Why 'The Final Cut' Started as a Roger Waters Solo Album — and How Pink Floyd Reacted

After finishing The Wall in 1979, Roger Waters began writing what he called a “soundtrack” for a never-made film called Spare Bricks. The material was deeply personal and political, driven by his anger over the Falklands War and his father’s death in WWII. Waters initially intended it as a solo project—his first without Pink Floyd. But EMI wanted another Pink Floyd album, and Waters figured the band’s name would guarantee a bigger audience. So he grudgingly brought in David Gilmour and Nick Mason to play on what became The Final Cut.

Gilmour later said the sessions felt like “working for Roger” rather than making a band record. He contributed lead vocals to only one track (“Not Now John”) and co-wrote nothing—Waters vetoed his input. Richard Wright, legally out of the band after The Wall tour, was completely absent. Mason later admitted he felt like a session drummer. The tension is baked into the album’s brittle sound; it’s essentially a Roger Waters solo album with a Floyd sticker on the front.