indulging another delay on my 'Preying on Malchus' story (Moldavan bullfighter) which could benefit from any exegetical support of Jesus' final miracle...
Debates are fun, but I've decided in my own usually open mind to close this one: Pink Floyd's The Wall is the best sustained compositional opus ever produced. I'll credit Joey for this nudge. He appropriately asked why Dark Side of the Moon receives so much more acclaim. I spontaneously responded in a Dostoevskian sense that I figured Animals to be their most aesthetic album. Dostoevsky factors here because no one disagrees Brothers Karamzov (translate The Wall for this argument) is his best novel and among the best ever written. Dark Side = Crime and Punishment, all due discussions on that analogy invited. Animals = The Possessed, same invitation. I'm listening to The Wall this morning, while grading a huge stack of student essays and smiling at Emma's interpretive dances, and the agon is deeper than ever. Earlier in the morning, I listened to Who's Next also for the thousandth time. It remains the second or third best album ever produced. But The Wall is first, and I hesitate to say Ronald Reagan and Bach would have to agree. It's that comprehensive. I put Reagan in front of Bach, by the way, because the political impact is undeniable while the artistic impact is much more subjective.
All respect for Tommy, David Copperfield (the novel), any other profiles in courage (notwithstanding the Turkmen president!), Pink Floyd delivers a quintessential bildungsroman.
Deep appreciation for Mom and Dick for bringing The Wall, Les Miserables, Closer to the Edge to an early visit to Prague, when these albums weren't so available. They have been worth their weight in gold, to say the least.
So if the debate is closed, I guess there's nothing more to say.
ReplyDeleteBut if we were to open it up again, where to begin?
Reagan vs Bach?
Pink Floyd vs Charles Dickens?
Who's Next vs. Dark Side?
I guess the debate I cannot leave alone is the Dark Side v. Wall one, and I'll just say this. No one will ever argue that The Dark Side was over the top, designed to prop up concert tours or a case study in one band member artistically and neurotically taking over. I would also add that no one would ever try to sync up The Wall to a cross genre movie, but then I wouldn't have expected anyone to tie it in with David Copperfield either.
By the way, I just bought Ravinia tickets for a September performance of Dark Side by a knock off band. I have no idea what to expect-- will they show Wizard on the backscreen?--- but the lawn ticket price was right and I am hoping the knock off will be at least up to Ravinia standards. Would this ever happen for the Wall? Methinks not sir. I have a couple of extra tickets if anyone is interested and in the area (Josh?).