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Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: EMI Records
Released: 1975.09.15
Time:
 44:15
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): Pink Floyd
Rating: ********** (10/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.pinkfloyd.com
Appears with: David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Richard Wright
Purchase date: 1994
Price in €: 16,99



 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Parts 1-5 (Gilmour/Waters/Wright) - 13:40
[2] Welcome to the Machine (Waters) - 7:31
[3] Have a Cigar (Waters) - 5:08
[4] Wish You Were Here (Gilmour/Waters) - 5:34
[5] Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Parts 6-9 (Gilmour/Waters/Wright) - 12:31

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


ROGER WATERS - Bass, Guitar, Vocals
NICK MASON - Drums
RICHARD WRIGHT - Keyboards, Vocals
DAVID GILMOUR - Guitar, Vocals

DICK PARRY - Saxophone
ROY HARPER - Vocals
VENETTA FIELD - Vocals
CARLENA WILLIAMS - Vocals

PETER CHRISTOPHERSON - Design Assistant
BRIAN HUMPHRIES - Engineer
JEFF SMITH - Design Assistant
PETER JAMES - Assistant Engineer
HIPGNOSIS - Design, Photography
GEORGE HARDIE - Illustrations
RICHARD MANNING - Design Assistant
HOWARD BARTROP - Design Assistant

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


1975 LP Columbia CK-33453
1975 CS Columbia JCT-33453
1982 LP Columbia HC-43453
1990 LP Columbia 33453
1990 CD Columbia 33453
1990 CS Columbia 33453
1993 CD Columbia 53753
1994 CD Columbia 64405
1994 CD Columbia 64405
1995 CD EMI 7243 8 29750 2
1997 CD Columbia 68522
2000 CD Capitol 29750

Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, England from January to July 1975. All songs written by members of Pink Floyd.

This is part of Columbia/Legacy's Master Sound series.Master Sound releases are 24-karat gold CDs remastered from first-generation masters. This process utilizes 20-bit technology and Sony's "Super Bit Mapping" system. The breakthrough success of DARK SIDE OF THE MOON made WISH YOU WERE HERE a crucial follow-up in strictly commercial terms. Further pressure came from it being Pink Floyd's first recording for a new label, Columbia. Yet the demands on the band only provided Roger Waters with more fodder for his lyrics, which glanced at the band's roots as well as their new responsibilities.The mechanized throb of a VCS3 synthesizer, fed through a repeat-echo unit, signals the opening bars of "Welcome To The Machine," a diatribe against an industry more concerned with money than creative music-making. "Have A Cigar" further establishes Waters' contempt by bringing in singer Roy Harper to play the role of a "faceless suit," who none-too-innocently asks, "Which one's Pink?" The remaining songs indirectly look back to the first casualty of Pink Floyd's growing fame, the group's founder, Syd Barrett.The 20-minute-plus "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" has its roots in earlier pieces like "Atom Heart Mother Suite" and "Echoes." But rather than just another Floydian soundscape, its lyrics make it a paean to Barrett's genius and a requiem for his subsequent breakdown. The first five of the song's nine movements open the album with sax player Dick Parry wailing as effectively as he did on DARK SIDE. The final four sections, which close the album, form a reprise that starts with the sound of wind and David Gilmour's guitar screaming and crying. The band then settles into a laid-back jam that ends with Richard Wright's billowing synth delicately fading out.The title track deals also with Barrett, as well as the tension the idealist Waters was feeling in battling the greed that surrounded the band's success. The themes of disillusionment planted throughout WISH YOU WERE HERE would eventually sprout full-blown on THE WALL.



Pink Floyd followed the commercial breakthrough of Dark Side of the Moon with Wish You Were Here, a loose concept album about and dedicated to their founding member Syd Barrett. The record unfolds gradually, as the jazzy textures of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" reveal its melodic motif, and in its leisurely pace, the album shows itself to be a warmer record than its predecessor. Musically, it's arguably even more impressive, showcasing the group's interplay and David Gilmour's solos in particular. And while it's short on actual songs, the long, winding soundscapes are constantly enthralling.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine -  All Music Guide
© 1992 - 2001 AEC One Stop Group, Inc.



'Wish You Were Here' is warmer and more approachable than 'Dark Side'. The previous record's dynamic contrasts are smoothed out in a suite ("Shine On You Crazy Diamond") interrupted by related songs."

