Roger Waters - “The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking” (1984)

Quite often, I and many others have purchased an album because of the cover, without knowing the music. Maybe the cover is really cool, beautiful, mysterious or attracts you in some other way. The cover on Roger Waters first solo album was not the kind that gave you confidence in the music hidden inside. Not that I have anything against naked ladies, rather the contrary, but the image of a nude girl with a backpack and high heels who stands and hitchhikes in a mostly purple world doesn’t give me the association with good music.

But before I continue with the album, I must mention that today is Blog Action Day. This is when bloggers around the world join forces and write about a common theme. This year's theme is water and I have promised to participate. Writing a few words about a record with Roger Waters probably won’t do, therefore, I initially will give you some facts about our water situation on Earth.

1. Unsafe drinking water and lack of sanitation kills more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Unclean drinking water can incubate some pretty scary diseases, like E. coli, salmonella, cholera and hepatitis A. Given that bouquet of bacteria, it's no surprise that water, or rather lack thereof, causes 42,000 deaths each week (38,000 of those are children).
2. More people have access to a cell phone than to a toilet. Today, 2.5 billion people lack access to toilets. This means that sewage spills into rivers and streams, contaminating drinking water and causing disease.
3. Every day, women and children in Africa walk a combined total of 109 million hours to get water. They do this while carrying cisterns weighing around 40 pounds when filled in order to gather water that, in many cases, is still polluted. Aside from putting a great deal of strain on their bodies, walking such long distances keeps children out of school and women away from other endeavors that can help improve the quality of life in their communities.
4. It takes 6.3 gallons of water to produce just one hamburger. That 6.3 gallons covers everything from watering the wheat for the bun and providing water for the cow to cooking the patty and baking the bun. And that's just one meal! It would take over 184 billion gallons of water to make just one hamburger for every person in the United States.
5. That cotton t-shirt you're wearing right now took 1,514 liters of water to produce, and your jeans required an extra 6,813 liters.
6. Many scholars attribute the conflict in Darfur at least in part to lack of access to water. A report commissioned by the UN found that in the 21st century, water scarcity will become one of the leading causes of conflict in Africa.
7. Death and disease caused by polluted coastal waters costs the global economy $12.8 billion a year.
8. Today, 40% of America's rivers and 46% of America's lakes are too polluted for fishing, swimming, or aquatic life.

Well, hopefully we all can learn something. So, back to Mr. Waters and his first solo album. Perhaps I should mention that Roger Waters was one of the founding members of Pink Floyd, its main singer and songwriter after Syd Barrett left the band. The music on this album had been around for a while before it was recorded. Roger played a demo of Pros and Cons ... and The Wall for the other members in Pink Floyd, they thought The Wall was better and the band chose to record that album. Pros And Cons ... was saved for future use.

I first heard this album in the mid-90s at the home of a friend. It was with some surprise I held it, I had one or two of Roger Waters solo albums but I had missed this one. I also found the cover quite strange, it was not the sort of cover I immediately associated with Roger Waters. As I liked the music on the album, I bought it a while later when I found it in a store for used records.

The LP is a concept album about a man's midlife crisis and the songs have names based on the time of day (early morning). Each song is a dream the main character dreams at that particular time. I think what you hear differs from the prior understanding the girl on the cover gives you (though I’m not really sure what kind of music to expect from a cover like this). The album sounds very Roger Waters and the Pink Floyd albums The Wall and The Final Cut (which can be considered Roger Waters creations). Overall the album is leaning towards the quieter side with some little rockier elements, just as Mr. Waters records usually do. The theme is perhaps not the most joyful and the album is somewhat dark, but I would not call it depressing.

As concept albums often do one song flows into the next without a silence in between. This is something I like, the album becomes more one unit - “a whole” – rather than a set of individual songs. But on the Pros and Cons ... it’s sometimes difficult to distinguish one song from the other, especially as a musical theme often recurs throughout the album. To be critical, it doesn’t feel like each song is especially unique in comparison to the others, and after a while you feel that you have already heard what you’re hearing. Yes, I can even get a little bored if I’m honest. At the same time it’s the Roger Waters solo album I like the most, so it is a good album. This might sound a bit ambivalent, but if the album had been 25 minutes long it had suited me perfectly. I guess it’s like a big bag of candy, it’s good in the beginning but after half the bag you’ve had enough. But you still like candy.

I can also mention that Eric Clapton contributes on the album and tear off a few solos.
I find it hard to pick out any favorite songs as the album feels more like one (or two) long song.

Tracklist

Side A

1. "4.30 A.M. (Apparently They Were Travelling Abroad)" – 3:12
2. "4.33 A.M. (Running Shoes)" – 4:08
3. "4.37 A.M. (Arabs With Knives and West German Skies)" – 2:17
4. "4.39 A.M. (For the First Time Today, Pt. 2)" – 2:02
5. "4.41 A.M. (Sexual Revolution)" – 4:49
6. "4.47 A.M. (The Remains of Our Love)" – 3:09

Side B

1. "4.50 A.M. (Go Fishing)" – 6:59
2. "4.56 A.M. (For the First Time Today, Pt. 1)" – 1:38
3. "4.58 A.M. (Dunroamin, Duncarin, Dunlivin)" – 3:03
4. "5.01 A.M. (The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, Pt. 10)" – 4:36
5. "5.06 A.M. (Every Strangers' Eyes)" – 4:48
6. "5.11 A.M. (The Moment of Clarity)" – 1:28