The B List: 10 Reasons To Side With Roger

9. Simplicity – The haters will probably say it’s because he couldn’t play bass for shit, but Roger’s song writing illustrates an appreciation for a simple song as much as one with a dozen changes. Maybe it’s true what they say that Gilmour played bass on the trickier parts, but the man could write a beautiful song. He also exhibits unparalleled understanding of what his surrounding musicians could add to his compositions.

8. Attention to Detail – Waters is the playful one who masterminded all of those brilliant background sounds like the soft rustles of nature, wood chopping, military machines, and my personal favorite, screaming at the top of his lungs at very low volume behind the music. Ultimately, Waters is an artist who loves the theatrics and it comes through both on stage and even more so in the studio.

7. Solo Career – For my money, there’s far more mileage in Roger Waters solo albums, the Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking, Amused to Death, the soundtrack to When the Wind Blows, and the Final Cut (give or take) than Gilmour’s solo collection with the phony Floyd. I’ll admit, Radio K.A.O.S. sucked ass, but everyone gets one mulligan. Plus, he wrote an opera in 2005, so that counts for something right? No? Well, regardless Gilmour’s albums are more pick and choose, while Waters has gripping concept albums that are solid end to end.

6. Pronunciation / Enunciation – There’s nothing more fun about listening to Roger Waters than singing along as he carefully enunciates his words, forming sentences like, “When Brezhnev took Afghanistan, Begin took Beirut, Galtieri Took the Union Jack.”

5. Backing Musicians – With bonafide superstars like Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and David Sanborn adding the technical chops to the solo albums, it’s almost possible to get over the fact that there is no Gilmour filling out the sound. Clapton in particular on Pros and Cons lays down some incredibly poignant otherworldly guitar leads.

4. He Got Jipped on the Band Name and Most Song Rights – Despite David Gilmour not being a founding member, he continued to tour with Nick Mason under the Pink Floyd moniker. Sure, Roger Waters seemingly behaved like a prick in the later years, but they still should have let the Pink Floyd name lie. As for the song rights, I’d say they both acted pretty bitchy in fighting over them, but they actually divided them up with Gilmour and his Pink Floyd getting the majority.

3. He’s a Badass – Anybody who calls Andrew Lloyd Webber a bastard and accuses him of stealing his most famous melody, the opening of Phantom of the Opera, from Echoes, has big cajones.

2. His Voice – Not only is his singing voice soothing like mentho-lyptus and his whispers mesmerizing, but it turns into a saxophone on call (Post War Dream).

1. The Wall – I rest my case.

Now I leave it up to you. Who’s your favorite of the two?