Roger Waters: A Retrospective (1965-2025)

Roger Waters A Retrospective, 1965-2020

Born: George Robert Waters Date: September 6, 1943 Where: Great Bookham, Surrey, England Significant Bands: Pink Floyd (1965-1983) Overview: Roger Waters was one of the founding members of Pink Floyd. The psychedelic, progressive-rock band formed in 1965. Waters served as the bassist, chief songwriter, and sometime vocalist. He left in 1983 for a solo career. On the Web: RogerWaters.com (official site) Facebook Wikipedia Pink Floyd’s profile page Pink Floyd: Top 50 Songs Pink Floyd: Top 10 Albums

Awards

Studio Albums (with Pink Floyd) Hover over an album cover to see its title and year of release. Click on the album cover to go to the Pink Floyd profile page and see more information about the album. Studio Albums (Solo) Compilations FF Flickering Flame (1984-2001, released 2002) Live Albums WB The Wall: Live in Berlin (with various artists, 1990) IF In the Flesh (2000) RW Roger Waters: The Wall (2015) UT Us + Them (2019) TD This Is Not a Drill (2025) Under each album snapshot, songs featured on the above anthologies and live albums are noted.

Music from The Body (soundtrack, 1970)

Released: November 28, 1970 Peak: -- US, -- UK, -- CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): -- Genre: soundtrack Rating: 3.434 out of 5.00 (average of 7 ratings)

Tracks: Our Song [1:24] Sea Shell and Stone [2:17] Red Stuff Writhe [1:11] A Gentle Breeze Blew Through Life [1:19] Lick Your Partners [0:35] Bridge Passage for Three Plastic Teeth [0:35] Chain of Life [3:59] The Womb Bit [2:06] Embryo Thought [0:39] March Past of the Embryos [1:08] More Than Seven Dwarfs in Penis-Land [2:03] Dance of the Red Corpuscles [2:04] Body Transport [3:16] Hand Dance – Full Evening Dress [1:01] Breathe [2:53] Old Folks Ascension [3:47] Bed-Time-Dream-Clime [2:02] Piddle in Perspex [0:57] Embryonic Womb-Walk [1:14] Mrs. Throat Goes Walking [2:05] Sea Shell and Soft Stone [2:05] Give Birth to a Smile [2:49]

About the Album: Ron Geesin was commissioned to create music for a BBC documentary film of Anthony Smith’s book The Body, published in 1968. When director Roy Battersby said he wanted actual songs, Geesin called Roger Waters for help. That same year they worked together on Pink Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother. The album is “a strange collection of short cuts of sound effects and musique concréte with even stranger titles.” FS “Give Birth to a Smile” and “Breathe” “are practically the only two real ‘songs’ on the soundtrack.” FS The former featured uncredited performances from David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Richard Wright – the other three members of Pink Floyd.

The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984)

4:30 AM (Apparently They Were Travelling Abroad) 4:33 AM (Running Shoes) 4:37 AM (Arabs with Knives and West German Skies) 4:39 AM (For the First Time Today, Part 2) 4:41 AM (Sexual Revolution) 4:47 AM (The Remains of Our Love) 4:50 AM (Go Fishing) 4:56 AM (For the First Time Today, Part 1) 4:58 AM (Dunroamin, Duncarin, Dunlivin) 5:01 AM (The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, Part 10) 5:06 AM (Every Stranger’s Eyes) FF 5:11 AM (The Moment of Clarity)

About the Album: Roger Waters first solo album after leaving Pink Floyd was based on a concept Waters originally conceived in 1977 about a man facing mid-life crisis. The album takes place in real time about the man’s dream about taking a road trip through California, committing adultery with a hitchhiker he picks up, and then trying to reconcile with his wife. Go to the DMDB page for more about this album including chart data, sales figures, awards, and information about individual songs.

When the Wind Blows (soundtrack, 1986)

When the Wind Blows [3:35] (David Bowie) Facts and Figures [4:19] (Hugh Cornwell) The Brazilian [4:51] (Genesis) What Have They Done? [3:39] (Squeeze) The Shuffle [4:16] (Paul Hardcastle) Roger Waters: The Russian Missile [0:10] Towers of Faith [7:00] FF Hilda’s Dream [1:36] The American Bomber [0:07] The Anderson Shelter [1:13] The British Submarine [0:14] The Attack [2:53] The Fall Out [2:04] Hilda’s Hair [4:20] Folded Flags [4:51]

About the Album: Originally David Bowie was going to contribute several songs to the soundtrack, but ended up only providing the title track, opting to focus on his Never Let Me Down album instead. Roger Waters was brought in and offered ten of the fifteen songs on the soundtrack to this animated disaster film based on Raymond Briggs’ comic book of the same name.

