WISH YOU WERE HERE - EXPERIENCE EDITION

5 stars for the original album. As for the bonus cuts, every Floyd fan is of course simultaneously "raving and drooling" at the prospects of having these, and yet surely asking, "Why can't there be more?" As for what's here:

1) an early live version of "Shine On" is certainly welcome, but this is certainly not the definitive take on the song from this time period. For one thing, there's no sax. But it is interesting to hear the song before it was finished.

2) "Raving and Drooling" and "You Gotta Be Crazy." Wow. Particuarly "You Gotta Be Crazy." I love this version. My favorite version has always been from a RoIO from this same period whose title I forget at the moment, in which Gilmour's vocals are a revelation in comparison to the album version. This version, though, is different than both, in the way that Gilmour sings it. Both versions are welcome additions for Floyd fans.

3) "Have a Cigar," alternate take. This one's a surprise. I always read that Waters regretted not having a go at the song, instead of having Roy Harper sing it. But this version shows that: 1) Waters *did* have a go at it, and 2) Harper did a much better job at it. Still, it's an interesting version. My favorite live version is the PLAYS THE ANIMALS ROIO.

4) "Wish You Were Here," with Grappelli. A bit disapointed in this one. Nice to finally hear it, though. I always imagined the best of Ponty's spacier work ("Mirage," "Cosmic Messenger," etc.), but this is nothing like that, unfortunately.

5) The "Household Objects" excerpt: merely a curio, not nearly as interesting as the other excerpt on the DSOTM release.

Now on to my disapointment: 1) I'm sure the band must have recorded the 2 pre-ANIMALS songs "Raving" and "Gotta Be Crazy" in the studio during the WYWH sessions, since they were playing them in concert all the time. I'd love to hear those, since the band's sound changed between WYWH and ANIMALS. 2) I'd love to hear other versions of those 2 songs. How about from other concerts? Perhaps they are more suited for a special release for ANIMALS (which isn't in the cards at this time). 3) Why not just release that Oakland show as well? Besides the aforementioned songs, it has an *amazing* take on "Welcome to the Machine." 4) Also around this time, the band was playing "Echoes" in concert, which featured saxophone. Why not release that as well?

Excited, but frustrated at the same time. Would love it if Floyd would just release the concert CDs. Guess it won't happen till I'm gone, and by then the kids will hardly care less.

Why oh why have we waited so long for these Gems?

Let's hope that this is just a taste of the material to be released over the next decade or so.

What we get is essential Floyd 30 years later that it should have been released. This isn't some late Pulse like farce, rather this is the Floyd in full flight during their most creative period, at a time when they could still work together.

"Shine on you crazy Diamond" sounds less labored than the album version, a real space waltz. However it is the next two cuts that steal the disk for me. "Raving and Drooling" maybe is not as polished as "sheep", but it has a great edge. "you've got to be crazy" is "Dog's" but fresher than it's sounded for years.

This Wembley gig set is worth the admission to this version of the recording. The final three cuts are interesting but far from essential. "Wine Glasses" demos the first few bars of Shine on, Have a Cigar has the lyrics sung by the band rather than Roy Harper , they were right Harper adds to the track. The Stephane Grappelli version of "Wish you were here" might have gelled had they done a few more takes but isn't really worthy of repeated plays.

As for the remix on Disc one, my first impression is that little has really changed hardly definitive.

Worth all 5 Stars, although I suspect that this will not be the last edition.

Wish You Were Here.... again, my friend

This review is for the Experience Edition which has the identical bonus CD with live tracks and unreleased material as the massive Immersion Box set. The actual album of course is enduring, masterful, powerful, and unforgettable as we all know, but is it worth shelling out the big dollars for a huge box of CDs and visual aids? Only you can be the judge but I am content with the bonus disk which comes with the Experience Edition and a new 20 page book by Storm Thorgerson. The remastering is by James Guthrie and is crystal clear and the best sound you are likely to hear.

