Newly Remastered Pink Floyd Catalog To be Released This Fall

Get immersed in Pink Floyd's back catalogue, with outtakes, rarities, and more

Matt
brain-damage.co.uk
Tuesday, 10 May 2011

Revealed today are details of a huge Pink Floyd release schedule, featuring all the studio albums newly remastered including unreleased music from the archives and collectors' box sets. With three of the major titles coming in three different editions each, there's an edition for every level of fan, from casual enthusiast, to the biggest Floydheads!

The comprehensive release schedule kicks off on September 26, 2011, and encompasses CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, an SACD, an array of digital formats, viral marketing, iPhone Apps and a brand-new single-album 'Best Of' collection. Vinyl editions are also in the works for release in due course.

We're delighted to bring you details of the remasters, the collection boxset, the best of, and for three of the albums (so far) the three different special editions on offer - Discovery, Experience, and Immersion - and just what to expect for each album. We've also got those important pre-order links, so that you can secure your chosen release(s)...

BEST OF - "A FOOT IN THE DOOR" - November 7th, 2011
This is a single CD collection featuring a tracklist chosen by Pink Floyd, and featuring newly created artwork from Storm Thorgerson. All tracks remastered by James Guthrie in 2011. The tracks are: Hey You / See Emily Play / The Happiest Days Of Our Lives / Another Brick In The Wall part 2 / Have A Cigar / Wish You Were Here / Time / The Great Gig In The Sky / Money / Comfortably Numb / High Hopes / Learning To Fly / The Fletcher Memorial Home / Shine On You Crazy Diamond (edit) / Brain Damage / Eclipse.

DISCOVERY EDITIONS - September 26th, 2011
Every EMI-released album in the Pink Floyd catalogue will be released as a Discovery edition. All 14 original Studio albums have been painstakingly digitally remastered by James Guthrie, and are reissued with newly crafted packaging and multi-page booklets created by the band's long-time artwork collaborator Storm Thorgerson.

These will clearly be ideal for the more casual fan, and for those who want to explore one or more of the band's albums for the first time. However, if you want them all, you might want to consider...

DISCOVERY BOX SET - September 26th, 2011
This gathers together all fourteen studio albums in their Discovery edition version, into one newly designed box, with a specially designed booklet.

EXPERIENCE EDITIONS
Currently, there are three of the Floyd's albums that have been announced for release as an Experience edition. These present the original studio album, digitally remastered by James Guthrie and reissued with a newly designed Digipak and a new multi-page booklet designed by Storm Thorgerson. However, each also comes with an additional disc as follows:

- THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON Experience edition - September 26th, 2011
Disc two features the November 1974 Wembley concert recording by the BBC of The Dark Side of the Moon.

- WISH YOU WERE HERE Experience edition - November 7th, 2011
Disc two features more from the November 1974 Wembley concert, and contains the following tracks:
*Shine On You Crazy Diamond (parts 1-6) live at Wembley (2011 mix and previously unreleased)
*Raving & Drooling live at Wembley (2011 mix and previously unreleased)
*You've Got To Be Crazy live at Wembley (2011 mix and previously unreleased)
*Wine Glasses from the unreleased 'Household Objects' project
*Have A Cigar alternative version (previously unreleased)
*Wish You were Here featuring Stephane Grappelli (previously unreleased)

- THE WALL Experience edition - February 27th, 2012
Disc three's contents are yet to be officially announced.

IMMERSION BOX SETS
These are lavishly packaged editions that come with the same content as the Experience editions, but with additional discs (including various DVDs and Blurays) along with other specially designed goodies within the sturdy boxes...

- THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON Immersion edition - September 26th, 2011
In addition to the remastered album, and the second disc from the Experience edition with the BBC 1974 concert recording of TDSOTM, this edition comes with FOUR additional discs:

DISC 3 – DVD 1, ALL AUDIO: The Dark Side Of The Moon, James Guthrie 2003 5.1 Surround Mix (previously released only on SACD) in standard resolution audio at 448 kbps / The Dark Side Of The Moon, James Guthrie 2003 5.1 Surround Mix (previously released only on SACD) in high resolution audio at 640 kbps / The Dark Side Of The Moon, LPCM Stereo mix (as disc 1) / The Dark Side Of The Moon, Alan Parsons Quad Mix (previously released only on vinyl LP/8 track tape in 1973) in standard resolution audio at 448 kbps / The Dark Side Of The Moon, Alan Parsons Quad Mix (previously released only on vinyl LP/8 track tape in 1973) in high resolution audio at 640 kbps

