No Education Needed
I had not seen Pink Floyd: The Wall until recently. It is a friend of mine's personal favorite film of all time, and I had never listened to a Pink Floyd song before. Being the massive fan of rock music that I was, I decided to take the plunge and experience it for myself.
Now, I'm not saying that these artists have any similar connotations, but the musical style of Pink Floyd reminds me of the Electric Light Orchestra with a little bit of Queen thrown into the mix. Pink Floyd is a heavier, bluesy type of rock than ELO is, and I find their songs a bit catchier than the latter. That's not to say I like them better than the Australian rock band (as of right now), but Pink Floyd's musical style is something that is quickly growing onto me personally.
The Wall itself is a fascinating coming of age story, but I'd prefer to save an analysis of that for an actual review of the film (which I will do at some point). As for Pink Floyd, their style emanates a rebellious rock style that seems to hallmark classic 70's and 80's rock to me. The song "Another Brick in the Wall (Pt. 2)" is my personal favorite song in the album, it displays Pink Floyd doing their best to emulate the feelings of oppressed British children of the twentieth century. The "ruthless" schoolmasters had pushed these children to their limits (resulting in the nearly decrepit school depicted in the film). This is only "another brick in the wall" that builds Pink's own hard-heartedness towards his family and society as a whole.
The oppression of growing up shows us that The Wall, if anything, is really an "anti-coming of age" story. Pink's troubled childhood and resistance to conforming to modern society is so well-shown (even better so in the film, through fantastic animation sequences) that I simply have to acclaim this film for its pro-neogen messages. Modern society tries so hard to force us to conform to a particular standard, when true artistic and social freedom is the greatest achievement in social history. Not to say that everything should be legal, but forcing a particular individual to conform to a standard that is ridiculously narrow and strict is not something that our founding fathers fought for. That may seem a little ridiculous of a comparison, seeing that The Wall is completely a British film, but the comparison is still valid, right?
I greatly admire Pink Floyd for forming their own neo-progressive and psychedelic style of music. This style is perfectly emulated in the film adaptation, and it seems wholly appropriate that Roger Waters went for a surreal animation style to highlight certain parts of the film. As for the album itself, the musical style does nothing short of sweep me away. The motif from "Another Brick in the Wall (Pt. 2)" continues to reappear in other songs in the album, which is perfect, since it is the best song of the album (to me).
Combining a well-written story with already previously written and recorded songs is something that can be difficult to accomplish. Sometimes, the writer may become desperate for placing certain songs in the story that may seem completely out of place. Fortunately, Roger Waters managed to complete a story that was far better done than the good but somewhat confusing "Tommy," and the songs themselves are arguably better than the ones that are used in the latter film. Notwithstanding, The Wall has a more coherent and sensible story than Tommy does, and it even has its own relevant message, to boot.
Pink Floyd's The Wall (both the album and the film) is probably one of the most important pieces of art of the twentieth century. It completely revolutionized the rock genre as a whole, and presents its own social messages in an epic and entertaining way that most artists seem to be unable to duplicate nowadays. Many have tried making their own replications of the progressive rock styles that Pink Floyd brought. Roger Waters continues to produce his own music that does well to emulate the classic feel that Pink Floyd had, but many other non-band members just haven't quite reached that pinnacle of perfection.
I feel that Pink Floyd is a group that I may not have liked if I had listened to them just a few years back. I used to obsessively listen to classical music, and didn't really get into rock music until my early teenage years. Pink Floyd brings about a new style for me that feels fresh, like something I've never heard before. Their songs are simply magic. A few of the songs in The Wall are guaranteed to be stuck in my mind for life, they have simply resonated that well inside of me. The film adaptation is one of the best films I have ever seen, and listening to the album alone adds much more perspective to the history of this classic compilation. Pink Floyd has decidedly flown up my chart to one of my favorite bands of all time, and I don't see any time soon where I will become sick of their music.