Pink Floyd / Dark Side of the Moon Immersion Edition / FIRST LISTEN

Will the earlier albums be re-released on vinyl?

Hello,
and thank you for this opportunity to relay questions through your good self, to guys in the know (hopefully), when it comes to all things Floyd – recording wise.
I was a bit baffled by some of the questions posed by other contributors, and this reiterates what Deck Sexton queried in his comment regarding exactly what quad mix, hires, center channel, etc, refer to. And i say this because i have listened to Floyds music for so many years now, that i feel i know these particular proposed enhanced releases well enough to enjoy them with just the current basic cd format i have.
Now having said that, when i did first get my compact disc copy of `The Dark Side Of The Moon`, it was only on that occasion that i realised that the snap, crackle, pop on my previous vinyl version, was not actually part of the recording. I jest of course, because i guess i will be intrigued to hear the different mixes in the overdue but very welcome and exciting enhanced album packages.
I would also like to support what Jon Kirsch said regarding bootlegs and fans desire to extend their fascination with the band by indulging in the unofficial availability of recordings – be it outtakes or live shows. Thus i would like to back Marc Ross`s suggestion of a `Bootlegging The Bootleggers` compilation of clips from the `In The Flesh Animals` tour, to create a visual record of those shows, and along with a hopeful live album recording of a complete show. The `Animals` tour certainly comes through from the comments posted, as the most anxious for fans to be rewarded with live material.
Anyway – enough of my prattling – im assuming that these three scheduled releases -` The Dark Side Of The Moon`, `Wish You Were Here`, and `The Wall` – are the first chosen (before the whole of the back catalogue is re-packaged and enhanced in similar ways), because of the popularity and enormous success these albums have had, and thus my own comments id like you to relay to Andy and Paul are as follows;

– Possible additions to early-Floyd packages could include `The Man Suite`, `Moonhead`, and live BBC sessions including recordings of `Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun`, `Careful With That Axe, Eugene`, and `A Saucerful Of Secrets.`

– Possible additions to pre-`Dark Side`releases could include the two unreleased versions of `Love Scene` from the `Zabrieskie Point` sessions, and again BBC live sessions featuring `Atom Heart Mother`, `One Of These Days`, and `Echoes`.

– Post `The Wall` album releases could include `The Division Bell` jam outtakes, and an album of ambient music recorded during the `Division Bell` sessions that was almost released called `The Big Spliff`.

Now alot of comments and requests from fans could be interpreted as being just a little self-indulgent, and that er, includes me – but after waiting and hoping and wondering what goodies have been hidden away in the EMI vault for so many years, and seeing other artists release Box-Sets with unreleased tracks, well finally it looks like these proposed packages can satisfy current fans, and provide a legacy for the further enhancement and promotion of The Pink Floyds music, for generations of new fans to discover and enjoy. Here here to that!
My apologies for my contribution in being just a little overlong – but i hope it has made for an interesting read.

Regards,
Michael

will there be live footage from 73-77 in the near future?

As we are all Pink Floyd fanatics, it’s great to read all these articles relating to the 3 “Immersion” box sets that are due at various stages. I for one can’t wait to purchase all 3 when the “Time” arrives. Having a browse through the web-site “Brain Damage” my initial reaction was DSOTM 6 discs WYWH 5or 6 discs {can’t get any better than that my god, gobsmacked, mammoth}
and The Wall 7 discs in various sound formats, the way i look at the extras on each disc will no doubt be of stunning quality. I have just recently bought a brand new set of speakers, a Denon av surround sound receiver and with HDMI cables and thick video cables, the sound is amazing and extremely loud and crystal clear, it’s like having a rock concert in your own living room, recently bought Apocalypse Now 3 disc bluray can you imagine the sound of the helicopters & The Doors in 5.1 dts!! With DSOTM when it first came the sound was mind blowing. To now have that album on bluray will be out of this world, and WYWH in 5.1, mouthwatering!! Let’s hope the Wall is similar if not gee 7 discs hmm, and this one cracks me up 3 marbles inclusive, is that included in all 3? Bring it on!!

Thanks for the great information and all the great questions above too :-)

I have the Beatles Mono Box Set and it’s fantastic, compared to anything I have including Stereo remixed vinyl. I read reports of other recent and even forthcoming remasters being “compressed for loudness”. Given the information you already have, it seems unlikely they would be so foolish as to kill the dynamic range, and I pray that the sound will be as good as the Beatles Mono versions, but perhaps the questions to pose are something like these:

1. What was the mission in terms of audio quality and how and when to make changes? Was the goal a) to be wholly authentic to the original at all costs, b) to remix / remaster as though it was a new project and ‘how would we do this today and for today’s listening equipment’, or c) some other set of goals or approaches?

