Digital Electronics, Volume 2

Skillfully edited together from the handful of Wall shows Floyd performed between 1980 and 1981 (much of the recordings date from shows at Earl's Court in London), Is There Anybody out There? replicates The Wall live – which, of course, was a replication of the record, only with spectacular visuals. There are two songs not on the studio album – "What Shall We Do Now?," a tune pulled from the record at the 11th hour (early pressings still listed it on the sleeve), plus "The Last Few Bricks," which was an instrumental at the end of the first act that gave the crew time to finish building the wall – but they add nothing to the overall piece. There are no revelations at all, actually, with the possible exception of the layered harmonies on "Outside the Wall," which makes this coda seem like a full-fledged song. Since the show was so rigidly structured, there was little opportunity for the band to stretch out and jam. All of this means that Is There Anybody out There? is The Wall by any other name, and that it isn't for anybody but Floyd fanatics. Will this disappoint the less-dedicated listener? Not necessarily, since anybody familiar with The Wall will likely enjoy it as it's playing. The question is, how often will you put the record on? After all, if you want to hear this music, you'll listen to the studio recording. That doesn't really diminish the worth of Is There Anybody out There?, but it hardly makes it necessary, either. – Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine