The Wall (movie) was my introduction to Pink Floyd, way back in 1986. I didn't really want to watch it, having only a vague notion of Pink Floyd as some weird band from the 70s and the thought of two hours watching some group I probably wouldn't even like sounded dull as dirt. But I didn't want to be rude, so I resigned myself to give in to peer pressure.
Needless to say I was hooked before they finished the first In The Flesh number.
Oddly, the only two songs I didn't like from the Wall were Vera Lynn (which still isn't much of a song to me) and Comfortably Numb. But Comfortably Numb became one of those occasional pieces that repeated listening convinced me not only was a decent song, but a freaking awesome song.
As a teen I liked Dark Side of the Moon, but preferred the other big three - The Wall, Wish You Were Here, and Animals. I was still in high school when Dark Side officially left the Top 200 album list after fifteen years, but it was't until I was in my thirties that I understood why Dark Side had that honor rather than The Wall. Those later albums were speaking directly to my teenaged cynicism and angst, while Dark Side was busy being a total symphonic musical experience the likes of which are very rarely seen even among the masters. Only rare pieces, like Beethoven's Fifth or Goetterdaemmerung strike me as similarly being constructed as a total listening creation, without any real gaps in a musical exploration from start to finish.