2. What should we expect to sound different, and why?

3. If a tough decision had to be made, for example a trade-off or compromise, who made the call?

As a default I think I will get the Box set as I want to hear every album.

I left my vinyl versions back in the UK a long time ago and have never managed to move them to the states (yet) :-(

Julian

My question is, why is the blu ray content duplicated on 2 DVDs in the immersion sets of WYWH and DSOTM? Seems to just add unnecessary cost and heft to the package. For instance Dark Side is 6 discs for $130 on Amazon, but it’s really 4 discs of unique content if you disregard the worthless DVDs which comes out to $32.50 per disc. I’m not willing to pay that and I’m sure I’m not alone – looks like the 2 disc versions for me, but I’ll miss all the bluray stuff.

Have any overdubs been done and if yes how did they get round David’s “Black Strat” being changed in it’s makeup over the years?

Not on this line, but any chance of asking David if he has considered asking Rick’s heirs for Rick’s demos he did on what would have been his next solo album; combining their musical ideas and releasing a Gilmour/Wright album in support of Cancer Research.

Have any overdubs been done and if yes how did they get round David’s “Black Strat” being changed in it’s makeup over the years?

Not on this line, but any chance of asking David if he has considered asking Rick’s heirs for Rick’s demos he did on what would have been his next solo album; combining their musical ideas and releasing a Gilmour/Wrigth album in support of Cancer Research.

Hi,

I read an interview to Mr. Waters about a year or two ago, where he mentioned a complete footage from “the wall” tour concert (era 80-81) will be released at some point. Is it true? If so, will it be released any time soon? I think it would be an appropriate time to do it, given the current world tour where he’s redoing the show and the reissues to come.

The question I have is:
Will something happen towards their solo efforts? After Rick’s sad passing, I understand he was working on new material. Would possible bonus tracks on a “The Division Bell” Immersion set, include Mr Gilmour playing on some of the “Broken China” tracks. As I’ve read, these were in the end withheld.

“The Four Yorkshire man!”
It’s been a long time coming, this stuff to come out. Not quite sure what actually changed the bands mind! (“last ditch attempt to do a physical release” sounds a bit weak as a reason for issuing this lot.)
I recently met Nick at a Queen Exhibition in London. Maybe he thought “We should do the same”!
However there’s ton’s of complaints about the Queen releases(Not raiding the archive enough… etc…)!
But my god both bands have laid down some of the most stunning pieces of music and visual stimulae.
As somebody mentioned above Pink Floyd are sonic masters when it comes to their releases!
They wouldn’t stick out any old crap.
I think we as fans, although bloody frustrating at times this has been, we have liked this….the self-editing thing!

I hope they get some very good coverage. With no cheap and nasty ITV1 “Band Wagon” programmes aired. Where closet fans turn up, like Simon Cowell and Piers Morgan talking about the band(Blurghhhh!). It makes you wonder where some of these “so-called Fans” have been! I’ve liked the band since 1987. I’ve been collecting ever since. Some of the visual things I’ve seen over the years has been totally stunning and so inspiring! “And you try tell the youth of today about how bloody great they are, and they won’t bloody believe you!”

Best wishes,

Grumpy Rob:)
(p.s. Well done on your scoop, Mr Sinclair!)

Can’t wait for the whole collection to be issued – I too would like to hear the Quad versions of Atom Heart Mother – and Meddle if they too will be made available PLEASE!!. To hear a quad version of Echoes would satisfy my thirst – first time I heard it was Liverpool 73, and I have been hooked ever since. The quad versions previously released of WYWH an DSOTM are brilliant – the way they were meant to be heard – so to have them all released with the added extras will be just the best ever. And again – Quad Division Bell /Pulse would be nice too – but I am too greedy.

This has been mentioned a couple of times, but please ask them if there will be Immersion editions of Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Saucerful of Secrets. I would be most interested in the outtakes and unreleased material from that era.

Looks like from previous comments, one of the most popular releases would be a 5.1 mix of The Wall, unedited and featuring the original running order.

The Wall would have to be the most suitable album for a surround mix with all its effects and dynamics.

You can add me to the list of fans awaiting this release along with an album of rarities. There are a number of tracks missing from the current reissues that are freely available on bootleg. It would be good to collect these, especially single edits and mixes in CD quality.

