Just released in stores is an album playing tribute to Pink Floyd's The Wall. Amongst the many progressive rock legends on Billy Sherwood's "Back Against the Wall", a 2CD set, are Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson, the Doors' Robby Krieger, Yes' Rick Wakeman, Chris Squire and Steve Howe.

Sherwood, also a member of Yes, managed to recruit a great bunch of musicians, who have worked together to produce a truly impressive body of work. He said: "All the artists involved poured their hearts and soul into this body of work, and it shows. It is with the utmost respect to Pink Floyd that we took the challenge. I feel that we have honoured the emotion of the original while bringing out the individual personalities of all the guest artists. This was truly a labour of love for everyone involved."

Certainly, the musicians talent and experience comes through clearly, none of them holding back, in a dynamic and powerful rendition of Waters' 1979 opus. Having heard a number of cover versions of Floyd's material, we weren't expecting this to be as interesting as it has turned out to be.

From Ian Anderson's delicate flute work, underpinning The Thin Ice, through Robby Krieger's eastern tinged guitar work in Empty Spaces, and the powerful readings of tracks such as Another Brick 2, Young Lust, Hey You and the trio of In The Flesh/Run Like Hell/Waiting For The Worms, there are delights to be found around every corner.

Thankfully no trepidation found anywhere on the album, a swaggering confidence elevates this above similar tribute recordings of their work. Never afraid to deviate the work into the performers own styles, it nevertheless keeps true to the original.

A disappointment is the lack of Goodbye Blue Sky (despite showing on the track listing) and What Shall We Do Now?, which appears in the movie. We're sure that both would have sounded excellent performed by the assembled musicians, so we're sad that these are missing. However, apart from this, the album is top notch and really deserves a good listen!

TRACKLISTING:
DISC 1
01. In The Flesh? - feat. Adrian Belew, Alan White & Steve Porcaro
02. The Thin Ice - feat. Ian Anderson & Tony Levin
03. Another Brick In The Wall Part 1 - feat. Steve Morse & Billy Sherwood
04. The Happiest Days Of Our Lives - feat. Billy Sherwood & Vinnie Coliauta
05. Another Brick In The Wall Part 2 - feat. Fee Waybill, Ronnie Montrose & Mike Porcaro
06. Mother - feat. John Wetton, Adrian Belew & Alan White
07. Goodbye Blue Sky - feat. Steve Howe & Billy Sherwood
08. Empty Spaces - feat. Billy Sherwood & Robby Krieger
09. Young Lust - feat. Glenn Hughes
10. One Of My Turns - feat. Tommy Shaw
11. Don’t Leave Me Now - feat. Robby Krieger & Tommy Shaw
12. Another Brick In The Wall Part 3 - feat. Steve Lukather & Tony Levin
13. Goodbye Cruel World - feat. Billy Sherwood & Tony Levin

DISC 2
01. Hey You - feat. John Wetton, Steve Lukather, Tommy Shaw & Alan White
02. Is There Anybody Out There? - feat. Adrian Belew & Billy Sherwood
03. Nobody Home - feat. Rick Wakeman
04. Vera - feat. Tommy Shaw & Steve Howe
05. Bring The Boys Back Home - feat. Billy Sherwood & Jay Schellen
06. Comfortably Numb - feat. Chris Squire & Alan White
07. The Show Must Go On - feat. Adrian Belew & Vinnie Coliauta
08. In The Flesh - feat. Billy Sherwood, Steve Porcaro & Vinnie Coliauta
09. Run Like Hell - feat. Jason Chefe, Dweezil Zappa & Tony Kaye
10. Waiting For The Worms - feat. Billy Sherwood, Tony Levin & Vinnie Caliauta
11. Stop - feat. Billy Sherwood
12. The Trial - feat. Malcolm McDowell
13. Outside The Wall - feat. Billy Sherwood
14. Isn’t This Where We Came In - feat. Malcolm McDowell

The 2 CD set can be ordered through our special Amazon links.