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.
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)
alternate:
https://bestfile.io/qWCI6FpOxxLWduZ/file
Here is a link for a FLAC version for those who want that. Be warned it is very large, over 2 GB in size:
https://pixeldrain.com/u/ZUJjsta2
For the cover art, Fabio used an AI program to make a variation on the official album cover.
Hello. To tell you the truth, I've never listened to the Wall (I stopped at Wish you Were Here). Now after all your collective effort, I will have to! Errm, thank you?!
ReplyDeleteWell, you're in to a great experience! I kinda envy you - listening to such an important piece of work for the first time. These things happen only once
DeleteAfter this, I heartily suggest that you give their album called "Animals" a listen. Some folks seem to enjoy it.
DeleteIncidentally, there is a nod to the Animals album cover in one of The Maximum Wall original inagea.
DeleteWe have filled the booklet with several easter eggs, let us know how many you can spot!
Original *images
DeleteThank you so much for this. I have the EVSD Another Wall but this goes way beyond that. I'm looking forward very much to reading the booklet as well. Not only was the album such a defining event, it prompted the best (albeit wrong) letter ever to a UK music paper the following week "all in all, I'm just another prick who bought The Wall".
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoy both the music and the artwork/booklet! We put a lot of effort into it, and I was mainly involved in creating the booklet, so I'm especially glad to hear you're looking forward to it.
Deletecould this be your magnum opus ??
ReplyDeleteA big thank you indeed! I have been waiting hopeful ever since you started talking about it... once again thank I can hardly wait to give it a listen.
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing! Thanks so much for all the hard work in creating this magnum opus edition of The Wall.
ReplyDeleteThank you, what a BEAUTIFUL effort and result. Landmark presentation.
ReplyDeleteObrigado!
ReplyDeleteFinally! Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteLike JohnF Im not previously a huge fan of The Wall, but after all the hard work it deserves a decent look/listen
why mix ai slop in? the booklet is just all ai it seems, looks like shit and kinda diminishes the meaning of the album
ReplyDeleteNo, it is not "all AI". And there is no AI slop involved. (If you read the artwork liner notes included in the booklet, explaining how we approach it and used AI as a creative tool, it will become clearer.)
DeleteAs for the booklet "looking like shit", you know, we can also say that opinions are like assholes: everyone has one — and some smell better than others. ;-)
But hey, nobody is forcing you to look at it. Feel free to ignore the booklet and just listen to the music!
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DeleteI have downloaded the album and sampled some of it. Similarly, I have also looked at the booklet which has clearly taken a huge amount of time. I intended to post a full review once I had listened to the whole album in conjunction with the booklet. Your rude and uncalled for comment has, however, provoked me to post earlier. I feel the two responses so far show considerably more grace than I can muster. Whatever you feel about the booklet you could have put it in a more diplomatic and less vulgar way. It does no harm at all to acknowledge the amount of work and effort which has gone into this project. This site brings myself and many others much treasure for which the vast majority are very grateful but I guess there is always one who is churlish enough not to recognise such altruistic efforts.
DeleteFor the record, absolutely NO AI was utilized in producing the music, nor ANY of the book’s text. AI was solely used for some of the non-Scarfe (or other sourced) illustrations, and - minimally - to enhance details in a few of the rare, rougher Scarfes. That’s it.
DeleteWe obviously anticipated such reactions and considered this issue deeply, and all agreed that this minimal application of AI tools, on a few the book’s illustrations, and explicitly so noted and explained in the book’s end notes - was acceptable. For the AI-enhanced illustrations, we were sure to include in the download a file containing all the original, un-enhanced versions too. And the AI-created ones amount to maybe 1/3 of all of the book's illustrations, so I’m not sure how one arrives at "the booklet is just all ai it seems", sorry. As Fabio noted above - you are completely free to discard the book and remain 'pure' should you wish. I hope you enjoy it either way.
but why use the ai? i don’t understand if you’re trying to respect the arts why use generative ai? sure maybe 1/3 of the booklet is ai but the screenshots you have on the blog post all have ai generated content
DeleteBut why use rhe internet?