DISC 4 - DVD 2, ALL AUDIO VISUAL: Live In Brighton 1972: Careful With That Axe, Eugene (previously unreleased on DVD) / Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun (previously unreleased on DVD) / The Dark Side Of The Moon, 2003 documentary (25 min EPK) / Concert Screen Films (60 min total): British Tour 1974, French Tour 1974, North American Tour 1975. Screen films play in stereo and 5.1 Surround Sound

DISC 5 – BLURAY, AUDIO AUDIO VISUAL: The Dark Side Of The Moon, James Guthrie 2003 5.1 Surround Mix (previously released only on SACD) in high resolution audio at 96 kHz/24-bit / The Dark Side Of The Moon, Original stereo mix (1973) mastered in high resolution audio at 96 kHz/24-bit / Live In Brighton 1972: Careful With That Axe, Eugene (previously unreleased on DVD/BluRay) / Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun (previously unreleased on DVD/BluRay) / The Dark Side Of The Moon, 2003 documentary (EPK) / Concert Screen Films (5.1 Surround Mix): British Tour 1974, French Tour 1974, North American Tour 1975 / Concert Screen Films (High Resolution Stereo Mix): British Tour 1974, French Tour 1974, North American Tour 1975

DISC 6 - CD3: The Dark Side Of The Moon 1972 Early Album Mix engineered by Alan Parsons (previously unreleased) / The Hard Way (from ‘Household Objects’ project) / Us And Them, Richard Wright Demo (previously unreleased) / The Travel Sequence, live from Brighton June 1972 (previously unreleased) / The Mortality Sequence, live from Brighton June 1972 (previously unreleased) / Any Colour You Like, live from Brighton June 1972 (previously unreleased) / The Travel Sequence, studio recording 1972 (previously unreleased) / Money, Roger Waters’ demo (previously unreleased)

This all comes with a 40 page 27cm x 27cm booklet designed by Storm Thorgerson, an exclusive photo book edited by Jill Furmanovsky, an exclusive Storm Thorgerson Art Print, 5 x Collectors' Cards featuring art and comments by Storm Thorgerson, replica of The Dark Side Of The Moon tour ticket, replica of The Dark Side Of The Moon backstage pass, scarf, 3 x black marbles, 9 x Coasters (unique to this box) featuring early Storm Thorgerson design sketches, and a 12 page credits booklet.

- WISH YOU WERE HERE Immersion edition - November 7th, 2011
In addition to the remastered edition, and the second disc from the Experience edition with unreleased live and studio tracks, this comes with an additional three discs of goodies.

DISC 3 - DVD1, ALL AUDIO: Wish You Were Here, James Guthrie 2009 5.1 Surround Mix (previously unreleased) in standard resolution audio at 448 kbps / Wish You Were Here, James Guthrie 2009 5.1 Surround Mix (previously unreleased) in high resolution audio at 640 kbps / Wish You Were Here, Original Mix (1975) LPCM stereo / Wish You Were Here, Quad Mix (previously released only on vinyl LP/8 track tape) in standard resolution audio at 448 kbps / Wish You Were Here, Quad Mix (previously released only on vinyl LP/8 track tape) in high resolution audio at 640 kbps

DISC 4 - DVD 2, AUDIO VISUAL: Concert Screen Films: Shine On You Crazy Diamond Intro / Shine On You Crazy Diamond / Welcome To The Machine animated clip / Storm Thorgerson short film. Concert Screen Films play in stereo and 5.1 Surround Sound

DISC 5 - BLURAY: AUDIO: Wish You Were Here, James Guthrie 2009 5.1 Surround Mix (previously unreleased) high resolution audio at 96 kHz/24-bit / Wish You Were Here, Original stereo mix (1975) mastered in high resolution audio at 96 kHz/24-bit / Concert Screen films: Shine On You Crazy Diamond Intro / Shine On You Crazy Diamond / Welcome To The Machine animated clip / Storm Thorgerson short film

This set comes with a 40 page, 27cm x 27cm booklet designed by Storm Thorgerson, an exclusive photo book edited by Jill Furmanovsky, an exclusive Storm Thorgerson Art Print, 5 x Collectors’ Cards featuring art and comments by Storm Thorgerson, replica of Wish You Were Here tour ticket, replica of Wish You Were Here backstage pass, scarf, 3 x clear marbles, 9 x coasters (unique to this box) featuring early Storm Thorgerson design sketches, and a 12 page credits booklet.

