Why Pink Floyd...?
Why Pink Floyd...? was a re-release campaign of Pink Floyd's back catalogue, released in three stages over 2011–12.[1][2] Under the campaign, multiple forms of the band's material were released, with new remasters and unreleased tracks. The albums were available in three different configurations: "Discovery", "Experience" and "Immersion". The "Immersion" boxsets of The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here featured 5.1 surround sound mixes of the original albums, while that of The Wall did not. Wish You Were Here was also released in an SACD version. A new best-of album, titled A Foot in the Door – The Best of Pink Floyd was released, as well as Sampler, a Best Buy exclusive compilation.[3]
Phases
Phase 1
Phase 1 of the Why Pink Floyd...? campaign began on 26 September 2011 with the release of The Dark Side of the Moon "Experience", "Immersion" and vinyl editions; a remastered re-release of all 14 studio albums, a Discovery box set containing all 14 with a booklet, and a Sampler.
Phase 2
Phase 2 of the campaign began on 7 November 2011 with the release of the Wish You Were Here "Experience", "Immersion", SACD and vinyl editions; a new "best of" album entitled A Foot in the Door – The Best of Pink Floyd; and continued with the release of a Pink Floyd iOS app on 14 November 2011.
Phase 3
Phase 3 of the campaign began on 27 February 2012 with the release of The Wall "Experience", "Immersion" and vinyl editions.[4]
Versions
Discovery
The Discovery editions collect the band's original 14 studio albums, newly remastered for 2011. They were released worldwide on 26 September 2011. The albums can be purchased individually or in a box set which also includes a 60-page book designed by Storm Thorgerson. All albums feature newly designed booklets and CDs.[5] Many of the album covers have been modified to be textless (in 2016 the same remasters were reissued under Pink Floyd Records label and all modifications to the covers were reverted; the discs also got their previous artwork instead of "Discovery" logo from 2011 issues[6]).
- The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)
- A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)
- More (1969)
- Ummagumma (double album) (1969)
- Atom Heart Mother (1970)
- Meddle (1971)
- Obscured by Clouds (1972)
- The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)
- Wish You Were Here (1975)
- Animals (1977)
- The Wall (double album) (1979)
- The Final Cut (1983)
- A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987)
- The Division Bell (1994)
Since the release of Discovery the band have released their fifteenth studio album, The Endless River, in 2014 and reissued Obscured by Clouds in a new stereo mix as part of The Early Years 1965–1972 box set in 2016; it features in Volume 6 – 1972: Obfusc/ation. Neither of these have yet been made part of subsequent issues of Discovery.
Experience and Immersion
The band's three most successful albums, The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall, were released as expanded collectors' editions with memorabilia and previously unreleased material.
The Dark Side of the Moon
DiscoveryDisc 1 – The Remastered Album The original album, newly remastered for 2011.
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ExperienceThe Experience edition contains the above disc and Disc 2: Disc 2 – Live at Wembley Recorded live at the Empire Pool, Wembley, London, 1974. Previously unreleased.
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Immersion
The Immersion set contains the above two discs and the following: Disc 3 – DVD-Video - Audio Featuring the original album in a variety of multi-channel audio mixes:
Disc 4 – DVD-Video - Audio-Visual Material Audio-visual material lasting approximately 101 minutes.
Disc 5 – Blu-ray Disc Blu-ray Disc, all the contents from Discs 3 and 4 in high-definition video and audio.
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Disc 6 – Previously Unreleased Material
Other previously unreleased material:
Other contents
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Wish You Were Here
DiscoveryDisc 1 – The Remastered Album The remastered album now shows "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Part 1)" and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Part 2)" as "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 1–5)" and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 6–9)", respectively as on the original vinyl release.
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ExperienceThe Experience edition contains Disc 1 above, as well as the following Disc 2: Disc 2 – Live at Wembley & Unreleased Material Disc 2 features previously unreleased live and studio audio:
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Immersion
The Immersion set contains the above two discs and the following: Disc 3 – DVD-Video - Audio Featuring the original album in a variety of mixes:
After mixing the original album in 1975, the band decided to add piano to Part III of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", but had no time to re-mix it, so Wright recorded the piano onto a separate tape and then it was added. This tape was soon lost, meaning that this piano is missing from the 1975 Quadrophonic mix. James Guthrie, upon realising this in 2008 while preparing to mix the 5.1 version got Wright to re-record the piano section so as it could be re-included. The Quadrophonic version of the title track has an extra guitar/scat vocal solo by Gilmour between the last verse and the coda (on the right speaker). Disc 4 – DVD-Video - Audio-Visual Material Disc 4 contains audio-visual material of concert films:
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Disc 5 – Blu-ray Disc Blu-ray Disc containing the contents of Discs 3 and 4 in high-definition audio and video:
Other contents
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The Wall
DiscoveryDiscs 1 & 2 – The Remastered Album Discs 1 and 2 make up the original double album.
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ExperienceThe Experience edition contains the above Discs 1 and 2 as well as the following Disc 3: Disc 3 – Unreleased Demos Disc 3 contains unreleased demos from the album's recording sessions as well as Waters' initial demos.
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Immersion
The Immersion set contains discs 1 & 2 (the original album) and the following: Discs 3 & 4 – Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-1981 Disc 3
Disc 4
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Discs 5 & 6 – Unreleased Demos Discs 5 and 6 expands on the contents of those included on Disc 3 of the Experience version, containing two discs worth of unreleased demos by both Waters and the band:
The Wall Work In Progress Part 1, 1979 – 71:00 Programme 1, Excerpts from Roger Waters' Original Demo
Programme 2, Roger Waters Original Demo and Band Demos
Programme 3, Band Demos
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The Wall Work In Progress Part 2, 1979 – 57:00 Programme 1, Roger Waters Original Demos And Band Demos
Programme 2, Band Demos
Programme 3, Band Demos
Programme 4, David Gilmour Original Demos
Disc 7 – DVD Various videos relating to The Wall (total: 72:00):
Other Contents
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Vinyl and SACD
The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall have also been released as heavyweight vinyl formats. Each is 180g vinyl with stickers and a pass to download the albums for free, as 320kbit/s mp3 format.
The Wall vinyl also contains a new poster containing all of the album's lyrics, handwritten by Gerald Scarfe. The Wish You Were Here vinyl comes sealed in a black polythene bag as the original did in 1975.
Wish You Were Here is also released as a SACD version; a dual-layer CD containing the 2011 remastered stereo audio and the 2009 5.1 surround sound audio. The SACD set also includes:
- Deluxe case bound book.
- 6 post cards.
- 8-page booklet including newly designed artwork by Storm Thorgerson.
A Foot in the Door
This is a new "best of" single-disc album released in November 2011.
References
- "15.06.2011: Rette sich, wer kann ... (Tageszeitung neues deutschland)". Neues-deutschland.de. 15 June 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- "Pink Floyd Says Reissue Project Will Give 'Complete View' of Its Legacy". Retrieved 25 June 2011.
- "UPDATED: What Is The "Pink Floyd Sampler" Coming From Best Buy?". theseconddisc.com. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
- Graff, Gary (8 February 2012). "Pink Floyd Mulling More Reissues After Expanded 'Wall' Releases". Billboard. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
- Fowler, Peter (10 May 2011). "Pink Floyd To Release New Album Including Unreleased Songs". newsroomamerica.com. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
- Fitch, Vernon. "Pink Floyd United States Compact Disc Discography". pinkfloydarchives.com. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
- Fitch, Vernon. "Pink Floyd United States Compact Disc Discography". pinkfloydarchives.com. Retrieved 28 May 2019.