I am a huge Pink Floyd fan. They are my favorite band and “The Wall” is without a doubt my favorite album of all time. I own it on vinyl. I own their entire discography on CD. I have even been lucky enough to go see the album performed in it’s entirety by the man himself, Roger Waters. Their music and this album means an incredible amount to me, and when I heard that it was being re-released in a huge box set, I was incredibly excited.

“The Wall” is special, because unlike any other album I can think of, every single song is great. They can all be listened to on their own. However, if you listen to it as a whole, you’ll find something all together wonderful. It tells a story. The story of Pink, a young boy who’s traumatic experiences like the death of his father, evil teachers, and his mother’s strict rule over his romantic life, become ‘bricks in the wall’. There is a lot more to the story than that, but I must paraphrase for the convenience of this article.

The first two discs are the original album. It has been digitally remastered. Unless this is the first time you are listening to the album through a digital medium, I highly doubt you’ll be able to pick up the subtle differences. However, it sounds just as incredibly massive and overpowering as ever.

The second two discs are snippets and band demos from the album in progress. The initial demos from Waters, and then full band demos that are almost finished. Despite being a huge fan, they really aren’t all that fun to listen to. It’s a huge letdown, because all I can think of when listening to them is the fact that the only reason I’m hearing these is because some fat-cat record company executive wanted more money, so he came up with the idea of stuffing a photo book and a few ticket replicas in a box with these 30 second demos and said: “buy this.” That’s not Pink Floyd’s fault at all, either. Listen to the song “Have A Cigar” from “Wish You Were Here” for more info on their stance on that.

The next two discs are “Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81” which is a live version of the album. That’s another thing I have beef with. This was already released, it’s nothing new. I’ve listened to it plenty of times before, there’s no need to put it in a box set.

So, I say, check out the album, and not the box set. Like I said, it’s a masterpiece. This release, a disaster. It receives a 1 out of 5.