*** ROGER WATERS “The Wall: Live in Berlin” <i> Mercury</i> : <i> Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to five stars (a classic). </i>

Restaging “The Wall” with a cast of zillions last July in an undivided Berlin was a grand gesture, but need we bother with another recording of the 1979 magnum opus Waters originally conceived for Pink Floyd?

Surprisingly, the answer is yes. The recording is a logistical achievement that seamlessly blends orchestra, choir, Waters’ extremely effective rock band and a succession of guest singers and soloists. While Cyndi Lauper misfires on “Another Brick in the Wall” and Sinead O’Connor underplays her role on “Mother,” many of the guest turns are exceptional: a shockingly husky-voiced but haunting Joni Mitchell, aggressive grit from Bryan Adams, Paul Carrack’s graceful R&B; classicism and, above all, Van Morrison’s impassioned “Comfortably Numb.”

Though repetitive, and short on pop aria compared to such standard-setting programmatic rock works as “Arthur,” “Tommy” or “Quadrophenia,” “The Wall” remains involving and gains thematic resonance from this performance’s locus (the Nazi fantasy sequence played in the heart of Berlin!). All in all, this Berlin “Wall” stands up well to the test of any live album: Hearing it, you wish you’d been there.