Radio K.A.O.S. (1987)

Radio Waves [4:58] FF Who Needs Information? [5:55] FF Me or Him [5:23] The Powers That Be [4:36] TD Sunset Strip [4:45] Home [6:00] Four Minutes [4:00] The Tide Is Turning (After Live Aid) [5:43] WB, FF

About the Album: Waters’ second studio album was another concept project, this time following a mentally and physically disabled man who has on-air conversations with a local disc jockey. Go to the DMDB page for more about this album including chart data, sales figures, awards, and information about individual songs.

The Wall – Live in Berlin (1990) Roger Waters with various artists

Tracks, Disc 1: (1) In the Flesh? (2) The Thin Ice (3) Another Brick in the Wall Part I (4) The Happiest Days of Our Lives (5) Another Brick in the Wall Part II (6) Mother (7) Goodbye Blue Sky (8) Empty Spaces/Young Lust (9) Oh My God – What a Fabulous Room (10) One of My Turns (11) Don't Leave Me Now (12) Another Brick in the Wall Part III (13) The Last Few Bricks (14) Goodbye Cruel World Tracks, Disc 2: (1) Hey You (2) Is There Anybody Out There? (3) Nobody Home (4) Vera (5) Bring the Boys Back Home (6) Comfortably Numb (7) In the Flesh (8) Run Like Hell (9) Waiting for the Worms (10) Stop (11) The Trial (12) The Tide Is Turning (After Live Aid)

About the Album: Waters brought together a number of guest artists to perform Pink Floyd’s The Wall in its entirety to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Wall eight months earlier. Go to the DMDB page for more about this album including chart data, sales figures, awards, and information about individual songs.

Amused to Death (1992)

The Ballad of Bill Hubbard [4:21] What God Wants, Part I [6:00] Perfect Sense, Part I [4:15] IF, FF Perfect Sense, Part II [2:51] IF, FF The Bravery of Being Out of Range [4:45] IF, TD Late Home Tonight, Part I [4:01] Late Home Tonight, Part II [2:13] Too Much Rope [5:47] FF What God Wants, Part II [3:40] What God Wants, Part III [4:09] Watching TV [6:06] Three Wishes [6:52] FF It’s a Miracle [8:30] IF Amused to Death [9:07] IF

About the Album: Waters’ third solo album was loosely organized around the idea of an ape randomly switching channels on a television. The album explored political and social themes. Go to the DMDB page for more about this album including chart data, sales figures, awards, and information about individual songs.

In the Flesh Roger Waters

Recorded live: June 16-27, 2000 Released: December 5, 2000 Peak: -- US, 170 UK, -- CN, 100 AU Sales (in millions): -- Genre: classic rock Rating: 3.055 out of 5.00 (average of 10 ratings)

Tracks, Disc 1: (1) In the Flesh? (2) The Happiest Days of Our Lives (3) Another Brick in the Wall Part II (4) Mother (5) Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert (6) Southampton Dock (7) Pigs on the Wing, Pt. 1 (8) Dogs (9) Welcome to the Machine (10) Wish You Were Here (11) Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-VIII) (12) Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun Tracks, Disc 2: (1) Speak to Me/Breathe (2) Time (3) Money (4) 5:06 AM (Every Stranger’s Eyes) (5) Perfect Sense, Part I / Perfect Sense, Part II (6) The Bravery of Being Out of Range (7) It’s a Miracle (8) Amused to Death (9) Brain Damage (10) Eclipse (11) Comfortably Numb (12) Each Small Candle Total Running Time: 147:35 About the Album: This live album offered a snapshot of Waters’ three-year In the Flesh tour, which predominantly featured Pink Floyd songs. Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums: Each Small Candle FF

Flickering Flame Roger Waters

Released: April 30, 2002 Covers: 1984-2001 Peak: -- Sales (in millions): -- Genre: rock

Tracks: (1) Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (2) Too Much Rope (3) The Tide Is Turning (4) Perfect Sense, Part I / Perfect Sense, Part II (live) (5) Three Wishes (6) 5:06 AM (Every Stranger’s Eyes) (7) Who Needs Information? (8) Each Small Candle (live) (9) Flickering Flame (10) Towers of Faith (11) Radio Waves (12) Lost Boys Total Running Time: 70:23

Rating: 3.275 out of 5.00 (average of 6 ratings)

About Flickering Flame: It’s hard to call this a “greatest hits,” first because Waters didn’t have many solo hits and second because this collection doesn’t even include all the hits he did have. “The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking,” “Sunset Strip,” and “What God Wants” were all hit songs on the album rock track chart but are not incluced here. This serves more as an archival collection, gathering some unreleased and obscure material alongside a few album cuts as well as a couple of live tracks. It would be nice to see an updated version of this collection which would add more of Waters’ actual hits as well as post-2002 non-album cuts like the “To Kill a Child” / “Leaving Beirut” single, “Hello I Love You” from the 2007 The Last Mimzy soundtrack, and his cover of “We Shall Overcome” in 2010. Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (from The Dybbuk of the Holy Apple Field soundtrack, 1997) FF Lost Boys Calling (from The Legend of 1900 soundtrack, 1998) FF Flickering Flame (previously unreleased) FF

Ça Ira (opera, 2005)

Released: October 4, 2005 Peak: -- US, -- UK, -- CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): -- Genre: opera Rating: 2.746 out of 5.00 (average of 7 ratings)

Tracks, Disc 1: (1) The Gathering Storm (2) Overture Act 1 (3) Scene 1: A Garden in Vienna 1765 (4) Madame Antoine, Madame Antoine (5) Scene 2: Kings Sticks and Birds (6) Honest Bird, Simple Bird (7) I Want to Be King (8) Let Us Break All the Shields (9) Scene 3: The Grievances of the People (10) Scene 4: France in Disarray (11) To Laugh is to Know How to Live (12) Slavers, Landlords, Bigots at Your Door (13) Scene 5: The Fall of the Bastille (14) To Freeze in the Dead of Night (15) So to the Streets in the Pouring Rain Act 2 (16) Scene 1: Dances and Marches (17) Now Hear Ye! (18) Flushed With Wine (19) Scene 2: The Letter (20) My Dear Cousin Bourbon of Spain (21) The Ship of State is All at Sea (22) Scene 3: Silver Sugar and Indigo (23) To the Windward Isles (24) Scene 4: The Papal Edict (25) In Paris There's a Rumble Under the Ground Tracks, Disc 2: Act 3 (1) Scene 1: The Fugitive King (2) But the Marquis of Boulli Has a Trump Card Up His Sleeve (3) To Take Your Hat Off (4) The Echoes Never Fade from That Fusillade (5) Scene 2: The Commune de Paris (6) Vive la Commune de Paris (7) The National Assembly is Confused (8) Scene 3: The Execution of Louis Capet (9) Adieu Louis for You It's Over (10) Scene 4: Marie Antoinette [The Last Night on Earth (11) Adieu My Good and Tender Sister (12) Scene 5: Liberty (13) And in the Bushes Where They Survive About the Album: This was an opera written by Waters. He was approached in 1987 by friends Étienne Roda-Gil and his wife Nadine Delahaye and asked to set their libretto to music. It was recorded in 1988, but none of it was heard in public until 2002. It finally received an official premerie in Rome in 2005.

Roger Waters: The Wall Roger Waters

Recorded live: July 2011 – July 2012 Released: November 20, 2015 Peak: 134 US, 53 UK, -- CN, 46 AU Sales (in millions): -- Genre: classic rock Rating: 3.645 out of 5.00 (average of 8 ratings)

Tracks, Disc 1: (1) (1) In the Flesh? (2) The Thin Ice (3) Another Brick in the Wall Part I (4) The Happiest Days of Our Lives (5) Another Brick in the Wall Part II (6) The Ballad of Jean Charles de Menezes (7) Mother (8) Goodbye Blue Sky (9) Empty Spaces (10) What Shall We Do Now? (11) Young Lust (12) One of My Turns (13) Don't Leave Me Now (14) Another Brick in the Wall Part III (15) The Last Few Bricks (16) Goodbye Cruel World Tracks, Disc 2: (1) Hey You (2) Is There Anybody Out There? (3) Nobody Home (4) Vera (5) Bring the Boys Back Home (6) Comfortably Numb (7) The Show Must Go On (8) In the Flesh (9) Run Like Hell (10) Waiting for the Worms (11) Stop (12) The Trial (12) Outside the Wall Total Running Time: 102:21 About the Album: Waters revisited Pink Floyd’s The Wall yet again offering this live recording from performances in July 2012. Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums: The Ballad of Jean Charles de Menezes RW

Is This the Life We Really Want? (2017)

When We Were Young [1:39] Déjà Vu [4:27] UT, TD The Last Refugee [4:12] UT Picture That [6:47] UT Broken Bones [4:57] Is This the Life We Really Want? [5:55] TD Bird in a Gale [5:31] The Most Beautiful Girl [6:09] Smell the Roses [5:15] Wait for Her [4:56] Oceans Apart [1:07] Part of Me Died [3:14]

About the Album: Waters finally went back to the studio for his first solo album since 1992’s Amused to Death. While four singles were released to promote the album, they didn’t achieve any commercial success. The album, however, reached the top 10 in the UK, Australia, and Canada. It hit #11 in the United States. Go to the DMDB page for more about this album including chart data, sales figures, awards, and information about individual songs.

