In an unpredicted series of events, Wish You Were Here is now the number one album for Christmas over in the U.K., which is quite an accomplishment for an album which is now fifty years old. It coincides with the band’s re-release of the album, alongside some demos and a new mix of an old bootleg done by Steven Wilson. This is my obligatory review of that.
Before we get to the review itself, please take a moment out of your day and tell HHS to not go after gender affirming care for trans kids by attacking Medicare/Medicaid like mafia goons. This is an issue of basic bodily autonomy and should be treated as a direct assault. You can do so at this link.
Wish You Were Here is a very important release for Pink Floyd so it only makes sense that it would be given a deluxe treatment for its major anniversary. For this review, I’m only talking about the material itself, not the packaging and wide release. I did not get the box set (I rarely buy box sets generally speaking) but I did listen through the music, all of which was released online. The original album still holds up, of course. It’s a beautiful reflection on loss and the band’s struggles within the music industry at the time coming off the heels of The Dark Side of the Moon. There weren’t any changes to the original album from what I can tell, which isn’t a surprise.
The demos are what piqued my curiosity here, though some of it has been heard before. The first three demos were all Immersion tracks if my memory serves me right. The instrumental “Shine On” is where we start getting some new material. There’s a few little details in here for the meticulous tribute band player-types and it's always nice to hear the transition between parts five and six. Waters’ “The Machine Song” is maybe the most intriguing thing here. The two demos here are so dark and unnerving, which is saying something given how eerie “Welcome To The Machine” is on the album proper. Demo #2 remains the best though. Take one of the title track is rough and doesn’t show that many differences from the final version. Strangely, the pedal steel instrumental after it was much more shocking. Gilmour’s pedal steel work is never talked about enough. He was on a roll in the ‘70s and this cut really proves it. It’s almost country. The best track to come out of this was the new mix of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” which combines all parts into one. James Guthrie did a fantastic job on this one and was able to pull out so many little details that are hidden on the final mix, while also fixing some standing errors (notably the cymbals clipping before Waters starts singing). I found it to be a pretty eye-opening mix. It certainly joins the roster of fantastic Floyd remixes like Animals and Pompeii. Makes me want a larger Wish You Were Here remix, though I guess this is half of the album right here. Oh yeah, and the Wembley “Shine On” is here. Been there, done that.
What is there to say about Steven Wilson’s new Mike Millard mix? Los Angeles 1975 is a really good show and Millard did a great job capturing it. That said, it suffers from many problems all audience-recorded bootlegs from the era face. It’s not the most clear thing possible but the difference between my copy of Millard’s boot and this new mix is night and day. Wilson did a fantastic job updating it while keeping the vibe of the original. There’s moments that are too far gone (notably the intro of “Time”) but the idea of more bootlegs getting this type of upgrade is kind of exciting. I hope this means something from the In the Flesh/Animals tour is in the works or, at the very least, considered. That would have arguably been a better inclusion here considering how few Wish You Were Here tracks are in this show. I also hope this means Steven Wilson is a true returning collaborator too.
Not sure if I’m willing to call this the best Floyd archival release (even for this year alone) but I am pleased with what is here. While I do wish we had more studio material to go through, what we got is pretty consistently interesting for a nerd like me. It doesn’t really change the legacy of the album, nor is it particuarly essential, but it’s a nice little bonus expedition for fans.
I liked it more than that pretentious Simon Armitage “Dear Pink Floyd” poem released to promote it, that’s for sure. “I saw you in Atlantis, Babylon, Valhalla, my grandma’s back garden…” “You had such beautiful, long, long hair, oh my Pink Floyders” made me lose it, then he followed it up with people wearing Pink Floyd merch in the fucking Amazon. You have to bring up merchandising. It's Pink Floyd! It's not enough to press your face against the studio window or whatever the hell Armitage was talking about.