Why Pink Floyd? EMI answered that question with the May 10 announcement of a stunning new reissue campaign for the legendary band. That program kicked off on September 27 with straight remasters of each Floyd album under the banner Discovery, plus a 2-CD Experience Edition and 4 CD/1 DVD/1 BD Immersion Edition of 1973's Dark Side of the Moon (reviewed here!). November 7 is the date for a new "greatest hits" compilation entitled A Foot in the Door, plus Experience and Immersion sets for 1975's Wish You Were Here, the band's ninth studio album. Back on August 15, we reported on the long-in-the-works 5.1 mix of 1975's masterpiece Wish You Were Here, which will be included not only in the Immersion box set on Blu-Ray and DVD, but as a stand-alone 5.1 SACD also available on November 7. We now have artwork and a few more details about this exciting addition to your surround library.
Wish You Were Here is coming on SACD from EMI and Analogue Productions, the same team behind the recent Nat "King" Cole SACD remasters produced in association with EMI. James Guthrie has mixed the original album into 5.1 surround sound and Gus Skinas has produced at the Super Audio Center. The SACD represents just one more format option for the 5.1 mix. The Immersion edition of the album will also contain Guthrie's 5.1 mix on both Blu-Ray (96 kHz/24-bit resolution) and DVD (in both 448 kpbs normal resolution and 640 kbps high resolution). In addition, the Immersion edition will offer the album's original quadraphonic mix on DVD and BD. For those fans of Wish You Were Here not willing or able to shell out for the Immersion edition, this single-disc, stand-alone SACD route seems a terrific way to make Guthrie's 5.1 mix more widely available. As this is a hybrid SACD, it is playable on all CD players, but will (of course) only play in stereo for those utilizing the CD layer. The SACD layer also offers the stereo mix in a clarity simply impossible to achieve on standard CD.
Hit the jump for more details including the track listing and pre-order links!
Wish You Were Here will boast lavish packaging rather than Analogue's standard use of the Super Deluxe Jewel Box. Storm Thorgerson, longtime Pink Floyd associate and the designer behind each component of this campaign, has seen to it that the SACD will not be a poor stepchild of the Discovery, Experience and Immersion releases. It boasts a unique cover, and is housed in a book-style package with a number of image prints that you can see in the photograph, above. The 5.1 Analogue Productions SACD, is currently available for pre-order at Acoustic Sounds here. An Amazon link doesn't yet appear to be active, but Analogue's titles usually do arrive there.
Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here: 35th Anniversary Edition (originally released as Harvest SHVL 814 (U.K.), 1975 - reissued on SACD - EMI/Analogue Productions CAPP 33453 SA, 2011)
- Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V)
- Welcome to the Machine
- Have a Cigar
- Wish You Were Here
- Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI-IX)
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I think this is the version I will buy. The SACD version of Dark Side... was awesome, and I like the fact that as a hybrid, I can play it in my car. I have found that even in standard players, the CD layer of the hybrid reveals more depth.