Deleteall i was trying to get at that using generative AI diminishes your product and that maybe you should take a look inwards and understand why. using the internet and having a robot produce “art” are not mutually equitable
DeleteI understand your concerns about AI. I'm uneasy about it myself. But it was either that or have a large portion of the booklet without any fitting illustrations. None of us who worked on this are worthy artists who could make such pictures from scratch. Are you? If you are, by all means please make the art to replace the AI art and we'll use it. That goes for anyone else here who thinks they have the artistic skill for that and doesn't mind doing all that art for free. Like GW said above, if you don't like the AI art, just avoid the booklet and enjoy the completely AI-free music.
Deletesee instead of using the ai why not do this out reach for artists, why after someone says something. i’m not the most confident artist but i understand the value of art and the slap in the face ai generated content is to artists.ask/hire people who are confident and willing to help.i dont have concerns on ai, i have the reality that ai generated content is not art.
DeleteI'm all in for an AI-free version of the booklet with all images done by sopa. But sopa, you should know that Paul is a harsh critic and a perfeccionist (he rejected maybe 200 or more working versions of the images, and asked for several modifications in the images we used). For each image in the booklet there were in average a dozen that were discarded. So don't be mad if Paul do not approve of any image that you may create and ask for you to do something completely different (that happened daily during rhe 2 or 3 months we woeked in that booklet!) Fortunately, Marvis is a good hard working AI and he (it?) didn't complain at all - just demanding an oily cookie eventually
DeleteAs Fabio suggests, we looked high and low for any alternatives to AI art, and only used that when nothing else fit. I would LOVE artists to replace the AI art in this booklet with their own. If there are any artists out there interested in that, please do contact me! Seriously, that would be awesome.
Deletegod your so full of yourself fabio. the problem is paul is clearly not a harsh critic as the art you are advertising for the booklet is all ai. also you act like having your ai content scrapped and rejected took any effort on your part.
DeleteRead the room sopa. You are the only person who is rambling on about it. What does that tell you? The hard work that these people have put in to produce this should be congratulated and not insulted. I am old enough to have bought The Wall on the day it came out and am immensely grateful for this new version. You, on the other hand, are pedantic and rude. You are simply spoiling what should be a great day for the creators of this work. Do the right thing and let it drop because it is only you who will come out of this badly. Perhaps act like an adult?
DeleteWow sopa, apparently you were present in the Discord room where myself, Paul, GW and sometimes Mike met almost daily for several weeks, discussing back and forth images and text for the booklet I now hope you don't look at.Somehow I missed you there. You must be very discreet, since you know everything that happened there!
DeleteAlso, when can you start working on the new art for the booklet? And, do you like cookies?
Deleteno artistic integrity here that’s why no one is saying anything on the ai. i’m sorry that you took such offense to work you had ai do for you. i’m not saying anything on things you supposedly didn’t use ai on sure it probably was a lot. but the ai work does not fit anything. and you are lying about how much ai you used on the booklet. i’ll be the adult and use my morales to understand ai use in any of this work is a disgrace. but i’ll leave fabio be as me insulting his ai hurt his ego so bad. maybe fabio you should listen to the wall again and understand that harboring all these emotions on something you didn’t create and had an ai do is not healthy
Deletemusic sounds great tho
DeleteSopa, this may surprise you, but my ego survived your review. I’m sure yours will survive the fact that everyone else is still enjoying the booklet.
DeleteAnyway, I think we’ve established that you don’t like it. You can stop auditioning for the role of our artistic conscience now. 😉
P.S. I’m still waiting for your answer about the cookies. Chocolate or vanilla?
Fabio, Keep tapping on the cage. I think they're about to go Cap't Queeg. Do I hear metal marble rattling?
DeleteI’m grabbing the strawberries and heading for the lifeboats. 😎
DeleteSopa, you are a disgrace
DeleteKudos to you for going through all this to put this collection out. The ultimate compliment would be if Columbia or Capitol or whoever owns the rights now would apart your work into a new vision of The Wall. No doubt a reissue will be coming as the 50th anniversary of that release draws closer.
ReplyDeleteI personally plan to have a hardcover printed version of the booklet made, which will look more like a coffee-table book. I've already consulted a couple of printing shops down here in Brazil about doing a small batch of 5 or 10 copies, which I'll share with some friends.
