The Wall... filler?

[GuitarGeek]

On the other hand they had 'What Shall We Do Now' which was cut at the last minute...hence why it was included on the lyric insert.

Because the lyric sheets had already gone to press when they made the decision. It was literally last minute. There were a lot of anomalies that resulted. First of all, Empty Spaces was supposed to be a reprise of the What Shall We Do Now, if you look on the lyric sheet, not only are the words different, but Empty Spaces occurs later in side two, I think after One Of My Turns. Also, Hey You was originally going to end side three, seguing out of Comfortably Numb's fade out. I can't remember if the lyric sheet had both verses to The Show Must Go On or not (it's one verse on the album, but when they played it live in 1980, at least, it was two verses).

It also made the live performances and the film! The 'Empty Spaces' intro was kept but sped up to segue into 'Young Lust'. I'd have found another way of doing that and kept in 'What Shall We Do Now' as well...the latter lyric does delve into pointless rock star excess in a way that the other lyrics do not, so it fills a gap.

Apparently, someone, presumably either Roger or Bob Ezrin decided side two was too long, so they cut What Shall We Do Now. I'm not sure if they thought it was too long, in terms of sound quality, or if it was just "too long for the listener" or whatever, I don't know. I always thought it was curious that when they played it live, they did What Shall We Do Now, but not Empty Spaces, which maybe suggests they felt that Empty Spaces didn't work as well in it's original place on the album.

[Interstellar]

When The Wall was released I was a kid, and my older brother, who was in charge of the record player, used to skip most of disc 2 (well, of course, Hey You, Comfortably Numb and Run Like Hell survived).
Later I listened to the whole thing and thought it held together quite well, but understood why people like my brother disliked the rest of the material. I still feel that the ITAOT/ Nobody Home/Vera/ BTBBH section makes Comfortably Numb stand out even more. It builds a tension, a frustration that this song releases brilliantly. And there's still an underlying tension that builds up in the song itself until the final solo comes, so I wouldn't change anything.

[happytheman]

I bought it the first day it was released.. Anyone remember the display in your record store at the time? Towers (Crystal City) had the whole back wall of the store covered in The Wall albums.. thus making a "Wall of The Wall".. obviously In those days the only music info we would get would be from the odd music magazine / record store or your local radio station.. I knew nothing of this upcoming release from Floyd so I was totally shocked.. Got home and listened to it front to back.. I wouldn't say it's one of my favorite albums from Floyd but I wouldn't change a thing.. Roger had a vision and be damned if anyone was going to get in his way of realizing that vision..

[JKL2000]

Oh, I get that it's part of the Pink character, and that he's supposed to be unpleasant and all that. I'm not saying it's what Roger wanted to do, but it's just not that interesting a song for me (until the drums come in on the coda) and the subject matter squicks me too much make it worth it.

That all makes perfect sense then.

[NogbadTheBad]

oof! not a fan eh?

Used to be but it has aged pretty badly for me personally, I like up through Animals when it's a real band sound, most of the stuff I'd cut is more theater/musical type stuff and I just don't like it any more.

May I suggest you to relisten to these tracks both in and without the context, but without the first three quarter of the concept: they're brilliant

I've listened to all of those many many times in & out of context and they're just not for me. I get too irritated with them.

[arturs]

I played the Wall a lot as a kid. But I haven't listened to the whole thing in probably 30 years and I don't miss it one bit. The concept ceased to be interesting to me a long time ago, the good songs got way too much play and the not-so-good I just don't need to hear again.

I do think it is a coherent statement, though, and should not be trimmed.

[spacefreak]

The album that, at the times of the new wave/post punk explosion, told me to get off the Pink Floyd bus...

[miamiscot]

The Wall is an okay album. Some good tracks but it never really connected with me in the way Animals, WYWH and Dark Side did.

[Tangram]

When I first heard The Wall in 1979, I would have been one of those who said it could use some trimming. As I got to understand the story, I changed my mind. For me almost 40 years later, the only ones I might stop is the trial song at the end of side 4. It really depends on the mood, do I want to hear the conclusion of the story or not. Musically they don't work for me but the lyrics tie together the how album. FWIW, I really like the 'other' tracks on side 3, especially 'Nobody Home'. So leave this excellent album as it is.

[Gruno]

Get a copy of audacity ( or your favorite music editing software ) and get to work.
Make it yours.

That's what I did. I took the songs I liked and blended them together quite nicely, while discarding the crud I didn't like. I choose to listen to the songs without following along with the story. I did the same type of edit for Dark Side Of The Moon. That's how I enjoy my Pink Floyd.

[NogbadTheBad]

I did the same type of edit for Dark Side Of The Moon. That's how I enjoy my Pink Floyd.

Oh that's sacrilege, so its a DSOTM EP?