- THE WALL Immersion edition - February 27th, 2012
In addition to the remastered edition, which has a third disc, the Immersion edition comes with a total of seven discs, with the contents of two of the CDs not yet revealed. The Immersion edition comes with the two-disc Is There Anybody Out There, the live album from the original Wall shows, now fully remastered which should prove a popular move, and a seventh disc (a DVD) with the following:
*Another Brick In The Wall part 2 promo video, restored in 2011
*Behind The Wall documentary
*Gerald Scarfe interview
*Short filmed extract of Earls Court concert featuring animation.

This set comes with a 44 page, 27cm x 27cm booklet designed by Storm Thorgerson, an exclusive photo book, an exclusive Storm Thorgerson Art Print, 5 x Collectors’ Cards featuring art and comments by Storm Thorgerson, a replica of The Wall tour ticket, a replica of The Wall backstage pass, a scarf, prints/cards of Mark Fisher's stage drawings, 3 x white marbles with design of bricks, 9 x Coasters (unique to this box) featuring early Storm Thorgerson design sketches, and a credits booklet.

So, as you can see, even just from the announced material found on these sets, they would appear to be superb collections of rarities, and it is great to see that the vaults have finally been raided for unreleased material.

WISH YOU WERE HERE - SACD
For those who have been, for a few years now, eagerly awaiting the SACD of Wish You Were Here, we have the excellent news for you that it is indeed on its way! The 5.1 SACD will be released by Acoustic Sounds, with the mix done by James Guthrie, and produced by Gus Skinas at the Super Audio Center. We will hopefully have the release date along with ordering information for you shortly.

Naturally, as time goes on we'll bring you more detail on all of these, and more, and will be reviewing each edition so that you can decide what (if any!) you'll be purchasing.

The Discovery Box Set: Remastered Pink Floyd

The Pink Floyd Discovery Box Set is probably going to be the biggest selling classic rock box set release since The Beatles remastered box sets in 2009.

The Pink Floyd Discovery Box Set contains 16 CDs. That is all 14 of their studio albums from ’67 through ’94. It includes 16 discs instead of just 14 because two of their studio albums were double albums (Ummagumma and The Wall.)

While a lot of Pink Floyd fans already own all 14 of their studio albums, what makes this box set interesting is that it contains new remastered versions of each of the band’s albums. They were expertly digitally remastered by a producer named James Guthrie. In 1979 he co-produced The Wall.

For classic rock fans who are not intimate with Pink Floyd’s back catalog this new CD box set is an amazing way to “discover” it (hence the name.) What better way to listen to Pink Floyd’s timeless music for the 1st time than in such a complete way with excellent remastered sound quality? I would definitely recommend listening to these great albums in order of their release date so you can hear the band’s amazing journey from their start with Syd Barrett to the David Gilmour era in the ’80s and ’90s.

And there are Pink Floyd fans who may know their most popular albums such as The Dark Side of the Moon like the back of their hand but who have never really listened to the band’s other great albums. I’m a huge fan of Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Meddle, and Animals. I actually like all three of these albums more than The Wall, despite its massive popularity

Along with the Discovery Remastered CD Box Set, there are also three “Immersion” box sets coming out; one for each of their three most popular albums; The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall. Each of these Immersion box sets contains from 5 to 7 discs focused on just that album! That may seem like a bit too much to some, but these are truly brilliant albums and truly do merit that intense level of “immersion.”

The Dark Side of the Moon Immersion Box Set is the one I am most looking forward to as I believe it to be one of the most perfect albums ever made.

I'm very "hit" and "miss" with Pink Floyd. What I mean is , I love their mid-to-late-70's stuff and would get any of it. But I had a really difficult time with "Dark Side Of The Moon" and I can't handle any of their stuff earlier than that. It's not music to me.

I should probably get "Momentary Lapse Of Reason" though (from 1987). I can handle that album.

Thanks for posting this, Tex, I will definitely get all of these.... sooner or later.