Science Fiction is a wonderful thing. It spreads across all landscapes and all medias and all of humanity. When I think of music and science fiction getting together I think of one band and one band only as the pioneers of music that can transport you to other worlds. That band is Pink Floyd. The greatest band that ever lived.
Now don’t get me wrong, there is lots of amazing music out there from yesteryear and in today’s era of synthesized, digital regularity, we have generations of children who don’t understand that without Pink Floyd, none of this music we here commonly played on radios, the internet and television–would exist. So when I heard that Pink Floyd was remastering the album, Wish You Were Here, and adding an additional CD of unreleased tracks, I jumped for joy and shrieked like a little schoolgirl.
Wish You Were Here is the quintessential album that defines the psychedelic aspect of Pink Floyd in my opinion. It is a vehicle that picks you up and carts you off on a musical journey through time and space and then drops you back off again. It is my favorite Pink Floyd album of all time. I know the Wall and Darkside of the Moon get all the accolades but Wish You Were Here is an album that is truly special. It embodies science fiction music.
Here is a recap of the songs below and my review.
Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here Remastered Edition - Disc One:
1) Shine on You Crazy Diamond Parts 1-5:
This song kicks off the album in epic fashion as the ultimate tribute to Syd Barret, the former lead singer of Pink Floyd who drifted off into psychedelic drug abuse and never really returned. An amazing song, crisply remastered and every twinkle and alien like sound is more vibrant than ever. This is the ultimate science fiction song.
2) Welcome To The Machine:
This song is dark, creepy and loaded with new sounds that I never heard before it seems. The science fiction sounding elevator is more mechanical and maniacal than ever.
3) Have A Cigar:
The synthesizer in this song is incredible. Just incredible! Though the lyrics aren’t very science fiction like the synthesizer piloted by Richard Wright is what makes this song so powerfully sci-fi. It is a shame Richard is dead as he would have been proud to hear this song.
4) Wish You Were Here:
This song is perfectly placed as the 4th track on the album and is by far the least sci-fi song of the bunch but i prepares you for the final journey and is a tender song that can encapsulate a lot of emotion. Getting remastered is just the icing on the cake.
5) Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts 6-9:
This song is the ultimate happy ending and like Parts 1-5, it is just as science fiction and just as epic. There is one part that gets very funky and alien sounding towards the end. I always imagined creatures, drinking at a bar somewhere in the galaxy, listening to this type of music. Getting a remastered version is just mind blowing.
Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here Remastered Edition – Disc Two:
1) Shine on You Crazy Diamond (1-6) Live at Wembley Stadium 1974 :
WOW! This is awesome. It’s by far the best ever live performance of this song. It’s epic, incredible and beautiful in it’s moody science fiction music way.
2) Raving and Drooling - Live at Wembley Stadium 1974 :
This is an amazing song and an early version of Sheep off of one of Pink Floyd’s later albums Animals. It’s pretty amazing to here this version of this song and see where it originated. The album Animals was inspired by George Orwell’s Animal Farm and this song discusses the unquestioning sheep. The lyrics are a little different but the tone is just as powerful in terms of science fiction music.
3) You’ve Got To Be Crazy - Live at Wembley Stadium 1974 :
This is another early version of a song from the Animals album. This is the original version of the song Dogs. The lyrics are very different in parts but it still packs that same wallop and is a pleasure to hear a different version of this song.
4) Wine Glasses (From Household Objects Project):
This is a really cool instrumental song that seems like it belongs on this album on side one, It has a great Shine On You Crazy DIamond type of vibe. It’s short but sweet.
5) Have A Cigar – (Alt. Version):
This song is very, very cool. The harmony of Waters and Gilmour is much different and much more raw and evil. The synthesizer is alos a bit different and high pitched that gives the song a very new vibe. This might be a better version than the original.
6) Wish You Were Here – (Feat. Stephane Grappelli)
This is an alternate version of the popular Floyd hit, that sounds very similar to the original except for an amazingly beautiful violin accompaniment by Stephane Grappelli. It gives it a much different vibe and I like it but I prefer the original.
THE FINAL VERDICT ON THE REMASTERED VERSION OF WISH YOU WERE HERE:
10 out of 10 stars, two thumbs way up! AMAZING!
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