Why would a devoted Pink Floyd fan only give this three stars?

This live album comes from an interesting time in PF history. The Wall was a departure from the sound and style of the previous 3 albums and marked the end of PF's golden period. The band also broke up shortly after this tour. These factors makes this a worthwhile time to note in PF history.

The quality of the recording is not that bad. It was better than I expected (I had heard that the master tapes were in really bad condition). The musical quality is also not bad. They don't miss a cue and the songs sound tight. But, PF has always been a really great live bad, just take a listen to Ummagumma's live side or Live at Pompeii or Gilmour's extended Comfortably Numb guitar solo on Delicate Sound of Thunder for proof.

What this album lacks is real feeling or a new way of looking at the songs. All live albums could learn a lesson from Van Morrison's "It's too late to stop now..." "Is there anybody out there?" sounds almost exactly like the studio version and rarely strays from it. There is no new insight here. That makes it not worth buying if you already have The Wall. I wish they released this as a video. I was too young to see this concert live when it originally came around. This concert seems like it was more of an audio and visual experience. Having it on CD is like missing half the concert.

So, if you don't have The Wall already or you are a completist by nature (and I understand all too well), this is not a bad buy. It does also contain two extra songs not on The Wall, but they are nothing new. "What shall we do now?" is in the movie, listed on the album, and you can hear a really awful version of it as a duet between Bryan Adams and Roger Waters on The Wall: Live in Berlin. The other song is really a reprise of all the previous themes on the album.

But, if you have The Wall already, it is not necessary to get this album.

Instead, try to get some good live 70's bootlegs of "Careful with that Axe Eugene".

Of all the extant Pink Floyd albums, this one is not, in my opinion, the greatest. But like all PF albums, it is well worth owning and well worth the price. As a must (at least for me) you should be aware that there are two versions of this album - one is just the two CDs and the other contains a limited edition booklet CD case. It is the booklet case that makes this as valuable and interesting as it is. Similar (but larger) to Pulse, the booklet gives remembrance editorials from the band members and also from the set designers, animators, and stage directors. The booklet also features rich color photos and a keen transparent drawing of the behind the stage setup. Outside of this book, the album is not extraordinary, except for the fabulous sound that rarely appears live except for crowd applause. Quite a feat considering this is pieced together from 1980 and 1981 shows. Also is included two songs edited from the original album - both on disc one, which to me is not the strongest disc. Overall, I ranked it 5 stars because PF broke new ground with The Wall - an opera, rock concert, and social commentary to which has been hardly rivaled by any other bands. And of course, it does sound good!

When Pink Floyd toured, they only performed The Wall in New York and Los Angeles. Through a ticket broker I bought two tickets that were seventh roll center on the floor. The tickets were $45 each!

I remember every nuance of the show and I still wonder if there is a video of this excellent concert lurking somewhere.

Even though the recording is excellent, it can't touch the sonic/visual bombast that the show was. To see Roger Waters just giving his emotional heart in the performance, the visuals projected on the Wall, and the sonic effects gave the performance a eerie/creepy vibe. Some audience members were actually crying at some portions. And when the wall came down in the end and the band came out spotlighted in a golden glow, it felt like a healing.

Waters and Mason elected to wear earphones. Waters was singing into a wireless microphone (a technological first) that he would stuff into his back pocket when it wasn't in use. Each band member had a supporting musician, so everyone was doubled, even Mick Mason. Plus there were supporting vocalist.

To me, The Wall touched on many layers. The show had all the themes that Waters likes to vent about, losing his father at a young age, confining English upbringing, divorce and unhappiness at seeing people acting like sheep. Waters also touches on war rallies as he withdraws into his internal mental hell.

Let me give you some of the visuals.

When the MC (Cynthia Fox from radio station KLOS) came out and did her shtick, the stage had lots of "technicians" walking around the stage and adjusting equipment. While she was talking, the technicians parted and the group was already on stage ready to go, surprise, surprise. And they cut her off in mid-sentence.

There were speakers on stage as well as the sides of the Sports Arena, just like the "Wish You Were Hear" tour. So when 'In the Flesh" started, I thought that the sound wasn't as full. Then the end came and as the band played the last long chord and the airplane came over the audience, symbolizing the death of Water's dad during the war, the side speakers and the true wrap-around sound kicked in. Quite a rush.

When the helicopter section played, on stage the lighting technicians sat on top of flying saucer that were on the stage floor. They took off into the air and lit up the band, following the musicians around the stage.

The puppets (you can see them on the Waters show at Berlin) were mind blowing. Quite a feat to control their movements, so a nod to the supporting cast/roadies that you never see or hear about.

The movies were being played on a round screen above the band. Seeing the intertwining flowers turning into monsters during sex and one snapping the head off the others to the song "Empty Spaces" was quite a wallop.

When Waters sang "One of my Turns", he was outside the under-construction wall. Next to him was a little Pink doll which he mimics as he sang. As he screamed "Oh No" and the band went into solo, he jumped back behind the wall, and the wall continues to close.

