Pink Floyd - The Maximum Wall (1979)

It's finally time to post "The Maximum Wall," by Pink Floyd. This has been a group effort, as I got a lot of help from Mike Solof, Fabio from Rio, and GW. In fact, GW assisted me with the write-up. Here it is:

Hey you: 

Presented here is a landmark production for this blog: The Maximum Wall.  It's a project I have been carefully assembling, brick by brick, off and on over eight years - a reimagining of the entire Wall universe.

It gathers every available building block of material: the album, the film, demos, outtakes, alternate versions, songs from "The Final Cut" album, and more. They've all been collected, edited, extended, mixed and sequenced to create a single continuous vision, narrative and experience.

It now comprises 52 songs, spanning nearly 3 hours of music. It includes a 180-page book as your in-depth guide, containing the stories behind every song, lyrics, liner notes, context, and the vision that holds it all together. My hope is that it deepens your experience and brings you even closer to the heart of the Wall.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked it as one of the top 100 albums of all time. Some people still find it overblown and pretentious, and I can understand that. But I think it is one of the all-time great double-albums. It could have been a triple album - the band had to trim some songs, and cut out others entirely. Then some of the cut songs were included on Pink Floyd's 1983 album "The Final Cut."

In 1980 and 1981, Pink Floyd went on tour and played "The Wall" in its entirety. In these shows, they restored some of the missing pieces, and often played longer solos. An official live album of those tours was released in 2000. The film version of "The Wall" was released in 1982, featuring new versions of some of the songs and a couple of previously unreleased songs. Both officially-released and bootleg collections of demo and alternate versions and outtake songs provided hours of extended material with which to build.

While there have been a number of previous fan edits attempting to condense the album to a 'single disc' or a fuller version of the familiar double album, I wanted to develop my own ideal "super-sized" version, with an "expansive" approach. My goal was to make "The Wall" as large as reasonably possible, using all of the bits and pieces that fit and were worthy of inclusion. The result is an experience that's slightly over TWICE the length of the official double album: a quadruple album!

This project is for people who want as much of "The Wall" story and music as possible. Although it's very long, I've maintained quality control. In my opinion, Waters and the rest of the band were operating at peak creativity, so most everything they did for "The Wall" was good, at a bare minimum. 

In order to create this mega-version of the album, I took a lot of creative liberties. I relied on my own judgment, as well as drawing from the work of previous fan edits. While everything here comes from Pink Floyd's recordings (with the exception of a Gilmour solo song and a few sections from a 1984 Waters solo concert,) I've freely edited all that Pink Floyd material in whichever way I felt best suited the music. In a few cases, I've cut songs in two, and fashioned new songs out of various pieces that weren't designed as independent songs. If you're a musical purist, inclined to think "Waters and/or Floyd wouldn't have done it that way," this is not the fan edit for you. But if you are the type of fan that could not revel enough in the music and experience of "The Wall," you will NOT be disappointed.

I want to thank the people who inspired and assisted me to take on and complete this massive vision. For many years, I had an idea to put together a bigger "Wall" album, and the plan simmered until late 2020. A very big Pink Floyd fan, Mike Solof, contacted me after finding this blog and noting the various Pink Floyd concerts and stray tracks collections there. He shared some of the best fan edits of it, suggestions, feedback and constant encouragement and inspiration throughout the process. Another frequent collaborator, Fabio From Rio, joined our crew as well, providing absolutely invaluable help in conceiving and illustrating the accompanying book. Finally, near the conclusion of the process, we were joined by friend of the blog GW, for assistance with Scarfe's illustrations and further collaboration on the book.

Regarding the booklet, what started out as a simple companion booklet grew into something much more ambitious: a 180-page deep dive into the world of "The Wall". It follows the entire expanded 52-song journey, with extensive notes on the music, the full lyrics, background and context, explanations of the edits and sequencing, references to the film and live performances, and even an introductory essay exploring the ideas, themes, and evolution behind this extraordinary body of work. Fabio from Rio designed the booklet in a double-A4-page format, and you can check out some of the pages here to get a feel for the result.

