Disco de Pink Floyd: “Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81”

"Is There Anybody Out There" is a excellent Floyd recording. At first, I was skeptical if this live release could do justice to the mythical reputation that the original live "Wall" shows have gained over the years. The first listen didn't strike me as anything special, but then I cranked up my stereo for the second listen, and that's when I realized that this recording is meant to be played LOUD, as loud as you can get it. The studio version of the "The Wall" was such a detailed, meticulous recording; trying to totally duplicate that sound in a live setting would have been impossible. Instead, the band turns up the volume and the bombast.

The power of songs like "In the Flesh" and "Run like Hell" is increased ten-fold in this concert setting. "Mother" becomes a stirring, emotional epic, reaching heights that were only hinted at on the studio album. The "Another Brick in the Wall Part 1/ Happiest Days of Our Lives " and "Empty Spaces/What Shall We Do Now" medleys achieve new levels of creepiness. And Roger Waters' maniacal spoken introduction to "Run Like Hell" is at once both hilarious and scary.

Much has been made of Roger Water's dominance in the writing and recording of "The Wall." He has even said that it is probably his greatest accomplishment, to which I agree. But, "The Wall" performances would not have been the same without the other members of Pink Floyd. Even with other musicians backing them up, these performances are tight and unified-all four band members, regardless of what they contributed in the studio, shine brightly.

The sound quality is excellent, considering the age of the tapes. The sound isn't as crystal clear as "Pulse," and there are some flaws (many have picked up on the buzzing noise during Mother), but they are insignificant. The limited edition is the definitive version; the book that accompanies the CDs is gorgeous- definitely worth the extra dough.

Despite all the positive qualities of "ITAOT," it should be said that this live recording doesn't replace the studio version. A budding Floyd fanatic should start with the original to get their first taste of "The Wall." For the rest of us, "ITAOT" will do nicely for now. BUT...if Pink Floyd isn't going to release new albums with any regularity (nothing against them...I mean, who can blame them for being a little lazy at this point), perhaps they can dig up some more live recordings from the vaults. The "Animals" tour, a full performance of "Dark Side" from the early '70s, a live version of "Atom Heart Mother"...maybe even an official live release from the Syd Barrett days! I'm sure they have them lying aroung somewhere...will they ever see the light of day?

yeah, this album is awesome. Anyone who's heard any Wall bootlegs before won't hear anything new, other that the GIANT leap up in sound quality, but for those of you who've only heard the studio album, you'll notice quite a few differences (all for the better). anyway, i just have to say a few things. the only problem i have with the album is during Dave's singing parts on "Mother" there is a rather loud buzzing sound, and it's really annoying, after a few listens it doesn't bother me as much, but especially the first time you hear it, it will be very annoying. this is on a few other songs also, such as "Goodbye Blue Sky", and "Comfortably Numb", however it's not nearly as loud as on "Mother" and if you're listening to it in the car you can't even hear it. but don't get me wrong, it is still very much worth the money, especially the limited edition version, and it's easily the best live album i've ever heard. now for a couple of nitpicky gripes. "Empty Spaces" is not really "Empty Spaces", it's really the beginning of "What Shall We Do Now?", which is why it has different lyrics than "Empty Spaces", if you look at the words in the studio wall album, "What Shall We Do Now?" is in there and you can see what i'm talking about. Now the only reason this bothers me is because the only reason they split this song up is so people who don't know better will think they're getting something extra, well, you're not getting something extra, just instead of the original "Empty Spaces" you're getting "What Shall We Do Now?" split into two songs. Now, as for "The Last Few Bricks", this isn't even really a song, for those of you who don't know, this was added in to give the brick builders time to finish building the wall during the show, hence the name "The Last Few Bricks" which, by the way, was only recently named that by Roger Waters, so back when they did these shows it didn't have a name, and it wasn't even a real song. So there again, they're marketing it as a "never before released" song to make you think you're getting something extra, and while you are getting something that's not on the original album, it's hardly a new song. and just to be even more picky, the Amazon review says that both of those songs were on the wall movie, well, that's wrong, only "What Shall We Do Now?" was in the movie. ok, well i know those are just cheap complaints, but i know there are some people who care. but this album is definately worth buying, but like someone already said, definately buy the limited edition, it is very much worth the extra money.

What a great CD! I have had a couple of previous bootlegs over the years, but this just flat out sounds better. Of course this album is also gorgeously remixed, which none of the bootlegs are.

I am a bit disappointed with a couple of the choices, however. For example, Comfortably Numb has never sounded better, until Gilmour's rather perfunctory final solo ends with a whimper rather than a bang. Also, certain tracks sound virtually identical to the studio release. That said, the version of Run Like Hell released here is alone worth the price of the album, a true skin-crawling pleasure. Ditto the assorted Another Brick in the Wall, In The Flesh, and Mother.

