Pink Floyd

Floyd's last record with Roger Waters is an exploration of war and loss along similar lines as The Wall but with a much narrower scope. Conflicted and bleak but ultimately moving, the record features some of Waters' most emotionally shredded vocals and the best Lennon-like melodies he ever wrote for the group.

This may be art rock's crowning masterpiece, but it is also something more. With The Final
Cut, Pink Floyd caps its career in classic form, and leader Roger Waters–for whom the
group has long since become little more than a pseudonym–finally steps out from behind
the "Wall" where last we left him. The result is essentially a Roger Waters solo album, and
it's a superlative achievement on several levels. Not since Bob Dylan's "Masters of... More >

Though I wish this rewarded close listening like John Williams, Fripp & Eno, or the Archies, it's a comfort to encounter antiwar rock that has the weight of years of self-pity behind it--tends to add both literary and political resonance. With this band, aural resonance is a given. (Grade - C+)