Amused to Death, Roger Waters' latest studio album in his solo career, is definitely his best one.  Besides being a lot more coherent and well written, with Waters' best lyrics ever, than his previous two solo albums, it also serves as a sort of continuation to his final two Pink Floyd albums, The Wall and The Final Cut.

To no one's surprise, this is a concept album, although the concept is slightly different from that of The Wall and The Final Cut, and conceptually is a continuation of one of his other solo albums, Radio KAOS as well.  While Radio KAOS was an album that was about the dangers of radio and relying too much on it, Amused To Death bashes television, and how we take everything on it, no matter how serious it is, as entertainment.  The range of examples that Waters uses is wide, from oil greed and organized religion to the Tienenmen Square protest.  So there still is a lot of the anti-war sentiment that was present in his final two Floyd albums.

Waters has assembled a fine group of musicians here, and although there aren't that many moments that truly showcase the bands' abilities, their playing is still excellent.  Most notable is Jeff Beck on guitar, who plays great emotional guitar on the first track, blazing solos on What God Wants Part 1, and even an acoustic ballad for Watching TV.  With that said though, this album is still primarily about the lyrics, and anyone going into this album expecting sidelong instrumentals and jams is gonna be disappointed.

Now on to the highlight tracks.  The three parts of What God Wants are all wonderful, although musically, the first two parts are the best, with some fantastic guitar playing by Jeff Beck.  Lyrically, the song is about organized religion, and specifically targets evangelists and people that randomly cite God to support whatever cause they want (my personal favorite line being "God wants widows, God wants solutions, God wants TV, God wants contributions").  The soulful female backup vocals and chorus that Pink Floyd used on their albums is here in full force on this album, and is used wonderfully.  The two parts of Perfect Sense are the primary anti-war songs, with the first part comprising mainly of a beautiful performance by Waters' backup vocalist, and the second part being one of the most creative songs that Waters has ever written, describing an American attack on an oil rig in the style of sports commentary.  One of the most effective tracks on the album.

The last three tracks however, are where Rogers truly has his finest moments.  Three Wishes is one of the most beautiful songs that Waters has ever written, and the backup vocals really shine here.  Even though I've read the lyrics, I still have no idea what the song is about, though.  It's A Miracle contains some of the most sarcastic lyrics that Waters has ever written, and even includes a shot against Andrew Lloyd Webber, which earns a thumbs up from me.  And then comes the pinnacle of the album, the final track, the title track Amused To Death, which finally gives an explanation to the title of the album, with some fantastic vocals from both Waters and the backup chorus.  This is easily the most emotional piece on the album, and it's amazing that it can hold up so well without sounding lame or whiny.

I guess I would say that the only drawback to this album is how unbelievably long it is..  there are some tracks that I usually always skip when I give it a spin(like the two parts of Late Home Tonight), but other than that, it's pretty much perfect.  So unless you didn't like The Wall and The Final Cut, then this is a must-listen.