Though they initially struggled to follow up The Dark Side Of The Moon, Pink Floyd proved they were up to the task in 1975 with Wish You Were Here. Like its predecessor, a 50th anniversary celebration is in order, with respect to new mixes, previously unreleased tracks, and enough goodies to fill three LPs, two CDs, a box set, and a single Blu-ray Disc. Together and separately, this is Wish You Were Here 50.
In addition to the original album, you get 25 bonus tracks — nine studio outtakes and 16 live tracks from Floyd’s Los Angeles Sports Arena concert on April 26, 1975, captured by DYI taper Mike Millard. This is the first time Millard’s recordings are seeing official release. If you pick up the deluxe box set, you’ll get all the extras, plus a fourth clear vinyl LP, Live At Wembley 1974, a replica Japanese single of “Have A Cigar” and “Welcome To The Machine,” hardcover book with photographs and liner notes, comic book, Knebworth concert poster, the usual accoutrements. The 2011 Immersion box set of Wish You Were Here had much of the same material, with added swag like marbles (!) and a scarf. There’s always a trade-off.
Wish You Were Here is arguably the last Pink Floyd album where Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Richard Wright, and Nick Mason were in total synchronization. There was disagreement early on about what it should be — a regular collection of songs or a conceptual piece? Inevitably, an idea around the demands and futility of the music business was adopted. The group’s former frontman Syd Barrett was cast as the ultimate victim. He even made an appearance at the sessions to confirm it.
Waters’ lyrics addressing the plight of his old friend and bandmate framed by Gilmour’s four-note motif and Wright’s multi-layered keyboards turned “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” into an instant classic. The nine-part opus is split in half with Parts I-V beginning the record and Parts VI-IX finishing it off. In between, there’s Waters’ dystopian “Welcome To The Machine” whirling around layers of synths. “Have A Cigar” kicks in with a snarl that only an outsider like Roy Harper could muster. The album’s title track is a simple Gilmour acoustic piece with succinct lines from Waters like “We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl” that encapsulate the entire essence of the record. As poetic and hopeful as it is melancholic and sad.
On the Wish You Were Here 50 Blu-ray Disc, the album’s 1975 stereo mix, 1976 quad mix, and 2009 5.1 mix, which were all featured in the Immersion box, are joined by Steven Wilson’s 2025 Atmos mix. If you have the right system, sampling the three multi-channel mixes provides insights you may not have heard before. They each successfully enhance the album’s ambience and sonic blast to infinite possibilities.
Wilson took on a second assignment of cleaning up the live recordings. Pink Floyd apparently didn’t bother to properly record any of their shows from 1975, so the underworld was scoured for a decent audience recording. Mike Millard’s tape from the Los Angeles Sports Arena is regarded by Pink Floyd fans and bootleg enthusiasts as one of the best (though strong arguments can be made for tapes from Boston Gardens and Ivor Wayne Stadium in Hamilton, Canada, the final stop on the tour). Millard’s stealth taping methodology, meticulous nature, and reputation within the bootleg community loom large over the legacy of this particular show, so it only made sense for Wilson to apply what he calls a little “fairy dust” without the aid of gimmicky AI on a low-generation recording sourced from a TDK 90-minute cassette tape. The results are impressive. An A/B test between the original Millard recording (see YouTube) and the Wilson upgrade reveals a wider stereo spread, heavier bass, more clarity on the drums, and a general improvement on the overall aural atmosphere. Not having to suffer through the three minutes of tuning that appears on the original tape is a nice bonus.
Two sets of rarities offer alternate, demos, and different takes of each of the album’s songs. The “Wine Glasses” portion of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” is the first of two other versions — an early instrumental mix and a new stereo mix with all nine parts joined together. Novel as it is, the original album’s fade out of the first half into “Welcome To The Machine” and then from “Wish You Were Here,” a fade into the second half is a tough cycle to break. Especially if you listen to the album with any frequency.
The alternate of “Have A Cigar” with both Waters and Gilmour cojoined on the lead vocals explains the line in the sand over who in the group should have sang it. It’s just not that easy to shake off Harper from the final product. The demos for “Welcome To The Machine” represent the song’s development, while the instrumental mix of “Wish You Were Here” with a touch of pedal steel is a strong reminder of just how tightly balanced the melody and structure are. You could almost say the same about the other version featuring violinist Stéphane Grappelli.
The Immersion box set has three additional live tracks — “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” “Raving And Drooling” and “You’ve Got To Be Crazy” — originally recorded for the BBC in 1974. The Wish You Were Here 50 deluxe box set has a fourth LP with the Wembley “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” on one side and “You’ve Got To Be Crazy” on the other. It’s another trade-off to keep Pink Floyd hardcores scrambling to fill gaps in their collections.
The Blu-ray is rounded out with videos that include concert films of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” and “Welcome To The Machine,” plus a short film by Storm Thorgerson, one half of the Hipgnosis design group responsible for many of Pink Floyd’s album covers and iconic imagery. Even though the films are dated, they provide a visual element to music already blooming with cinematic tendencies. Without any actual watchable concert footage from 1975, it’s about the best you can expect.
Wish You Were Here 50 is the last entry for 2025 in the continuing stream of Pink Floyd reissues. As Atmos mixes seem to be all the rage, the next logical multi-channel release is The Wall. James Guthrie’s 5.1 mix has been standing on deck for years, and one can only imagine what sort of Atmos “fairy dust” Steven Wilson could add to the album’s bluster and thrust. Add that and whatever else they might do to Meddle or Obscured By Clouds. Even The Final Cut is a viable candidate for expansion if Roger Waters has his way. If Sony has their way, Pink Floyd’s will keep “riding the gravy train” for as long as there’s an audience.
~ Shawn Perry
Purchase
Wish You Were Here 50