DeleteI'll also burn CDRs. The write-up doesn't mention this, but we divided the music into four volumes (CDs 1 to 4) for those who still want a physical copy. I've also designed artwork for the CD labels, which is included in an extra folder. In my version, the CDRs will be inserted into the inside front and back covers of the book, so the whole thing will look a bit like one of those special deluxe editions that are sometimes officially released.
I also plan to make an additional copy, complete with the CDRs and everything, to give to Roger Waters the next time he comes to Rio. I'm not sure whether he'll love it or hate it! I do know someone who was part of his local crew the last time he played here, so I'll try to use him as a messenger.
This could go very right or very wrong, but if I do get to put a copy into his hands, I'm hoping Waters will appreciate it for what it is: something put together by fans who genuinely love and appreciate his art.
Fabio, I don't know if you saw my compliments but here's what I posted .... "I got to tell you that the energy that you,Fabio & Maichael put into this project is magnificent. First off, The Wall has been elevated in such a way that Roger Water's vision it better understood. The depths of Waters tale are no longer disjointed. We always knew that it was a bigger concept but never has it been more clarified than as you've presented it. Now onto the facts, observations, and story guidance included in the booklet ... I'd say this is the cherry on top but your package doesn't stop there. All of the artwork delivers your "The Maximum Wall" booklet to a level of incredible elegance. You have delivered us an incredible gift and thank you just doesn't express my appreciation. If only the legit record companies would learn something for fan created projects such as yours. You have presented The Wall with a respect not only to the artists but also towards fans of this masterpiece." You may want to start taking name for that book because even though you included a wonderful PDF file, the first thing I said to myself is how do I get a hard copy of this. It is beautiful.
DeleteThanks for your kind words! They warm our hearts.
DeleteOne technical note for those that will go for a physical copy: for printing purposes, do NOT use the pdf file, which is a low-res version for those who just want to have a look or browse the booklet in their phones.
For better printing value, we included almost 100 individual high resolution jpg pages, that should be provided to a printing store (they will know what to do). There are also two hardcover options (with different binding thickness, depending on the quality of rhe paper you will use - again, the printing store should figure what to do).
The jpg individual pages version is also much better to read the booklet in your laptop, computer momitor or TV screen. The images are better and the text is clearer and easier to read.
DeleteFinally, there are also 4 cd labels. I am particularly proud of the solution I imagined to differentiate volumes 1 to 4 (take a look at the extra folder and you will understand). No AI here, just good ol' gray matter thinking.
Can't wait to wrap my ears around this extensive project.
ReplyDeleteDesde Getafe Madrid España un lugar que todavia resiste a la extrema derecha de la que tu mencionas. Y efectivamente The Wall debiera ser ese muro que frenara esta peligrosa destruccion a la que estan muchos, millones, llevando al Planeta olvidando lo que ya paso en Europa principalmente desde que ascendio al poder aquel loco maligno y perturbado aleman. Desde que lei tus propias noticias llevo esperando esto mucho tiempo. Y ahora mismo lo estoy escuchando y lo estoy disfrutando. Muchas gracias. A ti por hacerlo posible y al rojo, ese magnifico rojo, que es Roger Waters por haberlo hecho realidad hace años y adelantarnos el futuro que hoy vivimos. A finales de Noviembre en España iremos a Elecciones y nos tocara decidir entre Progreso o la extrema derecha y derecha extrema que siginifica el retorno al pasado. Te puedo asegurar que yo ire a votar Progreso escuchando tu magnifico trabajo. Un saludo y mucjas, muchas, muchas gracias
ReplyDeleteI don't speak Spanish, so I used Google translate on your comment. Thanks for your kind words! Hear, hear.
DeleteGreetings from Getafe, Madrid—a place that still stands firm against the far-right movement you mention. Indeed, *The Wall* ought to be the barrier that halts this dangerous destruction—a path down which millions are dragging the planet, forgetting what happened in Europe, particularly after that deranged, evil German madman rose to power. I have been waiting for this for a long time—ever since I first read your updates. Right now, I am listening to it and thoroughly enjoying it. Thank you so much—to you for making this possible, and to that magnificent "Red," Roger Waters, for bringing it to life years ago and foreseeing the future we are living in today. We are heading to the polls in Spain at the end of November, and we will have to choose between progress and the far-right—an extreme right that signifies a return to the past. I can assure you that I will go to vote for progress while listening to your magnificent work. Best regards, and thank you—so, so much.
Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThank You!
ReplyDeleteGotta tell you, I'm knee deep in the first listening and I got to tell you that the energy that you and the others involved put into this project is magnificent. First off, The Wall has been elevated in such a way that Roger Water's vision it better understood. The depths of Waters tale are no longer disjointed. We always knew that it was a bigger concept but never has it been more clarified than as you've presented it. Now onto the facts, observations, and story guidance included in the booklet ... I'd say this is the cherry on top but your package doesn't stop there. All of the artwork delivers your "The Maximum Wall" booklet to a level of incredible elegance. You have delivered us an incredible gift and thank you just doesn't express my appreciation. If only the legit record companies would learn something for fan created projects such as yours. You have presented The Wall with a respect not only to the artists but also towards fans of this masterpiece.
ReplyDeleteWow, that's high praise. Thanks a lot! :)
DeleteAlthough I haven't listened to it yet, thank you so much, if only for the effort and time put into this project. I look forward to listening to it with great enthusiasm...
ReplyDeleteAnd a suggestion: ¿don't you think such a special edition deserved—just for once—to be available in FLAC instead of MP3?
Thanks again.
We do have a FLAC version coming. Mike Solof is in charge of that. I just did some typo fixes in the booklet. Once we get that sorted out, we should be posting that later today.
DeleteGreat to hear that a Flac version is coming. Now how about Sony Atmos hi resolution ? ... hahaha
DeleteAsk }{eywood over at Magna Qualitus Records, maybe he can come up with it LOL
DeleteThank you so much for this enormous version of The Wall! This album has always been near and dear to me having bought it on the day of it's issue back in 1979. I'm looking forward to hearing this new take on such an important album.
ReplyDeleteEight years in the making, who would’ve thunk?
ReplyDeleteI remember when we first started working on this and now with the help of Fabio and GW it finally came to fruition. Excellent job my friend.! Go us!!
Admittedly, nearly all of that time was me doing nothing, and Mike repeatedly bugging me to finish the project. ;) There were a few bursts of activity here and there though. Thanks, Mike, for your nagging. Truly, it helped get this finished.
DeleteShout out to you Michael for your hard work and dedication to this project. You, Fabio & Paul have created all of us a beautiful gift. You should all feel very proud of this accomplishment. Cheers !
DeleteFabio, what a great idea please put me down for one of those books, and when it gets to that point, I’ll pay for shipping and handling, as well as the book.
ReplyDeleteAnd Sofa, normally, I don’t respond to trolling crap like yours, but what the heck… I’m in a good mood. My go to argument in cases like this Is that if we had told you that Fabio had 100% done all the artwork you would never know. Not that you would ever send a thank you note or a good job note, but if you had it wouldn’t surprise me or anyone. AI is a tool, not unlike yourself. It was used very sparingly to enhance the overall experience that we were going for in creating and working on this project. AI is not going away.
And thank you everyone who’s taking the time to comment so far! It’s nice to know. All our hard work is being appreciated.!
I just bugged Fabio about getting a hard copy of the book too. It's absolutely gorgeous.
DeleteI third the notion of the hardcover book, especially if we can make the 4 CD tray with the first two discs in the inside front cover and the last two in the inside back cover...This truly is an album worth placing on a bookshelf...From what Paul has said about TheLazenby, both in the past while discussing the early stages of this and in the book, I'd like to think if he were still alive, he would endorse this as the logical followup to his (as Paul said, died unfinished) version, if he wouldn't have become a collaborator on it and helped this come to be...
DeleteMy plan is to print the hardcover version, so they will be sturd enough to hold the discs without bending. Each page size was planned as A4 format (210mm x 297mm, or 8.27 x 11.96 inches) for it to be possible to hold two cds in each inside cover. I will use four hubs (google "cd spider foam button" to see what I mean), gluing two in each inside cover. Hopefully it will work out fine. I may publish a video with the final result in my youtube channel when it is available.
