Customer Reviews

Wish You Were Here (vinyl)

5 star:		(276)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Well I still don't know what everybody got bent out of shape about the Dark Side Of The Moon box set. Yes there was lots of crap in the box besides the CD's and DVD's but you did get 3cd's, 2 DVD's and a Blu ray for $100.00 which is not a bad deal. However the same can't be said for Wish You Were Here. The WYWH box set comes with the remastered album and one bonus CD with a couple of live tracks and a couple of alt. takes. A DVD that containd 5.1 mixes and one that says it's for the visuals but the only thing it has is the screen films used on the tour. Then a Blu ray with the same content as the DVD's but at a higher sampling rate. So basicly what you get is two CD's and a couple of 5.1 mixes plus all the stuff you don't need in the box set. So in this case not a very good deal. I don't know why they didn't just give us a live CD from the tour.
That being said the 5.1 Blu ray sounds beautiful. You have not heard this album until you hear it in 5.1. The only thing that sucks is that you have to buy the box set to get it. By the way EMI fixed the disc problem that TDSOTH box set had with the disc's coming lose when it's shipped. They now have all the discs in envelops.

I'm certainly not one of those people who claim that "everything sounds better on vinyl, just because it's vinyl". I have been disappointed on several occasions upon receiving reissued and/or remastered versions of some of my favourite albums. Everything from poor sound quality to extreme surface noise to awful quality control (when you're spending upwards of $25, I wouldn't expect to receive records with scuffs, scratches and the center hole not completely punched through). That being said, I wouldn't give out a five star rating too easily.
So I love Pink Floyd and when this album became available, I held my breath and ordered it. I'm glad I did. It's awesome in every respect. Sound quality, quality control and the packaging are all superb. Most other manufacturers could learn a few things from this exceptional release. If you like Floyd, get it!

I received this box set about two weeks ago and I'm surprised that there aren't more complaints coming in. When ordering a box set I expect too be visually and aurally satisfied for the amount of money spent. I really don't have any complaints about the sound at all- both the Quad & 5.1 mixes on the Blu-ray are outstanding and the Cd's are great also. The problem comes with the Dvd's- one having the Blu-Ray material duplicated, but at a lower resolution. I could understand this being done a few years ago when Blu-Ray players were fairly expensive and not to many people owned them, but now they can be bought for well under a hundred dollars. I can't see myself playing the Dolby Digital compressed version when I have the better version at hand. I suppose for the few people who have 5.1 in there vehicles the Dvd would come in handy. The real complaint is for the second Dvd that is supposed too have 75 minutes of video content on it, when in fact it has only 25 minutes of pictures and animation. I can't believe that there wasn't any live material shot during the 70's that could have been included. Several years ago there was a 30th anniversary Steve Miller-Fly like an eagle package that came out with the remixed and remastered disc in 5.1 & extra songs, interviews and a full concert included. The extras in floyd Disc set are of no real interest too me, so really the cd's and Blu-ray are the only value here and I learned an expensive lesson and won't repeat it with the other immersion sets.

When I bought several Dvd Audio discs I realized there would be only a small amount of video included on the disc but I was fine with that fact. I was bying the disc for the great sound in surround, but when I put out over a hundred dollars I expect the full package deal. I guess I will have too wait for DSOTM & the WALL too come out on Blu-ray in 5.1 and buy them separately. I own DSOTM on sacd, but would still like the Bluray version also & especially the Quad mix.

I listened to it on a big reel tape recorder. I listened to it on a cassette deck. I listened to it on a vinyl turntable (not a hi-end though). I listened to it on a CD.

I finally heard it. On a Super-Audio CD.

Amazing record and good mastering.

If DARK SIDE is about insanity, and ANIMALS and THE WALL is Waters working out his own neurosis brought on by fame, WISH YOU WERE HERE could be the most sentimental thing the band ever recorded.

After DARK SIDE broke in 1973, the band surely must have felt the pressure to record that monster's followup. So what did they do in light of all the success they recieved? Why, revisit their roots of course, and issue a concept album about the loss of their first lead singer. And while "concept album" has so many negative connotations, or at least pretension, self-important "art", WISH YOU WERE HERE is none of these things. While certainly self-styled as a tribute, it doesn't get as bogged down in its "concept" as THE WALL, and is truly one of Pink Floyd's most personal, most honest albums that the band ever cut.

WISH YOU WERE HERE returns to the longer song format dominant on the earlier PF records. At only five songs, two of them take up around 27 minutes of the album's 40 minute running time.

Lyrically, WISH YOU WERE HERE is primarily a tribute to the band's now long departed lead singer, Syd Barrett. His story is well known. He had a long history of mental illness, peaked with the Floyd's first album PIPER AT THE GATES OF DOWN, did some singles and two unreleased songs (Scream Thy Last Scream and Vegetable Man), and had some participation on SAUCERFUL OF SECRETS. After that, Barrett was out and Gilmour was in full time. Barrett then went on to release two solo albums (Madcap Laughs and Opal), and then, like Graham Parsons and Nick Drake, his career was cut tragically short. While the other two died, Syd Barrett became a recluse, and for the last thirty plus years of his life (he died summer 2006) lived as a recluse with his sister in England (my mother country).