As you can see from these page samples, this is also very much a visual book. It is packed with dozens of illustrations (many by Gerald Scarfe – including rare ones - others inspired by his art, and even some brand-new images that may surprise you), photographs, film references, and a number of unexpected details and surprises scattered throughout. We wanted it to feel less like liner notes and more like a book you could actually sit down and explore on its own; something that would reward hardcore fans as much as someone discovering this expanded universe for the first time. In the end, the book became almost a project within the project, and it's an essential part of what makes "The Maximum Wall" more than just an expanded playlist.

And, of course, we need to give special thanks to Pink Floyd, and especially its main composer, Roger Waters, for creating "The Wall" in the first place. Working on this project has left us with a much greater appreciation for this album. I think it has increasing relevance in our own era, with the rise of far-right movements in many countries, including our own. In our opinion, one of the strongest aspects of the album is how it shows how people's personal problems can make them susceptible to joining larger toxic political movements. 

That increased appreciation applies to this masterwork in its entirety.  Unlike many concept albums, "The Wall" is coherent, incisive, and really holds together, both lyrically and musically. That's even more the case in this version, with all of the additional related songs and music blended in. The whole is truly greater than the sum of its parts, because you can see the larger vision and how the different pieces fit together. So, in conclusion: Isn't this where you should come in?

One last comment. I'd love to hear feedback from you, especially after you've given this a listen. Thanks. 

This album is two hours and 52 minutes long.

01 In the Flesh, Part 1 (Pink Floyd)
02 When the Tigers Broke Free (Pink Floyd)
03 The Thin Ice, Part 1 (Pink Floyd)
04 Another Brick in the Wall, Part 1 (Pink Floyd)
05 Mother, Part 1 (Pink Floyd)
06 One of the Few (Pink Floyd)
07 The Hero's Return, Part 1 (Pink Floyd)
08 The Happiest Days of Our Lives (Pink Floyd)
09 Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2 (Pink Floyd)
10 Goodbye Blue Sky (Pink Floyd)
11 Young Lust, Part 1 (Pink Floyd)
12 Sexual Revolution (Pink Floyd)
13 Mother, Part 2 (Pink Floyd)
14 The Hero's Return, Part 2 (Pink Floyd)
15 The Gunner's Dream (Pink Floyd)
16 Young Lust, Part 2 (Pink Floyd)
17 Pull Yourself Together (Pink Floyd)
18 Empty Spaces, Part 1 (Pink Floyd)
19 What Shall We Do Now (Pink Floyd)
20 Another Brick in the Wall, Part 3 (Pink Floyd)
21 One of My Turns (Pink Floyd)
22 The Final Cut (Pink Floyd)
23 Don't Leave Me Now (Pink Floyd)
24 The Thin Ice, Part 2 (Pink Floyd)
25 Empty Spaces, Part 2 (Pink Floyd)
26 Another Brick in the Wall, Part 4 (Pink Floyd)
27 The Last Few Bricks [Instrumental] (Pink Floyd)
28 Goodbye Cruel World (Pink Floyd)
29 There's No Way Out of Here (Pink Floyd [David Gilmour])
30 Is There Anybody Out There, Part 1 (Pink Floyd)
31 Nobody Home (Pink Floyd)
32 Your Possible Pasts (Pink Floyd)
33 The Fletcher Memorial Home (Pink Floyd)
34 Not Now John (Pink Floyd)
35 We'll Meet Again (Pink Floyd)
36 Vera (Pink Floyd)
37 Bring the Boys Back Home (Pink Floyd)
38 Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd)
39 Hey You (Pink Floyd)
40 The Show Must Go On (Pink Floyd)
41 In the Flesh, Part 2 (Pink Floyd)
42 Run like Hell (Pink Floyd)
43 The Thin Ice, Part 3 [Instrumental] (Pink Floyd)
44 Waiting for the Worms (Pink Floyd)
45 Stop (Pink Floyd)
46 Is There Anybody Out There, Part 2 (Pink Floyd)
47 Paranoid Eyes (Pink Floyd)
48 Waiting for the Trial (Pink Floyd)
49 The Trial (Pink Floyd)
50 Who's Sorry Now (Pink Floyd)
51 It's Never Too Late (Pink Floyd)
52 Outside the Wall (Pink Floyd)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/RcXEXCwH

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/gbDYy42KH47OY6K/file

For the cover art, Fabio used an AI program to make a variation on the official album cover.