All-Music Guide *****



"A concept album paying tribute to Syd Barrett ("Shine on You Crazy Diamond") and lambasting the music industry ("Have a Cigar").

ROLLING STONE ALBUM GUIDE *****
© Copyright 2001 RollingStone.com



Wish You Were Here is a song cycle dedicated to Pink Floyd's original frontman, Syd Barrett, who'd flamed out years before: two grimly funny songs about the evils of the music business ("By the way, which one's Pink?"), and two long, touching ones about the band's vanished friend. The real star of the show, though, is the production: sparkling, convoluted, designed to sound deeply oh-wow under the influence--and pretty great sober too, with David Gilmour getting lots of space for his most lyrical guitar playing ever. And, though the album is big and ambitious, even bombastic, it somehow dodges being pretentious--the Barrett tributes are honest and heartfelt, beneath all the grand gestures and stereophonic trickery.

Douglas Wolk - Amazon.com



Als die Rock-Dinosaurier noch in voller Größe durch die Hitparaden stampften, hatten auch die Anhänger von Pink Floyd allen Grund, wunschlos glücklich zu sein:Whish You Were Here war ein Knaller!

© Audio



Wiederveröffentlichungen von Rock-Oldies gehören gewiß zu den lukrativsten Einnahmequellen der Phonoindustrie. Doch was tun, wenn im Katalog nur noch marginale Lücken zu schließen sind? Man bringt das Hit-Programm noch einmal "digitally remastered" heraus. Der Fan sieht es mit einem lachenden und einem weinenden Auge. Einerseits gibt's bessere (Klang-)Qualität, dafür aber muß man ein zweites Mal berappen. Die EMI nahm nun den diesjährigen Rummel um Pink Floyd zum Anlaß, den Backkatalog der Band auf CD neu aufzulegen. Man muß also nicht gleich das 9-CD-Set "Shine On" von 1992 erwerben, wenn man seine Lieblings-Floyd-CD gegen eine geliftete eintauschen will. Die neue Serie (erkennbar an den Bestellziffern 8 29 statt 7 46) bietet Mehrwert schon bei der Ausstattung: Storm Thorgerson, der die Originalgrafik gestaltet hatte, paßte die Optik dem CD-Format an. In den Booklets findet man die Texte sowie bisher nicht veröffentlichte Fotos. Und weil bei den Floyds das Auge immer mitgenießt, hat die Kunststoffhülle wie bei "The Division Bell" nur zwei Halterungen: So läßt sich das Heftchen leichter herausnehmen. Fünf CDs umfaßt die erste Staffel: "A Saucerful Of Secrets" (EMI 8 29751 2, 1968, 39:30), "Meddle" (EMI 8 29749 2, 1971, 46:54), "The Dark Side Of The Moon" (EMI 8 29752 2, 1973, 42:57), "Wish You Were Here"(siehe oben) sowie "Animals" (EMI 8 29748 2, 1977, 41:42). Im Klangvergleich strahlen die Neuen, wie wenn man einen Nebelschleier weggezogen hätte. Wo Gold-Taler von MFSL vorliegen - bei "Meddle" (UDCD 518) und "Dark Side" (UDCD 517) - wirken jene fast dezent gegenüber der Konturenschärfe der EMI-Reissues. In Kürze gibt es als Digital Master "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn", "More", "Unmagumma", "Atom Heart Mother" und "The Wall".

© Stereoplay


In 1975, following the massive success of Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd released the moody, largely instrumental Wish You Were Here. Founding member Syd Barrett had long ago exited the group, acid damage having exacted a heavy toll; this album was the group's tribute to him.

The heart of the album lies in "Shine on You Crazy Diamond," a nine-section piece that opens and closes the record. The vast majority of the sections are purely instrumental, with some of David Gilmour's most inspired guitar solos and Rick Wright's spaciest keyboard effects. There are some funky moments, but it's mostly reflective, with bittersweet nostalgia the dominant mood.

The second track, "Welcome to the Machine," is also largely instrumental, but more menacing in its vision of enforced automation, with bassist-vocalist Roger Waters' singing oozing desperation and despair. "Have a Cigar," a sardonic caricature of a label executive's schmoozing pep talk, displays Waters' cynicism about the music business.