Much of the remorse and sorrow on WISH YOU WERE HERE is regarding Barrett's fate. Here's a man who was in Pink Floyd, one of the biggest bands ever, and now he's gone. The Illness took over. Some of Waters' most poignant lines come from the title cut, especially the lines about trading a walkon part in the war for a lead role in the cage, meaning he left fame and rock life to become something much more reclusive.

As far as being a followup to DARK SIDE, though there aren't that actual many songs on WISH YOU WERE HERE, there is some great aural qualities. "Welcome to the Machine" really points the way to Waters' paranoia that would culminate in ANIMALS and THE WALL. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", both parts, is vintage Pink Floyd, and some of the best Floyd around. Great instrumentals, great lyrics, heart-felt tribute to Barrett. "Have a Cigar", sung by Roy Harper (you Led Zeppelin fans would now him by the song off LED ZEPPELIN III, "Hats Off To Roy Harper"), is all about the music business, and how clueless record executives can be in regards to the bands their companies represent. Of course, I'm referring to the classic question of which person in the band is named Pink Floyd, not realising that's the name of the band, not a person in the band. Deep respect indeed.

Ironically enough, Syd Barrett showed up for an afternoon in 1975 during the recording of this album. He listened to the band play "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". He was fat and bald, and the band didn't recognize him. His appearance really shook everyone up.

For me, Strom Thorenson's cover art truly captures the spirit of the album. The man, representative of the band, is shaking the truly incendary man's hand. The band must continue on, and though the other man is on fire and a brilliant star, he simply cannot continue on their world. And so they bid adieu.

Overall, this is one of Pink Floyd's better post DARK albums, and serves as a great followup to a fantastic album. It's a nice concept album, and a very fitting tribute to one of rock's great lost icons, Syd Barret. We all wish you were here Syd.

A great album,I just love it.My most favorite of the Pink Floyd albums.A must have for any classic rock collector.

Pink Floyd's follow up to the titanic selling "Dark Side of the Moon" is the often overlooked "Wish you Where Here". Once noted as keyboadist Richard Wrights favorite Pink Floyd album, this body of work demonstrates and highlights the band's musical skill over the often noted Roger Waters lyrical skill. Sharing musical writing duties, (the hidden strength of the group) is evident all over this album. With contributions from Waters, Gilmour, and Wright. Classics include the title track, as well as other gems like "Have a Cigar", "Welcome to the Machine", and a fan favorite "Shine on you Crazy Diamond". Written against the backdrop of original member Syd Barrett's dive into mental illness and alienation, this album will not dissapoint any music lover.

Yes, I said best. It's not as influential as Darkside or as cynical as Animals (2nd best). It's not as experimental like Umagumma, or as grandiose as The Wall. In many respects it is similar to Meddle in it's laid back smoothness, but Meddle lacks the deep lyrical brilliance. What Wish You Were Here is, is musical bliss. Shine on...is an emotionial reverance for longtime friend and former PF frontman, Syd Barrett. Barrett's descent into drugs and madness is well documented in Pink Floyd's classic, Darkside Of The Moon. The next song, Welcome To The Machine, is a musical mantra and lyrical tyrade about the music business' exploitation of young artists. Another shot in eye to the music biz follows with Have A Cigar. Guest vocals by Roy Harper makes this comic shot a classic. The title track is probably one of the best songs ever recorded, and it's the complete musical package. The denouement, more Shine on...revisits old themes, while bringing the album full circle. Pink Floyd has put out a multitude of great albums, but this one makes me laugh and cry in a close your eyes, bob your head and sway type of way. It's that good....buy it.

After Amazon Canada made me wait several months after the release date to get my copy of the Wish You Were Here SACD I was pumped to give it a listen. I have owned a 1975 Columbia LP (PC33453) since its release back in the day and this served as my reference point. Most of the reviews I saw on SA-CD.net were glowing giving the SACD 5 star ratings for sonics suggesting that Pink Floyd was prescient in creating a piece that was made for 5.1 decades before it was technically possible (yes I know there was a quad mix but the matrix systems were skethchy). However, I did see one review that suggested the SACD had the life squeezed out of it. Sadly I must agree, the SACD sounds good but it is not engaging or exciting. I have listened to both the multichannel and the stereo DSD layers and my 37 year old LP still is more fun to listen to. The SACD version of DSOTM is killer, it is a shame that the digital transfer of WYWH is less so.

It really looks as if this has had much less importance/preparation to the band as DSOTM's immersion boxset. Don't get me wrong though, you're buying this for the music/sound/quadrophonic experience and it delivers on that front.

Where it's extremely deceiving is in the quality of the prints (Books, pictures) Everything looks badly upscaled and printed with very bad dithering. If you compare to Dark Side of the Moon's immersion prints & books (which were awesomely well printed).... this one looks like a very cheap knock-off printed on a 10 years old bubble jet printer with home-refilled cartridges.

The scarf is more socially acceptable to wear in public though. (than DSOTM's)

Thinking back I would have only gone for the Experience set instead as the prints/books are useless.

I'm giving 2/5 stars since this boxset should be more about the memorabilia than the music. But again - the recordings/DVDs/BluRay are of excellent quality and Pink Floyd-worthy to say the least. But if you wondered if the immersion boxset was worthwhile, I'd have to say no.

And one more complaint (which goes for all immersion sets) why isn't the Vinyl record included?