If the current reissues are supposed to be the final CD releases ever, then they’ve missed their chance to collect all that’s available together. And as the immersion sets are aimed at die-hard fans, there’s no reason to leave anything off.

Didn’t go thru all the emails so sorry if this was asked – but when will the vinyl versions of the Immersion sets be available. Really don’t want to buy two sets but may have to if the wait is too long :)

Thanks for this excellent article and great preview of what is still to come!

My question would be if The Wall will finally be released as it should have been in the beginning? It would be fantastic to finally hear “What shall wd do no” in the right place for instance.

Thanks again and let’s hope some of our questions will be answered once and for all :D

For me the real gems would be The Great Gig In The Sky with Malcolm Muggeridge voice-over as per the Tour 72 bootleg and the Jimmy Young tape used to introduce the 74 tour as featured on the Tour 74 cassette version but not the vinyl release.

Can I be the one to ask what is probably a silly question…
I know what 5.1 is but what exactly is a quad mix, hi res,The center channel etc
Like do you hear the different instruments more clearly ?
I have no experience with audio so i am just wondering what people are talking about.
Thanks for getting all the info for us :-)
I will be purchasing the immersion box sets.

Thanks for the brilliant article!

1) Will the Wembley show’s recording include Shine on You Crazy Diamond?
(If I remember well there was a first half of the show and it sounded great and was different SoYcD of course and I just loved that?)

2) Is any release from ’77 In The Flesh / Animals Tour possible? (as others asked too)

Thank you very much!

It seems like most of what is going to be on Blu-Ray will be remastered at 24 bit/ 96k. Will anything be remastered at 24 bit/192k and 24 bit/352k ? And, would there be any benefit for them (Andy & James) to remaster this material in 32 bit?

If anyone has already asked this above forgive me (didn’t scroll through all the comments)….

Are these new reissues of these three albums merely the beginning of an extensive, long-term campaign to upgrade ALL of the Floyd catalog, or are they an end in themselves (being, as they are the three biggest-selling and most popular Floyd albums, the least risky in commercial marketplace terms)?

Make no mistake, I’m salivating for these releases. But I would truly hope to finally see the vaults emptied and the bad quality bootlegs left in the dust. Andy Mabbett from The Amazing Pudding and many other Floyd collectors and archivists have lengthy lists available of the material that has never been officially released (as I do–and I have my own ideas on how it can be organized!), though I’m sure Mr. Jackson is as aware of all this material as everyone else!

But I’m talking about the Atom Heart and Meddle quad mixes; the mono Saucerful; all the early singles and b-sides in their various mixes and edits; the version of “Interstellar Overdrive” that was axed from Ummagumma; all the early BBC sessions; the early demoes like King Bee and Lucy Leave; the “Let’s Roll Another One” version of Candy & A Currant Bun; the various Piper and Saucerful outtakes; the FULL Zabriskie Point score; the alternate versions of More & Obscured by Clouds (including “Seabirds”); “Have You Got It Yet”; Snowy White’s solo bridge version of “Pigs On The Wing”; “The Heroes Return Part 2”; stray tracks that HAVE appeared like “Biding My Time” and “Embryo”; the music for “The Committe” and the Moon Landing; maybe even stuff like David Gilmour’s Jokers Wild EP; and of course, top of the list, the absolute holy grail–“Scream Thy Last Scream” and “Vegetable Man”, still shamefully unreleased (officially) more than 40 years after their recording, both gems of Barrett brilliance–and as recently as 2000, D. Gilmour said he wouldn’t object to them being put out, but then he and the band have consistently resisted every attempt to do so!

All right so that’s a super long list, but you get the idea. There’s PLENTY of cool stuff in the vault–that’s just the stuff we KNOW about, which has all been available on bootlegs of varying quality (from listenable to awful) for decades. But it’d be nice to have it in a shiny, official release, wouldn’t it?

Hello, great piece of work guys, I’m looking forward even more to the Immersion sets release.

I would like to think there is enough material available to have a second round of Immersion set releases even without a significant amount of visual material. If you could tease any information out of Andy and Phil in any follow up session, I’d certainly be grateful!!

Atom Heart Mother – there are plenty of live recordings (both official and bootleg), BBC sessions (especially John Peel sessions) and most importantly a live film from the KQED studios in San Fransisco, widely available as a bootleg.

Meddle – again plenty of live recordings, BBC sessions and studio outtakes are available on bootlegs and a proper re-master of the ORIGINAL “Live in Pompeii” film without any of that BBC “Universe” rubbish would make a great set.