CD 1 contains the remixed masterpiece 'Wish You Were Here', one of the greatest prog albums of all time. The tranquility conveyed on "Shine On" is astounding, opening with a patient, ambience created by sounds of a peaceful stream, a rowing boat, and the distinct keyboard talents of Wright. The music takes us downstream as we enter Syd Barret's jaded conscious thoughts, echoed by the band members themselves. The track is an ode to the twisted genius of Syd and moves through several sections as a multi movement suite orchestrated to perfection. The echoing guitar represents a four octave motif that Floydians have grown to adore. The fragmentation of the beat midway through alludes to the fragmented status of the group since Barret's departure. Indeed this is a beatific paean to the troubled artist who recently travelled to "the great gig in the sky".

"Welcome to the Machine" begins with the mechanized droning of a factory machine, and seems to be a more blatant stab at autocratic society than anything on "Animals" or "The Wall" where humans are forced to obey only to be grinded out as mincemeat; mindless autonomyns. The music business grinds out , processes and manufactures rock artists for their own means, but when they have fulfilled their purpose, the na've artists are chewed up and spat out to make room for 'the next big thing'. The golden mechanized glove on the cover echoes this thought. The man catches alight as he shakes hands now that his deal with the devil has doomed him to extinction.

"Have a Cigar" continues this cynical examination of the music business; full of clich's and innuendos, the lyrics stab at the way the industry elevates artists to drain every cent out of them only to destroy them at the first sign of individual innovation. The rotting carcass of the music artist is left in a smoldering heap so that the new talent can rise out of the ashes in its place. Roy Harper sings this and has a cynical edge in his voice.

"Wish You Were Here" is a beautiful ballad written to show the positive side of a dark nature. The album closes with another segment of "Shine On" bringing the album full circle. The journey is complete making way for "Animals".

CD 2 is a real drawcard as it features quite rare live performances of the album tracks performed live at Wembley November 1974. 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond (parts 1-6)' is performed well and is a much rawer version that the ones you hear on 'PULSE' or other recent concerts. It lasts for a whopping heavenly 20 minutes. The intro is very different, and the 4 note guitar chord echoes well but comes in faster on each note. It is not as measured, seemingly impatient, and the actual vocals are totally different, sung raspy by Waters who is not as soft or smooth as Gilmour. The lyrics are the same virtually but this was performed before the album so it was the first time many in the concert hall would have heard this. As such it comes across as a more urgent song, and has many elements missing from the album. The guitar solo is different and Wright's keyboards are louder and more aggressive in places. The way the piece merges into parts 4-5-6 is better than the way it was broken on the album and on subsequent concerts. It makes for a very lengthy piece but albeit an excellent musical journey. The wailing instruments sound dark and disturbing. I love the way it builds with the faster cadence on drums and the pulsating bassline.

'Raving & Drooling', a 12 minute song, is well performed live, with a lengthy synth solo that warbles with ascending and descending cadence. Gilmour's soaring lead complements a rather spacey passage of synth. This earlier version of 'Sheep' is actually my preferred version without all the studio trickery, and with just plain amazing musicianship. The section where the Lord's Prayer parody is meant to come in is all the better, and even creepier, without the subliminal narrative. Powerful and emotional throughout, this is one of the finest live Pink Floyd performances.

'You've Got To Be Crazy' is the last live piece on this album and is very long at 18 minutes. This is an earlier version of the classic 'Dogs'. The vocals are well executed by Gilmour and are quite different lyrically, though not as good especially with the repetition and unimaginative content. It is interesting to see where the original song comes of course, but it simply exists as a curiosity as 'Dogs' is one of the best Pink Floyd studio tracks without a doubt. The lead break is here and always a treat with Gilmour absolutely on fire in one of his most incredible solos.

The previously unreleased tracks naturally have popped up on various bootlegs but they sound so good on CD.

'Wine Glasses' is first from the unreleased 'Household Objects' project. This is the weird project that stemmed from the idea using household objects to emit sound, indeed one of the projects was to play the Albert hall, literally play the actual hall. This segment from the overblown project is the part where the band indulged in filling up wine glasses and then recording the amplified sounds they made as one rubbed the rim of the glass. It perhaps sounded good on paper but really is a failed Floyd project that thankfully does not see the light of day except for this 2 minute snippet of sound which is similar if not identical to the intro of 'Shine On'.

