Pink Floyd's influence in rock simply cannot be overstated. The legendary rock band began in 1965 and released some of the most important albums in all of music. Classics like Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall are staples of rock music and helped turn the band into an international sensation. In particular, 1979's The Wall is a largely unique and stark milestone for the band—a concept album inspired in part by Roger Waters' childhood. Overall, there isn't a bad track on the record. Every song is Pink Floyd at their peak.
The Wall—and many other Pink Floyd albums—continue to impact hard rock and metal today. Many of those acts inspired by the London quintet have come together to pay tribute to the 1979 classic in a new collection of covers called The Wall [Redux]. 26 bands and musicians joined forces to each cover a track from the two-part, 80-minute opus. Many of the bands and artists featured lie heavily in the realm of doom and stoner rock. These newer, creative minds help to reimagine one of the most important albums in rock music.
Some of the reduxed album's highlights include Year of the Cobra's "When the Tigers Broke Free" and ASG's "Mother". My personal favorite—Pallbearer's spin on "Run Like Hell"—sees the Arkansas force breathe brand new life into the track through their unique take on psych and traditional doom. Elsewhere, Ghastly Sound and Sasquatch tackle both parts of "Another Brick in the Wall" while Mars Red Sky takes on "Comfortably Numb". Each track on this cover record, however, deserves its praise. There are many shining moments throughout The Wall [Redux]. The adventure in this record—much like the original—is digging in and finding your favorite part.
In a statement to Metal Injection, the group behind The Wall [Redux] spoke about the process saying, "Magnetic Eye's Redux series came about based on the realization that, with so much music available and more showing up literally every hour, it's entirely possible that young music fans might never have the experience of discovering and listening to truly classic rock albums. So we're calling attention to records that, musically and conceptually, have great meaning for us personally as well as in the history of rock and roll.
Having already redux-ed Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland and Helmet's Meantime, we landed on Pink Floyd's The Wall at a cultural moment when the themes of isolation, divisiveness, and alienation that Roger Waters and company captured on possibly the greatest concept album of all time are more poignant than ever. Almost two years in the works, it was our honor to work with so many phenomenal bands to breathe new life and purpose into this classic record!"
Stream the album now and also pick up a copy of it from Magnetic Eye Records.
