Released on 15 June 1987 in the United Kingdom and June 16 in the United States, it was Waters' first solo album after his formal split from Pink Floyd in 1985.
Like his previous and future studio albums and many works of his during his time with Pink Floyd, the album is a concept album based on a number of key topical subjects of the late 1980s, including monetarism and its effect on citizens, popular culture of the time, and the events and consequences of the Cold War.
It also makes criticisms of Margaret Thatcher's government, much like Pink Floyd's The Final Cut, another album conceived by Waters.
The album follows Billy, a mentally and physically disabled man from Wales, forced to live with his uncle David in Los Angeles after his brother Benny was sent to prison after an act intended to support striking coal miners results in the death of a taxi driver, following his dismissal from his mining job due to "market forces."
The album explores Billy's mind and view on the world through an on-air conversation between him and Jim, a disc jockey at a local fictitious radio station named Radio KAOS.
Roger Waters' second solo album is yet another conceptual narrative, one that tells the tale of a wheelchair-bound boy who tries to halt the threat of nuclear war through his use of the HAM radio. The story line isn't held together as tightly as his first album, and the whole fable seems a little too far fetched, even when taken lightly.
Unlike The Pros and Cons album, the music here overrides the narrative, but not by much, highlighted by the upbeat pop single "Radio Waves." The last tune, entitled "The Tide Is Turning," is the only other focal point of the album, an honest-sounding ballad that relinquishes a glimmer of hope in an otherwise unpromising world.
Waters' anti-war theme is stretched full across the album, but the music itself struggles to capture any attention, bogged down by half-whispers and flat-lined melodies that are only slightly resuscitated from time to time with some trumpet and saxophone.
The novelty of Los Angeles disc jockey Jim Ladd wears off quickly, as he was obviously used to add some lightheartedness to the album's pessimistic undertones. Waters' use of imagery and thematic depth are absent from Radio K.A.O.S., leaving his superficial spiel with barely any sustenance, which in turn hinders the moral of the album so that it fails to reach its fruition.
While both The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking and Amused to Death convey his talented use of concept, imagination, and lyrical mastery, this album seems to be nothing more than a fictional tale with a blatantly apparent message.
The album was recorded at Waters' own personal studio in London called The Billiard Room and mixed at Odyssey Studios in London.
Recording was done with the aid of Roger Waters' Bleeding Heart Band.
Track listing
1. "Radio Waves" - 4:58
2. "Who Needs Information" - 5:55
3. "Me or Him" - 5:23
4. "The Powers That Be" - 4:36
5. "Sunset Strip" - 4:45
6. "Home" - 6:00
7. "Four Minutes" - 4:00
8. "The Tide Is Turning (After Live Aid)" - 5:43
All tracks are written by Roger Waters.
Personnel
- Roger
Waters – vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, bass guitar,
keyboards, shakuhachi
- Graham
Broad – percussion, drums
- Mel
Collins – saxophones
- Nick Glennie-Smith – DX7 and E-mu on
"Powers That Be"
- Matt
Irving – Hammond
organ on "Powers That Be"
- John
Lingwood – drums on "Powers That Be"
- Andy Fairweather Low – electric
guitars
- Suzanne Rhatigan – main background
vocals on "Radio Waves", "Me or Him", "Sunset
Strip" and "The Tide Is Turning"
- Ian Ritchie – piano, keyboards,
tenor saxophone, Fairlight programming, drum programming
- Jay
Stapley – electric guitars
- John
Thirkell – trumpet
- Peter Thoms – trombone
- Katie
Kissoon, Doreen Chanter, Madeline
Bell, Steve Langer & Vicki Brown – background vocals on
"Who Needs Information", "Powers That Be" and
"Radio Waves
- Clare
Torry – vocals on "Home" and "Four Minutes"
- Paul
Carrack – vocals on "The Powers That Be"
- Pontarddulais Male Voice Choir -
chorus
- Paul Batchelor – assistant
engineer
- Noel Davis – choir master
- Nick Griffiths –
co-producer on "Me or Him" and "The Powers That Be"
- Kate Hepburn – cover design
- Eric Jones – choir
arrangement
- Chris
Sheldon – engineer
- Kevin Whyte – aasistant engineer
Notes
Released: 15 June 1987
Recorded: October – December 1986 Studio Billiard Room (London)
Genre: Progressive rock
Length: 41:24
Label - EMI Columbia
