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Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81 (2000)

Where the lyrics of Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81 take you, and where it was really made.

The live album was recorded at a London venue during shows that built a wall on stage, and its cover shows the band's life-masks in front of a black wall.

Key places

Recorded at Earls Court in London (2000)

Recording site Earls Court Exhibition Centre — The album's tracks were selected from the August 1980 and June 1981 performances at Earls Court in London. The point marks the venue, not a precise studio address. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81 is a live album by Pink Floyd, released in 2000
• It is a live rendition of The Wall, produced and engineered by James Guthrie
• Tracks were selected from the August 1980 and June 1981 performances at Earls Court in London
• First released in the UK on 27 March 2000; the US/Canadian release by Columbia Records followed on 18 April
• Released to commemorate the 20th anniversary of The Wall and The Wall Tour

Background

• The shows involved building a wall on stage throughout the first half of the show
• Once the wall was complete, band members performed in small openings in, atop, in front of, or behind it
• 'Goodbye Blue Sky' and parts of 'Run Like Hell' were taken from the 17 June 1981 show
• The 17 June 1981 show was the last performance by the four-man Pink Floyd until the 2005 Live 8 concert

Cover

• The album artwork features the life-masks of the four band members in front of a black wall
• The masks were worn by the 'surrogate band' during 'In the Flesh'

Recording

• The album contains live versions of all the original songs, plus 'What Shall We Do Now?' and 'The Last Few Bricks'
• 'What Shall We Do Now?' was planned for the original album but cut just before release
• The tracks differ slightly from the studio album, mainly in longer intros and extended solos
• Many songs had been heavily edited for vinyl on the studio album, and many of those sections were restored in concert
• 'Outside the Wall' was longer and re-arranged with mandolin, accordion, clarinet, acoustic guitars and tambourines
• Credited lineup: David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Richard Wright
• Richard Wright was a session musician during the tour, but was listed as a band member in the tour program and the album credits
• Additional personnel include Peter Wood, Snowy White (1980 shows), Andy Roberts (1981 shows), Andy Bown, Willie Wilson and Clive Brooks (14 June 1981 show)

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Disc 1

Disc 2

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in London in 1965 by Syd Barrett, Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Richard Wright; David Gilmour joined in 1967.
• Among the first British psychedelic groups, gaining an early underground following at the UFO Club.
• Known for extended compositions, sonic experiments, philosophical lyrics and elaborate live shows.

Members

• Nick Mason on drums (1965–present).
• Roger Waters on bass and vocals (1965–1985), becoming the primary lyricist after Barrett's departure in 1968.
• Richard Wright on keyboards (1965–1981, 1987–2008), who died in 2008.
• Syd Barrett on vocals and guitar (1965–1968), who died in 2006.
• David Gilmour on guitar and vocals (1967–present).

Career

• Concept albums The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977) and The Wall (1979) made them one of the best-selling acts of all time.
• Pink Floyd – The Wall (1982) won two BAFTAs.
• Reunited with Waters for Live 8 in 2005; the last studio album The Endless River came out in 2014.
• Released 'Hey, Hey, Rise Up!' in 2022 in protest of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
• Sold over 250 million records; inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and awarded the Polar Music Prize in 2008.

Reception

At release

• The UK release came on 27 March 2000, and the US/Canadian release by Columbia Records followed on 18 April
• The album was released to commemorate the 20th anniversary of The Wall and The Wall Tour

Reappraisal

• The album was re-issued in the US and Canada in July 2005, remastered by James Guthrie, Joel Plante and Kim Richards
• The booklet of that re-issue features some songwriting updates
• The booklet also mentions that the MC: Atmos on disc one used a sample of 'We'll Meet Again' by Vera Lynn
• The album was remastered and re-released in February 2012 as part of The Wall's Immersion boxset
• Despite this, it stayed absent from most music streaming platforms, except YouTube Music, until December 2024
• In December 2024 the album was added to the Apple Music catalog
• It continues to be unavailable on other major streaming services, including Spotify
• The Apple Music addition was likely linked to Sony Music Entertainment's acquisition of Pink Floyd's music rights in October 2024
• By September 2025, the album had been pulled from both Apple Music and YouTube Music for unknown reasons

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The track now called 'The Last Few Bricks' had no official title until the live album came out; producer James Guthrie suggested the official name during mixing
• Fans had called the track 'Almost Gone' on some bootleg albums of the shows
• Gary Yudman, the MC for the Earls Court and Nassau Coliseum shows, performed the two spoken tracks 'MC: Atmos'
• For the 'In the Flesh' introduction, Yudman wore white 'zombie' make-up and spoke as if a tape were playing back at a slower speed
• The spoken intros on the album are not recordings of the first intro at the start of the concert, despite a common belief

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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