The title track, the shortest on the disc, is a complete change of pace. It starts out dimly, as if heard over a lo-fi radio, then goes into an acoustic guitar solo that recalls the origin of the band's name (old-time blues men Pink Anderson and Floyd Council). Even after the volume goes up, and the electric instruments join, acoustic riffing continues as the basis of the song. If the lyrics are not obviously about Barrett, the mood they create speaks to his memory nonetheless.

Over the course of Pink Floyd's next three albums, Waters would increasingly dominate. On Wish You Were Here, however, the balance between musical and lyrical concerns is ideal.

Steve Holtje - May 4, 2001
CDNOW Senior Editor, Classical
Copyright © 1994-2001 CDnow Online, Inc. All rights reserved.



At the time of its release, "Wish You Were Here" received markedly mixed reviews: after the success of "Dark Side", many thought it was a distinct anti-climax. However, it has aged very well. The lush strains of the album's centrepiece, "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", found a new audience in the late '80s among new agers and ambient house freaks; while the title track--perhaps the Floyd's most melodic song since the days of Syd Barrett--remains perennially popular. By 1975, Roger was missing Syd; the business was getting to him ("And by the way, which one's Pink?" from "Have a Cigar" was an actual quote by an American record executive). The album also shows Gilmour making his strongest individual contribution yet, with several fine extended guitar solos and some of the most heartfelt vocals the Floyd have ever committed to disc.

David Gilmour: "After Dark Side we were really floundering around. I wanted to make the next album more musical, because I felt some of these tracks had been just vehicles for the words. We were working in 1974 in this horrible little rehearsal room in Kings Cross without windows, putting together what became the next two albums. There were three long tracks, including Shine On You Crazy Diamond, which I wanted to record, and Roger said, No, let's take Shine On, divide it into two, and put in other material around the same theme. And he was right, I was wrong."

Nick Mason: "This was much a more difficult record to make. Roger was getting crosser. We were all getting older. We had children. There was much more drama between us, people turning up to the studio late, which we generally hate. There was more pressure on me to make the drumming more accurate and less flowery. But I think as an album it flows really well. It's like a descedant of Meddle in terms of the use of repeating themes, and the pacing."

Pink Floyd: The Illustrated Discography says: "During the WYWH sessions a fat, shaven-headed person wearing grey Terylene trousers, a nylon shirt and string vest wandered into the studio. The band ignored the visitor and kept on playing and it was the visiting Andrew King who finally recognised their guest: 'Good God, it's Syd! How did you get like that?' To which Syd replied, 'I've got a very large fridge at home and I've been eating a lot of pork chops.' The whole event was slightly un-nerving since the theme of the album was based on Syd and his subsequent madness."

About that, Rick Wright said: "The whole album sprang from that one four-note guitar phrase of Dave's in Shine On. We heard it went, That's a really nice phrase. The wine came out, and that led to what I think is our best album, the most colourful, the most feelingful. Shine On was in the process of being recorded, the lyrics about Syd were written. I walked into the studio at Abbey Road, Roger was sitting, mixing at the desk, and I saw this big bald guy sitting on the couch behind. About 16 stone. And I didn't think anything of it. In those days it was quite normal for strangers to wander into our sessions. Then Roger said, You don't know who that guy is, do you? It's Syd. It was a huge shock, because I hadn't seen him for about six years. He kept standing up and brushing his teeth, putting his toothbrush away and sitting down. Then at one point he stood up and said, Right, when do I put the guitar on? And of course he didn't have a guitar with him. And we said, Sorry Syd, the guitar's all done."

