Roger Waters – Amused To Death (2LPs 200g 33rpm, Acoustic Sounds)

Talk about a blockbuster: This is it. A very limited double LP originally released more than 20 years ago, “Amused To Death” is reborn on 200-gram double LP from Analogue Productions. “Amused To Death” was mixed by Pink Floyd’s producer/engineer James Guthrie. And Doug Sax and Guthrie are working together to master the vinyl, to be pressed to perfection by Quality Record Pressings! A beautiful album conceptually, lyrically, and musically For his third solo album, Roger Waters, former bassist/singer/songwriter and founding member of Pink Floyd, takes listeners on a journey through his mind as he examines how human society has been affected through mass media and particularly television. This complex concept album takes its title from a book by author Neil Postman that also explores and alerts us to the dangers of the ways the media shapes our lives. In the title track, aliens arrive on Earth after the extinction of humans – finding merely skeletons gathered around TV sets. The alien anthropologists run every imaginable test to try and determine the reason for this ‘sad demise’. Their conclusion? This species has amused itself to death. Visually, the concept is depicted by a cover shot of a gorilla watching television just flipping channels, looking for something that interests him, Waters says. Like many of us today. Q magazine describes “Amused To Death” as sounding more like a Pink Floyd album than any other Waters solo effort to date. It is the brother of “The Wall”, perhaps even the distant cousin of “Dark Side Of The Moon”, which should delight fans of those albums. So rare are original pressings of “Amused To Death” that copies today sell for more than $800 in like-new condition. For this historic reissue there will be nothing spared. Let us reiterate: This edition is cut from the analog master tapes. James Guthrie and Doug Sax are teaming up to master the vinyl version, to be pressed to perfection by Quality Record Pressings! “Amused To Death” was originally mixed using QSound, a virtual surround sound, enhancing the spatial feel of the music along with the various sound effects sprinkled throughout the album. The Analogue Productions’ reissue will faithfully preserve this three-dimensional experience. “Amused To Death” is beautifully recorded, lavish in depth and rich in sound. The 14 tracks flow into each other, meaning the album is best consumed whole. To shuffle tracks is to read random pages from a multi-page essay in no particular order. Waters tackles subjects as varied as capitalism, war, religion, American fast food, television, film director Stanley Kubrick and Broadway composer Andrew Lloyd Weber. Waters enlists some striking studio partnerships: Don Henley joins him on vocals for “Watching TV”, the National Philharmonic Orchestra leaps in for “Too Much Rope”, and Rita Coolidge pops up during the title track. Waters also recruited for musical support legendary guitarist Jeff Beck. The quality of production by Waters, Nick Griffiths and Patrick Leonard is simply superb. Working once again with James Guthrie to craft a vital reissue of a truly significant album is a great opportunity for Acoustic Sounds, says founder and CEO Chad Kassem. Whenever you get the chance to work with James Guthrie, it’s exciting. Our goals are to produce the highest quality product possible, Kassem said. I think we make a good team. He brings his expertise to the project, and I bring mine. When you get to work with the guy who worked on the album originally, and who you know is a perfectionist, it makes you excited and confident that the album will be the best it can be. “Amused To Death” is cinema for the ears. Food for the brain. It’s an album that Waters says, literally unfolds with repeated play. The more you listen, the more you see.