The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking: Pink Floyd – The Story Of Wish You Were Here

2012/07/26

Pink Floyd – The Story Of Wish You Were Here – Blu-ray (2012)

Pink Floyd: The Story Of Wish You Were Here is a worthwhile companion piece to the album.

Interviews with Roger Waters; David Gilmour; Nick Mason; Richard Wright; Storm Thorgerson; Roy Harper; Brian Humphries; Jill Furmanovsky; Aubrey “Po” Powell; Venetta Fields; and many others

Chapters: Prologue; Into the Studio; Have a Cigar; The Album Cover; Shine On You Crazy Diamond; Welcome To The Machine; The Burning Man; Wish You Were Here; Epilogue; Bonus Features

Studio: Eagle Rock Entertainment [6/26/12]

Director: John Edgington

Video: 1.78:1 for 16×9 1080i HD, color and B&W

Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, PCM Stereo

Subtitles: English, German, Spanish, French

Length: 85 minutes

Rating: Audio **** Video****

With the avalanche of re-mastered Pink Floyd material, a wider audience is able to contemplate their strong musical impact. The entire catalogue has been re-released. There has been a specific focus on Dark Side Of the Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall. Multi-disc boxes, vinyl and hi-resolution digital recordings have enhanced these seminal recordings. The band members, (especially the feuding Roger Waters and David Gilmour) have become very accessible to discuss all things Pink Floyd.

Eagle Rock Entertainment’s latest offering is a Blu-ray documentary entitled Pink Floyd: The Story Of Wish You Were Here. In a concise, informative eighty-five minute film, the various details about the 1975 album are discussed at great lengths. Using simple interview head shots, archival footage and photographs, the narrative contexts are explained. There are incisive musical anecdotes (ex: how the opening four notes of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” served as a base for the album). The three surviving members (Waters, Gilmour, Mason) reminisce all about founder Syd Barrett and his influence on the material. There are abbreviated scenes (black & white and color) of vintage performances (“Astronomy Domine”, “Jugband Blues”) interspersed with the sorrowful recounting of his LSD-induced breakdown.

Of greater interest are the details of the songs and their eventual sequencing. Not lost is the struggle for creative control between Waters and Gilmour. Sound engineer Brian Humphries goes back into Abbey Studios to demonstrate many intricate instrumental and vocal elements of the original master tapes. Veteran musician Roy Harper, whose vocals on “Have A Cigar” were amazing (Waters seems a bit resentful about this), regales the viewer with his version of the story. Throughout the interviews, Gilmour and Waters (in separate studios of course) play bits of songs “live”.

Taking into consideration the visceral artwork of this project, several contributors are interviewed, including Storm Thorgerson (album designer), Aubrey “Po” Powell (album photographer) and Jill Furmanovsky (studio photographer). Another highlight is surreal animation from Geralde Scarfe (who also makes an appearance in the documentary). The stuntman used in the “burning man” cover, talks about the photo session.

The transfer to Blu-ray is clear and balanced. The animation scene of a sea of blood morphing into “hands” is extraordinary. The sound is very clear…you can hear every spoken word easily. Although there is excellent 5.1, there is not a lot of extended musical output. Consequently the PCM stereo is more than adequate. The bonus feature (comprising nearly twenty-five minutes) is exceptional. There are back to back performances of “Wish You Were Here” by Waters and Gilmour, underscoring the brilliance of their songwriting.

TrackList: A Last Recording; Astronomy Domine; Breathe (In The Air); Have A Cigar; Interstellar Overdrive; Jugband Blues; Pow R. Toc H.; Set The Control For The Heart Of The Sun; Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts 1-5); Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 6-8); Shine On You Crazy Diamond Part 9; Us And Them; Welcome To The Machine; Wine Glasses; Wish You Were Here:

By Robbie Gerson

From Audiophile Audition

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George Roger Waters

George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter and conceptual leader. The band subsequently achieved worldwide success in the 1970s with the concept albums The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Wall. Although Waters' primary instrument in Pink Floyd was the bass guitar, he also experimented with synthesisers and tape loops and played rhythm guitars in recordings and in concerts. Amid creative differences within the group, Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985 and began a legal battle with the remaining members over their future use of the group's name and material. The dispute was settled out of court in 1987, and nearly eighteen years passed before he performed with Pink Floyd again. It is estimated that as of 2010, the group have sold over 200 million albums worldwide, including 74.5 million units sold in the United States.

Waters' solo career includes three studio albums: The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking (1984), Radio K.A.O.S. (1987) and Amused to Death (1992). In 1986, he contributed songs and a score to the soundtrack of the animated movie When the Wind Blows based on the Raymond Briggs' book of the same name. In 1990, he staged one of the largest and most elaborate rock concerts in history, The Wall – Live in Berlin, with an estimated 200,000 people in attendance. In 1996, he was inducted into the US and the UK Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pink Floyd. He has toured extensively as a solo act since 1999 and played The Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety for his world tours of 2006–2008. In 2005, he released Ça Ira, an opera in three acts translated from Étienne and Nadine Roda-Gils' libretto based on the early French Revolution. On 2 July 2005, he reunited with Pink Floyd bandmates Nick Mason, Richard Wright and David Gilmour for the Live 8 global awareness event; it was the group's first appearance with Waters in 24 years.

In 2010, he began The Wall Live, a worldwide tour that features a complete performance of The Wall. During this tour, at The O2 Arena in London on 12 May 2011, Gilmour and Mason once again appeared with Waters, Gilmour performing "Comfortably Numb", and Gilmour and Mason joining Waters for "Outside the Wall".

He has been married four times and has three children. In 2004 he became engaged to actress and filmmaker Laurie Durning; the duo married in 2012.