Pink Floyd announce 51st Anniversary Edition of The Dark Side of the Moon

Pink Floyd have announced the 51^st Anniversary Meta-Edition of their classic album The Dark Side of the Moon. (Apparently, they have made other albums.)

The album has been given yet another remix with representatives of the band stating this is the first to combine modern digital techniques and vintage analogue technology contemporary to the making of the album.

“Some found the recent Dolby Atmos mix to be very ‘modern’ sounding” said mix engineer James Guthrie. “We found that taking the newly re-digitised multitracks and routing them back through the original mixing desk gave as close as we could get to the sound Pink Floyd would have made if they had today’s technology in 1973.”

As close as they can get until next year, anyway.

The original quadraphonic mix was used as the basis for the new mix, enlisting a new hack of Pink Floyd’s legendary azimuth coordinator with additional channels added for modern sound reproduction.

The complete Meta-Edition will be released in an 8-disc box containing 5 CDs, each featuring 20% of the full mix and intended to be played simultaneously for full effect, the new Meta-mix on a single CD, The Dark Side of the Moon Live at Wembley again because up yours, and a Blu-ray disc containing the new Meta-mix in 5.1 and Dolby Atmos, the original unreleased Alan Parsons quad mix, a stereo fold down of the Meta-mix in 192kHz, 32-bit, and as yet unannounced video content, but probably the same concert films as the last three versions.

The Blu-ray also contains the individual multitracks in WAV format, which will allow fans to mix the 52^nd anniversary edition.

The full-on Meta-Edition comes housed in a 1/2048 sized pyramid which, as of the time of writing, also includes a hardcover book of photographs, a crystal prism, a silk handkerchief, a velvet pouch containing 3 grams of tobacco salvaged from Abbey Road ashtrays at the time of recording, a replica of Richard Wright’s shopping list from November 13^th 1972, and a 7-inch vinyl disc of the unremastered mono radio edit of Money because you’re made of it aren’t you.

This release will be followed in six months’ time by an individual release of the Blu-ray disc negating the need to buy all the other trash to get the good stuff, and the in early 2025 by a quarter-speed mastered, 220 gram, 45rpm double LP on holographic mirrored vinyl.

In a press release, David Gilmour described the 51^st Anniversary Edition as, “Probably the only version of The Dark Side of the Moon you need to own. This year.”

When contacted for comment, Roger Waters said, “Get the fuck off my lawn!”

 

The 51^st Anniversary Meta Edition of The Dark Side of the Moon is released on April 1^st, 2024.

Advice for Joe Hockey

Just in case you thought we weren’t governed by out-of-touch trolls (and if you did, then welcome back from Mars), Treasurer Joe Hockey today offered his perspective on housing prices.

First, he suggested that if housing were unaffordable then nobody would be buying it. Well that makes perfect sense. If certain people, however wealthy they may be, or whatever other sacrifices they make, or however much debt they plunge themselves into, can buy something, then it is ipso-facto, affordable, right? Simples!

Then he outdid himself by advising young first home buyers that “the starting point for first home buyers is to get a job that pays good money.”

See? Now why didn’t YOU think of that? Just go and get a good job that pays good money. I had always wondered why so many people work awful jobs for low pay. It turns out it was because nobody told them to get something better. Nobody knows how he expects everyone to do this without further inflating the market and how it squares with one of Australia’s biggest industrialist’s suggestion that Australians are paid far too much.

Of course, such questions are the natural product of thinking things through, something the treasurer obviously didn’t do.

My advice to Joe Hockey:
If you’re going to deliver economic advice based on Pink Floyd lyrics, leave the album going and listen to the next song.

The Bonus Discs - The Endless River

I admitted in a previous review of Pulse that I took Roger’s side in the great Pink Floyd schism of the 80s. Blame it on being a self-righteous 16yo at the time that I thought there had to be a “right” and a “wrong” side.

However, I stand by the assessment that the first post-Waters album, A Momentary Lapse of Reason, almost confirmed Waters’ assertion that the group was a spent-force creatively. Despite appearing at the top of the small-print credits of that album, Richard Wright had not yet officially rejoined the band after being kicked out by Waters following the recording of The Wall. (Wright had the last laugh though. Having been demoted to sideman and put on wages for the 1980 tour of The Wall, he was the only member of Pink Floyd to make any money out of the loss-making shows) His contributions, along with Nick Mason’s, to that album were minimal, partly due to being out of practice and partly due to Momentary Lapse being as much a Pink Floyd album as The Final Cut was. Also, the record tried so hard to sound like Pink Floyd that it ended up being a little embarrassing.

