Pink Floyd probably breaks record release record, gets people covering them on Fallon for a week

I might be one of the most obsessive Pink Floyd fans who ever lived, and I say that as more of an embarrassing confession than as a statement of pride. I have written about them and their related projects and tours a coupla times now, but every time there is Pink Floyd related news bouncing around the atmosphere I can’t help but feel somewhat annoyed at the fact that everything they do is such an obvious and grotesque cash grab. I mean, I still love their records and will be buried with them but, Jesus Christ guys, you use your back catalog like a wet towel, wringing out re-releases and “Best ofs” while expecting us to empty our wallets.

And this pattern started early. I mean, in 1970 EMI released a Best Of record, despite Pink Floyd only having two albums under their belt. Then, BAM, in 1971 another greatest hits record, Relics, hit the shelves and yet the ink on their third album (Atom Heart Mother) had barely dried. 1974 rolled around and saw the re-release of Piper at the Gates of Dawn and A Saucerful of Secrets as a double album called A Nice Pair. That same year, ANOTHER greatest hits record hit the shelves, this time entitled Masters of Rock. In 1981, which would have been the perfect year for a retrospective album considering the body of work they had behind them by then, they released A Collection of Great Dance Songs, which is a supremely anemic and vapid attempt at a greatest hits record. Then between 1992 and now, we were given the Shine On 9 CD Boxed Set (1992), The Piper at the Gates of Dawn 30th Anniversary edition (1997), 1967 The First Three Singles (1997), Wish You Were Here 25th Anniversary Edition (2000), Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd (2001), Dark Side of the Moon 30th Anniversary SACD Edition (2003), The Final Cut re-release (2004), The Piper at the Gates of Dawn 40th Anniversary edition (2007), and the 14 disc Oh By The Way (2007). Add to that the massive amount of singles, EPs, 7″s, 45s, and other redundancies and you have a veritable shit load of items culled from very few actual sources. Talk about milking it, am I right?

Now we find ourselves in the final quarter of 2011. 2012 is around the corner and Roger Waters and David Gilmour are buddies again, Rick Wright and Syd Barrett RIP, the world economy is in the shitter… what better time to embark on an exhaustive and multi-tiered Pink Floyd re-issue campaign! Starting on September 26th, 2011, Pink Floyd and EMI are orchestrating a re-issue campaign:

encompassing CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, SACD, an array of digital formats, viral marketing, iPhone Apps and a brand-new single-album ‘Best Of’ collection.

The legendary band, who are still one of the most successful and iconic artists of all time, recently signed an agreement with EMI which has allowed the development of a multi-format programme of packages, many containing archive material that has been collated during an extensive process between EMI and Pink Floyd for a range of media formats.

The aptly titled WHY? PINK FLOYD re-release project is almost preposterous in scope. And by everything you read up until this point, I bet you think I am poo-pooing this project. In a certain sense, I am. I mean, all of these studio albums have been reissued more than once. How many copies of Dark Side do I really need? Certainly this aspect of the campaign interests me very little (if at all). It’s the stuff deeper in the guts of this thing that has me dorking myself to death. Here’s a breakdown of how they’ve got these sets organized.

DISCOVERY EDITIONS and BOX SET (Available 9/27/11)
This release is broken into two tiers. The first tier Discovery Edition is all 14 studio albums remastered from the ground up, all available for purchase individually. The second tier Discovery Edition is a box set that features all 14 records and a 60-page booklet housed as one massive package (hehehe).

EXPERIENCE EDITIONS
The Experience Editions are more modest and seem to be the most appealing to me. Available for individual purchase will be Wish You Were Here (11/8/11), Dark Side of the Moon (9/27/11), and The Wall (2/28/12) ONLY . These sets will include a newly remastered album CD, a CD containing additional material pertaining to the album, and an expanded (and pretty beautiful) CD booklet.

IMMERSION EDITIONS
The Immersion Editions serve to separate the nerds from the super nerds. Available for individual purchase will be Wish You Were Here (11/8/11), Dark Side of the Moon (9/27/11), and The Wall (2/28/12) ONLY. Lavishly packaged in a sturdy 29cm square box, the sets contain remastered, previously unreleased and audio-visual material, plus much additional content – reproduced memorabilia, brand new graphics, art prints, collectors’ items, lavish booklets and several more CDs remastered as 5.1, Quadrophinic, Stereo, etc… it’s a doozie!

BEST OF
The Best of Pink Floyd: A Foot In The Door (11/8/11). An expanded and remastered greatest hits album. As far as this remaster campaign goes, this CD is the equivalent of Wayne and Garth standing in front of the green screen in Wayne’s World I saying “I’m in Delaware.”

VINYL EDITIONS
The Vinyl Editions are records dude. Available for individual purchase will be Wish You Were Here (11/8/11), Dark Side of the Moon (9/27/11), and The Wall (2/28/12) ONLY. Features the 2011 remastered version on 180 gram heavyweight Vinyl. Original packaging including stickers and posters plus free 320kbps download and exclusive new poster.

So while some of this stuff is a rehash, I am still very stoked about some of these releases. So stoked in fact that I am going to give two lucky BV readers a shirt, a poster, and a newly remastered 2 CD set of Dark Side of the Moon, just for reading this far! Directions on how to enter the contest are below!

And you know who else is stoked about this new remaster campaign? Funnyman Jimmy Fallon, that’s who! Each episode of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon from September 26th through September 30th (a whole week!) will be dedicated to Pink Floyd. From what I’ve heard the schedule is as follows:

– Monday 9/26 – The Shins perform Breathe from Dark Side of the Moon. Nick Mason will be the interviewed.
– Tuesday 9/27 – Roger Waters will join Foo Fighters will perform In the Flesh from The Wall. Waters will also be interviewed.
– Wednesday 9/28 – MGMT will perform early Floyd classic Lucifer Sam.
– Thursday 9/29 – Dierks Bentley will perform Wish You Were Here.
– Friday 9/30 – Pearl Jam (!) will do Mother from The Wall.

Fallon airs at 12:30am on NBC.

In other old geezers from awesome classic rock bands news… don’t forget that tonight at Nassau Coliseum The Who‘s Roger Daltrey performs the rock opera Tommy in its entirety as well as other Who classic cuts. Tickets are still available and, I swear to Cod, if I had a car, I’d be all over that shit. Fiddle about.

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To win the Klaus Kinski Pink Floyd Re-Release Contest: Send an email to [email protected] with the subect line “Pink Floyd” with your first and last name. We’ll pick a winner at random and contact them with more details. Your email will not be shared with anyone else. Good luck.