Poll: How do you rate Pink Floyd's "The Final Cut" album?

"Take heed of the dream..."

As usual, the rules: this poll is designed for people familiar with the album in question and with at least some familiarity with some of their other catalog (for comparison purposes). If the poll doesn't interest you, please kindly move on to a thread that does. Please simply consider how YOU would rate the album in question, in comparison with the rest of the Floyd's discography! And as always, a shout-out to member mrjinks for creating all the groundwork for this series.

So, how do YOU rate this album?

Album history: "The Final Cut is the twelfth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 21 March 1983 by Harvest Records in the United Kingdom and on 2 April by Columbia Records in the United States. It was Pink Floyd's last studio album to include founding member, bass guitarist and songwriter Roger Waters, and their only album on which he alone is credited for writing and composition. It was also the only Pink Floyd album that does not feature keyboardist Richard Wright. Waters originally planned The Final Cut as a soundtrack album for the 1982 film Pink Floyd – The Wall. With the onset of the Falklands War, he rewrote it as a concept album, exploring what he considered the betrayal of his father, who died serving in the Second World War. Waters sings most of the lyrics; lead guitarist David Gilmour provides lead vocals on only one track. The packaging, also designed by Waters, reflects the album's war theme.

Recorded in eight British studios from July to December 1982, with an accompanying short film released in the same year, production of The Final Cut was dominated by interpersonal conflict. Although it reached the top of the UK Albums Chart, the album received mixed reviews. Waters left the band in 1985, and The Final Cut thus remains the last Pink Floyd studio album he worked on."


Tracklist:
1. The Post-War Dream 3:02
2. Your Possible Pasts 4:22
3. One Of The Few 1:23
4. The Hero's Return 2:56
5. The Gunner's Dream 5:07
6. Paranoid Eyes 3:40
7. Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert 1:19
8. The Fletcher Memorial Home 4:11
9. Southampton Dock 2:13
10. The Final Cut 4:46
11. Not Now John 5:01
12. Two Suns In The Sunset 5:14

Note: recent editions of the album insert the song "When The Tigers Broke Free" in between "One Of The Few" and "The Hero's Return".




Previous polls:
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Currently 472 people have voted, with an average of 4.27.
Ummagumma. Currently 346 people have voted, with an average of 3.05.
Obscured by Clouds. Currently 313 people have voted, with an average of 3.89.
The Wall. Currently 760 people have voted, with an average of 3.98.
Pulse. Currently 243 people have voted, with an average of 3.32.

 

my honest feeling:

a superfluous piece of crap.

all waters and no gilmour.

and i personally don't feel that roger waters has ever made a good album by himself.

 

The best Roger Waters solo album by far.

 

A masterpiece. Every single song can, and does, stand on it's own. The Fletcher Memorial Home? Brilliant. The Final Cut? Perfection.

Edit: I didn't like the insertion of When the Tigers Broke Free initially. But, after having the song show up on a three week stretch of My Favorites streaming mix, now find that I like and accept it.

 

Not now John!

 

I just can't listen to it anymore: too much Waters, not enough Gilmour, and no Wright.

There are some very nice moments, but nothing I can't find much better on Animals, or before.

 

Final Cut: I guess Roger Waters has some opinions about war and politics. Who knew?

This album lacks the creative/collaborative spark that made DSOTM, WYWH, and Meddle so good. It's deceptive to even call it Pink Floyd.

That said... it's actually pretty solid.

 

I quite like it, although I have to be in the right mood to listen to it. It's worth mentioning that while it's considered by many to be a Roger Waters album in name only, there is some wonderful guitar from David Gilmour on the album. And at least 2 of the songs, "The Fletcher Memorial Home", and "The Final Cut" can stand up proudly with any other Pink Floyd songs.

 

I like it. Candy to my ears.
Second tier Floyd at its best. Where is the 5.1 mix of this one??

 

First Roger Waters solo album

No Floyd

And it's clearly filled with 'The Wall' leftovers

 

A solid effort -worth recommending. Roger's greatest collection of lyrics, amazing production and several first rate songs (The Final Cut, Fletcher Memorial, The Hero Returns, The Gunner's Dream, Two Suns in the Sunset). On the negative side, it doesn't feature Rick Wright and Dave only sings one song -and it's not a favorite!

 

Not bad. The last "real" Floyd album, for me.

 

Really only worth it for the guitar solos. Otherwise it basically answers the question: "What would rap sound like without any rhythmic thrust."

I am sure I have more time listening to an edit I made of the 5 minutes or so of lead guitar on the album than I have to the album as a whole.