It sold by the ship-load though and gave all three the confidence to be themselves a bit more on The Division Bell seven years later.

Many of the songs on The Division Bell were composed the way Pink Floyd used to write in the late 60s and early 70s, by building ideas up from extended jams. It turns out The Division Bell was originally intended to come with a bonus disc of some of these jams. Time got away from them though and the idea was shelved, as was the idea of Pink Floyd as a group at the end of the ’94/’95 tour. They never officially broke up, they just stopped being Pink Floyd. The untimely death of Richard Wright in 2008 after a brief battle with cancer seemed to confirm that they would continue to not be Pink Floyd. That’s why when I first read rumours earlier this year about a new Pink Floyd album, I put them in the same folder that I send alerts about a new John Lennon tour to.

When it was revealed that David Gilmour and Nick Mason were cleaning up and building upon some of these unused jams, the notion of a new album made a lot more sense. It also sounded quite attractive just from that information. Gilmour and Wright continued jamming together until Rick’s passing. A few of those jams are included as bonus features on Gilmour’s concert DVDs and I thought at the time that a whole album of such material would not be unwelcome.

While there have been plenty of modern overdubs added, it’s evident that the music has not been changed too much. The fact that even on the CD and DVD, the tracklist is divided into four sides, tells us that this is going to be old school. The Endless River is a return to pre-Dark Side Pink Floyd – almost all instrumental and with deep but probably meaningless track titles for good measure.

It begins in classic Floyd style with a long, slow fade-in that makes you wonder if this thing is on and to be honest, the second track It’s What We Do does come just a little too close to a Shine On You Crazy Diamond pastiche. In fact, there’s a fair bit of self-reference in the music and it’s hard to tell if and when it’s deliberate or if it’s just the Floyd being Floyd. There are echoes (sorry!) of Us and Them, Run Like Hell, Sorrow, and even Another Brick… Part 3. Although the pieces started as improvisations, they never descend into pointless noodling. Sonically, the album is about mid-way between The Division Bell and Gilmour’s excellent solo album, On an Island.

The one vocal track, Louder Than Words, which closes the album, has Pink Floyd going a bit sentimental for once, but it’s still beautiful. Some might find it surprising that David Gilmour does bittersweet really well.

The main feature of the accompanying DVD is the 5.1 surround mix of the album. More than just a carrot for audiophiles, this is another aspect of Pink Floyd returning to their roots. They were always champions of surround sound. Even though they stopped mixing their albums in Quad when it became clear that not enough people were interested, their live shows were always in quadraphonic since the 70s and Roger Waters’ concerts still are.

In addition to the surround mix, there is 39 minutes of additional music split across video and audio sections. The piece titled Evrika is in fact Wearing the Inside Out in its early stages. The track called Nervana (sic) wouldn’t have really fitted into the main album but the only way to describe it is: It rocks! Even on their least over-thought album in 40 years, it’s refreshing and surprising to see and hear Pink Floyd being a simple rock and roll band for five minutes.

Much of the video is taking from in-studio cameras during recording. While it’s not the visual feast we have come to expect from Pink Floyd, it’s great to see them at work.

It would be cynical and unworthy to dismiss The Endless River as trawling the archives for some product to release. For all their internal bickering, Pink Floyd have always known how to remember the fallen. The album is first and foremost a tribute to Richard Wright, whose integral contribution to Pink Floyd’s sound was often overshadowed by the clash of egos between Waters and Gilmour. Not only is it a fitting tribute to Rick, it’s probably the most genuinely “Pink Floyd” album since 1975. After so much soap opera, it is an honest and dignified end to their recording career.

Audio: 24bit LPCM Stereo, Dolby 5.1, DTS 5.1 (album)

          LPCM Stereo (additional tracks)

Worth paying extra for? You’re mad if you don’t.

 

If I show you my dark side…

Last week was the fortieth anniversary of Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon.  Yes, we are all that old.  If you need me to tell you how good the album is, then there probably isn’t much I can do for you.  Just go and listen to it.  It’s streaming on their website, search YouTube, hell, steal it off bittorrent if you have to – they don’t need the money.

One of the many brilliant aspects of the album is the talking throughout various parts of the album, relating to the album’s themes.  They set up a series of cards with questions on them and invited anyone who happened to be around the studio to answer them.   Abbey Road doorman Gerry O’Driscoll provided many of pieces used, including the final statement about the dark side of the moon.  As David Gilmour says in Classic Albums, it’s the people who aren’t used to being interviewed who come up with the goods.  Wings happened to be recording at Abbey Road at the same time and all participated.  Paul and Linda’s answers were too guarded but Henry McCullough made the final mix with the timeless comment, “I don’t know, I was really drunk at the time.”

