Pink Floyd At Pompeii - Mcmlxxii

I played the Live At Pompeii VHS cassette to death, and wished an audio counterpart to the film, similar to Led Zeppelin's The Song Remains The Same, had been released. When the Early Years 1972 Obfuscation CD/DVD set appeared in 2016, it felt like a bit of a let down. Parts 1 & 2 of Echoes were mashed together. Nick's drums sounded faint. But still, it was nice to finally have Live At Pompeii on CD. And yet, I rarely played it. The difference between the 2016 and 2025 mix serves a testimony to the talent of Steve Wilson. MCMLXXII, just sounds right. Its a joy on headphones. There is clarity and a warmth that was missing from the 2016 audio attempt. Plus the running order is just like the film. Its a much better idea to put the extra tracks are on the second CD, as opposed to being tacked on the end of the album. The packaging however, is abysmal. Cheap and nasty, it reminds me of the free CD's the Sunday papers use to give away. Two discs in a very tight card slip case, so tight in fact its hard to get them in and out. With the set that I received, both the CD's were glued in. Maybe this is to prevent theft or could be just poor manufacturing. The booklet just sits between the folds, as if it was an after thought, there is nothing to secure it in place. For the effort Steve Wilson has put in and how much for the set retails at, the presentation should have been much better. Remember 1995's PULSE double CD set? Sort of a hard back book with a CD at the front and back, which then slid into a box with a little red flashing light? Something like that would have been perfect.

A true masterpiece 👏 I have the music cd & waiting for film,which I've seen and is absolutely the best live performance of pinkfloyd ever..You can hear instruments so clearly, & great video effects..You can hear rick Wright on one of these days playing so crystal clear in time with masons drums,& waves stratocaster...However I'm already not happy with the packaging. Could of been put into a nice box eh considering price..Other reviews say same,but overall looking forward to owning this quality masterpiece 👌

Seen this soooo many times. Recorded off the tv onto VHS in the early 80s. Then of course DVD. Now a cleaned up version and it's just BRILLIANT. It's there nearest you'll get to actually being there. Crystal clear. Vibrant and sounding fantastic. For me this is the greatest Floyd footage and now it's even better. Some of these re packaged sets aren't worth it but believe me this is. To the people that did the remastering I say a huge "thanks great job" If you love Pink Floyd you need this.

Fantastic. I don't know what magick Steven Wilson has worked on this but it sounds amazing. It could have been recorded yesterday rather than all those years ago. Nice packaging too. Brilliant and thank you

I'm sure many Floyd fans have been waiting eons for this, an actual live album of their legendary Pompeii performance, sure took 'em long enough to get round to doing it didn't it? still, better late then never I guess, plus at least now the definitive versions of 'Echoes', 'Set The Controls', and 'A Saucerful of Secrets' are widely available on record for anyone to hear, the Pompeii performances still remain the best these songs ever sounded and were played. As for the new mix by Steven Wilson, it's brilliant, loud (No, not the bad Rick Rubin kind of 'loud' so don't panic!), and heavy! basically it sounds just like what it would have really sounded like had you been standing right there in front of the band's massive PA system, this isn't some rush-job this-will-do thing (Hi 2016 remix!), there's been real care and attention to detail put in here, every instrument sounds crisp and clear as daylight in the new mix, Nick Mason's drums seem to have been given special care with a more crisp modern sound to them. Some may bemoan the rather 'dry' sound and lack of reverb but that really doesn't matter considering how good it sounds, plus this is as close as you'll get to how it truly sounded. Of course, I know there are those who hate the the idea of remixing older records and may even consider it blasphemy, but personally, I think it breathes new life into them, plus it can help younger listeners understand better what all the fuss was/is about. However, I will also agree that it can be a risky thing of done badly, which brings me nicely to my next subject... ...Now, you may know that this is actually the second time the Pompeii performance has been remixed, and for good reason too, the first 'attempt' was in 2016 for the 'Early Years' box set, though sadly, that version was hamstrung by poor mixing choices (David's guitar and vocals, and Nick's drums, being pushed back in the mix) and full of imperfections (tape hiss, very obvious distortions on Rick's keyboards), a true obvious rush-job, the fact that it was relegated to just box-set materiel instead of given its own release shows that even band were likely unhappy with it. Anyway, this is easily Pink Floyd's best live album next to P.U.L.S.E. As for my rating, and much like with the Jimmy Page & The Black Crowes re-issue, had to knock off a star because once again, we're treated to the usual crappy cheap thin piece of card 'packaging' instead of some nice deluxe packaging that a release like this is worthy of.

Value for money

Stunning. This remix is excellent. I find playing this CD on source direct is exceptional quality.

quite a bit better sound + picture quality than the dvd version.on my system in stereo or all speakers going it sounds great.

