Roger Waters Songs Ranked

George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English songwriter, singer, bassist, and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band, Pink Floyd. Waters initially served solely as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, he also became their lyricist, co-lead vocalist, and conceptual leader.
Pink Floyd achieved international success with the concept albums The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977), and The Wall (1979). By the early 1980s, they had become one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful groups in popular music; by 2013, they had sold more than 250 million albums worldwide. Amid creative differences, Waters left in 1985 and began a legal dispute over the use of the band’s name and material. They settled out of court in 1987.
Waters’ solo work includes the studio albums The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984), Radio K.A.O.S. (1987), Amused to Death (1992), and Is This the Life We Really Want? (2017). In 2005, he released Ça Ira, an opera translated from Étienne and Nadine Roda-Gils’ libretto about the French Revolution. As a member of Pink Floyd, he was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. Here are all of Roger Waters’s songs ranked.

Don’t miss out on the music of Roger Waters! Click and enjoy the sounds away from Pink Floyd!

15. 4:41 AM (Sexual Revolution) (The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, 1984)

“Roger’s ambition outpaced his execution just a bit. He had nice help, though. Check out that Clapton solo on “4:41 AM (Sexual Revolution).” Almost better than anything else he (Clapton) was doing around that time.”

14. Watching TV (Amused to Death, 1992)

“If you listen to the lyrics on the hard to bear “Watching TV” track, you will notice that this song is for the memory of an Asian woman who died on TV. As the tracks go by, it seems the music tends to more floating and atmospheric moods, more keyboards oriented, especially on the 3 last tracks.”

13. Who Needs Information (Radio K.A.O.S., 1987)

“In the case of Who Needs Information, it is a semi-ballad, telling the story of the ‘actors’. The totally political chorus is a typical case of Waters’ sensational writing. I’m still excited about the way he writes in a simple but sensational way. And again the vocals recorded by him are extremely sensitive. The female choir again makes an incredible difference. More amazing is the coral at the very end, imitating sound waves.”

12. Smell the Roses (Is This the Life We Really Want?, 2017)

“You scream, I scream, this is by very far the best track Roger Waters recorded since the days of his Pink Floyd stroke of genius The Wall back in 1979! His voice is old, but his soul is young, and if the forthcoming album is only half as impressive as this track, it will be a real good one.”

See more: Roger Waters Albums Ranked

11. Lost Boys Calling (The Legend of 1900, 1998)

“When the soundtrack for “The Legend of 1900″ won the Golden Globe in its repective category, I was practically cheering. It’s a really awesome soundtrack, and it swept me off my feet. The music is simply beautiful and passionate, grippingly sensual, and, in a way, poetic. The music touched my heart, and its luminous brilliance is obvious.”

10. Déjà Vu (Is This the Life We Really Want?, 2017)

“The lyrics start with Roger Waters making fun of himself–“If I had been God/I would have rearranged the veins in the face to make them more resistant to alcohol and less prone to aging”, then makes fun of god–“I would have sired many sons and I would not have suffered the Romans to kill even one of them”– then goes after the impersonal war, and ends with some fatalistic words about the futility of it all, wrapped up in a deceptively lovely acoustic ballad.”

9. The Bravery of Being Out of Range (Amused to Death, 1992)

“Possibly one of his heavier solo songs. This in my opinion is one of my favorites from Amused to Death. That is my favorite Waters solo album, which makes this one of his best ever!”

8. Each Small Candle (In the Flesh, 2000)

“I will say that “Each Small Candle” was an immediate hit with me. I think it may show that Mr. Waters has made some real strides in coming to terms with his past.”

7. Amused to Death (Amused to Death, 1992)

“Amused to Death is drowning in the overuse of background singers. Its musical balance is severely off-kilter due to political lyrics. That said, it is Waters’s best solo album, and even better than the Final Cut. First, it has good energy. Second, it has that classic Floyd atmosphere (see It’s a Miracle for that pre-Dark Side sound). Third, you know who this is and what it is when you hear it. This is a unique work. Call parts of it bombastic, or indulgent, but it has its own merits within this context.”

6. What God Wants, Pt. I (Amused to Death, 1992)

“What God wants” starts with some female vocals which are OK at first, but when Roger starts singing it’s clear his voice is shot. NONE of his vocals on here have the same impact as any of his PF stuff. And as for the female vocals, they seem OK at first but then I noticed that they were splattered all over nearly every song.”

5. 5:06 AM (Every Stranger’s Eyes) (The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking, 1984)

“After an album that is frankly pretty much shite he suddenly comes out with this gem. A magnificent song – classic Waters. Love the way it builds to an emotional climax. The live version off In the Flesh is perhaps even better.”

See more: Peter Gabriel Albums Ranked

4. It’s a Miracle (Amused to Death, 1992)

“It’s a Miracle” is a song that makes your skin crawl. Waters sounds impossibly cynical, impossibly old, ripping apart “truths” that apparently nobody with two brain cells to rub together (hey kids, claiming “9/11 was an inside job” is a great way to make sure I never take seriously anything you have to say ever again) has even bothered to question since.”

3. Perfect Sense (Amused to Death, 1992)

“Waters at his best, perhaps his best composition ever (even when including his PF works). PP Arnold’s vocals are fantastic, and the lyrics are also among his best. The best song of one of the greatest albums of all time”

2. The Tide is Turning (Radio K.A.O.S., 1987)

“This track seems to have been composed part of the rest of the album, since in addition to not having to do with the concept, the previous track makes it clear that the story was finished. Not that it disturbs anything. A very interesting track, and how could it be, political, a matter of extreme importance for Waters. Almost at the end the vocalizations a la chorale church only beautifies the track and the end of the disc.”

1. 5:01 Am  (The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking, 1984)

“The first Post Floyd album by Roger Waters. Heavily influenced by The Wall this record plays like a long dream sequence about a wealthy man and his relationships with family, particularly his wife, as well as other seemingly random characters.”