{"id":30720,"date":"2026-03-06T05:30:40","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T10:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=30720"},"modified":"2026-01-28T11:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T16:18:10","slug":"box-set-review-pink-floyd-wish-you-were-here-50-deluxe-edition-part-2-of-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/06\/box-set-review-pink-floyd-wish-you-were-here-50-deluxe-edition-part-2-of-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Box Set Review Pink Floyd \u2013 Wish You Were Here 50: Deluxe Edition (Part 2 of 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continued from Part One<\/a>…<\/i><\/p>\n

LP4: Live at Wembley 1974<\/b>
\nIn June 1974 \u2013 more than a year before Wish You Were Here<\/i> was released, and in fact more than six months before recording sessions even commenced \u2013 Pink Floyd played seven dates in France. And while the then-new The Dark Side of the Moon<\/i> was the centerpiece of those shows, the performances opened with three epic pieces. \u201cEchoes\u201d from 1970\u2019s Meddle<\/i> was part of that set, but it was preceded by a pair of new extended pieces. \u201cRaving and Drooling\u201d would surface, re-titled as \u201cSheep\u201d on Pink Floyd\u2019s 1977 Animals<\/i>, but the group debuted an embryonic version of it two and a half years earlier. Those shows also featured the premiere of \u201cShine On You Crazy Diamond,\u201d again well before its studio recording sessions.<\/p>\n

In November 1974, Pink Floyd commenced a longer run of dates in England, Wales and Scotland, playing 20 shows in 40 days. Those performances dropped the encore of \u201cCareful With That Axe, Eugene,\u201d moving \u201cEchoes\u201d to that spot. And the opening set added another future Animals<\/i> piece, \u201cYou\u2019ve Got to Be Crazy\u201d (later re-titled \u201cDogs\u201d) to the set. At least 11 of those 20 shows were recorded by fans and circulate among collectors. BBC Radio 1 recorded two of the November dates at London\u2019s Wembley pool, broadcasting a compiled The Dark Side of the Moon<\/i> live set in January 1975.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

For those without access to those bootleg recordings, hearing an entire \u201874 Pink Floyd show remains a confusing challenge. An entire concert’s worth of music from the Wembley shows has been released officially, but at present, interested parties must reconstruct it from multiple sources. The second set (Pink Floyd performing The Dark Side of the Moon<\/i>) was released as part of the 2011 Experience<\/i> and Immersion<\/i> reissues of DSOTM<\/i>. The Wembley \u201cEchoes\u201d appears only on the 2016 box set The Early Years 1965-1972<\/i>, within that collection’s Volume 7: 1967-1972 Continu\/ation<\/i>. While Volumes 1 through 6 have been released as standalone sets, the only way to acquire Continu\/ation<\/i> would be to purchase the entire box set, now out of print.<\/p>\n

The Wembley live recordings of \u201cShine on You Crazy Diamond\u201d and \u201cYou\u2019ve Got to Be Crazy\u201d (the latter in its sixth-ever public performance) were first released on the 2011 Wish You Were Here<\/i> Experience<\/i> and Immersion<\/i> CD sets, and make their first-ever appearance on vinyl as part of this new box set. (Those out-of-print 2011 releases also included \u201cRaving and Drooling,\u201d re-titled for Animals<\/i> as \u201cPigs,\u201d but that track is not included on Wish You Were Here 50<\/i>.)<\/p>\n

CDs 1 and 2<\/b>
\nWish You Were Here 50: Deluxe Edition<\/i> features all of the material from the first three vinyl LPs, spread across a pair of CDs. However, and adding to the frustration surrounding the Wembley recordings, those live versions of \u201cShine on You Crazy Diamond\u201d and \u201cYou\u2019ve Got to Be Crazy\u201d are not included on the CDs, nor on the Blu-Ray disc (discussed below).<\/p>\n

Blu-Ray<\/b>
\nA Blu-Ray disc brings together much of what is on the set\u2019s vinyl records and CDs, but it adds so much more, making it the centerpiece of the entire box set. The graphics are top-notch, the menu is organized and straightforward, and photos from the accompanying book (see below) are cleverly worked into the onscreen images that play along with the audio.<\/p>\n

Speaking of audio: The original Wish You Were Here<\/i> album is featured in no less than four configurations: its original 1975 mix, a quadraphonic mix from that same year, James Guthrie\u2019s 2009 5.1 Surround Mix created for the Immersion<\/i> set; and a brand-new Dolby Atmos mix (again by Guthrie). The latter has the expansive, multidimensional feel one expects from an Atmos mix, while maintaining the integrity of the source material.<\/p>\n

Concert screen films that were projected during Pink Floyd\u2019s tours of the era are included on the Blu-Ray as well, along with a short film from 2000 by Storm Thorgeson, the artist\/designer whose Hipgnosis was responsible for much of Pink Floyd\u2019s distinctive visuals. The entirety of the Rarities material found on the LPs and CDs is duplicated on the Blu-Ray, but (as noted above) the Wembley tracks are not included.<\/p>\n