DeleteI'm sad to hear about Thelazenby passing. I'm sure if he was still around he would certainly be a frequent collaborator to the ATSE blog
DeleteMike, what sopa and others that think like him don't get, is that none of us (including Marvis) are stealing anything from "The Struggling Human Artist". It's not like we were going to hire a whole team of designers and artists to create the imagery for the booklet but decided to use AI instead. We simply used AI as the available tool that made the existence of the booklet possible (in fact, if there was no AI we would not have the booklet, and without the booklet - which was the catalyst for Paul to complete the project after so many years - none of you would be liatening to The Maximum Wall).
DeleteSo, sopa should actually thank Marvis. We know he won't, but to ge honest, we couldn't care less what he says or thinks. I am just using his diatribe to make a point.
Point made, let's move on. Enjoy The Maximum Wall, and spread the word!
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Deletedo you think your ai has feelings?
DeleteHello Paul and all friends of ATSE —while I’m not a fan of 'The Wall' (I just couldn't wait, ever since Paul spoke about the project) (I stopped also listening PF after WYWH), this Wall-edition deserves to be heard again. I’d like to thank you and everyone involved for this magnificent work and the beautiful booklet. A passion project very well done. Best wishes and many thanks from Germany.
ReplyDeleteWell you've really done it this time! I have been listening to this since I downloaded it and I can say without exception this is the greatest fan made album ever made. All that read this better get this while you have the opportunity before the record oligarchs hear this and demand its removal. Paul you have certainly outdone yourself along with all your assistants, you deserve an award, here's mine🥇 Thanks Paul
ReplyDeleteWow, that's really high praise. I never expected to hear that. Thank you!
DeleteAbsolutely amazing. Got it this morning and listened to it from beginning to end. Outstanding. Thank you all for this. Cannot wait for the FLAC version! Again, thank you. What a treat.
ReplyDeletefABULOUS WORK... tHANK YOU
ReplyDeleteA link to the .flac version has just been added. You can thank Mike Solof for that. He made sure to keep .flac versions when I wouldn't have bothered.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteNoises and Wagnerman. Thanks so much for your kind words of encouragement (and discouragement in the right places!) and thanks to everyone one else taking the time to enjoy the labors of our hard work (and Constant Nagging LOL). You guys out there are why Paul, Fabio, GW and I do what we do! Keep those cards and letters coming!!
ReplyDeleteThis now strikes me as the greatest PF remix that Magna Qualitus Records and }{eywood never got around to, and they *just* released the Atom Heart Mother to end all...I almost fear we should grab this before The Corporate Man finds it....;)
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for this. I've taken Fredrick's advice and quickly downloaded the file. I will get back to you when I've listened to the entire album. It may take awhile!
ReplyDeleteAgain, thanks to all of you for this mammoth set.
Keven
It was, and remains, for me, the worst (and so obviously seldom-played) album of their long and illustrious career, but i'm sufficiently impressed by your labour of love to give this version a chance to redeem it. Thank you
ReplyDeleteIf you don't like it, you probably won't like this either. But it's a great album to begin with. For instance, Rolling Stone magazine has rated it No. 129 out of the top 500 albums of all time. You can quibble with that magazine's tastes, but it's pretty much universally acclaimed as a classic. And it's sold tens of millions, so lots of people agree with the critics.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteWhat??? Our money back guarantee wasn't enough for ya?? ;-)
DeletePlayed the first two sections last night, really seems like a different album with a better flow to the whole thing (so far). A bit like Forever and Ever which IMO improved both of the source albums. Many thanks to all for the years of work to get this finished.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you say that, because I see the similarity. With Forever and Ever, one source album was too much pop songs and not enough instrumental bits, and the other one vice versa. It's a similar thing here. I think "The Final Cut" songs are especially elevated here. On their own, they're all too similar, with lots of lyrics but not enough instrumentals to let the lyrics breathe. So mixing them in with more diverse and instrumental "Wall" songs helps a lot.
