The Wall is the eleventh studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd, released as a double album on 30 November 1979. It was subsequently performed live with elaborate theatrical effects, and adapted into a film, Pink Floyd The Wall.
As with their previous three studio albums The Wall is a concept album, and deals largely with themes of personal isolation. It was first conceived during the band’s 1977 In the Flesh Tour, where bassist and lyricist Roger Waters’ frustration with the spectators’ perceived boorishness became so acute that he began to imagine building a wall between the performers and audience. The album is a rock opera that centres on the character Pink, who is largely based on Waters. Pink’s life experiences, which begin with the loss of his father during the Second World War, and continue with abuse from his schoolteachers, an overprotective mother and the breakdown of his marriage, factor into his self-imposed isolation from society, represented by the metaphorical “Wall” of the album title.
The Wall features a notably harsher and more theatrical style than Pink Floyd’s previous releases. Keyboardist Richard Wright left the band during the album’s production but returned as a salaried musician, performing during later concerts. Hugely successful upon its release, in the United States (US) the album was one of the best selling of 1980. It is one of the best-selling double albums of all time, and is in the top five best-selling albums of all time in the US.
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