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Amused to Death

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Not to be confused withAmusing Ourselves to Death.

Amused to Death
Studio albumby
Roger Waters
Released7 September 1992
Recorded1987–1992
StudioThe Billiard Room (London)
Olympic Studios(London)
CTS Studios (London)
Angel Recording Studios(London)
Abbey Road Studios(London)
Compass Point Studios(Nassau)
Ameraycan Studios (Los Angeles)
Johnny Yuma Recording (Burbank)
Devonshire Sound Studios(Los Angeles)
GenreProgressive rock
Length72:36
LabelColumbia
Producer
Roger Waterschronology
The Wall – Live in Berlin
(1990) 		Amused to Death
(1992) 		In the Flesh – Live
(2000)
Roger Waters studio chronology
Radio K.A.O.S.
(1987) 		Amused to Death
(1992) 		Ça Ira
(2005)
SinglesfromAmused to Death
  1. "What God Wants, Part I"
    Released: 24 August 1992
  2. "The Bravery of Being Out of Range"
    Released: 1992
  3. "Three Wishes"
    Released: 1993

Amused to Deathis the third studio album by English musicianRoger Waters,released 7 September 1992 onColumbia.Produced by Waters andPatrick Leonard,it was mixed inQSoundto enhance its spatial feel. The album featuresJeff Beckon lead guitar on several tracks. The album's title was inspired byNeil Postman's 1985 bookAmusing Ourselves to Death.

In 2015, the album was remastered and re-released with new artwork and in different formats, including a new 5.1 surround sound mix by original engineerJames Guthrie,assisted by Joel Plante.

Background and production

[edit]

Roger Waters started working onAmused to Deathin 1987 when he first wrote "Perfect Sense."[1]It was several years before the album was released.

Amused to Deathwas produced by Patrick Leonard, Waters, and was co-produced with Nick Griffiths inLondonat The Billiard Room,Olympic Studios,CTS Studios,Angel Recording StudiosandAbbey Road Studios.The album was engineered by Hayden Bendall, Jerry Jordan, and Stephen McLaughlan and mixed byJames Guthrie.[2]The album is mixed inQSoundto enhance the spatial feel of the audio, and the many sound effects on the album – rifle range ambience, sleigh-bells, cars, planes, distant horses, chirping crickets, and dogs – all make use of the3-Dfacility.

Amused to Death is the only studio album by Waters to not have a tour supporting it, though some songs were performed during theIn The Flesh[3]andUs + Them tours,[4]and "The Bravery of Being Out of Range" was performed on theThis Is Not A Drilltour.[5]

Themes

[edit]
The album centers around the effects of televised mass media.

The album is loosely organized around the idea of an ape randomly switching channels on a television,[6]but explores numerous political and social themes, including critiques of theFirst Gulf Warin "The Bravery of Being Out of Range"and"Perfect Sense".

The first track, "The Ballad of Bill Hubbard", features the voice ofWorld War IveteranAlfred Razzell[de].A member of theRoyal Fusiliers,he describes finding fellow soldier William "Bill" Hubbard – to whom the album is dedicated – severely wounded on the battlefield. After failed attempts to take him to safety, Razzell is forced to abandon him inno-man's land.The tale is continued at the end of the title track, at the very end of the album, providing a coda to the tragic story, with Razzell describing how he finally found peace. The excerpts are fromBBC television's 1991Everymandocumentary, "A Game of Ghosts", marking the 75th anniversary of the start of theBattle of the Somme.[7][8][9]"I found it very moving," Waters remarked. "That original programme confronted the horrors of war and told the real story. It was an example of television taking its responsibilities seriously."[10]The opening track also features the sound of several animals.[6]

The second song, "What God Wants, Part I",follows and contrasts the moving words of Razzell by opening with the TV being tuned instead into an excerpt of a child who says," I don't mind about the war. That's one of the things I like to watch – if it's a war going on. 'Cos then I know if, um, our side's winning, if our side's losing... "he is then interrupted by the channel being changed and a burst of ape-chatter.

