ...
and
Rob Scallon Robert Andrew Scallon (born August 26, 1990) is an American YouTuber, musician, and multi-instrumentalist based in Chicago, Illinois. He is best known for several viral videos featuring his music, including heavy metal songs played with tradit ...
. The album and video received overwhelmingly poor reviews from viewers and critics.


Track listing

All tracks are written and sung by
Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...
, except where noted.


Personnel

Pink Floyd *
Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...
 – vocals, bass guitar ,
EMS VCS 3 The VCS 3 (or VCS3; an initialism for ''Voltage Controlled Studio, version #3'') is a portable analogue synthesizer with a flexible modular voice architecture introduced by Electronic Music Studios (EMS) in 1969. EMS released the product ...
, acoustic guitar , electric guitar , sleeve design, co-production *
David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who is a member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined in 1967, shortly before the departure of the founder member Syd Barrett. By the early 1980s, Pink F ...
 – vocals, electric guitar , acoustic guitar , bass guitar ,
Prophet-5 The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential (company), Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith (engineer), Dave Smith and John S. Bowen (sound designer), John Bowen in 1977. It was the first Polyphony ...
and
ARP Quadra The ARP Quadra was a 61-key analog synthesizer produced by ARP Instruments, Inc. from 1978 to 1981. After the costly failure of their Centaur poly synth design and poor sales of the Avatar, they desperately needed some sort of poly synth but ...
synthesisers , co-production *
Nick Mason Nicholas Berkeley Mason (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He has been the only constant member since the band's formation in 1965, and the only member to appear on every ...
 – drums , percussion * Richard Wright –
Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...
,
Prophet-5 The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential (company), Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith (engineer), Dave Smith and John S. Bowen (sound designer), John Bowen in 1977. It was the first Polyphony ...
, piano ,
ARP Quadra The ARP Quadra was a 61-key analog synthesizer produced by ARP Instruments, Inc. from 1978 to 1981. After the costly failure of their Centaur poly synth design and poor sales of the Avatar, they desperately needed some sort of poly synth but ...
and
Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popul ...
synthesisers , Fender Rhodes and
Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...
electric pianos ,
clavinet The Clavinet is an electric clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds with rubber pads, each matching one of the keys and respond ...
Additional musicians *
Bob Ezrin Robert Alan Ezrin (born March 25, 1949) is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, best known for his work with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, Andrea Bocelli and Phish. As of 2010, Ezri ...
 – production, piano , Hammond organ and harmonium , Prophet-5 , orchestral arrangement and music , backing vocals * James Guthrie – co-producer, engineer, percussion ,
ARP Quadra The ARP Quadra was a 61-key analog synthesizer produced by ARP Instruments, Inc. from 1978 to 1981. After the costly failure of their Centaur poly synth design and poor sales of the Avatar, they desperately needed some sort of poly synth but ...
, sound effects *
Michael Kamen Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, record producer and musician. Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was born in ...
 – orchestral arrangement * New York Orchestra – orchestra * New York Opera – choral vocals *
Fred Mandel Frederick Lawrence Mandel is a Canadian session musician, keyboard player and guitarist. Career Born in Estevan, Saskatchewan, Mandel started playing the piano at four and picked up the guitar aged eight. Growing up in an Orthodox Jewish h ...
 – Hammond organ ) *
Jeff Porcaro Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer. He is best known for being the co-founder and drummer of the rock band Toto, but is also one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working on hundr ...
 – drums *
Lee Ritenour Lee Mack Ritenour ( ; born January 11, 1952) is an American jazz guitarist who has been active since the late 1960s. Biography Ritenour was born in 1952, in Los Angeles, California. At the age of eight he started playing guitar and four years l ...
 – rhythm guitar , additional acoustic guitar * Joe (Ron) di Blasi – classical guitar *
Joe Porcaro Joseph Thomas Porcaro (April 29, 1930 – July 6, 2020) was an American jazz drummer. Biography Personal life The Porcaro family is, on the paternal side, originally from San Luca, an Aspromonte village in the province of Reggio Calabria. Joe ...
 – snare drums *
Bobbye Hall Bobbye Jean Hall is an American percussionist who has recorded with a variety of rock, soul, blues and jazz artists, and has appeared on 20 songs that reached the top ten in the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Early career, work for ...
 – congas and bongos * Frank Marocco – concertina *
Larry Williams Lawrence Eugene Williams (May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, and pianist from New Orleans. He is best known for writing and recording some rock and roll classics from 1957 to ...
 – clarinet *
Trevor Veitch Trevor Veitch (born May 19, 1946 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian musician/record producer who has worked behind the scenes on many pop trends from the 1960s to present. He is mostly known for his involvement in the popular 1960s folk ...
 – mandolin *
Bruce Johnston Bruce Johnston (born Benjamin Baldwin; June 27, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter and musician who is a member of the Beach Boys. He also collaborated on many records with Terry Melcher (his bandmate in Bruce & Terry, the Rip Chords, and ...
 – backing vocals *
Toni Tennille Cathryn Antoinette "Toni" Tennille (born May 8, 1940) is an American singer-songwriter and keyboardist. A contralto, she is best known as one-half of the 1970s duo Captain & Tennille with her former husband Daryl Dragon; their signature song i ...
 – backing vocals *
Joe Chemay Joseph Chemay is an American bassist and backing vocalist, known for his recording session work. Biography Chemay started out working as a session and touring support musician in Los Angeles, but moved to Nashville in 1989. Chemay has worked ...
 – backing vocals * Jon Joyce – backing vocals * Stan Farber – backing vocals *
Jim Haas James Edwin Haas (died January 2018) was an American singer who performed vocals for many artists including Andy Williams, Neil Diamond, Jackson Browne, David Cassidy, Leif Garrett, Pink Floyd, and Barry Manilow. Leif Garrett, after Haas' death ...
 – backing vocals * Children of
Islington Green School City of London Academy Islington (COLAI, formerly Islington Green School) is an 11–18 mixed, secondary school and sixth form with academy status in Islington, Greater London, England. It was established in 1966 and adopted its present name a ...
 – vocals *
Harry Waters Harry William Waters (born 16 November 1976), sometimes known as Hal Waters, a British piano and Hammond organ player, associated with progressive rock and jazz. Life Waters is the son of songwriter and lyricist Roger Waters, who co-founded the ...
 – child's voice *
Trudy Young Trudy Young (born 1 January 1950) is a Canadian actress. Born in Ontario, Canada, her career began in 1963 with appearances on CBC's '' Time of Your Life''. She became a regular host of ''Razzle Dazzle'' in 1965 while attending school at Alde ...
 – voice of the groupie *
Vicki Brown Vicki Brown (23 August 1940 – 16 June 1991) was an English pop, rock and contemporary classical singer. She was a member of both The Vernons Girls and The Breakaways and was the first wife of fellow singer and musician Joe Brown and mothe ...
and
Clare Torry Clare H. Torry (born 29 November 1947) is a British singer, known for performing the improvised, wordless vocals on the song " The Great Gig in the Sky" on Pink Floyd's 1973 album '' The Dark Side of the Moon''. She sang the theme of the 1977 ...
(credited simply as "Vicki & Clare") – backing vocals * Phil Taylor – sound effects * Chris Fitzmorris – male telephone voice Production