During "Don't Leave me Now, two giant puppets were on top of the wall and just glaring at Waters while he sang with all that creepy loud breathing flowing around the speakers just overpowering him. And the wall gets completed except the one brick where Waters sings "Goodbye Cruel World". I never forgot the music that was playing between "Another Brick in The Wall Part 3" and "Goodbye Cruel World" and it is so nice to hear it again after all these years. What was weird was that the band was playing behind the Wall and you could only see the top portion of the stage, with all the supporting lights and flying saucer pods doing their thing. Gave a strange visual vibe.

The second act was performed with the audience having to deal with the wall. The movie was projected on the Wall itself and was done using three interlocked projectors. It was perfection. Even though sometimes only the center projector was showing a scene, the side ones were still on and the side film was pristine, you wouldn't know that they were on.

"Nobody Home" was done with a portion of the Wall that opened up showing a hotel room with Waters reclining in a chair watching TV.

"Comfortably Numb" was a high point, with Gilmore singing and soloing from the top of the wall. You could see that he was really into it. Must have been a thrill for him to be so high up and overlooking the crowd as his guitar solo spun around the monitors.

When the MC came out again, the band was pushed onto stage in darkness on a platform on rollers. When they were illuminated, everyone was wearing the masks that are on the cover of this CD and acted like robots.

In "The Show must go on", as Waters sings 'Are there any queers in the audience", the flying saucer light technicians actually go out over the audience looking for offenders going as far as their supporting booms let them.

On the CD right before Waters introduces "Run Like Hell", you hear him let out a shout as a spacey guitar cord is hit. That is when the inflated pig breaks through the wall.

"Waiting for the Worms" of course had the hammers marching across the entire wall which made it look like the whole wall was moving. "Stop" and "The Trial" was just Waters solo in front of the wall just spilling his guts out.

Then the wall came down to the booming base notes that shook the seats. The whole audience just let out screams of relief as it came down. The musicians came out from the side of the stage as themselves with Waters leading and playing the clarinet while kicking debris out of the way. They stopped and sang "Outside the Wall", then continued the march off to the other side of the stage. During the applause, the four members of Pink Floyd came out, took a bow, and everybody went home knowing that they had witnessed something special and never to be duplicated again.

Live re-creations of complete albums are always a risky prospect, it seems: is a stage recording enough to entice those who own one complete version already? Since Pink Floyd's psychedelic mammoth The Wall is already well-known to so many, they wisely chose to complete the picture a little further here, fleshing out the songs with more solos and fuller arrangements. Two extra tracks are added: "What Shall We Do Now?," a quickie that somehow didn't make it onto the original album (though it was used in the movie), and "The Last Few Bricks," which serves as an instrumental recap of the first half before the intermission. (A few new lyrics find their way into "The Show Must Go On" as well.) A rehearsed MC pops up a couple times throughout. Otherwise it's basically the same classic everyone's already pretty familiar with. Look it up for reviews if curious; I'm dealing with the live version here.

Pros: there's a tangible onstage energy and an excellent atmospheric sound mix (a step up from the studio production). The more subdued details are audible without cranking up the volume, as you have to do to hear them on the previous recording. David Gilmour's solos are especially tasty. The booklet is full of goodies: commentaries/backgrounds from each of the band members, and photos and design sketches aplenty which give a wonderful impression of what a stunning theatrical achievement the Wall stage show must have been. I particularly like the intro to "Run Like Hell," where Gilmour shoots out some laser-guitar riffs as Waters spits vitriol at the audience. It's probably the most audible example of the dissatisfaction that inspired Roger to write the album in the first place.

Cons: apart from the two added tracks it doesn't have much beyond what was on the original album, which may be an issue for those who (like myself) feel that the real point of live performance is to offer something different. Even the sound effects and chatter between songs are faithfully reproduced word-for-word. The sporadic filler tracks ("Goodbye Blue Sky," "Bring the Boys Back Home") are still as slow and ponderous as ever.

Diehard Floydians will have a blast. Casual fans who don't have either versoin yet might want to consider this instead of the original for a slightly fuller experience. Four stars because everything's performed and presented exceptionally well, often better than on The Wall itself; one star missing because it's still essentially a retread. But why should that spoil the fun?

I am one of the fortunate one who attended the Los Angeles Show back in 1980. I still have vivid memories of the experience. Through out the years I have been telling everyone, you don't know Pink Floyd unless you have seen Pink Live - with Roger Waters.. Especially the Wall. I have witnessed the Animals Tour few years earlier too.

I have been listing to this CD all day as I went out to purchase the CD during my lunch hour today (4-18-00). The sound quality is not good as I expected, but after repeated listening for what is worth and the condition, plus the fact that they probably never intended to release this as a live album, it is preserved and presented excellently.

For the unfortunate one who never experienced PF with Roger - and in their prime - not as retiring over 50 year old men, this is as close as you would get. Just close your eyes and flow into time and enjoy and relive the history.

I think David Gilmore really shines. Also, the fact that Dave and Roger are singing together in harmony. Songs like Comfortablty Numb and run like hell with exchange of vocals really kicks butt. It is PF at their best. as they were closing another phase even with knowledge that roger will not play with them anymore. The liner notes for 4 members really give the insight. despite the enveltable separation. They are still proud of what they did. More my admiration gos to them. I still don't understand why it took 20 years to put this one out. But for me it is well worth it.

There will never be another WALL...