The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking

One of the best albums of all time!! A true treasure!

Never a dull moment with Roger Waters, one of the most original songwriters and visionaries in rock. This album has its high spots, especially the title track, which Jack Palance (!!) and Eric Clapton lift into uniqueness and memorability. I also like Roger's German episode on side one, where he plays with some jolly but sinister stereotypes. The record benefits from strong work by Clapton, much more interesting than most of his own records. But it is not Roger's best, not by a long shot. Radio KAOS, Amused to Death, and Is this the life we really want? are all superior.

I don’t want to give you anything by way of a description that would or could affect your experience of this album. Buy it. Listen. One of the greatest albums ever recorded. Full stop.

The concept "A road trip through California, focusing on his midlife crisis". Hell I related to this at 24. Dealing with life and whats thrown at you. But even more than the concept of the record, the music is incredible! And I highly recommend listening to the album a few times form start to finsh before diving into individual songs. Doing it this way gives the songs more context. What put this album over the top was the muscians he curated for recording his incredible vision. Musicians: Roger Waters – bass guitar, rhythm guitar, tape effects, lead vocals Eric Clapton – lead guitar, backing vocals, Roland guitar synthesizer. Eric Clapton on lead guitar, are you kidding me!!! WOW! He is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Ray Cooper – percussion - an English virtuoso percussionist - enough said. Andy Newmark – drums, percussion - Newmark was the sole drummer on John Lennon's last album, Double Fantasy,and played with everyone. David Sanborn – saxophone - "the most influential saxophonist on pop, R&B, and crossover players of the past 20 years." said critic Scott Yannow. Michael Kamen – piano - attended The Juilliard School and worked with Queen, Daid Bowie, Tom Petty, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, Rush, Metallica, Coldplay, Sting, Guns N' Roses, and many more. Andy Bown – Hammond organ, 12-string guitar - keyboards for Pink Floyd's The Final Cut album. backing vocals: Madeline Bell (a world famous American soul singer, contributed backing vocals on the Rolling Stones song "You Can't Always Get What You Want" and more), Katie Kissoon (backed the likes of Elton John, Clapton, Van Morrison, and many others), Doreen Chanter (great and one of The Sirens, backing vocalists for Roxy Music). Raphael Ravenscroft, Kevin Flanagan, Vic Sullivan – horns. The National Philharmonic Orchestra, Conducted and Arranged by Michael Kamen.

If you like “concept” music and enjoy the stories within them, then this album is calling ur name. . .LOUDLY!! Those who think this will be in the vein of “Pink Floyd’s” sound will be disappointed. But trust me, what Rogers & Clapton were able to do here is simply astonishing! This is a masterpiece at the highest level. Different no doubt. Even strange at times. But when you put it all together, ur left with nothing but a smile on ur face

Like many, I had hoped this album would effectively be a follow-up to The Wall and The Final Cut, but instead it’s much more experimental and atonal. Many of the songs lack any clear rhythm. That doesn’t make them bad per se, but rather the songs on this album simply weren’t in any way what I was hoping for.

Start with a fantastic and freaky, yet relatable story, add layers of seasoned rock session musicians like Eric Clapton and David Sanborn, the orchestrations of the great Michael Kaman, and top it off with Waters' ironic lyrics sung with the perfect balance of angst and unsettling whispers, and you've got yourself a landmark in concept album history.

Roger Waters is awesome as is this album

A solid album, although I think it would have been executed into a better album if it had been made into a Floyd effort like originally planned.

While I would say this is one of my all time favorites, I really wish iTunes would offer Waters' 1993 MASTERPIECE, "Amused To Death". That album is as good as any Pink Floyd album I have ever heard. As good as "The Pros and Cons of Hitch-Hiking" is, I urge fans to listen to "Amused to Death" as it may be Waters' best contribution yet. His imagery, and his incredible poetic mastery is genius on this album, "The Pros and Cons . . . ". He actually eclipses this gem with "Amused to Death." I only wish he'd continue to put out more of his incredible work. If he does not, I am beyond satisfied and truly thankful.