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts

Singles


Certifications and sales


See also

*
List of best-selling albums This is a list of the world's best-selling albums of Comparison of recording media, recorded music in physical mediums, such as vinyl, audio cassettes or compact discs. To appear on the list, the figure must have been published by a reliable so ...
*
List of best-selling albums in Australia This is a list of best-selling albums in Australia that have been certified by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Since the 1970s, ARIA certified an album platinum for a shipment of 50,000 copies across Australia. In 1983, the ...
*
List of best-selling albums in Canada This is a list of the best-selling albums in Canada that have been certified by Music Canada, formerly known as Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA). Album certifications Music Canada provides "certifications" for album sales, similar t ...
*
List of best-selling albums in France This is a list of the best-selling albums in France that have been certified by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP). Diamond album certifications The SNEP provides "certifications" for album sales, similar to the RIAA certif ...
*
List of best-selling albums in Germany Germany is the third largest music market in the world, and the largest in Europe. This is a list of the best-selling albums in Germany that have been certified by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI). Since January 1, 2003, BVMI certifies an a ...
*
List of best-selling albums in New Zealand A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
*
List of best-selling albums in the United States The following is a list of the best-selling albums in the United States based on RIAA certification and Nielsen SoundScan sales tracking. The criteria are that the album must have been published (including self-publishing by the artist), and the ...
*
List of diamond-certified albums in Canada The following diamond-certified albums in Canada have sold at least one million units (individual CDs, tapes or LPs) as determined by Canadian Recording Industry Association, the national music recording sales certification agency. The first mill ...


References

Notes Footnotes Bibliography * * * * * * * * Further reading * * * * * *


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wall, The 1979 albums Albums produced by Roger Waters Albums produced by James Guthrie (record producer) Albums produced by Bob Ezrin Albums produced by David Gilmour Anti-fascist music Capitol Records albums Columbia Records albums 1970s concept albums EMI Records albums Harvest Records albums Pink Floyd albums Art rock albums by English artists Rock operas Fiction about mental health Fiction with unreliable narrators Albums recorded at CBS 30th Street Studio Progressive pop albums Albums recorded at Miraval Studios Juno Award for International Album of the Year albums Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients