Is This the Life We Really Want?
by Roger Waters
  • Record Label: Columbia
  • Release Date: Jun 2, 2017
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 75 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 59 out of 75
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 75
  3. Negative: 11 out of 75
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  1. Judgexp
    Aug 31, 2017
    0
    The year old British rockers tried to be hip and cater to the millennials with moronic political albums. Really sad that such a great writer as Waters went literally down in flames like this.
  2. kjatafoxhound
    Oct 16, 2017
    3
    Repetitivo por momentos y con un mensaje sectario e inconexo, que por momentos resulta ridículo. Varios temas en los que prioriza una letra torpe y excesiva sobre una música que no termina de funcionar. Otro dato a tener en cuenta es que apenas le queda voz, y esto lastra todo el álbum. A destacar quizá The Last Refugee y poco más.
  3. psmith69
    Jun 21, 2017
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is the finest album since The Wall and indeed with 3 or 4 Dave Gilmour guitar solos included, it would be right up there with Pink Floyd's finest. Passable Rick Wright keyboard impersonations are good, the lyrics are RW at his best and at the age of 73, at least humour is in there that probably wasn't some 35/40 years ago. The four lines from Picture That (Picture a courthouse etc.) are, for me, the 4 greatest lines ever written in rock music. I will never agree with RW's politics but this album is phenomenal.

    Unfortunately I don't think that until RW leaves us, the genius of his lyricism will ever be fully appreciated. In the current UK political world (2017) a phrase from 1972/73 has never been more relevant: "share it fairly, but don't take a slice of my pie...."    … Expand
  4. lenny68
    Jun 4, 2017
    3
    As a Pink Floyd fan it pains me to say it but this is Waters at his most self indulgent and sanctimonious.

    Those that say it's on a par with Floyd's best just leave me confused.
  5. SuperMax156
    Jun 2, 2017
    1
    1 - When we were young. Not a song, just Roger mumbling, some of which seems to be about his pre-pubescent toilet habits. Probably will never listen to this again. Its a minute and a half long which is the best thing you can say about it, but not sure what the point is.
    2 - Deja Vu. Seems to have been written to expose the limits of Rogers - ahem - singing. Nonsense lyrics about what if    1 - When we were young. Not a song, just Roger mumbling, some of which seems to be about his pre-pubescent toilet habits. Probably will never listen to this again. Its a minute and a half long which is the best thing you can say about it, but not sure what the point is.
    2 - Deja Vu. Seems to have been written to expose the limits of Rogers - ahem - singing. Nonsense lyrics about what if Roger was God, and he thinks he could have arranged things better. The other members of Floyd might have something to say about that given his tyrannical ways before David Gilmour put the band back on course again. So, this song is also bad.
    3 - The Last Refugee. What is a lemon tree sky Roger? But its pleasant enough and doesn't outlive its welcome.
    4 - Broken Bones. Again, not much going on here. Rogers phone calls are not interesting. Lyrics that expose Rogers hatred of Israel, the standard leftist anti-semitism. There is a particularly bad lyric about the Israelis teaching their kids to hate - this is breath taking ignorance. Palestine pays benefits to the families of suicide bombers and has childrens tv programs about killing the jews but Roger has nothing to say about this though does he? Disgusting victim blaming. Nearly turned it off after this crap.
    5 - Is this the life that we really want? Seems to be roger bumming out about crooked hillary losing the election. Well, its called democracy Roger, suck it up. As a song there is again nothing going on here. Roger seems to think his profanity set to music is interesting and shows how ANGRY he is, but its just the tired ranting of an impotent old man. Roger has always had stupid politics, but listening to this I was embarrassed for him.
    6 - Bird in a Gale. OK, so this is a bit better. Something of a song going on here. High point of the album so far, having said that the end is a cribbing of bits from Dogs from the animals album. But still this song had a bit of atmosphere.
    7 - The Most Beautiful Girl in the World. A song with a verse, verse, verse, no chorus structure. Pleasant enough to listen to in the background but not very engaging. Parts of it reminded me of a song from Amused to Death, but I couldn't remember which one.
    8 - Smell the Roses. Ok, this is a good song, very Floydian, which Roger's solo stuff tends not to be. Heavily reminiscent of Have a Cigar the way it chugs along. Best song on the album.
    9 - Wait for her. This is ok, a piano / acoustic guitar driven ballad - it doesn't push Rogers voice into the upper registers where his lack of singing ability becomes painfully evident.
    10 & 11 - Oceans Apart/Part of me died - if you did not know it you would think these were still part of the previous track, I only noticed because the itunes popup box told me we had gone to the next tracks. Towards the end Roger starts ranting about how evil borders are. Which is easy for him to say given he lives in a gated mansion guarded by a private army, the influx of rapists set on destroying the west is hardly going to touch him, he is 73 so he probably won't live to see the disaster this folly is going to visit upon Europe.

    Overall, there are parts of this album that are ok, but by the end I was glad i didn't spend any actual coin on it. Roger won't mind, being an uppper class socialist he is all about wealth redistribution of other peoples money. He has not done a solo album since Amused to Death, and really he should not have bothered.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

50
#50 Most Discussed Album of 2017
55
#55 Most Shared Album of 2017

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
72

Generally favorable reviews - based on 16 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
  1. PopMatters
    Aug 15, 2017
    60
    While the solo work of Gilmour and Waters improves with each release and suggests that each is getting more comfortable working on his own and figuring out how to work without the other, their solo albums are also a painful and tantalizing reminder of just how good the music they made together once was.
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  2. Record Collector
    Jun 23, 2017
    100
    Is This The Life We Really Want? is a stunning accomplishment, as rich as anything Waters has ever managed.
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  3. AllMusic
    Jun 6, 2017
    80
    Certainly, Is This the Life We Really Want? lacks the straightforward narrative or melodic thrust of The Wall, but it isn't as somnolent as The Final Cut, and if the songs don't call attention to themselves, they nevertheless form a long suite that works as a sustained mood piece.
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