Igor Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale (classical, 2018)

Released: October 26, 2018 Peak: -- US, -- UK, -- CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): -- Genre: classical Rating: 2.475 out of 5.00 (average of 7 ratings)

Part I: (1) The Soldier’s March (2) Slogging Homeword… (3) Airs by a Stream (4) As You Can Hear… (5) The Soldier’s March (Reprise) (6) Eventually, Joseph Reaches His Home Village... (7) Pastorale (8) The Soldier, Disconsolate… (9) Pastorale (Reprise) (10) The Soldier, Slowly Coming Back to Himself... (11) Airs by a Stream (Reprise): To Stretch Out on the Grass... (12) Hey Satan, You Bastard... (13) Airs by a Stream (2nd Reprise) (14) Naught to Be Gained Here… Part 2: (1) The Soldier’s March (2nd Reprise): Down a Hot and Dusty Track... (2) He Doesn’t Even Know Himself... (3) The Soldier’s March (3rd Reprise): Will He Take the Road to Home… (4) He Doesn’t Have a Home Anymore... (5) The Royal March (6) So, All Was Arranged... (7) Later That Night… (8) The Little Concert: Light Floods the Eastern Sky... (9) The Soldier, with a Confident Air... (10) Three Dances: Tango (Part 1) (11) Three Dances: Tango (Part 2) (12) Three Dances: Waltz & Ragtime (13) So, First a Tango... (14) The Devil’s Dance (15) The Devil, Confused... (16) The Little Chorale (17) The Devil Recovers Some of His Wits… (18) The Devil’s Song: Alright! You’ll Be Safe at Home… (19) Hm, a Fair Warning... (20) Grand Chorale (Part 1) (21) Spring, Summer, Autumn... (22) Grand Chorale (Part 2) (23) Steady Now… (24) Grand Chorale (Part 3) (25) Steady, Just Smell the Flowers... (26) Grand Chorale (Part 4) (27) Now I Have Everything... (28) Grand Chorale (Part 5) (29) The Princess, All Excited... (30) Grand Chorale (Part 6) (31) And So, Off They Go... (32) Triumphal March of the Devil About the Album: This was Waters’ adaptation of Igor Stravinsky’s theatrical work. It was recorded in December 2014 at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church but not released until four years later. Waters narrated the story and portrayed all the characters, recording the music with members of the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival.

Us + Them Roger Waters

Recorded live: June 18-23, 2018 Released: October 2, 2020 Peak: -- US, 9 UK, -- CN, 35 AU Sales (in millions): -- Genre: classic rock Rating: 1.842 out of 5.00 (average of 5 ratings)

Tracks, Disc 1: (1) Intro (2) Speak to Me (3) Breathe (4) One of These Days (5) Time/Breathe (Reprise) (6) The Great Gig in the Sky (7) Welcome to the Machine (8) Déjà Vu (9) The Last Refugee (10) Picture That (11) Wish You Were Here (12) The Happiest Days of Our Lives (13) Another Brick in the Wall Part II (14) Another Brick in the Wall Part III Tracks, Disc 2: (1) Dogs (2) Pigs (Three Different Ones) (3) Money (4) Us and Them (5) Brain Damage (6) Eclipse (7) The Last Refugee (reprise) (8) Déjà Vu (reprise) Total Running Time: 120:21 About the Album: This was another live album from Waters, capturing a performance from his 2017-2018 tour. Once again, the show featured predominantly Pink Floyd songs.

This Is Not a Drill: Live from Prague Roger Waters

Recorded live: May 24-25, 2023 Released: August 1, 2025 Peak: -- US, 20 UK, -- CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): -- US, -- UK, -- world (includes US and UK) Genre: classic rock

Tracks, Disc 1: (1) Introduction (2) Comfortably Numb (3) The Happiest Days of Our Lives (4) Another Brick in the Wall Part II (5) Another Brick in the Wall Part III (6) The Powers That Be (7) The Bravery of Being Out of Range (8) The Bar Part 1 (9) Have a Cigar (10) Wish You Were Here (11) Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI-IX) (12) Sheep Tracks, Disc 1: (1) In the Flesh (2) Run Like Hell (3) Déjà Vu (4) Is This the Life We Really Want? (5) Money (6) Us and Them (7) Any Colour You Like (8) Brain Damage (9) Eclipse (10) Two Suns in the Sunset (11) The Bar Part 2 (12) Outside the Wall Total Running Time: 134:41 About the Album: This is Roger Waters’ fifth live album and, like previous releases, it is dominated by Pink Floyd material. That makes sense because fans want that more than his solo work, but do fans really want FIVE live albums’ worth, especially when they repeat a lot of the same ground? Tracks Not on Previously Noted Albums: The Bar Part 1 TD The Bar Part 2 TD

Resources and Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists FS Floydianslip.com Wikipedia page for Flickering Flame Related DMDB Pages: First posted 8/22/2021; last updated 8/25/2025.