"Perfect Sense"is a two-part song about a world where live transmissions of wars are the main form of entertainment.[1]The first part begins with a loud, unintelligible rant, then a backwards message from Waters: "Julia, however, in the light and visions of the issues ofStanley,we changed our minds. We have decided to include a backward message. Stanley, for you, and for all the other book burners. "The message climaxes with Waters yelling in the aggressive Scottish voice he used to depict the teacher inThe Wall.In the second part,sportscasterMarv Albertnarrates a war as if it were a basketball game. "My main inspiration behind the song 'Perfect Sense'," Waters explained, "came from thinking about the days of theRoman Empire,when they would flood theColosseumand have fights between rivalgalleys.I've always been intrigued by this notion of war as an entertainment to mollify the folks back home, and theGulf conflictfuelled that idea. "[11]

USAF aircraft of the 4th Fighter Wing fly over Kuwaiti oil fires, set by the retreating Iraqi army during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
Several tracks on the album comment on and criticize theGulf War.

"The Bravery of Being Out of Range" includes a reference to a song written by Waters onPink Floyd's 1977 albumAnimals,"Sheep",and to"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot".[12]In "Sheep"Waters sings," I've looked over Jordan and I have seen, things are not what they seem "; in" The Bravery of Being Out of Range "he sings" I looked over Jordan and what did I see? I saw a U.S. Marine in a pile of debris. "

"Late Home Tonight, Part I", which opens with the song of aEurasian skylark,recalls the1986 US air strike against Libyafrom the perspective of two "ordinary wives" and a young AmericanF-111pilot. The lyrics about "when you take the jeans from the refrigerator" reference a 1985Levi's 501 commercial.[13][better source needed]

At the beginning of "What God Wants, Part II"Charles Fleischer(better known as the voice ofRoger Rabbit) performs the greedyteleevangelist's sermon. The lyrics about God wanting silver, gold and "his secret never to be told" reference thenursery rhyme,One for Sorrow."What God Wants, Part III" musically references the Pink Floyd songs "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Part I)","Echoes"and"Breathe (In the Air)".It ends with an audio clip of Tom Bromley, an elderly WWI veteran, singing"Wait 'Till the Sun Shines, Nellie"a capella.The clip is also from "A Game of Ghosts".[9]

"Too Much Rope" includes the line, "Each man has his price, Bob, and yours was pretty low." "I would sometimes rehearse vocal takes by impersonatingBob Dylan,"Waters explained." That line originally read, 'Each man has his price, my friends…' – so make of that what you will. As a joke, I sang 'Bob' instead, andPat(Leonard, producer)insisted that we leave it in. So, although it was unintentional, I'm happy that it's there for(Pink Floyd producer)Bob Ezrin.I hope he appreciates it. "[14]

The song "Watching TV" (a duet withDon Henley) explores theinfluence of mass mediaon the Chineseprotests for democracy in Tiananmen Square.

In "It's a Miracle" Waters makes a scathing reference toAndrew Lloyd Webber(whom he would accuse elsewhere of having plagiarised music from Pink Floyd's "Echoes" for sections of the musicalThe Phantom of the Opera):[15]The same song features a sample from the 1977 low-budget zombie filmShock Wavesin which the film's characters wrestle over a flashlight.[16]The title track begins with the lyric, "Doctor, Doctor". "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk"onThe Piper at the Gates of Dawn,the first song written by Waters, opens with the same line.

HAL samples

[edit]

Waters stated in aRocklineinterview on February 8, 1993, that he had wanted to use dialogue samples from2001: A Space Odysseyon the album, specificallyHAL 9000's 'dying' monologue.Stanley Kubrick,the film's director, turned him down on the basis that it would open the door to many other people using the sound sample.[17]Others think that Kubrick refused because Pink Floyd had not allowed him to use music fromAtom Heart Motherin his filmA Clockwork Orange.[18]Waters did use the samples of HAL describing his mind being taken away when performing live – specifically at the beginning of "Perfect Sense, Part I" during hisIn the Flesh tour,after Kubrick's death, and it was finally incorporated into theAmused to Deathalbum for the 2015 remaster / remix release.

Title

[edit]

The album's title was inspired byNeil Postman's bookAmusing Ourselves to Death.In Postman's later bookThe End of Education,he remarks on the album:[19][20]

Roger Waters, once the lead singer of Pink Floyd, was sufficiently inspired by a book of mine to produce a CD calledAmused to Death.This fact so elevated my prestige among undergraduates that I am hardly in a position to repudiate him or his kind of music. Nor do I have the inclination for any other reason. Nonetheless, the level of sensibility required to appreciate the music of Roger Waters is both different and lower than what is required to appreciate, let us say, a Chopin étude.

Packaging

[edit]

The album's original artwork features achimpanzeewatching television in reference to Kubrick's film2001: A Space Odyssey.[20]The image on the TV is a gigantic eyeball staring at the viewer.[20]According to Waters, the ape was "a symbol for anyone who's been sitting with his mouth open in front of the network and cable news for the last 10 years."[1]

Reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[21]
Chicago Tribune[22]
Drowned in Sound8/10[23]
Entertainment WeeklyA–[24]
Los Angeles Times[25]
Paste8.0/10[26]
PopMatters8/10[27]
Record Collector[28]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[29]
Spectrum Culture[30]

AllMusicdescribed the album as "a masterpiece in the sense that it brings together all of his obsessions in one grand, but not unwieldy, package".[21]Record Collectorwrote that the album shows Waters "at his most bleakly inspired since the cautionary parable ofThe Wall".[28]However, theLos Angeles Timeswas less favorable, writing "The result is blurred structure (partly improved by the moving old-soldier's tale Waters uses as a framing device), too much repetition and a certain distance and overintellectualization. [...] overall there's a dearth of the good oldpop-rockappeal that always lifted the better Pink Floyd records. "[25]A negative review came fromChicago Tribune,writing "self-importance doesn't equal profundity, and the world's most mind-blowing engineering couldn't cover up the deterioration of Waters' singing and melodic sense since his days with Floyd."[22]Ultimate Classic RockincludedAmused to Deathon their list "Top 100 90's Rock Albums".[31]

Legacy

[edit]

Waters toldClassic Rock:"My view is that I've been involved in two absolutely classic albums –The Dark Side of the MoonandThe Wall[...] And if you haven't gotAmused to Death,you haven't got the full set. Sothis album– the live one, which pulls together songs from all three albums – hopefully redresses the balance. "[citation needed]On 19 September 2013, Waters told BBC HardTalk thatAmused to Deathhas been completely underrated.[32][33]

On 15 April 2015, Waters announced that the album would be remastered and reissued on 24 July 2015 featuring a new 5.1 multichannel audio mix, as well as a new stereo mix. It was made available in a number of formats, including CD,SACD,Blu-rayand high-resolution downloads.[34]In a review of the 2015 remastering of the album, journalist J.C. Maçek III of Spectrum Culture wrote that "Not every album can be a masterpiece, but Waters has stated thatAmused to Deathis an underrated effort that serves as a third part toDark Side of the MoonandThe Wall.But it's nowhere near those other albums. The 2015 remastering makes it a good sounding album, but it's just not the kind of infinitely listenable album that Waters is capable of creating. "[30]In its review of the 2015 reissue,PopMatterswrote: "not only hasAmused to Deathaged well musically, it has unfortunately aged well thematically too. [...]Amused to Deathwas and still is a powerful statement from one of rock music's most literate misanthropes. As time goes on, it gets harder and harder to believe that it slipped under everyone's radar so thoroughly. "[27]Drowned in Soundwrote: "Amused to Deathstands up on its own as one of the better, more intriguing post-Floyd records ".[23]

In 2016Amused to Deathwon theGrammy Award for Best Surround Sound Albumat the58th Annual Grammy Awards.The winners were listed as follows: "James Guthrie, surround mix engineer; James Guthrie & Joel Plante, surround mastering engineers; James Guthrie, surround producer (Roger Waters) Label: Columbia/Legacy"

Commercial performance

[edit]

Amused to Deathreached No. 8 on theUK Albums Chart,Waters' first Top 10 as a solo artist in his homeland, and a career high of No. 21 on theBillboard200,aided by "What God Wants, Part I", which hit No. 4 onBillboard'sMainstream Rock Trackschart in 1992. It was also certified Silver by theBritish Phonographic Industryfor sales of over 60,000 in the UK.[35]

Track listing

[edit]

All songs written by Roger Waters.