DeleteAnd by the way, I didn't spend "years" working on this. More like one big burst about six years ago where the music was 95 percent finished (before AI audio editing tools came along, by the way), then absolutely nothing for six years, then a big burst of activity in the last few months, mostly concentrated on making the booklet with Fabio and GW.
DeleteI have a music obsessives' podcast called Discograffiti, on which I interviewed Bob Ezrin, so as soon as you finally posted this, and I was 2/3 of the way through listening to it yesterday...I contacted Bob Ezrin and told him all about it. I sent him the link and he read up on it. He was pretty blown away. :)
ReplyDeleteReally? Wow! That's amazing! Thanks for doing that. If you have any specific feedback from him, please let us know. :)
DeleteDave has put it in the hands of Ezrin, and Fabio wants to hand Waters a copy of the coffee table edition next time he comes to Brazil...🤯
DeleteAmazing...THANKS DAVE!!!!
DeleteThank you, Dave - and I just listened to that great episode w Ezrin, very well done!
Delete- GW
He said, "Jesus! That’s insane. Do you know this person?" Then when I asked him if he's going to listen to it, I swear to God this is his copied response: "I don’t have time to listen to 3 hours of anything let alone Roger Waters ;)" HAHAHAHAHA
DeleteHey Dave, so It seems Ezrin listening to the music is out of the question...
DeleteBut I was thinking, if you could gently nudge Ezrin in the general direction of the booklet — maybe just by sharing the PDF alone— then there’s a better chance he might actually take a quick look at it out of curiosity, even if it is just a glance. And then, we can only hope the hook catches the fish!
I just hope that when he asked if "you know this person", he was not thinking of passing the info to his lawyers
DeleteThere was no intimation of lawyerly-speak. He said he'd read up on it, and so there you have it.
DeleteLooking at this from the 30,000 foot perspective, I can understand at this point in his career that he would not feel like devoting the time, but considering his hand *was* influential in the creation of The Wall and The Final Cut, I can't see him not being interested in, to paraphrase The Godfather, seeing what you did to his boy LOL :)
DeleteYou will gather from my ID that I am a big fan of Wagner’s music. I am also a huge fan of the Grateful Dead and I guess they and Wagner have the length of their performances in common if nothing else! This extended version of the The Wall absolutely ticks all the boxes for me. The original album which I bought on day of release had a Wagnerian feel to it but this extended version at 2hr 52min puts it quite clearly in the same place as the epic Wagner operas! For me the additions have transformed the work. At 75 I have listened to a lot of music in my life but The Wall has always had a special place. When it was released I considered it the best double album ever made even after taking Blonde On Blonde into account. I don’t think anything has come along since to change my view but I guess that the best double album of all time debate could go on for quite some time so probably best not to go there!
ReplyDeleteHaving now listened to this masterpiece in full and immersed myself in the wonderful booklet I am awed at what has been achieved in bringing it to us. The original album has been transformed into something I could only have dreamed about all those years ago. I would dearly love to have this as a CD boxed set with hardback booklet so it could sit on my shelf alongside my Bob Dylan Deluxe Bootleg Series boxes etc. It certainly deserves to.
My heartfelt thanks go to Paul, Fabio, Michael and GW for conceiving, creating and realising this superb work. You have made me enormously happy. Thank you!
It is indeed an honor to have contributed to your new bildungsroman, and am so glad you enjoy it so much!
DeleteAnother satisfied customer! Thanks!! :-)
ReplyDeleteWow, what an amazing project by you and the team! This was a tremendous listen front to back. I will be replaying this again soon!
ReplyDeleteI very much like what you have done here with the songs as well as the accompanying booklet, and the detailed backstory.
I've been a fan of your projects for years, but this kind of sets a new standard with regard to 'should exist', as an option at the very least.
Outstanding work, thanks for sharing it!
Thanks 86ed
ReplyDeleteThis is beyond great! Such a great attention to detail, so much valuable information. I gave a quick listen to the collection, but this calls for repetitive listening. The Booklet is outstanding, I will definitely print it as a book (2 copies, one for me and one for my brother big Floyd fan), also burning it on CDs, more than worthy. Thanks and congratulations to the whole team.
ReplyDeleteHi Germex, please read my newest comment with printing suggestions!
