P-U-L-S-E

Culled from Floyd's last(ever?) serious tour, 'Pulse' doesn't capture the British group at their peak - indeed, founding member and chief lyricist Roger Waters is obviously absent - yet it does showcase just what an outstanding repertoire of material this most iconic of progressive rock groups has produced over the last four decades. With such nuggets as 'Money', 'Sorrow', 'Comfortably Numb' and 'Another Brick In The Wall Part 2' delivered in consummate fashion by the ageing-but-still-brilliant trio of David Gilmour(guitars, vocals), Richard Wright(keyboards, vocals) and Nick Mason(drums) - augmented, of course, by a stellar cast of session players - 'Pulse' must surely rank as the definitive 'live' Pink Floyd album, especially so for those many new fans who were simply too young to experience them in concert during their peak years. Add the extraordinary concert footage itself(available on the video and DVD companion) and the overall 'Pulse' show becomes a genuine extravaganza. Taken from the 1994 tour, 'Pulse' begins in customary fashion with 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' before the group elect to reel off half-a-dozen of the better tracks from 'A Momentary Lapse Of Reason' and 'The Division Bell'. Then, its a few oldies(including, for the first time in almost 20 years, a performance of the mysterious 'One Of These Days' from 1971's 'Meddle') followed by 'Dark Side Of The Moon' in its full luminous glory. Then, the final encore trumps virtually all the brilliance before it as Floyd say goodbye with an epic version of 'Running Like Hell', one of the few tracks not written solely by Waters for 'The Wall'.

STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2013