Against The Ice

A multitude of classic rockers/prog rockers have united to cover The Wall in its entirety, under the title Back Against the Wall. Led by producer Billy Sherwood, a rotating case of musicians was assembled to make anyone with excitement – Yes' Rick Wakeman, Chris Squire, Alan White, and Geoffrey Downes; King Crimson's Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, and John Wetton; Styx's Tommy Shaw; ELP's Keith Emerson, and Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, among countless others.

What do Ian Anderson, Ronnie Montrose, Tommy Shaw, Billy Sherwood and Malcolm McDowell have in common? They and other well known artists performed on the September, 2005 release of Back Against The Wall, the tribute CD that celebrates the mystery and wonderful weirdness of Pink Floyd’s 1979 concept album, The Wall.

A multitude of classic rockers/prog rockers have united to cover the Wall in it's entirety, under the title Back Against the Wall. Led by producer Billy Sherwood, a rotating case of musicians was assembled to make anyone with a well-worn copy of Tales of Topographic Oceans drool with excitement - Yes' Rick Wakeman, Chris Squire, Alan White, and Geoffrey Downes; King Crimson's Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, and John Wetton; Styx's Tommy Shaw; ELP's Keith Emerson, and Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, among countless others. Interestingly though, it can be argued that the Wall was Pink Floyd's least "progressive" album, as the group focused on tight song structures - obviously inspired by the then burgeoning new wave and punk movements. The performances are expectedly spot-on (and it's quite impressive how they re-created all the sound effects/spoken word bits so precisely), and stick very close to the originals - except for a Chris Squire-led take of "Comfortably Numb," which adds a few extra bits.