One of the special trinkets that came with the Immersion edition was Roger Waters’ handwritten recreation of the questions asked.  The first few questions were along the lines of “What is your favourite colour?” just to get people relaxed before getting to the relevant questions.  I very much doubt any of my answers would have been used, but this is what they would have been.

Are you afraid of dying?
Yes, I am.  I know it’s not cool on any level to admit it, but I am – partly because I don’t know what’s on the other side and partly because I don’t want to go before I’ve done everything I want to do.  That’s in addition to natural self-preservation instincts.  Nobody wants to die.  Given the choice, I think we all want to avoid it.

When were you last violent?
Truly, I can’t remember the last time I was violent towards another person.  I’ve always been against violence but I have to admit the primary reason I’m against violence is because I’m so bad at it.  Being against violence would mean more if I were more able to utilise it should I choose to.

Embarrassingly enough, the last time I behaved violently was when someone had pissed me off on the phone and I took out my frustration by beating the arm of the couch with a cushion.  I told you I was bad at violence but we all have violence in us – it’s just a question of how we express it.

Were you in the right?
Of course I was in the right but I would say that, wouldn’t I?

Do you ever think you are going mad?
Regularly – and beyond the usual, “I’m bonkers, me!”  or “everyone’s mad,” thing that everyone does once in a while.  I’ve always felt apart from whatever ‘normal’ is.  Most of the time, I’m happy to embrace that but there are also moments when I don’t feel I have control of what my mind is doing and that is… uncomfortable.

Most of the time though, I see people who are allegedly sane and I don’t want a bar of it.

If no, why?
Well, perhaps thinking you’re mad might be the best indication of sanity.

What do you think of The Dark Side of the Moon?
Fookin’ great album man!
 

THE STORY OF WISH YOU WERE HERE - Pink Floyd

This documentary may not be under Eagle Rock’s Classic Albums banner, but every bit as good as any release in that excellent series.  In parts, The Story of Wish You Were Here is just as much a tribute to Syd Barrett as the album itself it, but it focuses on how the rest of Pink Floyd related to Syd.  

The film features new interviews with Roger Waters, David Gilmour and Nick Mason as well as excerpts from an interview with Richard Wright in 2001.  Of as much interest as the band interviews are the additional people involved in the making of the album, including backing vocalist Vanetta Fields and recording engineer Brian Humphries, who reminds of how under-appreciated Richard Wright’s conclusion to Shine On You Crazy Diamond is.  There is also an interview with music journalist Nick Kent, whose stinging review of the Pink Floyd gig at which they premiered Shine On You Crazy Diamond eventually spurred them to reassess their approach to following up The Dark Side of the Moon.

Roy Harper tells the story of he came to sing on Have a Cigar and mentions how it rankles not only that he sang on a hit single and everyone thought it was Roger, but also that wags keep calling out for it at his gigs.  

Pink Floyd albums were all about the entire package though, so the film doesn’t just focus on the writing and recording of the music, but also features interviews with sleeve designer Storm Thorgerson, photographer Aubrey Powell and stuntman Ronnie Rondell, who is the burning man on the cover.  The Wish You Were Here live shows marked the beginning of Pink Floyd’s collaborations with artist Gerald Scarfe, who talks about the animated films he created for the show. 

Syd’s surprise visit to Abbey Road late in the recording of the album is discussed, but what it less well documented is the fact that Syd was persuaded to try making some new recordings at around the same time as Floyd were starting work on Wish You Were Here.  A short snippet from these abandoned sessions is included in the film. 

It’s unclear who commissioned this retrospective but by rights, this really should have been included with the Wish You Were Here box set, although that did have marbles and a scarf. 

Extras are in the form of extended interviews and performances.  Gilmour and Waters each play Wish You Were, with Gilmour layering both 12-string and lead.  The interviews veer into more philosophical subjects than just the making of the album.  Nick Mason makes a very interesting point that should have been in the main film, given the other theme of the album is the cynicism of the record industry, that if an album fails, then it’s the record company’s fault but if it succeeds, then it’s because of the artist. 

Highlight:  Isolating tracks on the master tapes

Feature:  * * * * *

Extras:  * * 

Audio: Dolby 5.1, Dolby stereo, DTS

Brain Humphries

Roy Harper

     

  

Oh, by the way,

While these five recent, Pink Floyd related concerts are all different shows from different people, it’s also fair to say that they all cover some very similar ground, and they all contain Shine On You Crazy Diamond and Comfortably Numb at least once.  You’d have to be a pretty hardcore fan (hello!) to want them all, so if you were only to get one or two, which is the best?