No.TitleLength
1."The Ballad of Bill Hubbard"4:20
2."What God Wants, Part I"6:00
3."Perfect Sense, Part I"4:14
4."Perfect Sense, Part II"2:51
5."The Bravery of Being Out of Range"4:44
6."Late Home Tonight, Part I"4:01
7."Late Home Tonight, Part II"2:12
8."Too Much Rope"5:47
9."What God Wants, Part II"3:39
10."What God Wants, Part III"4:08
11."Watching TV"6:06
12."Three Wishes"6:52
13."It's a Miracle"8:30
14."Amused to Death"9:06
Total length:72:36

Personnel

[edit]

Production

Charts

[edit]

Certifications

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[55] Gold 35,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[56] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[57] Silver 60,000^

^Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

[edit]
  1. ^abcWhite 1992, p. 5
  2. ^Rose 2015, p. 254
  3. ^Roger Waters - In The Flesh,retrieved16 June2022
  4. ^roger waters us+them - the bravery of being out of range 2018. live in moscow,retrieved16 June2022
  5. ^"Roger Waters Setlist at MVP Arena, Albany".setlist.fm.Retrieved28 July2022.
  6. ^abRose 2015, p. 200
  7. ^Hanna, Emma (2009).The Great War on the Small Screen: Representing the First World War in Contemporary Britain.Edinburgh University Press.ISBN9780748633906.
  8. ^"A Game of Ghosts".The Radio Times.No. 3523. 20 June 1991. p. 50.ISSN0033-8060.Retrieved13 April2018.
  9. ^ab"A Game of Ghosts".Everyman.1 July 1991.BBC Television.
  10. ^Blake,Mark (1992). "Still Waters".RCD.Vol. 1, no. 3. p. 56.
  11. ^Blake,Mark (1992). "Still Waters".RCD.Vol. 1, no. 3. p. 56.
  12. ^"ATD Analysis".rogerwaters.org.Archived fromthe originalon 21 February 2007.Retrieved2 September2015.
  13. ^"(Refrigerator) (1988)".YouTube.Archivedfrom the original on 12 December 2021.Retrieved6 September2017.
  14. ^Blake,Mark (1992). "Still Waters".RCD.Vol. 1, no. 3. p. 56.
  15. ^Q magazine, November 1992,"Who the hell does Roger Waters think he is?".Archived from the original on 17 November 2013.Retrieved2009-11-20.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  16. ^"Amazon: Customer Reviews: Shock Waves".Amazon.Retrieved2 August2015.
  17. ^Rock.co.zaArchived4 April 2012 at theWayback Machine
  18. ^"The Kubrick FAQ Part 4".Archived fromthe originalon 24 May 2013.Retrieved6 April2011.
  19. ^"ATD - Neil Postman's Response".Archived fromthe originalon 2 November 2019.Retrieved2 August2015.
  20. ^abcRose 2015, p. 191
  21. ^abErlewine, Stephen Thomas."Amused to Death– Roger Waters | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic ".AllMusic.Retrieved2 August2015.
  22. ^abCaro, Mark (3 September 1992)."Amused to Death".Chicago Tribune.Archived fromthe originalon 1 February 2012.Retrieved10 December2016.
  23. ^abMiller, Gavin (5 August 2015)."Album Review: Roger Waters –Amused to Death(Reissue) / Reviews / Reviews // Drowned in Sound ".Drowned in Sound.Archived fromthe originalon 4 March 2020.Retrieved13 September2016.
  24. ^Sandow, Greg (11 September 1992)."Amused to Death Music Review".Entertainment Weekly.Archivedfrom the original on 9 October 2012.Retrieved2 August2015.
  25. ^abBoehm, Mike (13 September 1992)."Amused to Death".Los Angeles Times.Retrieved10 December2016.
  26. ^Gaar, Gillian G. (28 July 2015)."Waters:Amused to DeathReissue Review:: Music:: Reviews:: Roger Waters::Paste".Paste.Retrieved13 September2017.
  27. ^abGarratt, John (23 July 2015)."Roger Waters:Amused to Death(Take 1) | PopMatters ".PopMatters.Retrieved13 September2016.
  28. ^abRathbone, Oregano."Amused to Death–Record CollectorMagazine ".Record Collector.Retrieved13 September2016.
