Amused to Death

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Amused to Death is a solo album by former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters, released in 1992 (see 1992 in music).

Related Topics:
Pink Floyd - Roger Waters - 1992 - 1992 in music

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Featuring Jeff Beck on guitar, Amused to Death further explores Waters' disillusionment with modern western society, focusing specifically on the influence of TV and the mass media, and was inspired by the book Amusing Ourselves to Death, a critique of television and its related culture, by Neil Postman.

Related Topics:
Jeff Beck - Amusing Ourselves to Death - Neil Postman

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In typical Waters fashion, Amused to Death is a concept album--this one organized loosely around the idea of a monkey randomly switching channels on a television--but explores numerous political and social themes, including a critique of the first Gulf War in which Waters has a choir sing the "global anthem" : "Can't you see? It all makes perfect sense. Expressed in dollars and cents, pounds, shillings, and pence." The song "Watching TV" explores the influence of mass media on the Chinese protests for democracy in Tiananmen Square.

Related Topics:
Concept album - Gulf War - Tiananmen Square

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The album is mixed in "Q-Sound" in an attempt to produce three dimensional sound from stereo speakers. Occasional sound effects - at a rifle range; sleighbells; cars, planes, distant horses and dogs all seek to make use of the facility.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It reached #21 on The Billboard 200, aided by "What God Wants, Part I" which hit #4 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks in 1992.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~