Well, that would depend on which of their many facets attracts you most to Pink Floyd.

If it’s the “whoa, cool!” factor you’re after, then get Pulse.  Nothing else comes close.  Remember That Night is a distant second.

If it’s a moving experience and social commentary that’s your thing, then In the Flesh is the clear choice.  Pulse, Remember That Night and Live in Gdańsk each have a couple of moments.

If you’re a guitar nerd, then you’re spoilt for choice.  David Gilmour in Concert is an obvious choice if only for the Spare Digits feature, but Pulse features a few finger close-ups as well.  Another interesting aspect of David Gilmour in Concert is that he picks up a Gretsch Duo Jet to play the world’s greatest guitar solo rather than his trademark Strat.  In fact, In Concert is completely Stratless.  You’ll be happy with any of the Gilmour shows, but don’t completely discount In the Flesh.  What is lacks in David Gilmour, is makes up for in Andy Fairweather Low, Doyle Bramhall II and Snowy White.  White is a bona fide Pink Floyd alumnus having played on the Animals tour and the original live shows of The Wall.  Bramhall may be mostly playing Gilmour’s parts, but being a left-hander who plays a guitar set up for a right-hander, he is playing them upside-down and backwards.

If you want great surround sound, then In the Flesh and Pulse are your two best bets.  Both were quadraphonic concerts to begin with and the surround mixes appear to match that.  The Gilmour shows tend to make less use of the surround feature, although the 4-disc version of Live in Gdańsk does include the surround sound version of On an Island, which is excellent.

While on the subject of audio, both In the Flesh and David Gilmour in Concert feature stereo streams in 24-bit LPCM (uncompressed) audio.  Pulse has the option of Dolby 5.1 at a higher than usually bitrate and the improvement is noticable.  None of the concerts offer DTS.

Finally, if it’s value for money you’re after, both Pulse and Remember That Night have several hours of bonus features.  If you’d like the option of just listening to the music, Live in Gdańsk is a live album that comes with a DVD and In the Flesh is available as a CD/DVD pack as well.

Oh, and if you’re epileptic, be careful of Pulse, Remember That Night and Live in Gdańsk.

The other way you might want to compare these shows is by the actual performances.  As mentioned, they all cover a lot of the same ground and only David Gilmour in Concert and the odd bit of Remember That Night make any serious deviation from well known arrangements.  Beyond that, the four different bands across these five DVDs all do a pretty good facsimile of each other.

The one Gilmour/Waters song that leaves a gaping hole where the other ought to be is of course, Comfortably Numb.  Each of the eight (count ’em) versions across these deevs tries with varying success to fill that gap.  There are those who really like the all-in harmonies of the 80s/90s Pink Floyd.  I am not one of them – although I have to say that listening to it again, I disliked it less than when I first heard it on Delicate Sound of Thunder.  Doyle Bramhall sings the Gilmour part competently on In the Flesh, but that’s all.  At the end of the song, Doyle Bramhall and Snowy White share the solo.  Doyle Bramhall is there to be David Gilmour and Snowy White is there to be Snowy White.  The solo concludes with them playing in harmony with each other and sounds pretty special.  The problem here is that it’s generally considered uncool for a lead guitarist to copy another’s licks (nor should players of White and Bramhall’s stature be expected to), but how do you improve on perfection?  They’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t.  Of Gilmour’s solo versions, the guest vocals of Robert Wyatt and Bob Geldof sound like they should be great, but they’re not.  Geldof in particular just phones it in.  Richard Wright’s fragile vocals on Water’s part are a pretty good but for me, the best version comes from David Bowie on Remember That Night.  I put this down to the fact that, more than all the others, Bowie understands Waters’ ideas about rock shows as theatre.

In the end though, the last great version of Comfortably Numb is either Pink Floyd at Live 8, or David Gilmour joining Roger Waters on The Wall in 2011.

 

LIVE IN GDAŃSK - David Gilmour (2008)

On an Island is an album of which David Gilmour is rightly proud, but the four-disc version of Live in Gdańsk contains the third and fourth complete versions of the album, all within two and a half years of each other, which might just be enough. 

Live in Gdańsk is primarily a live double album and the DVDs are bonus discs so they should be viewed as such.  Even so, it’s slightly disappointing that the concert film leaves out six tracks that are included on the album.  The concert was recorded at the Gdańsk shipyards with the Baltic Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra in Gdańsk and was timed to coincide with the 26th anniversary of the Solidarity movement.  This accounts for the addition of A Great Day for Freedom to the set list.

