Is This the Life We Really Want?

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Is This the Life We Really Want?
Studio album by Roger Waters

Publication
(s)

2nd June 2017

Label (s) Columbia Records

Format (s)

CD, LP, download

Genre (s)

Progressive rock , art rock

Title (number)

12

running time

54:06

occupation
  • Keyboard: Roger Joseph Manning, Jr.
  • Keyboard: Lee Pardini
  • Singing: Jessica Wolfe
  • Singing: Holly Laessig

production

Nigel Godrich

chronology
Amused to Death 1992 Is This the Life We Really Want? -
Single releases
04/29/2017 Smell the roses
05/08/2017 Déjà-vu
05/19/2017 The Last Refugee
05/19/2017 Wait for Her

Is This the Life We Really Want? is the fourth studio album by the British musician Roger Waters . It was produced by Nigel Godrich and was released on June 2, 2017 on Columbia Records .

Emergence

Waters and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich met around 2013 while mixing Waters' film Roger Waters The Wall . Although Waters was not familiar with Godrich's Radiohead work, the two got on well and laid the foundations for a future collaboration.

From 2015 Godrich worked with Waters on his fourth studio album. The original concept, a kind of radio play about an old Irish babysitting man who wants to find out with his grandchildren why “all children are killed”, was rejected by Godrich. Instead, some ideas, themes and songs were selected from it and developed further, which ultimately formed part of the completed album.

Track list

All songs were written by Roger Waters, with the exception of Wait for Her (Waters / Darwisch), which was inspired by a poem by the Palestinian poet Mahmud Darwisch .

No. title length
1. When We Were Young 1:39
2. Déjà-vu 4:27
3. The Last Refugee 4:12
4th Picture That 6:47
5. Broken Bones 4:57
6th Is This the Life We Really Want? 5:55
7th Bird in a Gale 5:31
8th. The Most Beautiful Girl 6:09
9. Smell the roses 5:15
10. Wait for Her 4:56
11. Oceans Apart 1:07
12. Part of Me Died 3:14
Overall length: 54:06

reception

source rating
Pitchfork 6.9 / 10
Rolling Stone
Music Express

The album received generally positive reviews and was described as "one of the best solo albums by a Pink Floyd member" or as a "breathtaking achievement". Some critics, however, criticized the lack of a real lead guitarist , a role played by David Gilmour in Pink Floyd and Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck on Waters' previous albums. Waters' tendency to reuse stylistic devices from his Pink Floyd period was also increasingly criticized.

Chart placements

Charts Top ranking Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK) Germany (GfK) 3 (12 weeks) 12
Austria (Ö3) Austria (Ö3) 3 (9 weeks) 9
Switzerland (IFPI) Switzerland (IFPI) 1 (18 weeks) 18th
United Kingdom (OCC) United Kingdom (OCC) 3 (6 weeks) 6th
United States (Billboard) United States (Billboard) 11 (3 weeks) 3

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b David Fricke: Roger Waters Talks New Album, Moving Past 'Spectacle' for Tour . In: Rolling Stone . October 13, 2016 ( rollingstone.com [accessed October 30, 2018]).
  2. ^ How Pink Floyd's Roger Waters refound his fire at 72 - The Nation . In: The Nation . ( nationmultimedia.com [accessed October 30, 2018]).
  3. ↑ Kory Grow: How Roger Waters Will Fight Trump With Upcoming Tour, Concept Album . In: Rolling Stone . February 23, 2017 ( rollingstone.com [accessed October 30, 2018]).
  4. ↑ Daniel Kreps: Watch Roger Waters' Powerful 'Wait for Her' Video. In: Rolling Stone. July 19, 2017, accessed November 5, 2018 .
  5. ↑ [1] on Pitchfork.com (accessed November 5, 2018)
  6. ↑ [2] on rollingstone.com (accessed November 5, 2018)
  7. ↑ [3] on Musikexpress.de (accessed on November 5, 2018)
  8. ↑ a b Roger Waters: Is This the Life We Really Want? In: PopMatters . August 15, 2017 ( popmatters.com [accessed November 5, 2018]).
  9. ↑ Is This The Life We Really Want? - Record Collector Magazine. Retrieved November 6, 2018 .
  10. ↑ a b Chris Willman: Album Review: Roger Waters' 'Is This the Life We Really Want?' In: Variety . June 2, 2017 ( variety.com [accessed November 5, 2018]).
  11. ↑ If narcissists sing about narcissists ... In: laut.de . ( laut.de [accessed on November 5, 2018]).
  12. ↑ Roger Waters - Is This The Life We Really Want? • Review | Metal1.info . In: Metal1.info . ( metal1.info [accessed November 6, 2018]).
  13. ↑ https://www.offiziellecharts.de/album-details-330493
  14. ↑ https://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Roger+Waters&titel=Is+This+The+Life+We+Really+Want%3F&cat=a
  15. ↑ https://hitparade.ch/album/Roger-Waters/Is-This-The-Life-We-Really-Want-330493
  16. ↑ https://www.officialcharts.com/search/albums/is-this-the-life-we-really-want/
  17. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/music/Roger-Waters/chart-history/billboard-200/song/1028927