Pink Floyd in Race Against Time to Reissue Albums

Pink Floyd in Race Against Time to Reissue Albums

Pink Floyd in Race Against Time to Reissue Albums

he mammoth CD reissue program undertaken by Pink Floyd is an acknowledgment that the era of physical CDs and lavish artwork is coming to an finish, as fans increasingly opt to download music digitally, drummer Nick Mason stated

Two years after the Beatles unveiled a comparable system, the British progressive rock band is reissuing digitally remastered versions of all 14 of its studio albums, each individually and as a boxed set on September 26.

But Pink Floyd is performing something the Beatles by no means did, towards the disappointment of Fab Four fans. Three albums will also be reissued with a lot of rarities in multi-disc versions. Revised and expanded artwork was a heavy priority for a band with a history of visual innovation.

"There is a slight sense that we're coming for the finish with the period exactly where people today will invest in the physical record with every one of the packaging plus the data and so on," Mason, 67, told Reuters in the Hollywood outpost from the band's EMI Records label.

"I assume it's truly essential to attempt and possess a final go at that, due to the fact if we do end up just downloading every thing from now on it could be a shame if there wasn't on record all that great artwork along with the issues that went with it."

The band's 1973 smash "The Dark Side with the Moon," a single from the greatest selling albums of all time, will furthermore come out on six- and two-disc configurations.

Precise particulars of the contents had been not obtainable, but EMI previewed several previously unreleased tracks such as a fast-tempo live version of "Money," and an early mix of "The Wonderful Gig in the Sky" with out the soaring vocals of session singer Clare Torry.

Mason was particularly proud of a track he assumed had been lost to history, a version with the title track from 1975's "Wish You Were Here," featuring French jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli.

It dates from sessions at London's Abbey Road studios, Pink Floyd's primary recording base, when Grappelli and fellow violinist Yehudi Menuhin were operating down the hallway.

"They came to say hello, which was delightful," Mason recalled. "Someone plucked up the courage to ask them both if they'd like to play a thing on the record. Stephane absolutely was up for it and I assume Yehudi would have liked to, but he's not an improviser and I feel he just felt he couldn't do it."

The band opted not to utilize that version, while Mason in hindsight considers it an unfortunate choice. The two deluxe versions of "Wish You Were Right here," obtainable in five- and two-disc configurations, will likely be released on November 7.

The third disc to get the specific treatment will be the 1979 double album "The Wall," a semi-autobiographical concept perform masterminded by former singer/bassist Roger Waters.

EMI previewed an early version of the hit single "Another Brick within the Wall (Portion 1)" featuring diverse lyrics. Waters' opening couplet goes "We don't have to have your adulation, we do not want your starry gaze," instead of "We don't have to have no education, we do not will need no believed control" from the last version.

The band will issue seven- and three-disc versions of "The Wall" in February. Expanded versions of its other albums are within the operates, as is actually a DVD documentary concerning the making of "Wish You Had been Here."

Even though there are no plans for a tour -- singer/guitarist David Gilmour has firmly quashed any speculation of that more than the years -- but Mason mentioned he hoped the 3 surviving members could reunite for a charity performance, as they did in London in 2005.

That show marked Waters' 1st appearance with all the band due to the fact he angrily left in 1985.

Tensions have eased somewhat among Waters and his former bandmates, and he was completely involved inside the reissue system. Indeed, Mason stated he planned to attend the London stop of Waters "The Wall" globe tour on Thursday