On the recent 25th Aniversary of the release of Pink Floyd's The Wall, much looking back was done to celebrate the impact this album has had on the rock world. One way to celebrate is to pay homage, and what better way to pay homage than to assemble some of the greatest names in progressive rock music to record a tribute to this classic album. Produced by former Yes member Billy Sherwood, Back to the Wall is an honest take on The Wall, featuring a multitude of great performances by many big names in the genre, who keep the original integrity and feel of The Wall intact while still adding their own personalities to the songs.
While the staggering list of talent is too long to mention all here, there are a few notable ones worth mentioning. Former Gentle Giant guitarist Gary Green makes his comeback to recorded music with some gritty guitar work on "In the Flesh" (alongside some splendid Hammond runs from ELP's Keith Emerson and vocals from Adrian Belew) and "Hey You", which also sees vocals from John Wetton, drums from Alan White, keys from Geoff Downes, and lead guitar from Steve Lukather. Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson adds his signature vocals and flute playing to "The Thin Ice" alongside Green's guitar and bass from Tony Levin. "Another Brick in the Wall Part 2" is sung quite admirably by The Tubes frontman Fee Waybill, which also features a scorching guitar solo from Ronnie Montrose. Chris Squire turns in a nice vocal on "Comfortably Numb" which also sees his Yes mates Alan White and Sherwood helping out as well, but it would have been nice to see someone else but Sherwood handle the lead guitar slot on this one. Not that Sherwood is not a capable player, but this piece just seemed to deserve a real heavyweight stamp on it during the solo. Other progressive & hard rock stars on the CD include Rick Wakeman, Steve Howe, Glenn Hughes, Tommy Shaw, Larry Fast, Robbie Krieger, Ansley Dunbar, Tony Franklin, Steve Morse, Dweezil Zappa, and many others.
While mainstream fans might not show much interest in this project, listeners of prog, hard & classic rock should get a kick out of the stellar cast assembled here, and the professional nature of the recording. Billy Sherwood did a great job putting this all together, and the musicians really paid the ultimate tribute by injecting their own styles while staying true to the original music. Fun stuff indeed!
Track Listing
Disc 1
1. In The Flesh?
2. The Thin Ice
3. Another Brick In The Wall, Part 1
4. The Happiest Days Of Our Lives
5. Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2
6. Mother
7. Goodbye Blue Sky
8. Empty Spaces
9. Young Lust
10. One Of My Turns
11. Don't Leave Me Now
12. Another Brick In The Wall (Part III)
13. Goodbye Cruel World
Disc 2
1. Hey You
2. Is There Anybody Out There?
3. Nobody Home
4. Vera
5. Bring the Boys Back Home
6. Comfortably Numb
7. The Show Must Go On
8. In The Flesh
9. Run Like Hell
10. Waiting For The Worms
11. Stop
12. The Trial
13. Outside The Wall
14. Isn't This Where We Came In?
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