page ten

PINK FLOYD The Wall

Pink Floyd has never
really been in step with
what is going on in popular
music. Going into their
third decade of producing
the same dreary spaced-out
rock, ‘‘The Wall’’ is their
biggest media hype job yet.

While their 1973 album
“Dark Side of the Moon’’
was exceptionally good for
it’s time, thank genius
producer Alan Parsons for
temporarily pulling this
band together into a
cohesive unit. Witness the
next two albums, ‘’Wish
You Were Here’’ and
“Animals’’, both being
terrible flops while trying to
be interpretive.

Now the big finale from

four idiots who have no
history of producing any-
thing even average on their
own. This double-disc set is
one of the most depressing,
demoralizing things I’ve
ever heard.

The story behind “The
Wall’’ is supposed _ to
enlighten us to the effects
of society on our personal
emotions. But once having
heard the message, which
took three years to dream
up, what are we supposed
to do about it?

Well, according to the
wisdom of Pink Floyd, we
should join arms_ and
overthrow the educational
system and become no-
minds like them. The
theme that we're just

The Other Press

“Another Brick in the
Wall’’ is repeated three
times on the album, trying
to reinforce the idea that
we’re all no-minds already
anyway.

| don’t appreciate hear-
ing that, much less paying
for it (which | didn’t). As
for the music, it’s slow,
sluggish, tedious, and has
very little beat. Very
depressing.

 

THE CLASH London
Calling

 

It’s too bad so few people
got to see the Clash on
their here-and-gone North
American tour last fall,
because the press hype on

 

 

 

 

 

 

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SUPERVISION OF BACARDI &

 

368. BRAMPTON, ONTARIO L6V2L3 BACARD! RUMIS) PRODUCED B. ¥ SPECIAL AUTHORITY AND UNDER THE
‘& COMPANY LIMITED. BACARD! AND BAT DEVICE ARE REGISTERED TRADEMARKS OF BACARDI & COMPANY LIMITED BOTTLED BY FBM DISTILLERY CO LTD. CANADAs

Other Entertainment

March 31, 1980

 

them was so lavish that the
average rock fan was, the
good reason, pretty skepti-
cal.

Nobody could be as good :

as the critics said they were
and their second album,
“Give ‘Em Enough Rope’’,
was thin and uneven. So
what’s the fuss all about?
Well, the Clash knocked
‘em out at the Gardens and
have since just released in
North America the two LP
set ‘‘London Calling’’. This
album is the fruitful end of
the band _ transcending
beyond the narrow confines

of mere punk into what is

probably the best rock and
roll band in the world. The
only parallels are the finest
works of the Rolling Stones
or the Who.

With most mainstream
rock, and even _ disco,
degraded to the level of
“screw the world, let’s
party’’, the Clash provides
a reality that there’s more
to life after all and proves
that music can still matter
to some people.

Every tune on this album
is good if not exceptional,
especially my favourite, the
title track ‘‘London Call-
ing’’. One of THE albums
of the year and a definite
pacesetter for other groups
to follow.

 

 

GARY NUMAN The Plea-
sure Principle

When | first heard Gary
Numan last summer, |
knew that a new force in
music had arrived: a
mixture of progressive and
new wave rock backed by a
strong beat.

The first album ‘‘Repli-
cas’’, cost me a bundle on
import in September, but it
was well worth it. At the
age of 21, Numan achieved
what few groups of this
type of music had; instant

acceptance and success.
His next album would be
critical because it would
establish which path of
music he would follow:

 

progressive or rock.

| think Numan made the.
wrong choice.

While the ‘‘Pleasure
Principle’ still has the
churning synthesizer melo-
dies and catchy beat, it
lacks the punch of good
guitarwork from ‘‘Repli-
cas’’ . . In fact there is no
use of lead guitar on the
entire album. The lyrics
used here are quite thin
and the man-machine
message is overused and
too obvious, unlike the
mystique of the first album.

What | do like about the
new album is the consis-
tently crisp sound which
seems to be a trademark of
the small ‘‘Beggar’s Ban-
quet’’ label.

Every song on the album
consists of one-word titles, |.
some of the better ones
being: the soaring instru-

mental ‘‘Airlane’’; ‘’Me-
\’’, another mechano-
robot confession; ‘‘Engi-

neers’’ which the tune
claims the world is kept
alive by; and of course the
hit single ‘‘Cars’’, which
deals with dependence and
affection for that lemon of
yours in the parking lot.

The album is_ also
produced by Gary. Numan
which makes him one of the
youngest producers around
and one of the most daring.

Perhaps Numan is mov-
ing too quickly, trying to
gain exposure in a mass
market which could _ulti-
mately lead to his demise.
His next album should tell
the story.