The Wall (1979) was one of Pink Floyd's most brilliant works. It was a double album that brought The Floyd back to mainstream genre and propelled them to their first US and British #1 single. Sadly, The Wall was also a signal of division within the band, as well as the end of an era.

There was conflict between Waters and Wright for some time. Waters gave Wright an ultimatum and threatened to re-record The Wall without him (since The Wall was basically Waters') if Wright did not quit. Wright, already having issues with back taxes decided to peacefully leave the band. He remarried, moved to Lindos, and sailed around Greece in his yacht. Needless to say, fans were baffled when the album came out and Wright was not on credits (something The Floyd kept private).

The Wall album is technically a Pink Floyd album, but was created and envisioned by Roger Waters. David Gilmour did write Run Like Hell, Young Lust, and Comfortably Numb. The impetus of Waters' masterpiece was sociocultural history surrounding that time in Europe and Waters' droning over his father's death during WWII (Battle of Anzio, Italy, 1944) when Waters was just five months old.

Pink Floyd The Wall movie (1982) was also one of Floyd's most brilliant pieces. Musical composition does not match the album versions entirely and adds theatrical dimension by it's star, "Pink", Bob Geldof, who plays a troubled, lucid rockstar expressing pathological symptoms of psychosis from too many shows, too many drugs, fame, and introverted social tendencies. It is clear to see parallels of story-telling inspired by true people and events, one being Syd Barrett, another one portraying Roger Waters as a child growing up in Europe with trappings of war and repressive societies.

"The story of The Wall is about Pink, a Rock and Roll performer, who sits locked in a hotel room somewhere in Los Angeles. Too many shows, too much dope, too much applause: a burned out case. On the TV, an all too familiar war film flickers on the screen. We shuffle time and place, reality and nightmare, as we venture into Pink's painful memories, each one a "brick" in the wall he has gradually built around his feelings." ~ Alan Parker, Director