Other than that, it’s basically the same show as Remember That Night, with a Symphony Orchestra and without Crosby, Nash, Wyatt and Bowie; with Astronomy Domine and without Arnold Layne.  Indeed, we saw preparations for this show in the tour film included with Remember That Night. 

In isolation, it’s a great show.  The stage design is certainly interesting, with a row of six video screens focused constantly on each member of the band, rather than acting as a live telecast.  It’s a much better transfer than Remember That Night – the picture is much clearer and crisper.  Being an outdoor show, the sound is a bit less polished than the Albert Hall concert and generally sounds more ‘live.’  The presence of the orchestra isn’t really as noticable as it ought to be.

The rest of the first DVD is Gdańsk Diary, a film about the concert and its context, which also contains a fair bit of soundcheck footage.  This disc also contained a web-link to download bonus audio, but the download site has since been closed.  The bonus audio is available on the 5-disc version but no way is it worth paying $60 more for.

The main feature of the second DVD is On an Inland in surround sound and it is a great surround mix.  Unfortunately, it’s not high resolution DVD-Audio, but it does feature both Dolby and DTS options.  Unlike many other surround versions of albums, there is no vision to distract you from the music – just a black screen.  The additional features on this disc are literally more of the same as what’s on Remember That Night.  There are three more pieces from the Mermaid Theatre show including Wearing the Inside Out, two from the AOL Sessions and three from Live from Abbey Road.  The latter includes a clearly impromptu semi-acoustic version of Echoes, which also appears as an Easter egg on Remember That Night.  Finally, there are three Barn Jams which are quite interesting.

While all these bits and pieces are excellent, it would have been preferable to have more tracks from less sources on each disc – that is, have all the Mermaid Theatre pieces on Remember That Night and all the Live from Abbey Road tracks on Live in Gdańsk, for example.

Live in Gdańsk is a great concert and package, and it features Richard Wright’s last recorded performance, but it’s so similar to Remember That Night that you would need to be a completist to want both.

Highlight:  Astronomy Domine
Feature:  * * * ½
Extras: 3-disc version:  * * ½ 
            4-disc version: * * * * *
Audio: Dolby 5.1, Dolby stereo, DTS (On an Island surround version only)

REMEMBER THAT NIGHT - David Gilmour (2007)

Remember That Night is taken from a single performance at the Albert Hall in March 2006.  The show begins with the reliable openers of Speak to Me, Breathe and Time.  After that, the rest of the first set is given over to the complete performance of On an Island.  In a way, this is almost like a return to 70s Pink Floyd shows, where a complete performance of the current album was a reasonable expectation.  On an Island certainly deserves that treatment.  Graham Nash and David Crosby provide harmonies as they do on the album and Robert Wyatt guests on cornet on the instrumental Then I Close My Eyes, which becomes a lovely extended jam. 

The rest of the band include Richard Wright, Guy Pratt and Jon Carin who toured with Pink Floyd in the 80s and 90s, Phil Manzanera who co-produced On an Island, Steve DiStanislao (“pinched” from Crosby and Nash according to Gilmour) on drums, and regular Pink Floyd saxophonist Dick Parry.  

The second set contains the older Pink Floyd material.  While all the selections are familiar and welcome, Gilmour avoids the temptation to load it all with familiar hits (are you listening, Paul McCartney?)  It opens with Shine On You Crazy Diamond and the arrangement sits mid-way between the solo version that appears on David Gilmour in Concert and the regular band version.  Part one (or is it Part 2?) is played solo while the rest of the band join in for Part two (or is it Part three?).  When the vocal section begins (I’ve never known if that’s Part three or Part four, but you know the bit), Crosby and Nash return to provide the chorus, which is also based on the stripped-down arrangement of the previous concert.  Gilmour deserves great credit here for taking a Pink Floyd standard and presenting it in a fresh way without ruining the mood set by the original.  

Elsewhere, Fat Old Sun gains a big solo at the end and there are a couple of pieces from The Division Bell, but the first big highlight of the second set is a complete, 25-minute performance of Echoes.  It’s the first time Echoes has been performed in about thirty years, yet with one single distorted piano note from Richard Wright’s keyboard, everyone in the room knew what they were in for.

At the end of the show Crosby and Nash perform Stephen Stills’ Find the Cost of Freedom and then David Bowie joins the band to sing Arnold Layne.  It was one of Bowie’s last public appearances before his unofficial retirement.  Bowie stays to guest of Comfortably Numb.  Unlike so many other guest vocalists, he completely nails it and makes the song his own.

The second disc contains half an hour of songs from other Albert Hall shows, including a nice version of Wots… Uh, the Deal? from Obscured by Clouds, Wearing the Inside Out, and Richard Wright singing Arnold Layne.  