Overall, I feel this is the worst record that Gilmour plays on, though it is perhaps preferable to the Wright and Mason solo tracks on Ummagumma.

And to be clear I have no issue with the political content of the lyrics (but nor do I choose to listen to things for their political content). My assessment is solely based on the music, and how sparsely distributed the musically interesting moments are.

 

Sucks heavily.

It was so bad it kept me from wanting to listen to Reason for 5 years.
I did not hear that until 92, and it was much better than I expected.
Because there was no Waters downer attached.

For me, the Final Cut is Floyd's worst album.

 

The Final Cut was Floyd's last great album!

 

Love it. A masterpiece, in my opinion.

 

An emotionally charged masterpiece.

 

I'd call this one "a pretty solid effort and worth recommending." I'm tempted to call it "essential" but since I don't choose to listen to it often, that'd be kind of overselling it. I agree that it is really the best Roger Waters solo album. In some ways I actually think it superior to The Wall, in that the high drama that The Wall reaches for is more easily attained here. But this may be a superficial conclusion because it is mainly based on the fact that The Wall has a pronounced comical aspect to it, while The Final Cut is just serious as hell from start to finish.

I have to admit that I don't share Waters' left wing politics, and I actually loathe the song "The Fletcher Memorial Home" as being unworthy of Waters' seemingly genuine heart for humanity. I mean, we all sometimes wish that people whom we dislike could be exiled and exterminated, but it's rather unseemly to sing about it. However, so many of the songs brilliantly express what Rolling Stone so paradoxically called "a life-loving hatred," which is hard for children of the bloody 20th century to not empathize with. Songs like "Your Possible Pasts", "The Gunner's Dream", and "The Final Cut" contain some of Waters' most wrenchingly eloquent lyrics. Classic Floyd sometimes produced recordings that act on the senses like a painting, but The Final Cut acts on the senses more like a work of literature than a rock album - it's more like reading The Red Badge Of Courage or All Quiet On The Western Front than listening to a rock album.

Sonically, the album is brilliant, and the melange of voices and effects which illustrate the tracks has never been better on a Pink Floyd album. This would be a wonderful candidate for a 5.1 mix.

However, it's understandable that a work of such evident pain and pessimism is not for everybody, and it must be said that this will never be called a fun or relaxing listen. Like some of John Lennon's albums, it can encourage a sort of depressed mood and sometimes feels a bit too personal, like reading the private journal of a person who's in a very difficult and unhappy place. But for those who do want to wallow in the high drama for three quarters of an hour, it is a work of singular voice and importance. It is the mark of a trajectory that Waters had been aiming at at least since Animals, and it's always good to know the end of the epic.

 

The Final Cut is, as the album clearly states, Waters being performed by Pink Floyd, which had lost one of the key elements of its sound: Richard Wright. Nevertheless, it's a great album, essential for any Floyd fan, of course.

 

I think Waters' lyrics here are tremendous, and it was an interesting follow-up to The Wall. Far less self-centered lyrically overall (but there are still self-pitying moments as on the title track).

It's interesting to see Waters view of the war veteran evolve over the years--from the mocking "Corporal Clegg" on Saucerful to stuff like "Bring The Boys Back Home" on The Wall and "The Hero's Return" here.

TFC is a mature listen, probably too much so for most.

The sound effects really jump out of the speakers. Unfortunately, the good band moments are few and far between. Gilmore only gets to rip on a couple solos but they're good.

I think I placed this at 10 in my ranking of all the Floyd records. I voted "Not bad / so so". One of the last I would reach for just to listen to some Floyd, though.

Has anyone ever seen the short film?

 

It took some work and some time, but there are parts I enjoy, and some I don't care much about.

 

I was reading another thread on this album yesterday, so not having heard it before I went to Spotify for a listen. Based on that one listen I voted "Not Bad". I'm not a big Waters fan, but it's still Pink Floyd so it's hard to rate anything they do lower than "Not Bad".

 

When it first came out-it was my favorite Pink Floyd album. I had played The Wall and DSOTM to death. Now over time it has become one of my favorite Roger Waters albums. It is as advertised-a Roger Waters album performed by Pink Floyd. I call it here as a pretty solid effort, but I understand why some hate it. As an equal fan of Roger and Dave-more of Dave here would have made it more of a Floyd album-but I think that is a general consensus.

IMO-it is more of a Floyd album than MLOR...because for all intents and purposes-that album is mostly Dave and studio musicians. Love both, but calling it as I see it.

 

I listened to it once. I should have just punched myself in the nuts and saved myself the time.

 

D'ya want to have another go then?