Ticket 2 Ride

The people who control the Pink Floyd musical vault are crafty and know the best way to separate a fan from their wallet.

The 50th Anniversary release of Wish You Were Here release comes in several different options. I enjoy Wish You Were Here, but initially had a hard time getting into it, unlike other Pink Floyd albums. Don’t get me wrong, this album is a classic, and it’s been released multiple times through the years. I think I own different three copies already, including the 2016 remaster.

Back in 1975, Pink Floyd was in search of a follow-up to Dark Side of the Moon. They made several unsuccessful starts at recording a new album, but those efforts were scrapped, according to drummer Nick Mason in an interview with The Guardian. The recording process took about six months and was quite intense. The specter of former member Syd Barrett hung over the project in more ways than one way. If I was going to create a soundscape for a dystopian world, a mechanical and distant sound for the future, I’d start here.

“‘This really is a musician’s record,’ Mason said. He thinks that may be why guitarist David Gilmour and the late keyboardist Rick Wright have called Wish their favorite Floyd album. Mason loves that it showcases so much of Wright’s visionary keyboard work. ‘If ever there was someone who was underrated and under-sung, it’s Wright,’ Mason said.”

Having said that, you get the idea that the music recorded surrounding this album, and the unreleased material, is quite popular with fans. So, the question is, do you want another copy, and what amount of bonus material can you not live without?

I rarely go for the super deluxe, super fans only, super exclusive, top of the line box sets. When a forklift is required to deliver your set, and you have to take out an additional mortgage on your house, your family may need to do an intervention. I go for the simpler two-disc sets that are usually at the bottom of the these anniversary box set choices. I figure that I’m getting a remixed or at least remastered original album and a few unreleased song versions or possibly some live tracks.

I don’t have the stereo system to play Blu-ray discs or Dolby Atmos 5.1 audio tracks, so that’s a waste for me. While the half-speed vinyl seems cool, I buy very little vinyl, and reviews I’ve read talk about the noise on this particular vinyl set. Nothing is more irritating than surface noise or pops on very expensive vinyl.

If you purchase the two-disc CD set, you get the original Wish You Were Here album (2016 remaster) and 13 bonus tracks that are essentially alternate versions of songs on the original album and stripped-down working versions.

If you splurge for the bigger bundles you get more stuff, most of which is not available elsewhere. Included in this extra stuff are songs available as digital downloads.

Back in 2011, Pink Floyd released a multi-disc Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here – Immersion set that had a remastered (2011 version) original album, DVDs of audio and visual materials, live tracks, Blu-Ray 5.1 surround sound mixes, quad mix tracks, booklets, postcards and other trinkets.

Is the Immersion set a duplicate of the 50th Anniversary Edition? Kinda sorta, although there are some duplicates, the 50th Anniversary set includes material remixed by James Guthrie and different live material and videos. A bonus is a 16-track bootleg concert from 1975 that has been mixed by mixmaster extraordinaire Steven Wilson.

I still haven’t decided if I will buy the 2-disc set, if I do, it will primarily to get the bonus materials. I’ll let you know.

Bonus tracks:

Thanks to Goldmine for helping with the comments below, their review of the “rarities” was invaluable. Credit them with these insights.

“Wine Glasses” An attempt to create an album from common objects. The Household Objects Project, an idea that “went absolutely nowhere”, Mason said.

“Have a Cigar (Alternate Version)” A dual lead vocal by Waters and Gilmour in place of the official album’s Roy Harper guest vocal.

“Wish You Were Here” A mix of the song with jazz violinist Stéphane Grapelli’s violin solo – entering around the three-minute mark of the song – is featured on this set. 

“Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Early Version)” This no-vocals mix highlights the superb instrumental work of the four musicians, and features numerous melodic lines and solos that wouldn’t make it onto the finished version

“The Machine Song (Roger’s Demo)” Waters brought this demo to the studio, which was different than how they usually worked. Normally, someone had an idea, a riff or a bit of a melody, and it was developed from there. In a greater sense, this may have been Waters changing the songwriting dynamics that would fracture the band.

“The Machine Song (Demo #2)” The song’s seething, malevolent sonics are even more unsettling here than on the finished song, set as they are against acoustic guitar and Waters’ comparatively understated, near-whispered vocals.

“Wish You Were Here (Take 1)” Gilmour had developed many of the song’s signature guitar lines early in the creative process. His untreated vocal emphasizes the up-close-and-personal nature of his performance; it’s relaxed but not offhand, loose but heartfelt.

“Wish You Were Here (Steel Pedal)” Instrumental mix, with Gilmour on the extensive pedal steel emphasizing the song’s dreamy, elegiac feel with a high lonesome country and western feel. 

“Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 1-9, New Stereo Mix)” A new mix by James Guthrie that brings the two songs together into one, an epic 25 minute piece.