Amused To Death

Product Information

Eagles singer/drummer Don Henley duets on "Watching TV" (which was about the Tijanamen Square incident and the collaboration of Henley and Waters triggered a friendship between the two which is still strong today), another highlight. This is the best way to hear this album, I have the SACD and even surround sound can't compete with the sound you get from the 200g vinyl. Deep, dark sound with one of the quietest sound stages I have for anything in my collection. Right up there with my 45RPM Org Remaster of Blood, Sweat and Tears. A must have for any Rodger Waters and Pink Floyd Fan. Yes, in the end, we value money over human life and yes the media plays an ever increasing role in shaping our values and our perceptions—almost to the exclusion of what we observe with our own eyes. The BDS platform calls for “the end of Israeli occupation and colonization of ‘Palestinian land’ (not clearly defined), full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel (not defined), and respect for the right of return of Palestinian refugees”. Wow was my first expression. I have the original version and cd version of the album. This new version astonished me. Quiet IS quiet....my Clearaudio finds the best from it. One of the best ones and well worth waiting for it.

For what turned out to be his final solo studio album (to date, 20 years and counting), Roger Waters composed a complex (and often confused) concept album called Amused to Death. The title came from a book by author Neil Postman, which explored the history of the media and the concept (although cloudy) is of aliens arriving after the extinction of humans and finding all our skeletons sitting around television sets and trying to work out why it was that our end came before its time. They come to the conclusion that we “amused ourselves to death”. While the album follows the same calm, storytelling, musically rich template of Waters’ two previous solo efforts, this album seems to be the most directly influenced by that material of Waters’ former band, Pink Floyd. In fact, there appears to be some direct sampling from Pink Floyd songs “Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk”, “Echoes” and “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”. The observations Roger Waters makes in this sonically spectacular and ambitious production are, at this point, and indeed when the album was originally produced, neither profound nor insightful. Nor are they particularly interesting, though Waters unleashes his obvious and sometimes trite pronouncements with ingenious and often compelling story telling and word play. When Amused to Death came out (1992), I found it a little bit disturbing. While a wholehearted Pink Floyd/Roger Waters fan, there were philosophical elements of the lyrics that made me uncomfortable. I recall the first time I heard this recording: I was with my friend at his brother's house. My friend's brother had a nice stereo system (for the time), and it was the first time any of us had heard this CD. The experience started out well enough, beyond expectations really, but when the ladies started singing "What God Wants," my buddy took the CD out of the player and said "You can't handle any more right now" and we left. It was that bizarre. Despite all that, this album has remained one of my personal favorites over the years, even though I could generally only listen to it by myself (because of the lyrical commentary). Really? Not good. Leaving aside the inordinate number of Jew references on this record, there’s Waters’ position on Israel, which I find offensive. It is one thing to object to current Israeli policy with regard to the West Bank and the settlement policy, which I do. I believe in a two state solution.Als Beispiel nennt Waters in einem Interview die sklavische Unterwerfung an die "Offenen Märkte", den "Freien Markt" und die Anbetung derer in geradezu religiöser Weise. "What God Wants" spielt mit solchen Aussagen.

Far from Albano’s ‘it is worth a careful listen or two’, I think this album is worth settling down and getting to know thoroughly and intimately. It’s quite possibly the strongest album Waters’ will ever make. Which is saying something. Waters sieht die Medien als zweischneidiges Schwert, das einerseits Informationen bereitstellt, andererseits zur Manipulation der Breiten Masse mißbraucht wird und daher sehr gefährlich ist und die Menschen (auch) unbewußt in vielfältigster Weise stark beeinflußt.

Genres

Now Waters asks us all to gather around our stereo speakers (sitting precisely center-stage to fully appreciate the QSound surround sound effect) and be “aroused to life” by listening to Amused to Death. In den den Texten setzt sich Roger überaus kritisch mit der westlichen Gesellschaft, dem Überfluß, der Fokussierung auf Kommerzielles, mit (forcierten) Kriegen, Oberflächlichkeit, Sensationsgeilheit und schließlich der für ihn daraus resultierenden Entmenschlichung auseinander. Whilst I agree with all the comments posted on the quality of the recording my QRP produced copy arrived as a less than perfect print. Very bad grazing surrounding the lead in groove on Side C which, if you don't land the stylus directly in the groove makes a most alarming noise. Further, the spindle holes are too large. This is not the standard we've come to expect from QRP. There’s a growing industry today that’s trying to figure out what inspires well-to-do, well-educated young people to drop everything and travel to the Middle East to join ISIS. I suggest they all listen to this record. It does an excellent job of explaining the paralysis that infects the “watching society” and helps explain the “doing society” (even if it is positively evil, beheading doing) that’s attracting these young people. CD CD Box Sets CD with Damaged Case DXD Gold CD HDCD CD K2 HD CD Preowned CD Preowned Gold CD Preowned XRCD Sealed Out-of-Print CD Sealed Out-of-Print Gold CD UHQCD Ultra HD XRCD CD XRCD2 CD XRCD24 CD• DVDs