Animals – This set would present a problem as there is scant live footage of the band. However, there is a plethora of footage shot by the fans available on the internet which could be set to a live recording a la the “Bootlegging the Bootleggers” feature on the Pulse DVD. Speaking of live recordings, two of the best are from the Oakland Coliseum and from Montreal and would require a modicum of work to get them up to standard. There is also a bootleg of an alternative incomplete mix of Animals doing the rounds which could also be used.

There is also sufficient material available to do immersion sets for ASFOS, MLOR and the Division Bell.

Since the Beatles have released the Mono Box set two years ago, are there any plans to release a Pink Floyd Quad Box set? For example these albums:

Atom Heart Mother
Meddle
Dark Side of the Moon
Wish You Were Here

And are you planning to extend the Relics compilation to feature Syd’s unreleased material and the Floyd’s singles as well?

Are there any plans to release What Shall We Do Now as a downloadable single for iTunes and Amazon MP3?

Hello

thanks for the interesting news.

I’m also happy with the planned vinyl editions of Dark Side, WYWH and The Wall.

Is there any chance that the other, remastered albums will also be pressed on vinyl again?

Of course not as expanded as the experience/immersion editions, just the ‘basic’ studio albums…

The last years, you can see that vinyl LP’s are again popular. A lot of albums from various artists are pressed again (sometimes as limited editions).

Thanks in advance to let me (and others) know.

Jasper

I know Bowie and Eno released multi-track versions of one or two songs when they had an anniversary of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and spoace oddity. I think something like that for a floyd track or two would be cool.

Great post!

I’ve got a question. Will any of the material in these sets be released individually (aside from the Wish You Were Here SACD)? I’m assuming “Is There Anybody Out There: The Wall Live” would be, am I correct? What about any of the previously unreleased material?

I am so jelous, to tell the truth! Its like someone getting to get their christmas presents early…

My question is: It has been rumoured for a long time that there existed the “Wall” tour footage of the concert in full. There exists a very low quality version, one version with very low quality sound, the other synced with ITAOT 1980-’81. There have also been rumours that their is a very pure, clear version that exists. is this version to be released?

Will there be “Immersion” editions of all the studio albums? Or perhaps a “Relics” boxset, collecting all the rarities from 1965-71? Or even an audio-only Relics Bluray, with hundreds of tracks, where the listener can play the original albums in order or whatever combination of outtakes they wish…
And will we see an official release of the BBC sessions?

Wonderful article; my appetite has been appropriately whetted for this monumental release. It’s a good thing I have two months to earn the money I’m about to drop on these Immersion sets!

My question is this — what do the actual engineers think of bootleg recordings? When it comes to Floyd fans, we consume everything from the band that we can, and when record companies don’t have the time or interest to release the material that fans are itching for, is it really such a bad thing to get our fix through some less-than-stellar illegal audio recordings? That’s just a matter of opinion of course.

I guess an alternative, easier-to-answer question would be whether or not BBC recordings of the Barrett years will ever find their way onto official releases. Those are some of the only live renditions of Piper and Saucerful tracks! I prefer my Floyd psychedelic personally, and it would be a crime for those tapes to not be available for sale.

Thanks Paul! Keep up the good work. And get me in on opportunities like these.

Hi,

Andy Jackson did not used the center channel on the 5.1 “dark side of the moon” mix. The only exception is during “us&them” with the saxophone if i remember correctly.
What was the idea with “whish you were here” mix. Did he changed his “strategy” ???

It has been a well known fact that every gig on the Animals tour was recorded on a Nak. From what I’ve been reading recently I don’t think that band would authorize a stereo soundboard recording for a release (the 74 Wembley show was recorded on 2 24-track tape machines I believe). Let’s hope that at least one of the Animals shows were recorded in the same way so that a proper mix can be done.

And I found out the answer to my own question last week… unfortunately no live Animals tapes have been examined yet… I don’t think that James or Andy were even given any yet either…

… but it still can’t hurt to ask ; )

there is currently an Uncut Pink Floyd special magazine on sale which reprints old features from the music press.One from Melody Maker 23.03.1977, mentions the setting up of the Wembley shows, where the journalist ‘ sat behind Roger Waters as he supervised lighting rehearsals ……..Brian Humphries ran a tape of the Dortmund Floyd concert-the second in the European series’

So looks like Animals tour soundboard recordings do exist…..

Hi there,

Do you think “Live at Pompeii” will be released on Blu-ray sometime soon?

Thanks.

-Sam

Seeing as how there’s a box set slated for release on the “Discovery” versions of the albums, will there be a set for the “Experience” versions, assuming every album will get a double disk treatment?

