Clear out some space on your book shelf, as this 27 cd boxed set with books and other goodies is going to take up some room. Legacy Recordings brings out the nascent and halcyon days of Pink Floyd, just before the quartet reached worldwide fame with its gazillion seller Dark Side of the Moon.
Here, you get the early days when Syd Barrett, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Rick Wright were a psychedelic pop band with ditties such as “See Emily Play.” Not long after, Barrett had a mental breakdown and was replaced by David Gilmore, taking the band into a more bluesy direction. Classic experimental sessions, both live and in studio ensued. Here, you get tons of radio broadcasts and obscure outtakes. Some of the best are the revelatory “in concert” deliveries of the band’s early apotheosis, Atom Heart Mother, with full orchestra. Other wonderful obscurities come from 1969 when the band presented opuses “The Man” and “The Journey.” It’s hard these days to believe that music this abstract and dreamy actually was popular, but it was, and is still influential to this date.
Soundtrack music from the films More and Zabriske point, and outtakes from the classic Meddle album reveal glimpses of the band about to crack into mainstream progressive rock. The music from the famous/notorious 1972 film Live At Pompeii, a production that is gloriously morose and ponderous. But wasn’t that the point anyway?
For those who lack the shelf space, there is also a 2 disc set that contains the “essential” highlights such as the BBC versions of “Interstellar Overdrive” and “Embryo” as well as the Montreux concert take of the acclaimed “Atom Heart Mother.”
After these years, Pink Floyd broke the bank and made depression and schizophrenia trendy. These sessions that are here show the band still out of the straitjacket.
Legacy Recordings