[Vic333]

I haven't listened to it in years, but there's no filler on it. Sounds like people are confusing "filler" with "don't like that song".

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[yamishogun]

I played the Wall a lot as a kid. But I haven't listened to the whole thing in probably 30 years and I don't miss it one bit.

This is me. I listened to it quite a few times a couple of summers after it came out as a 12 year old and thought most of it was great but didn't care much for "Another Brick in the Wall." I hadn't heard any other Pink Floyd then to compare it to until began listening to Dark Side of the Moon. "Money" was the single I didn't really like and overplayed.

I still like quite a bit from both albums but now only listen to some songs off of each. Still, I have a lot of respect for the entire The Wall.

[Gruno]

Oh that's sacrilege, so its a DSOTM EP?

Somewhat an EP. Sacrilege? Nah.

I haven't listened to it in years, but there's no filler on it. Sounds like people are confusing "filler" with "don't like that song"

For me, if I don't like the song and don't include it in my listening habits/playlists, it's filler.

[MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER]

Vera is filler... the concept of The Wall does not support that throwaway for me

[The Crimson King]

Great album, but it would have been even better if Waters let Gilmour handle more lead vocals. Waters' whiny voice gets annoying.

[gearHed289]

Animals is probably my favorite Floyd album. The Wall didn't move me at all. I don't know, too much "theater" or something. I agree that it could have been a single album, there is some great stuff on there. I saw the movie and liked it, but at the same time, felt like I never wanted to see it again.

[Nearfest2]

I've always felt "The Wall" had a lot of filler in it, despite the story line. However, I've never considered making a condensed version of it for my own listening pleasure. That said, I parsed the tracks and was left with most of Sides 1 and 2 and only 4 songs from Sides 3 and 4. I kept "Outside the Wall" as the closer simply because it felt odd having "Run Like Hell" at the very end.

In The Flesh? (3:17)
Another Brick In The Wall Part 1 (3:41)
The Happiest Days Of Our Lives (1:20)
Another Brick In The Wall Part 2 (3:56)
Mother (5:32)
Goodbye Blue Sky (2:48)
Empty Spaces (5:36)
Young Lust (2:03)
Another Brick In The Wall Part 3 (1:17)
Goodbye Cruel World (1:05)
Hey You (4:39)
Comfortably Numb (6:49)
Run Like Hell (4:22)
Outside The Wall (1:42)

Total: 48:07

[Poisoned Youth]

That's like removing chapters from a book. Sure, maybe from a musical perspective. But the songs tell a story. Why cut any of it out? I think it belongs intact.

This is my sentiment as well.

[ronmac]

I haven't listened to it in years, but there's no filler on it. Sounds like people are confusing "filler" with "don't like that song".

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+1

[Nearfest2]

^ Is there even a difference between filler and something someone doesn't like? Both are subjective.

What about a song that nobody likes?

[Nearfest2]

That's like removing chapters from a book. Sure, maybe from a musical perspective. But the songs tell a story. Why cut any of it out? I think it belongs intact.

Sure. I totally get that. But, I am with a lot of folks here. I think the story could have been told in two sides of an LP. For me musically, this is surely the case and lyrically, I get tired of Roger's banter. He needed an editor to get the story down to 45-ish minutes.

[Vic333]

^ Is there even a difference between filler and something someone doesn't like? Both are subjective.

Is there a difference?
I would think there is. Though, many disagreements could be had, of course.

If "filler" is defined as "a piece I don't like", then the term would seem to lose any independent definition. Why use it? i.e., I don't like the Wall, therefore it's all filler.
If given it's own definition, it can be separated from like/dislike and used as it's own judgement of a pieces place within a larger artistic statement.

But, what is the definition?
It might be up to the OP to define the term for the purposes of this thread, but I would define it as more of a cookie cutter song that doesn't add much to the artistic statement of the whole.
If you think of a concept album as similar to a musical, does each piece advance the story, either in plot, setting, or character development.
Filler on non-concept albums would probably be just real basic songs that the artist didn't seem to try very hard at developing.

For the Wall specifically, Vera may not be anyone's favorite song, but the way that it (coupled with Bring the Boys Back Home) ties in the WW2 sentimentality conveys the Pink character's pain over his father's death in the war and its part of his overall madness. So, character-wise, I wouldn't consider it filler whether it's a good song or not.

There are musical's that have song's just thrown into them with no connection to the actual story. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes is one, if I remember right.

[jlneudorf]

There is no filler in 'The Wall'. It's perfect just the way it is. A landmark album in the history of rock music.

Jon

[ronmac]

He's an artist. He doesn't need anyone to tell him how his work should be or shouldn't be. If he think it's done, it's done.

I find it tragically ironic how so many around here want to tell an artist how his work should be, yet they bitch about it when the record companies do the very same thing.