August 16, 2021

1992 - September: Roger Waters “Amused to Death”

46 minutes

Roger Waters is one of the best known rock celebrities, both as a founding member of Pink Floyd and as a solo artist after leaving the band. Amused to Death is his third solo album, and Waters considers it to be a continuation of The Wall. The name is inspired by the book "Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman. The concept of the album is a television where the channels are continually being changed at random by an ape, and critiques the senseless obsession with T.V.

Waters had been politically critical for some time before this album, and he continues that critique as he examines the glamorization of war, greed and egotism, and the dumbing down of nearly everything through media and bureaucracy.

For this effort, Waters would be joined by a strong cast of session talent, including future American Idol Judge Randy Jackson, Jeff Porcaro, Patrick Leonard, and guitar virtuoso and Yardbirds alumni Jeff Beck. Waters also went with a more streamlined approach to the album, utilizing "real people playing real instruments," as he told the Los Angeles Times.

Amused to Death would be Waters last solo work for a long time, as the album "Is this the Life We Really Want?" would not appear for almost 25 years. Amused to Death is a great an underappreciated album, and we hope you will listen to it in its entirety as an excellent post-Pink Floyd concept.

Perfect Sense, Part 1

This song is about a world where live transmissions of wars are viewed as entertainment. With the freshness of the Gulf War from the previous year in mind, Waters had a solid basis for this view of the world. "The monkey looked up at the stars and thought to himself, memory is a stranger, history is for fools."

The Bravery of Being Out of Range

Another song influenced by the Gulf War, Waters found it laughable that the use of cruise missiles and long-range attacks would be considered noble or courageous. This track hearkens back to older Pink Floyd albums, and specifically references the song "Sheep" from the 1977 album "Animals."

Amused to Death

The title track utilizes a lot of sound effects and clips. The song mirrors the Neil Postman book, in chronicling an alien species who comes to earth after the human race has gone extinct before our time. Humanity died out by focusing on television entertainment rather than more important things, and literally amused itself to death.

ENTERTAINMENT TRACK:

Would? by Alice In Chains (from the motion picture soundtrack “Singles")

This Cameron Crowe dark comedy featured a veritable plethora of grunge artists on the soundtrack.

STAFF PICKS:

Constant Craving by k. d. lang

Rob brings us a softer and melancholy staff pick from lang's second solo album. The video for this song takes it inspiration from the Samuel Beckett play "Waiting for Godot." k. d. lang drew initial inspiration from Country music legend Patsy Cline. This song was her biggest U.S. hit, going to number 38 on the charts.

Dizz Knee Land by Dada

Wayne goes alternative with his staff pick. The song was inspired by a marketing promotion that Disney used at the time, having sports stars saying, "I'm going to Disneyland!" right after a big win. Instead of highlighting big wins, the lyrics are "I just robbed a grocery store," or "I just tossed a fifth of gin," or "I just flipped off President George - I'm going to dizz knee land."

Start the Car by Jude Cole

Bruce features the opening and title track from singer/songwriter Jude Cole's third solo album. The lyrics are a declaration that this city is no place to be, and that it is time to leave. The bluesy heartland feel is a nice departure from the grunge music which was in ascendance at the time.

Do I Have to Say the Words? by Bryan Adams

Brian's pick is the fifth single release of Adam's album "Waking Up the Neighbors." The song was originally titled "Rescue Me," but Mutt Lange changed the name, slowed the song, and added a new chorus to transform the song into a ballad. The song was a hit, rising to number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, and to number 2 in Canada.

COMEDY TRACK:

Smells Like Nirvana by Weird Al Yankovic

The prolific prince of parody turns his sights on the founding fathers of grunge as we close out this week's podcast.

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By Rob Marbury, Wayne Rowan, Bruce Fricks, John Lynch

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