On possédait ce documentaire en DVD et Blu-Ray depuis pas mal d’années maintenant. En octobre 1971, Pink Floyd a déjà 5 albums à son actif et a terminé « Meddle » qui sortira à la fin du mois, un de leurs chefs d’œuvre, sans doute leur premier. Toujours en quête d’innovation, le groupe demande au réalisateur Adrian Maben de les filmer lors d’un concert sans public dans les ruines de l’amphithéâtre de Pompéi. « Une sorte d’anti-Woodstock » selon les termes de Maben, une expérience comme l’appelle les membres du groupe, misant sur la qualité sonore obsessionnelle du groupe, plutôt que « les réactions du public ». Les prises de vues sont réalisées du 4 au 7 octobre. Puis de nouvelles sessions sont enregistrées du 13 au 20 décembre à Paris pour compléter le tournage de Pompéi qui a subi quelques problèmes techniques mais qui démontraient aussi que le groupe avait de l’humour et du second degré (« Mademoiselle Nobs », blague sympa enregistrée…avec une chienne !). Une version audio remasterisée existait déjà dans le coffret « The Early Years 1972 » en 2016 avec 5 titres et la version alternative de « Careful with that axe, Eugene ». Cet enregistrement est donc loin d’être une découverte. Mais 2025 est l’occasion d’avoir (enfin) une version remixée en audio (2 CD) et vidéo, et pas par n’importe qui car il s’agit de Steven Wilson, musicien passionnant mais aussi un excellent ingénieur du son toujours sur les bons coups, permettant de redécouvrir quelques-uns des groupes qui l’ont influencé et lui font confiance pour le meilleur rendu sonore possible (Pink Floyd bien sûr mais aussi King Crimson, Marillion, Yes, The Who, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull…). A chaque fois, il frappe fort. Ici le son de chaque instrument ressort fabuleusement, en particulier la batterie de Mason, aucune comparaison avec la version d’origine ou même celle de 2016, le remixage était utile. Il faut dire que le son stéréo du documentaire était juste correct. Ce « Live at Pompeii » représente vraiment une charnière dans la carrière de Pink Floyd. Pas encore devenu le mastodonte qu’il sera à peine 2-3 ans plus tard, le groupe joue encore dans un style post-psychédélique avec une approche toujours expérimentale mais commence à s’en éloigner pour aller ailleurs. « A saucerful of secrets » offre l’occasion à Gilmour de triturer sa guitare comme jamais, tandis que Wright martèle son piano, que Waters s’acharne sur le gong, et que Mason n’en finit plus de frapper ses fûts. Le final du morceau tire plus vers le prog’ presque symphonique, dans une apothéose entre les claviers de Wright et la voix de Gilmour. Ce dernier sait tout aussi bien chanter d’une voix puissante ou éthérée, que distiller une atmosphère mystérieuse comme dans le lancinant « Careful with That Axe, Eugene ». Ambiance planante que vient rompre Waters par son cri strident et toujours aussi terrifiant. Des morceaux qu’on trouvait déjà dans le disque live de « Ummagumma », et qui appartiennent donc à la « première période » du groupe. Mais on sent un changement, une mutation… Si « Atom heart mother » marquait déjà la transition entre les sixties et seventies, mettant fin en quelque sorte au versant le plus psychédélique et expérimental du groupe, cette fin d’année 1971 annonce clairement les grandes heures du Floyd. Quand il joue le morceau en ce début du mois d’octobre à Pompéi, le groupe n’a pas encore sorti « Meddle » où figure la version studio de « Echoes ». Il arrivera dans les bacs quelques semaines plus tard. C’est donc presqu’un « inédit », au moins pour l’équipe de tournage. Cependant, cette pièce épique était en gestation depuis plusieurs mois, et était déjà jouée en concert depuis quelques mois. D’abord appelée « Nothing » (« rien »), puis « The son of nothing » (« le fils de rien ») et enfin « The return of the son of nothing » (« le retour du fils de rien ») en forme de boutade, cette suite de plusieurs idées musicales trouve son aboutissement en une longue symphonie rock. Mais à la différence de « Atom heart mother », le morceau « Echoes » comporte une partie chantée, et se joue uniquement avec le groupe, sans apport extérieur d’orchestre ou de chorale. Une pièce sublime qui préfigure l’apogée de Pink Floyd dans les années 70, de « The Dark side of the moon » à « The wall ». Pour ceux et celles qui souhaitent découvrir ce concert unique, je conseille d’abord la version vidéo très prenante mais pour les fans cette version audio est fantastique. J’ai monté le son et le résultat est tout simplement impressionnant.

Brilliant 😍

I was dubious about buying this because Steven Wilson’s previous remastering ‘work’, ie. Aqualung, was fairly poor compared to the original (of which I have both). Anyway, album in hand, this ‘vinyl remaster’ is as digitally clinical as your PC telling you ‘syntax error’ (sic). The fact is this LP has no more vitality than a dead cabbage. The original recording has been made to sound like a Porcupine Tree spin off. Whilst PT aren’t a bad band this variant is as soulless as stepping into a dog’s dark brown mound of unwanted shoe polish! Anyway, I wouldn’t recommend this LP and, if you’re into the Floyd, Ummagumma has a few of those destroyed songs that still retain their atmosphere and vitality. This disaster is only for completionists. Final say: barely listenable compared to the ‘unofficial’ releases on other platforms, including this one. A question, who splits up one of the Floyd’s greatest tunes - Echoes? Steven Wilson needs to stick to his day job. Enough said.

This is a great addition to the video of the 1972 concert. Pink Floyd at their best, however I will always prefer the single, extended version of Echoes on Meddle. It has a spellbinding build up.

Por fin una edicion en vinilo de esta obra maestra. Hay arreglos distintos al sonido de la version DVD , en algunos casos mejores. Aun asi, si eres fan de Pink Floyd, hay que tenerlo