When The Wind Blows (Soundtrack, 1986)

Another soundtrack that was acquired due to a connection to Pink Floyd, in the form of Roger Waters. This is also a cut-out, but otherwise quite different from the last post on music from Zabriskie Point. Even though Roger Waters' presence was the main reason for the purchase, other artists who contributed, David Bowie, Genesis and Paul Hardcastle (19 had been a big hit a few years earlier), also attracted. It seemed promising. Two more artists are found on the album, Squeeze and Hugh Cornwell, but hey were, ans still are, unknown to me.

Roger Waters gets the entire side B to spread out on, while the others have a song each on the first side. This of course means that side A runs away in quite different directions, while side B is more coherent. In general, I've never been in love with the album. On side A, it was just Genesis' The Brazilian I found groovy, an instrumental with a wonderfully bombastic refrain. Most people think Bowie's contribution is the highlight, the title song, but I've never fallen for it. The other songs, including Paul Hardcastle's, are nothing to get excited about, they're actually very boring. But I still like The Brazilian.

Waters suite on the B side is a bit more interesting. It's kind of one long song, divided into sub parts,  and resembles a lot Waters' other solo albums in sound and mood. However, it doesn't reach the same heights as Amused To Death or the latest, Is This The Life We Really Want ?. More at the same level as Radio K.A.O.S., which isn't regarded as his career highlight. It has a tendency to get a little boring in the long run, where quite bland passages sometimes are broken off by something more interesting, but these interruptions are a bit too short. This might probably be explained by the fact that it's a soundtrack, which purpose is to complement a movie. Without the movie, some of the music can be experienced as lacking structure. It's more of an atmosphere that's created. This is a record that hasn't been played a lot over the years, and it probably won't get much time on the turntable in the future. I appreciate the B side most, but since Waters' other solo albums are much better, there's no need to spin this on the stereo.

I haven't seen the movie. Apparently an English movie where the main characters are hand-drawn, while other objects are real.


Tracklist

Side A
1. David Bowie - "When the Wind Blows" 3:35
2. Hugh Cornwell - "Facts And Figures" (Hugh Cornwell) - 4:19
3. Genesis - "The Brazilian" 4:51
4. Squeeze - "What Have They Done?" 3:39
5. Paul Hardcastle - "The Shuffle" 4:16

Side B
Roger Waters And The Bleeding Heart Band
1. "The Russian Missile" - 0:10
2. "Towers of Faith" - 7:00
3. "Hilda's Dream" - 1:36
4. "The American Bomber" - 0:07
5. "The Anderson Shelter" - 1:13
6. "The British Submarine" - 0:14
7. "The Attack" - 2:53
8. "The Fall Out" - 2:04
9. "Hilda's Hair" - 4:20
10. "Folded Flags" - 4:51