DeleteHey Fabio (and Paul) I think we should redo the cover and have a little Blurb on the front that says: "Jesus, That's Insane!!!" - Bob Ezrin on The Maximum Wall
ReplyDeleteYes. This. Ditto.
Delete-GW
I'm not a design major, but it would be nice if the blurb could be like a panel you could flip so it can look like a pristine cover and then FLIP there's the Ezrin blurb LOL or maybe have it on the interior title card (as seen in the illustration for the Printed Booklet post)?
DeleteOkay, if you see my comment over on the Printable Version post, I would like if we could have the book illustration and maybe the same but with the Ezrin sticker, so I can make a double sided sleeve for my developing 'commercial' version, so I can flip it if I like? LOL
DeleteRe: Ezrin sticker/blurb - Don't know why this came to me (Durban Poison vape cartridge?), but the text should be the same font as the title [TMW] text, and if M.A.R.V.I.S. could come up with a small illustration of Bob Ezrin in the style of Scarfe ;) and have the quote in a speech bubble LOL
DeleteI hope you guys are just joking about having a Bob Ezrin quote sticker. I think that's a real stretch, since as far as we know he's never even heard this whole thing.
DeleteIt could be a new 'illustration', a new page for the booklet, and you could preface it like: 'Upon being informed of The Maximum Wall, Bob Ezrin was heard to say...' and I think that could cover grey legailty [shrug]
Delete(Yes, still on the same vape cartridge LOL)
Visual reference: Cover illustration of Weasels Ripped My Flesh by Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention? LMAO
DeleteI am assuming they are joking. But obviously we will not include a quote out of context from someone who didn't listen to it, was just told it exists. And frankly, we are not looking for nor do we need such validation.
DeleteActually, it is quite possible that if Waters himself ever listen to it he wil call it names, since he is such a perfecctionist and we are messing with his baby. And we still would enjoy what we did. It is what it is, regardless of opinions from whoever they come.
So, no stickers, sorry
Spoilsport 🤣 it did have a perverse joy to it, sort of like expanding The Wall out to nearly three hours and producing fresh artwork to illustrate the expanded texts, but I have to agree that until such time as either Ezrin or Waters make any 'official' statements concerning it, we must keep an art splash page of such an entertaining quote and possible Scarfe-inspired illustration for such at arm's length for now. 🤷🏻♂️
DeleteAnd I do agree, we will still love this regardless of what they would have to say about it, but it would be nice if they did 😉
DeleteAre there any other monumental works you might tackle? Like Pete Townsend's "Lifehouse" just asking', thanks Paul
ReplyDeleteProbably not. The Wall is really unique in it being a great concept album that has all sorts of extra pieces lying around, practically begging to be put together in a coherent way. If there's a coherent concept to Lifehouse, I've never figured it out. It just seems like a bunch of songs to me. That's been a persistent problem, where nobody seems to fully understand the Lifehouse concert other than Pete Townshend, not even the other members of the Who.
Delete514b56, allow me to recommend highly this "Lifehouse" reconstruction from this excellent-but-defunct blog (he is now on Patreon, info at the site):
Deletehttps://albumsthatneverwere.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-who-lifehouse-2025-upgrade.html
-GW
"it shows how people's personal problems can make them susceptible to joining larger toxic political movements. " That is basic Sociology doesn't need Pink Floyd to say that.
ReplyDeleteLast night, I put on my headphones and dove into this project. I've listened to this album so many times since 1979, and I am blown away by this expanded version. I especially like the live instrumental solos that you edited in to make some of the songs longer, plus the whole story just flows better with the additional songs, extra verses and track rearranging that you've done. You really see how each of the incidents in the characters life contribute further and further to his mental downfall. Absolutely excellent work all around.
ReplyDeleteTo all that are involved with this project, thank you. It is fantastic. There's too many high points to be able to acknowledge all of them. I just love it and that is all.
ReplyDeleteWow. This is simply astonishing. I have listened to all of their albums over the many years (I turn 71 on Wednesday) since their releases, and this one you have melded together has totally blown me away. The professionalism by all involved is absolutely next level. Thank you, thank you, thank you! There is clearly a reason why your site is a go-to for me every day. Wow.
ReplyDelete