Pink Floyd at Pompeii MCMLXXII; Impressions Then and Now

Image courtesy of Imax

As I was listening to the new release of the soundtrack to the 1972 film by Pink Floyd, Live at Pompeii, the thought occurred to me how much they improved the sound quality. This is knock your socks off stuff. Without going too deep into Floydian fandom, I'll go out on a limb here and suggest that this sounds like the Pink Floyd album that we all have dreamed of. Before we go too crazy, here's what we are dealing with. 

The original concert film (and this new soundtrack) thoroughly documents a moment in time; a very fortuitous one at that. The concert at Pompeii took place in the time between Pink Floyd's albums Meddle and Dark Side of the Moon. I've long thought that the song "Echoes" on the Meddle album was a sort of precursor to Dark Side of the Moon. Never mind the latter's sound effect driven commercial success. My interest has always been the essence of the music and I think that the point at which Meddle ends and Dark Side of the Moon begins is a moment of pure magic. This is the moment at which Pink Floyd performed the concert that was memorialized in the film, Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii. 

In 1972 when they released the original concert film they interspersed the live footage with scenes of Pink Floyd in the recording studio working on what was to become the Dark Side of the Moon LP. At that moment in time, this music would have been completely unknown to audiences, rather than the ultra familiar music that we know today as Dark Side of the Moon. Pink Floyd had no way to know back in 1972 how popular the Dark Side album would become. At the time they recorded it, they were a fringe band with a good following. Let's back up a little. 

When I saw this film back in 1977 at a movie theater on a midnight show, Dark Side of the Moon was already quite familiar. It's a little bit hard to imagine then that this music might have been totally unfamiliar to the viewing audience at the time of the film's release. I only saw it the one time way back then, almost 50 years ago now, so it must have made a big impression. 

While I'm putting my cards on the table, this impression is based on one listen to the new mix of Pompeii. Up 'till now, I've been occasionally wowed by Steven Wilson's remixes, but sometimes I'd prefer that the original mix not be messed with, except maybe for reasons of clarity, etc. This time, however, I think that Wilson's production sends this material into the stratosphere, sonically speaking. 

At this point, it might be well worth repeating what the Sony label said about this in the press release: "For the rerelease of 'Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII', Steven Wilson created a new theatrical and home entertainment mix in 5.1 and Dolby Atmos. This mix aims to enhance the depth and clarity of the original 1972 sound while preserving its authenticity". I don't know how this might sound on a smartphone, I didn't play it that way. On the other hand, I can vouch for the sound played the old fashioned way, through amplifiers, speakers, and a subwoofer. This is the part where I said that the sound would knock your socks off. I would imagine that any way you play it, it would sound darn good. 

This release is longer than would fit on one CD so it comes as a double. If you stream or download there is no such limitation. There is even a vinyl release.

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