Roger Waters' The Wall

Since its release in 1979, Pink Floyd's The Wall has sold more than 25 million copies, making it almost unfathomable that the band's career-defining album was originally designed by bassist and founding member Roger Waters as an escape from the mammoth stadium shows that caused him such disillusionment in the band's 1970s heyday.

But one gets the feeling that Waters' impending dates at Prague's 02 Arena won't cause him too many sleepless nights. Indeed, the seminal album and the rest of Pink Floyd's back catalog seem to have a special relationship with the Czech Republic.

According to Waters, The Wall has transcended its original coming-of-age narrative, which told the story of a young man trying to find his way in a fractious world, and has become a metaphor for the polarization of East and West, liberal and and conservative.

Having debuted in North America last year, the live version of The Wall has gone on to become one of the highest-grossing stage shows of all time, earning almost $100 million in its first year of production. Hefty ticket prices seem justified with the 250-foot-wide set comprising a purpose-built five-story wall, a state of the art light show, and interactive projections comprised of hi-res war film and fan footage.

The conceptual album, which was also made into a film starring Bob Geldof, tells the story of rock star Pink, loosely based on Waters himself, who goes mad after losing his father in World War II and becomes a fascist dictator. It may be a fantastical tale, but much of the protagonist's isolation and self-loathing mirrors that of Waters' experiences in Pink Floyd.

Having formed in London in 1965, the group's first leader was the inimitable Syd Barrett who oversaw their seminal 1967 debut, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Barrett's heavy drug use, however, led him to be ejected from the band a year later.

Having regrouped with keyboardist Richard Wright, drummer Nick Mason and friend David Gilmour, the band returned to the studio and began working on new material. Progress was haphazard but they gradually found their feet with Meddle, a brooding, ambient and wildly experimental exploration of the human condition.

Undeniably controlling but equally the most driven member of Pink Floyd, Waters assumed creative control of the group. During his years at the helm, from The Dark Side of the Moon in 1973 to The Final Cut in 1983, Pink Floyd became one of rock's most celebrated acts.

Since parting ways in 1985, Waters and his former band mates have performed together only once, at the Live 8 event in 2005. Rumors have continued to circulate about a possible reunion, with Waters recently hinting that Gilmour could be poised to take the stage with him on this current tour.

Waters has made progress without his fellow band mates, however, releasing four critically acclaimed solo albums, including the wildly ambitious Amused to Death, which found the bassist criticizing the rise of the mass media and ruminating on subjects including the original Gulf War, Tiananmen Square and U.S. foreign policy.

Politics, it seems, is a subject Waters is still very much preoccupied with, pledging his allegiance to the protests against cuts to education funding in the United Kingdom, hosting backstage meetings with U.S. war veterans and encouraging fellow musicians to avoid playing shows in Israel, citing a "two-tiered racist system."

But, while the Israeli wall might be a current concern for Waters, it's a wall of a very different kind that is set to have the town talking this week.

Andrew Fenwick can be reached at
afenwick@praguepost.com