  29. ^Cross, Charles R.(2004). "Roger Waters". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.).The New Rolling Stone Album Guide(4th ed.).Simon & Schuster.pp.864.ISBN0-7432-0169-8.
  30. ^abMaçek III, J.C. (11 August 2015)."Amused to Death".Spectrum Culture.Retrieved13 August2015.
  31. ^"Top 100 '90s Rock Albums".25 March 2015.
  32. ^"BBC News Channel - HARDtalk, Roger Waters - Musician".BBC.Retrieved2 August2015.
  33. ^BBC HARDtalk - Roger Waters - Musician (19/9/13).YouTube.20 September 2013. Archived fromthe originalon 23 September 2013.Retrieved2 August2015.
  34. ^"Roger Waters announces newly remixed version of Amused to Death".Consequence of Sound.15 April 2015.Retrieved2 August2015.
  35. ^BPI Certifications,British Phonographic Industry,archived fromthe originalon 15 January 2013,retrieved5 May2010
  36. ^abRoger Waters - Amused To Death,retrieved16 June2022
  37. ^Too Much Rope,archivedfrom the original on 12 December 2021,retrieved25 July2021
  38. ^The Bravery of Being Out of Range,archivedfrom the original on 12 December 2021,retrieved25 July2021
  39. ^Late Home Tonight, Pt. II,archivedfrom the original on 12 December 2021,retrieved25 July2021
  40. ^"Australiancharts – Roger Waters – Amused to Death".Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  41. ^"Charts.nz – Roger Waters – Amused to Death".Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  42. ^"Norwegiancharts – Roger Waters – Amused to Death".Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  43. ^"Swedishcharts – Roger Waters – Amused to Death".Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  44. ^ab"ROGER WATERS".officialcharts.Retrieved2 August2015.
  45. ^"Roger Waters".billboard.Archived fromthe originalon 15 May 2019.Retrieved2 August2015.
  46. ^"Austriancharts.at – Roger Waters – Amused to Death"(in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  47. ^"Ultratop.be – Roger Waters – Amused to Death"(in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  48. ^"Ultratop.be – Roger Waters – Amused to Death"(in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  49. ^"Danishcharts.dk – Roger Waters – Amused to Death".Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  50. ^"Roger Waters".Dutch Charts.Retrieved31 July2015.
  51. ^"Lescharts – Roger Waters – Amused to Death".Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  52. ^"Roger Waters".German Charts.Archived fromthe originalon 24 September 2015.Retrieved31 July2015.
  53. ^"Irish-charts – Discography Roger Waters".Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  54. ^"Italiancharts – Roger Waters – Amused to Death".Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  55. ^"ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2015 Albums"(PDF).Australian Recording Industry Association.Retrieved28 December2021.
  56. ^"Canadian album certifications – Roger Waters – Amused to Death".Music Canada.
  57. ^"British album certifications – Roger Waters – Amused to Death".British Phonographic Industry.Retrieved24 January2023.

Sources

[edit]
  • Rose, Phil (2015).Roger Waters and Pink Floyd: The Concept Albums.Rowman & Littlefield.ISBN9781611477610.
  • White, Timothy (1 August 1992). "Roger Waters' 'Death' & Rebirth".Billboard.Vol. 104, no. 31. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.ISSN0006-2510.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Bargrizan, Navid (2017). "The Monkey is Amused to Death: Roger Waters' Masterpiece and its Commercial Failure".Popular Music Studies Today: Proceedings of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music 2017.Springer Fachmedien. pp. 25–33.ISBN978-3-658-17740-9.
[edit]
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