Why Pink Floyd?

Unauthorized photo from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame showing part of the Pink Floyd "The Wall" exhibit

Don’t know about you, but I spent most of this past weekend listening to Pink Floyd. I admit it, I bought into the hype of the new “Why Pink Floyd?” campaign that started last week with a massive re-release program encompassing remastered CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, SACD, an array of digital formats, viral marketing, iPhone Apps and a brand-new single-album ‘Best Of’ collection. Kind of like the Beatles remastering onslaught from a couple of years ago.

Guess the boys stopped bickering long enough to agree on stuff like a remastered Dark Side of the Moon in two different versions: a two-CD “Experience” set, and a six-disc “Immersion” edition.  You can read about all of the different versions here.

It would be great if we could look forward to a tour with the surviving Pink Floyd members (founder Syd Barrett died in 2006, keyboardist Richard Wright passed in 2008) but Roger Waters and David Gilmour have made it very clear they can’t stand each other. Roger Waters is currently touring with his version of The Wall and he promises to come back for more U.S. dates in 2012; David Gilmour tours fitfully and when he does he leans heavily on Pink Floyd material – so who knows? there may be some kind of grand finale to all this.

In case you want to buy something you haven’t bought two or three times before (I happen to own Dark Side of the Moon in formats including regular LP, Half Speed Mastered LP, 8-track tape, cassette tape, CD, remastered anniversary CD and most likely one of the new remastered versions) – Best Buy in the States has an exclusive six-track “sampler” that includes a couple tracks that won’t appear for a while.

In addition to remastered versions of the familiar “Money,” “Wish You Were Here” and “Another Brick In The Wall Part 2” the sampler features an alternate version of “Have A Cigar” with Gilmour/Waters singing (instead of Roy Harper) and a full-band demo of “Another Brick In The Wall.” Best Buy offers the sampler online, but  international buyers will need a U.S. address to get it delivered to, as Best Buy won’t ship abroad.

So enjoy Pink Floyd this week … I will offer you something not available in the campaign, the four selections played by a reunited Pink Floyd at Live 8 in 2005.

MP3: “Speak To Me/Breathe/Breathe (Reprise)”

MP3: “Money”

MP3: “Wish You Were Here”

MP3: “Comfortably Numb”

Pink Floyd official website