The Final Cut (album) - Legacy

Legacy

With no plans to tour the album, Waters and Gilmour instead turned to separate solo projects. Gilmour recorded About Face in 1984, and used it to express his feelings on a range of topics, from the murder of musician John Lennon, to his relationship with Waters — who also began touring his new solo album, The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking. Mason released his second solo album Profiles in August 1985.

In 1985, Waters announced that he had left the band, and that he believed that Pink Floyd was a "spent force". He applied to the High Court to prevent the Pink Floyd name from ever being used again. His lawyers discovered that the partnership had never been formally confirmed, and Waters returned to the High Court in an attempt to gain a veto over further use of the band's name. Gilmour's team responded by issuing a press release affirming that Pink Floyd would continue to exist; however, he later told a Sunday Times reporter that "Roger is a dog in the manger and I'm going to fight him ...".

Waters wrote to EMI and Columbia declaring his intention to leave the group, asking them to release him from his contractual obligations. With a legal case pending, he dispensed with O'Rourke, and employed Peter Rudge to manage his affairs. He later contributed to the soundtrack for When the Wind Blows, and then recorded his second solo album, Radio K.A.O.S..

The Final Cut is sometimes viewed as a Waters solo record due to the combination of Pink Floyd's partial breakup and Waters' dominance on the project. The personal quality assigned to the lyrics are related to Waters' struggle to reconcile his despair at the changing social face of Britain, and the loss of his father in World War II. Despite this, Gilmour's guitar solos on "Your Possible Pasts" and "The Fletcher Memorial Home" are sometimes considered equal to his best work on The Wall. More recent reviews of the album have weighed its importance alongside the band's split. Stephen Thomas Erlewine writing for Allmusic said: "... with its anger, emphasis on lyrics, and sonic textures, it's clear that it's the album that Waters intended it to be. And it's equally clear that Pink Floyd couldn't have continued in this direction ...", and Stylus Magazine wrote: "It's about pursuing something greater even when you have all the money that you could ever want. And either failing or succeeding brilliantly. It's up to you decide whether this record is a success or a failure, but I'd go with the former every time." Mike Diver for Drowned in Sound was less generous: "Rays of light are few and far between, and even on paper the track titles—including 'The Gunner's Dream' and 'Paranoid Eyes'—suggest an arduous listen. Q Magazine once compiled a top ten list of depressing records, and this was on it. Enough said, I think."