Pink Floyd The Early

This exhaustive document of Pink Floyd’s sonic explorations contains some tantalising glimpses of the different paths they could have taken – as well as 15 versions of Careful With That Axe, Eugene…

The Later Years 1987-2019 is an explicit sequel to The Early Years 1965-1972, the 2016 box set that rounded up nearly all the loose ends and detours from the first era of Pink Floyd, the fearless period when they were figuring out what the band could do. The Later Years covers a different time, when their most pressing challenge was demonstrating that they could thrive artistically and commercially without the presence of Roger Waters, the bassist/songwriter who charted Floyd's direction between 1973's Dark Side of the Moon and 1983's The Final Cut…

A companion compilation to the sprawling 2019 box set The Later Years 1987-2019, this 80-minute collection distills that luxury item into something handy and affordable. In the winnowing process, it's revealed that the box indeed consists primarily of live material: all but five of the 12 tracks are live recordings, most taken from either the remixed version of the 1988 live double-LP Delicate Sound of Thunder or the full-length Live at Knebworth, which was recorded in 1990. Two cuts from the rejiggered A Momentary Lapse of Reason – which was revised to sound more like a classic Floyd album, à la The Division Bell – are here, along with an early rendition of "High Hopes" and the unheard instrumental "Marooned Jam," which also dates from 1994. None of this newer material is earthshaking, but it fits well next to the live versions of classic Floyd songs and, in turn, helps make a case for the merits of the Waters-less Floyd, even if it doesn't necessarily act as an enticing endorsement for the lavish accompanying box.

A ten-CD compilation including five Pink Floyd shows from pivotal years in their development, 1970 through to 1974. All decent recordings for the era, they contain plenty of takes of songs from A Saucerful of Secrets up to Animals, and give a good mix of the Floyd's work.

One of the most iconic and influential albums of all time, "The Dark Side Of The Moon" by Pink Floyd, celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2023. An early version of "The Dark Side of The Moon" was premiered at the Rainbow Theatre in London a few months before the band went into the studio. It was recorded in two sessions in 1972 and 1973 at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios) in London. It is Pink Floyd's eighth studio album and was originally released in March 1973. The iconic album packaging, depicting a prismatic spectrum, was designed by Storm Thorgerson of Hipgnosis.