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.co.uk Few would disagree that ever since Roger Waters divorced himself from Pink Floyd in 1983 both of the estranged parties have been less effective for the lack of the others' involvement. Not that the years have been wasted, as Flickering Flame--a compilation of key tracks from Waters' solo albums as well as hitherto unheard material--amply demonstrates. Anyone who imagined that Waters' personal and understandably heartfelt ruminations on the loss of a father he never knew (killed at Anzio during World War II) on The Final Cut--the last Floyd album to feature Waters at the helm and practically his solo album in all but name--would close the chapter on his cathartic material, had underestimated the extent to which Waters still experiences frustration at the world's inability to sort itself out. Like Aussie-Scot folk protester Eric Bogle and The The's Matt Johnson, Waters is happiest (unhappiest?) when addressing the futility of self-serving international aggression and socio-political inequality, the ubiquity of which in his material's subject matter can make any Roger Waters album an exacting experience for all but the diehard, pacifist Pink Floyd fan. Even so, Waters is articulate, earnest and portentous (if occasionally pompous) and moments such as the cable TV inspired satire of war as a narcissistic, armchair spectator sport on "Perfect Sense", the glimmers of hope in "Each Small Candle" (inspired by a small instance of Serbian kindness during the Kosovo conflict) and the lullaby of "The Tide is Turning" all represent him at his most powerfully literate peak. Of the previously unreleased material, a straight cover of Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door"--from the film score of the Israeli film The Dybbuk of the Holy Apple Field--is the best, it being impossible to disassociate from the tragedy of Dunblane, an event which probably would have angered Waters no end. Less essential is "Flickering Flame"--which is sung in a silly hick-town hillbilly accent--and "Lost Boys Calling" (original demo) which is off-puttingly out of tune. --Kevin Maidment
M**Y
Not the best overview
Putting together a Roger Waters compilation is even harder than compiling a Pink Floyd one. Most of Water's works need to be heard from start to finish. This explains the token "Every strangers eyes" from The Pros and Cons of Hitchiking. It would be pretty hard to seperate anything else from that CD. So we get three tracks from the god-awfull "Radio Kaos" - an album so uninspired it should be wiped from the slates of time. The 80s sound of the KAOS tracks do not bode well and sat alongside classics such as "Every stranger's eyes" and "perfect sense" really grate.The Amused to Death selections are a strage choice. "Too Much Rope" and "Three Wishes" are not stand out tracks from that album. "It's A Miracle", "What God Want's P3" and "Amused to Death" are far superior tracks. The compilation chooses the live version of "Perfect Sense" which is really good but one get's the feeling that anything Jeff Beck played on has been avoided. Conspiracy!So to the "rare" tracks: "Towers of faith" is not hard to find. The "When the Wind blows" OST is available from Amazon at a relatively cheap price. The song itself is very good and sees Waters in fine vocal form. "Folded Flags" - another When the Wind Blows song would also have been a nice addition. The Dylan cover is terrible! The keyboard drums and lacklustre guitar make the track sound like a RW bad idea and would not have slipped through the Floyd's quality control. "Lost Boys Calling" is excrutiating to listen to. It has RW's worst vocals ever. "Flickering flame" stops and starts, but isn't too bad - Jon Carin adds some nice keyboard touches.Most fans admit that PF's "The Final Cut" was a RW solo album and I think there should have been a few selections from it represented here.I think that this CD should have perhaps been a rarities only affair or a better overview of existing available material. A few Roger Waters tracks that would have been nice include: "Give Birth to a smile" from The Body OST, "Pigs on the wing" (abridged version live from Hitchiking tour), "Money" (fake live b-side), and the film version of Lost Boys Calling (not the demo!).If it were to be a proper career overview, I would have added a second disc.
A**R
Brilliant new songs but most people have the other material
My initial thoughts before buying this collection were that the new 'rare' songs would not justify the purchase of mainly old material, which most Roger Waters fans will already own.However the two demo's, Flickering Flame & Lost Boys Calling are typical Waters; lyrical brilliance and that usual touch of magic in the way he puts them across and for me, the album was worth it for those alone. Tower's of Faith, also a hard-to-come-by song, is equally good and even the rendition of Knockin' on Heaven's Door is enjoyable. All in all a worthy purchase, even if I do only play the CD from track 9 onwards.
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