Bottom line: A splendid live album. Considering that it comes from tapes that are over 20 years old, it is even more remarkable.

I just got my copy of the limited edition today and I'm listening to it for the second time while I'm writing this. The quality of the recording is fantastic; at times, it's easier to hear the lyrics here than on the studio album. It goes without saying that the addition of "What Shall We Do Now", which I've always loved in the Wall movie, makes this album a must have for fans. In other aspects, hearing "In The Flesh," which addresses the band vs. audience theme of Roger's and know that there is actually an audience there gives a whole new dimension to the song. Treat yourself to the limited edition- the book that comes with it, which holds the CD's, is a definite collector's item, with pics and written takes on the Wall from all the band members as well as the production team. All in all, it's an excellent rendition of The Wall.

Pink Floyd's Is There Anybody Out There?: The Wall Live was released in April of 2000 on EMI in most of the world sans the US and Canada which was released on Columbia Records.

The album was released to commemorate the 20th anniversary of The Wall. The album was originally slated for release in late 1999 but producer James Guthrie (who co-produced the original studio album with Pink Floyd members Roger Waters and David Gilmour and legendary rock producer Bob Ezrin) had to bake the master tapes to get the sticky glue off after sitting in storage for years. Also, the band had problems with their US record companies. The band had just inked a new distribution deal with Capitol/EMI worldwide and were set to release but Columbia/Sony in the US and Canada were initially against the album but reluctantly agreed to release the album as the band's final album with Sony in the US and Canada after the band switched labels which were licensed the music (the band have the final say on what gets released and not released and this review is for the EMI edition which has some different images in the booklet than the US issue).

Is There Anybody Out There? was recorded at London's Earls Court Arena during the band's performances of The Wall in August of 1980 and June of 1981, the shows were a bona fide spectacle. More than anything, Is There Anybody Out There? captures the volume, the bombast and the grandeur of these famed performances with remarkable accuracy.

These performances are astonishingly faithful to the band's studio versions although the band does get to stretch out on "In the Flesh (pt. 1)", "The Thin Ice", "Another Brick in the Wall (pt.1)", "Another Brick in the Wall (pt. 2)", "Mother", "Goodbye Blue Sky", "Young Lust", "Hey You", "Comfortably Numb", "The Show Must Go On", "In the Flesh (pt.2)", "Run Like Hell" and "Outside the Wall" with either extra guitar solos from David Gilmour showing why he is one of rock's greatest guitarists or extra keyboard solos from the late Rick Wright (God rest his soul) or extra verses or extended musical pieces.

The other tracks "Empty Spaces", "One of My Turns", "Don't Leave Me Now", "Another Brick in the Wall (pt. 3)", "Is There Anybody Out There?", "Nobody Home", "Vera", "Bring the Boys Back Home", "Waiting For the Worms", "Stop!" and "The Trial" trumps its studio counterparts although remained faithful to them.

Although they were kicked out in 1979 and 1982 respectively by Roger Waters due to his uncontrollable ego, co-founders keyboard player/songwriter (the sadly departed) Rick Wright and drummer Nick Mason played better on this live album than on the studio version of The Wall, especially Rick whose Hammond Organ and keyboard work buries that of its studio counterpart. Roger Waters didn't play much bass on this live album as he perfectly recreated the role of Pink and left Andy Bown to play bass in his place. David Gilmour's musical arrangements and guitar and vocals were superb as well as always.

"Run Like Hell" is classic with Roger Waters' classic intro.

This live Wall album also includes two unreleased tracks. "What Shall We Do Now" was left off the original release due to space constraints and "The Last Few Bricks" was a reprise of "Happiest Days", "Young Lust" and "Empty Spaces" as an instrumental for wall builders to catch up to the band.

Also, longtime Floyd album cover guru Storm Thorgerson's artwork of the four Floyd member face masks is striking and the booklets has recollections from the four Floyd members plus road crew and stage designers with some cool pictures of the band performing this work live.

This live album did well for a "from the vault" release hitting #19 on the album charts and #1 on the Internet Album Sales chart and went Platinum in a month of its release here in the States. This live album has zero overdubs and is one of the best live albums I ever heard next to Pink Floyd's Pulse, Led Zeppelin's The Song Remains the Same 2-CD reissue, Rush's Different Stages, Queen's Queen Rock Montreal, Genesis' Seconds Out and Genesis' Live Over Europe, The Who's Live at Leeds and Supertramp's Paris among many others.

Highly recommended!