There are three documentaries.  The main one follows the tour and begins with a slightly awkward chance meeting with Roger Waters who had happened to book a rehearsal room at the same facility as Gilmour.  There’s also a film about the making of On an Island.  Both of these have the option of accessing additional scenes and interviews.  The third doco is a slightly throwaway piece on the US tour, partly filmed by Richard Wright.  

Other extras include two music videos, a performance of Syd Barrett’s Dark Globe from the 2006 tour, one piece each from The AOL Sessions and Live from Abbey Road, and five pieces from the live premiere of On an Island at the Mermaid Theatre.  For all this content, it would perhaps have been preferable to stick to just a couple of sources rather than having a little taste from so many different performances.

The menus are great but the length of the transitions make it a little frustrating if you’re trying to get to something quickly.

Highlight:  Echoes, Arnold Layne

Feature:  * * * * ½

Extras:  * * * * *

Audio: Dolby 5.1, Dolby stereo

"3D"

PULSE - Pink Floyd (1995/2005)

I must admit that I was on Roger’s side during the big Pink Floyd split.  It’s not that Waters was the be-all and end-all of Pink Floyd; it’s not that David Gilmour isn’t a brilliant composer and guitarist – I’d trade you 5 Steve Vais for one David Gilmour; and it’s not that Richard Wright wasn’t treated very shabbily and remains sadly underrated.  It’s just that without Waters, there was something missing.  Some reviewers suggested that despite their arguing, Waters and Gilmour needed each other and Gilmour later conceded that they each managed to temper the other’s worst excesses.  It was this concert film that softened my view.

Pulse makes you realise that Pink Floyd are bigger than any one man’s ego or legacy or anyone’s chosen definition of what Pink Floyd is.  Obviously the big attraction of this deev is the first complete filmed performance of The Dark Side of the Moon, however the setlist is not the same as the album of the same name which included Astronomy Domine and interestingly, Hey You.  Songs from The Division Bell are slightly overrepresented in the first half of the set, which is understandable since it was the current album at the time.  The first set is opened with Shine On You Crazy Diamond and concluded with Another Brick in the Wall part 2 and One of These Days.  The former is introduced with brief grabs of part 1 and concluded with samples from part 3 and just a hint of Dogs.  

Although they could have put the whole concert on disc 1 and the extras on disc 2, I like the fact that it’s split across both discs.  It enforces a break and provides some necessary chill out time between the early climax of One of These Days, and the beginning of The Dark Side of the Moon.  Although it was well known that they did Dark Side in its entirety during the 1994 tour, it wasn’t a given that they would do it every night.  Basically, they did it when they felt like it, so it’s a willing and loving performance.  Some of the band even look like they’re having fun.  There is a traditional encore of Wish You Were Here, Comfortably Numb and Run Like Hell, which is sadly ruined by some ridiculous grunting.

If you’re not bothered by the absence of Roger Waters – and sales have shown that millions aren’t – then Pulse is just about the ultimate Pink Floyd revue.  It has lasers, inflatable pigs, crashing planes, a lightshow that requires an epilepsy warning (seriously – it’s in the small print on the back cover) a stage that looks like a parked space-ship and a band that, within the context of the show, could just as easily be playing by remote control from an airship hovering above the city.  Or a completely different city.  

There’s no LPCM or DTS audio but there is the option of Dolby surround at the higher than usual bitrate of 640kbps and the difference in quality is noticable.

On the extras side, “packed” is an overused word but it’s the only way to describe the goodies here – so many of them that the sleeve notes provide a menu map.  Firstly, there are the amazing screen films, including alternate versions.  There’s a section called “Bootlegging the bootleggers,” which features four songs from a different show, shot on home video by the tour crew.  Home movies made by the crew are also used for a short tour documentary, and it’s actually more entertaining than many of the tour docos that are made specifically for DVD extras.  The video clips for Learning to Fly and Take it Back are included.  The former has an excellent 5.1 mix, the latter doesn’t and looks like it was mostly assembled from stock footage.  There is Pink Floyd’s induction into the (US) Rock and Roll Hall of Fame which includes Billy Corgan’s rambling introduction and a stripped back performance of Wish You Were Here.  Finally, there’s information about tour dates, stage plans, cover art and a photo gallery. 

Highlight:  The Dark Side of the Moon

Feature:  * * * * ½

Extras:  * * * * *

Audio: Dolby 5.1 at 448kbps, Dolby 5.1 at 640kbps, Dolby stereo

DAVID GILMOUR IN CONCERT (2002)

The main part of this film is David Gilmour’s performance from the 2001 Meltdown festival which was curated by Robert Wyatt.  It was Gilmour’s first performance as a solo artist since the mid 80s.