'Have A Cigar' is one of my faves and this alternate version is hard to take at first. Roy Harper sung the version on the album as a rare guest appearance, and he sounded fantastic on the album. Waters and Gilmour sing on this instead which is fine by me as they sung it on live performances and I always liked the sound they generated. This one lasts for 7 minutes and is worth hunting down especially to hear the odd alternative lyrics. The music is virtually identical though mixed slightly differently, the loud synth is underplayed and not as powerful, too thin and whispy for my liking. The harmonies by Waters and Gilmour grew on me though, and, although not as good as the other version, I am glad I was able to finally hear this.

'Wish You Were Here' featuring Stephane Grappelli is last on the album and this is very different especially with the violin. This is a 6 minute rarity that is now no longer rare of course. The classic song is given a very unusual treatment without the annoying radio transmission intro, and we can hear the guitars very clearly, which I appreciate as a guitarist who has played this many times. Also the song returns to the opening verse unlike the album version and therefore is longer. The violin soloing is okay but I am not a fan of this as it makes it sound bluegrass and country. The violin goes on for too long really and I am glad it was excised on the album cut.

So the Experience Edition of Pink Floyd's classics is once again worthwhile for the avid Pink Floyd addict. I can't see there being anything better than this packaging apart from the box set. Incidentally the Immersion box set features the same bonus disk as on this set but the extras are killer! Once again, similar to 'DSOTM' set and 'The Wall', that box is lavish and you can go the whole hog and grab the ultra-expensive box complete with heaps of needless audio variations, hi def, hi fi, live archives, and DVD and Blu Ray excess. The added trimmings are there such as the cool scarf, coasters, a bag of marbles, pink postcards, an art print, and 2 massive lavishly illustrated books. Makes a nice gift!

In any case the more reasonably priced double disk Experience Edition with remastering by James Guthrie, and a new 20 page booklet designed by Storm Thorgerson is a fantastic purchase and one that should keep Pink Floyd fans raving and drooling for quite some time.

The Wish You Were Here - Experience Edition is a large upgrade in sound from the previous issues of the album. On this one, they have done it right. The album itself is a five star album, with the remastering itself deserves a five star rating, too. So why do I rate this at only four stars?

The bonus disc here is, to say the least, weak. We get one live cut from the album (Shine On You Crazy Diamond parts 1-6) from the ame concert as the DSOTM concert from the DSOTM Experience Set. That is fine. However we also get the early versions of songs from the 1977 album Animals, which, while great in and of themselves, would have been better served on an expanded Animals set. We also have another Household Objects cut (Others can be found on the Immersion DSOTM set) that seems to me out of place here, as well as alternate cuts of Have a Cigar (with Roger on vocals) and Wish You Were Here. So far as the bonuses are concerned, one is essential, two are nice inclusions, two are out of place, and one is not necessary.

Overall, this is an awesome album with marginal bonuses.

5 stars for the unbelievably great studio album. The real treat here is the 2nd disc. Most all alternative versions, bonus tracks etc turn out to be a tremendous letdown. The Experience Edition is not one of them. Finally "Raving and Drooling" and "You Got to Be Crazy" make their appearances live. These two songs eventually were reworked on the "Animals" album. Also Live is a stellar version of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". Richard Wright and Nick Mason both have more time to stand out on these live tracks. Also appearing is a version of "Wish You Were Here" with violinist virtuoso, Stephane Grappelli. While it was nice to here this version as it has been talked about for decades, PF made the correct call by not using this for the official release. The same can be said about "Have A Cigar", where Roger Waters handles the lead vocals instead of Roy Harper. The wine glasses from the "Household Objects" project is the other track on the set. Interesting, but not something you are clambering to listen to often.

If only all expanded additions were as good as this. Interesting alternate versions and relavetory live versions, plus a remastered studio version make this a must have album.