What is included, however, is something that will be of great value to ardent Pink Floyd fans. The idea of giving sanctioned release to bootlegs or ROIOs (Recording of Illegitimate\/Indeterminate Origin) is not new: Frank Zappa famously did so with his Beat the Boots<\/i> series in 1991. And the Pink Floyd camp hinted at doing something along those lines twice in recent years, posting without advance notice or comment \u2013 and then just as quickly removing \u2013 complete concert recordings from across their career on streaming services. It was widely understood that the motive behind such a gambit was to assert copyright on those fan recordings, laying the groundwork for future above-ground release.<\/p>\n

Live Bootleg: Los Angeles Sports Arena, April 26, 1975<\/i> is the first sign that such a larger program may have commenced. Sourced from low-generation copies of tapes made by legendary bootlegger Mike Millard, the performance is captured in fidelity remarkable for the era. Using a stereo reel-to-reel deck concealed below the seat of his wheelchair, Millard (who could walk just fine, thank you) recorded many high-profile rock concerts of the era. And his document of one of Pink Floyd\u2019s L.A shows is among his best.<\/p>\n

Unlike Zappa\u2019s method of merely reproducing the bootleg audio and putting it out for release, Pink Floyd have undertaken a more creative approach. When rock fans began to hear the remarkable remix\/remaster work done by Steven Wilson on some of rock\u2019s best recordings (including the works of King Crimson, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Tears for Fears and others), many will have wished that Wilson be granted access to the Pink Floyd catalog, perhaps working his particular brand of magic on those already-superb master recordings.<\/p>\n

While that wasn\u2019t to be \u2013 James Guthrie seemingly has an iron grip on those duties \u2013 Wilson was tapped to remix the audio for an item long existing just outside the official Pink Floyd canon: Pink Floyd at Pompeii<\/i>. His work \u2013 released in 2025 on vinyl, CD and on a new theatrical print of the film \u2013 reveals heretofore unheard depth and nuance to what was already a pretty fair audiovisual document.<\/p>\n

And while there are no multi-track masters of Millard\u2019s tapes (he was working with a bulky \u201cportable\u201d Nakamichi two-track deck), Steven Wilson has done an excellent job of tidying up, re-EQing and otherwise subtly improving the Los Angeles Sports Arena recordings.<\/p>\n

Ephemera<\/b>
\nSomewhat amusingly, the Wish You Were Here 50: Deluxe Edition<\/i> includes a sleeve \u2013 designed to duplicate the look and feel of an LP jacket \u2013 titled Ephemera<\/i>. Within the sleeve is a faithful reproduction of the Pink Floyd \u201ccomic book\u201d music program from 1975 tour dates. There\u2019s also a full-size poster, and a hard-back sleeve containing a reproduction of the Japan-only 7\u201d single \u201cHave a Cigar\u201d b\/w \u201cWelcome to the Machine.\u201d The A-side features a shorter edit of the song.<\/p>\n

Packaging<\/b>
\nAs is customary where Pink Floyd collector\u2019s reissues are concerned, the packaging on Wish You Were Here 50: Deluxe Edition<\/i> is impeccable. The LP sleeves each feature beautiful full-color art. And the heavy duty case \u2013 all black, no lettering or graphics \u2013 is nicely constructed. An LP-sized hardback book features illuminating essays, graphics and photos that help tell the story of the original album\u2019s making, the design and photo sessions for its distinctive sleeve, and the provenance\/genesis of the bonus material. Of particular interest are some heretofore unseen images documenting the unexpected visit to EMI Studios by Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett.<\/p>\n

Taken as a whole \u2013 and with a price tag of more than $230 \u2013 Wish You Were Here 50: Deluxe Edition<\/i> is clearly aimed at serious fans of Pink Floyd and\/or collectors. A great deal of care has been put into the release\u2019s development, and the new bonus material (the Atmos mix, the Millard bootleg by way of Steven Wilson, the 45 r.p.m. record, the book) and the first-ever vinyl appearance of much of the music come together to make it a very worthwhile purchase, one that adds to the experience, enjoyment, appreciation and understanding of Pink Floyd\u2019s landmark ninth studio album.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Continued from Part One… LP4: Live at Wembley 1974 In June 1974 \u2013 more than a year before Wish You Were Here was released, and in fact more than six […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30726,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,49,57,62,64,65,73],"tags":[1705],"class_list":["post-30720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-compilation","category-new-release","category-psych","category-rawk","category-reissue","category-review","category-vinyl","tag-pink-floyd","cat-19-id","cat-49-id","cat-57-id","cat-62-id","cat-64-id","cat-65-id","cat-73-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30720"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30727,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30720\/revisions\/30727"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}