The concert opens with Shine On You Crazy Diamond, and although it may seem like a rather predictable choice to open the show with, it possibly the most amazing performance of the song ever attempted.  Can you imagine a solo acoustic version of Shine On?  It’s nearly three minutes into the piece before some of the audience twig. 

Freed of the responsibility of being Mr Pink Floyd, this is where Gilmour gets to play what he wants how he wants, which includes Syd Barrett’s Terrapin, Fat Old Sun from Atom Heart Mother, the debut performance of Smile, which would later appear on the excellent On An Island album, and Bizet’s Je Crois Entendre Encore from The Pearl Fishers.  With a band that includes a ’cello, double bass and a 12-voice choir, even the more familiar songs like Wish You Were Here and Coming Back to Life sound new and fresh.

At the end of the set are three pieces from a later concert at the same venue – another Syd Barrett song, Dominoes, Breakthrough, performed by Richard Wright and another version of Comfortably Numb with Roger Waters’ vocal part performed by Bob Geldof (Robert Wyatt performed the same part in the previous set.)  On paper, getting Geldof to sing looks like a stroke of genius since Geldof played the character of Pink in the film of The Wall.  On stage though, it doesn’t quite work.  Both Geldof and Wyatt read the lyrics off a piece of paper and give the impression that they have never heard the song before, which is a pity because the sparse arrangement is really lovely.

The special features are a bit of a grab-bag, but all good stuff.  Possibly of most interest is a section called Spare Digits, which features solos from the main concert but each with a single close-up of Gilmour’s fingers.   Non-concert related extras are a performance of I Put a Spell on You with Jools Holland and Mica Paris from 1991, Don’t from the Leiber and Stoller tribute concert in 2001 and a beautiful version of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 (Shall I compare thee) set to music by Michael Kamen.

Highlight:  Shine On You Crazy Diamond
Feature:  * * * *
Extras:  * * * * *
Audio: LPCM Stereo, Dolby 5.1

  

IN THE FLESH - Roger Waters (2001)

Although not completely idle through the 90s, Roger Waters was mostly invisible after the release of Amused to Death, with most of that time spent working on Ca Ira.  Then in 1999, without anything to promote, he quietly began touring again.  In the Flesh is taken from the 2000 North American tour, filmed in Portland. 

These were relatively low budget and low key shows.  The stage didn’t even feature video screens, instead using simple projections to illustrate the songs. 

The show begins, appropriately enough with In The Flesh, with Waters standing aloof from the band on a riser behind the drum kit.  This would have been awful if it had continued that way but he comes down to join the rest of the band after the opening number and from that point on, Waters really does tear down the wall.  In the sleeve-notes of the accompanying album, Waters says that he wanted to reconnect with his audience in a way that he hadn’t attempted since the pre-Dark Side days and he achieves this admirably.

The setlist is predominantly arranged by album.  With the exception of the finale of Brain Damage/Eclipse and Comfortably Numb, songs from each album are played together, if not in the original album order.  It’s not a greatest hits show either.  There are two selections from The Final Cut, the entire first side of Animals and most of Wish You Were Here.  Solo material is saved for the second half of the show including a long and powerful selection from Amused to Death.  The encore is a new song, exclusive to this set, called Each Small Candle.

This arena show is about as intimate as any Pink Floyd-related show has ever been and is ever likely to be.  No flying pigs or exploding fighters here.  This is not to say that there isn’t some sense of theatre to the show but for the most part, the music is allowed to stand alone.  In the Flesh may be a rather obvious title for this concert, but it’s also most apt.

Extras are a 17-minute fly on the wall documentary or rehearsals and tour preparation, a photo gallery and band biographies.

Highlight:  Dogs
Feature:  * * * * ½
Extras:  * *
Audio: LPCM Stereo, Dolby 5.1
   

  

The Bonus Discs - The Wall

The third and final volume of the expanded editions of The Best Pink Floyd Albums Ever is, I’m sorry to say, a bit of a letdown.  It pains me to say this because The Wall was one of the first albums that made me realise that someone else gets it.  The remastering job is superb with beautiful clarity but in contrast to the other Immersion editions, this feels hastily put together to meet a release schedule.

Discs three and four in the boxed edition are Is There Anybody Out There – the live version of The Wall recorded from performances in 1980 and 1981, which has been available on CD since 2000.  It’s hard to imagine anyone considering this edition not having that album already.  What’s missing from this version are the excellent sleeve notes from the original 2000 edition, even though there was plenty of room in this package for them.