For someone wanting to hear the albums remastered, the box set seems like a logical choice, but purchasing the same album twice (as is the case with the Big Three albums) is a bit redundant.

Thanks though!

Hi there,

Do you think “Live at Pompeii” be released on Blu-ray sometime soon? The DVD is out of print, not to mention it lacks a surround sound mix. Also, for the strangest reason, nearly every NTSC release of “Pompeii” (even the DVD) plays 4% faster than it should, because it appears transcoding was done from a PAL source (so let’s make sure that doesn’t happen again!). And please release the 1974 Cut – I think we can all agree that that’s the best version of the film.

So if a Blu-ray release of “Pompeii” is ever considered, get it damn right!

Thanks.

-Sam

Very interesting read, thank you! There are two things I have been wondering about these reissues:

First, the press release for the reissue campaigns mentions that the albums will be made available in “an array of digital formats”. I’d like to know more about those — in particular, will all the audio content in the Immersion sets also be made available as downloads? (Those gigantic physical boxes are impressive for sure but they would also add to my already significant storage problems.)

Second, looking at the picture above, resting against what I think is the photo book there is a small card — does that card have a download code on it, and if so, what exactly do you get download?

Paul,
I enjoyed your article, your enjoyment of this assignment was obvious, if you need anybody to help you take notes next time…..It is probably worth restating there is a great unmet but also untapped demand for high resolution multi-channel audio out there. Pink Floyd have made history in so many ways, if they could bring much of their back catalogue (at the very least Animals and The Wall on top of existing DSOTM and WYWH, anything post Roger leaving I suspect may be awkward) to high resolution 5.1 they will forever be the heroes of audiophiles and new converts to this format.

Peter

The book in the “Shine On” box mentions that “Meddle” was mixed for quad, though that mix has never been issued. It would be great if they could unearth it!

“Atom Heart Mother” definitely did get a quad release, so it would be nice to have that reissued as well.

And, as others have mentioned, “Animals” even got as far as getting a catalog number, but not even a promo copy has ever surfaced.

Hi Paul,
is there any live echoes video (other than pompeii) in the vault? thanks

Animals immersion set with some live 1977 gigs!!! Is there any hope?

Will these releases be released in non blu ray as well? I do not have a blu ray player. thanks for the great work.

I can hardly wait for the DSOTM and WYWH Immersion sets.

Any chance of a release for the quadraphonic mixes of Animals and Atom Heart Mother?

A 5.1 mix of The Wall would go down rather well too…

Great stuff guys. What a treat to head to Astoria, let alone hear the new material!

My question is about the possibility of a Momentary Lapse of Reason remix for an Immersion box set. David Gilmour has mentioned before his interest in “mixing the 80s out of it”.

cheers
Ben.

Thanks for this article. It already answers a number of questions I had.

Most of what I wanted to ask has already been asked multiple times, but I’m gonna go ahead anyway.

1. Put me down for another one wanting to know if there’s any live Animals tour recordings in existence.

2. Another one that’s already been asked but I also want to know if there are any plans to release the studio version of What Shall We Do Now? If they’re in the market for suggestions, I would very much like to see that included on The Wall set. The live version has been available for a while, but it’s a shame that the only place the studio version is available is in the movie.

3. On a similar note, any chance of any extended versions of songs from The Wall? In addition to What Shall We Do Now not making the final version a number of songs were cut down in order to fit on 2 LPs. (the first verse from The Show Must Go On…I believe a piano intro for The Thin Ice, etc)

4. You may be able to answer this yourself, and in a way it looks like you already did in response to a previous question, but is it safe to assume that the 1974 concert comes from a different source than the bootleg of the BBC broadcast that has been bootlegged for years? Did the BBC and the band each do their own recordings of that show?

Thank you very much!

Will A Momentary Lapse Of Reason and The Division Bell get Immersion releases? Thanks

Hi Guys!!!
Please, let’s not forget about The Delicate Sound of Thunder concert video…
I has been forgotten for a long time now!
Do they remember it still exists?
I had to download a LaserDisc version!!!
Please, try to send this question…
Thaks

Great article. I have been checking all over for updates on these releases.

My first question is for you. Did the Blu-Ray version of (DSOTM) sound the same or superior to the SACD version?

I am interested in Animals, Meddle, and Division Bell in 24bit/96k or 192k on Blu-Ray Audio.

I am also wondering will they release PULSE on Blu-Ray? I know about the whole video thing…….but , DTS-HD Master Audio would be awesome.

Thanks,
Mark