# In 1987, Roger Waters made an album he called his greatest work. Years later, he admitted it was his biggest failure

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/in-1987-roger-waters-made-an-album-he-called-his-greatest-work-years-later-he-admitted-it-was-his-biggest-failure/
- Published: 2026-11-11T16:30:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-11T17:41:38+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/1987-roger-waters-made-album-he-called-his-greatest/
- Topics: Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- Waters once rated Radio KAOS among his finest work.
- He later said its narrative was doomed to fail.
- Weak sales reportedly deterred him from touring solo material.

## Summary

After leaving Pink Floyd, Roger Waters made Radio KAOS in 1987, a synthesiser-led concept album he initially called some of his best work. He later judged its narrative unsuccessful, illustrating how his confidence in his solo material shifted and how the album’s production has aged.

Waters said he recognised halfway through recording that the story was “doomed to failure”, but chose to continue. The article argues that several songs work better without the elaborate studio textures; ‘The Tide Is Turning’ later featured in his 1990 Berlin performance of The Wall. It also says weak sales discouraged Waters from touring his solo work, including material from his later album Amused to Death.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.