And so to the previously unavailable material which makes up discs five and six.  These are the demo version of The Wall, including Roger Waters’ original home demos.  The demo discs are broken up into seven “programmes.”  James Guthrie’s sleeve notes (printed on the cardboard disc sleeves – seriously people, you couldn’t spare one page in the two picture books for some sleeve notes?) explain that this sequencing is to represent both the separate sessions and the different track sequences that were experimented with during recording.

The first programme Roger’s initial demos which Nick Mason once described as “unlistenable.”  (One can only assume he hadn’t heard Ummagumma recently.)  They have been edited down to highlights, which does make sense but some of the songs are so heavily edited that you start to think you’re listening to The Wall megamix.  There are then five programmes of band demos, sometimes interspersed with Waters’ demos and disc six concludes with David Gilmour’s home demos of Comfortably Numb and Run Like Hell. 

Although fascinating in places, the demo discs don’t reward repeated listening.  Not that they ought to or course – they were never intended for public consumption.  Some of the highlights include,

The first band demo of Another Brick in the Wall, (disc 5, track 24) which baits the audience with lines like, “We don’t need your adulation,” and, “you should have seen them in the early days.”

Teacher Teacher – a song that would eventually evolve into The Hero’s Return on The Final Cut, and presents a much more sympathetic view of the teacher character.  Both this early version and the one that was eventually released are written from the point of view of a returned soldier suffering what would now be called post traumatic stress disorder, who falls into teaching as a way of making ends meet. 

Young Lust – same basic tune but effectively a completely different song to what was eventually used on the album.

Sexual Revolution – eventually included on Waters’ solo album The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking, which was written at the same time as The Wall.

The Doctor (Comfortably Numb) (disc 6, track 5) – There was clearly work to do on Comfortably Numb, and every change they made was the right decision, but this does reveal that The World’s Greatest Guitar Solo (it just is, okay?) was well on the way to being fully formed even in the first rehearsals.

The single disc of demos included on the “experience edition” is culled from the best of these two discs, so that makes the medium-sized version far more attractive to those who want to hear how The Wall took shape but don’t fancy spending $100 or more.

That just leaves us with the DVD, the main portion of which is the documentary Behind The Wall, which was made in 2000 around the same time as the release of Is There Anybody Out There?  Although not new, it is previously unavailable on DVD.  Also included on the DVD are a previously unreleased interview with designer Gerald Scarfe from 1982, a restored version of the video clip for Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2, and a live version of The Happiest Days of Our Lives from Earls Court in 1980 which lasts all of 82 seconds.

The problem with this box set is that there’s so much that we know is missing.  For a start, there’s the film.  It’s been available on DVD since 1999 and again, while it’s fair to assume that anyone who wants this box set already has the DVD, but if this is the Immersion Edition, then let’s do it properly.  Hi-def Blu-ray perhaps?  Nup!  The documentary reminds us that The Wall was devised as an album, a show and a film all at the same time, yet while we know there is complete film of The Wall concerts, only an insultingly small amount of it is included.  Many have already complained about the lack of a 5.1 mix.  Engineer James Guthrie has said that a surround mix is in the pipeline and its eventual SACD release will immediately make this edition less than definitive.  Even so, the music for the film was remixed in 5.1.  And what about the album of music from the film that was mooted in 1982 but never eventuated?

In fairness, there are probably various legal reasons why some of these could not have been added.  For a start, the film of The Wall is owned by Sony, not EMI and many of the copyrights relating to The Wall are owned by Roger Waters personally rather than Pink Floyd as a group.  Be that as it may, the release should have been held over until they could have made it a true immersion edition.  The cover is bloody awful too.  Storm Thorgerson is brilliant and Gerald Scarfe is brilliant but they do not exactly share a creative vision.  They should have stuck with Scarfe’s minimalist original, but if they couldn’t do that, any page of the Thorgerson-designed book would have made a better cover than this pointless collage.

It contains all the trinkets that are included in the other Immersion editions but in terms of actual content, what we get for paying anywhere between three and five times the price of the experience edition is a second disc of demos and an hour long documentary.  Not even close to the magnificent standard set by the Dark Side of the Moon box.

Worth paying extra for?
Sadly, no.

Comfortably Numb - initial 1985 CD release 

Comfortably Numb - from the Shine On box set, 1992

Comfortably Numb - 1994 remaster 

Comfortably Numb - 2011 remaster

Comfortably Numb - from Is There Anybody Out There? 2000 remaster

Comfortably Numb - from Is There Anybody Out There? 2011 remaster

Another Brick in the Wall - from Pink Floyd The Wall DVD, 1999

Another Brick in the Wall - 2011 restoration