LIVE AT POMPEII (THE DIRECTOR'S CUT)

Pink Floyd

Psychedelic/Space Rock

4.59 | 689 ratings

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thehallway
Prog Reviewer

Cosmic. A perfectly captured glimpse of a psychedelic foursome at their creative peak.

What is particularly great about Pompeii over later live releases is that all the music, the emotion, the imagery, is genuine. There is no vanity or pretentiousness because the band aren't successful yet. Nothing is there to fulfil a contractural or popularity requirement and there is no sign of internal warfare yet. This is why the music (which is predominantly 'Meddle') works so well, and carries through so much energy and fire. It's bright and dark, full and empty, loud and soft. The visual imagery and desolate Italian setting compliments such beautiful music perfectly.

'Echoes' is very strong. It's played very tightly as a unit but with deep, colourful emotion and some fine playing. Splitting it in half and bookending the film with it ensures that the opening and closing moments of this dvd are equally memorable and moving. It beats the album version, and thats no mean feat! Other favourites of mine (favourite in that they are superior to their original studio versions) are 'Set the Controls...' OBVIOUSLY, 'One of These Days', and 'Saucerful...', which I love, despite being unmoved by the original. The newly added 'Dark Side' cuts are interesting too, especially seeing Rick Wright leave his lit cigarette on the top of the Steinway while he performs the 'Us and Them' piano solo. How hippy and care free! The other less significant offerings are okay but nothing special, yet they all fit in with the setting well (other than 'Madmoiselle Nobs', which is Seamus but with a posh french dog).

With insightfully witty intertwined interviews and plenty of psychedelic noodling, this film captures what's great about Pink Floyd: music, imagery, and little else (other than an apple pie with no crusts).

thehallway | 5/5 | 2010-4-25

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