www.pinkfloydfan.net



Jon Byrne:
I have a really odd relationship with Pink Floyd. I don't really consider myself a fan, the way I consider myself a Yes or Rush fan, but I like every album I have. I just don't have a real motivation for getting any more. I picked this album up because it was on a Top 50 poll of the best progressive rock albums of all time done on the Net a year or so ago. I'm glad I did. Oddly, I was familiar with most of the stuff on here before I got the album. The first hunk of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and "Wish You Were Here" are both staples of the Floyd live set, and the other two vocal tracks are frequent visitors to local radio. But I'd never heard them all together before. The album is, supposedly, a tribute to original Floyd guitarist Syd Barrett, who basically had a breakdown in the band's early days and has been rather reclusive ever since. The first hunk of "Shine On..." begins with a very lush sea of keys and a melodic and simple synth line on top. This leads to a very effective Gilmour guitar solo that blends into the lyric, about basically how bright Syd was and how he burned out too fast. The thing about Floyd is that their music is never the most technically challenging or complex in the prog world but it is almost always done in such a way that anything more complex would be overkill. "Welcome to the Machine" and "Have A Cigar" are both indictments of the music industry and how this biz side of things work (complete with the classic line "by the way, which one's Pink?") "Cigar" fades to where it sounds like it is playing on a very small transistor radio in the next room. The listener flips around and lands on the opening acoustic chords of "Wish You Were Here," still very distant sounding, and drowned out by a solo acoustic guitar line. Lyrically, "Wish" is one of my Floyd favs, an obvious attempt by Roger Waters to somehow express his desire to Syd that he could join in the success, both critical and financial, that the band was enjoying at the time while doing things on their own terms. It's really an ode to everyone who has ever been chewed up and spit out by the music biz. The album concludes with another long, mostly instrumental, "Shine On...", which somehow doesn't seem to work quite as well as the opening section. I was struck by how well the album hung together, and the story it told without it overtly being a rock-opera type piece. In that sense it has more coherence than Dark Side of the Moon, and in writing for those dearly departed (so to speak), the lyrics have more sincerity than The Wall. A must for any fan of well structured rock music that touches as well as entertains.

Bob Eichler:
Back when I was in college, and CDs were still a relatively new invention, a friend of mine who had a fairly nice stereo set up in his dorm room invited a bunch of us over to hear the Wish You Were Here CD he had just bought. All of us were already very familiar with the album, but when he cranked up the volume and that opening keyboard chord came bubbling up from the silence without the usual tape hiss we had all grown accustomed to, a sigh of satisfaction came out of nearly everyone in the room. It's just that kind of an album. Some prog fans seem to be of the opinion that Pink Floyd isn't really prog, or that anything after Meddle isn't really prog, or anything before such-and-such album, etc. But if this disc, with its nearly half-hour long "Shine On", creative lyrics and wall of keyboards isn't prog, then I don't know what is. Perhaps the band's lack of "chops" is what disqualifies them to some people. But for my money, Gilmour says more with the slow four-note theme that begins around four minutes into the first track than most guitar shredders say in an entire album full of hundred-notes-a-second solos. Waters' lyrics manage to tell the story of Syd Barrett, the way the music industry chewed him up and spit him out, and how much the band missed him, all within the space of a few verses and choruses on what is a largely instrumental album. And he keeps things general enough that, while the lyrics definitely apply to Syd, they could also be read however you want to read them. "Welcome to the Machine" and "Have a Cigar" could be about nearly any successful band, and most people who hear "Wish You Were Here" can think of someone from their own lives that it could apply to. A bit of trivia: At the very tail end of the title track, if you listen really closely, you can hear three or four violin notes way in the background. Apparently the band hired some famous violinist (I forget who) [the late Stéphane Grappelli -B] to play on that track, but in the end they weren't wild about the result so they buried it so far back in the mix that it became mostly inaudible. I wonder how the song would have sounded with the violin. I'd say that this is an album that all prog fans should hear eventually, but maybe my opinion should be taken with a grain of salt because I'm a big Pink Floyd fanboy. There's not a single Floyd album that I'd say is out and out bad, and most of them are fantastic.

Heather MacKenzie:
This disc has been pretty well covered by all the other reviewers and the rest of the universe, but since it has been one of my favorites ever since I started to get serious about music, I'm reviewing it anyway. Also, it is the only album remaining from my early-teen collection that I still stick to. "Shine On", which takes up most of the album, is a mood masterpiece, with atmospheric and mellow guitar and keyboards, and occasional flourishes of drama. The reserved drumming and bass also benefit the mood. There's occasional sax, vocals, and cool strange melodic synth lines as well. The guitar style here is epic: linear, slow, smooth, and sparse, with interesting phrases that hold out some notes or emphasize silence. Occasionally, rather than the leads, there are some simple repetitive guitar motifs that are very effective as well. Overall some of my absolute favorite guitar work here, up there with King Crimson material. I think the three songs are also pretty good, but most of Wish You Were Here is primarily instrumental. So, more song-oriented music fans might want to investigate something else, but I have a feeling that most prog fans would appreciate Wish You Were Here a great deal.

Joe McGlinchey:
Even thought it was Dark Side of the Moon that stayed on the charts for over 100 dog years, and The Wall that gobbled up all the attention, most hardcore followers of the Floyd consider this album to be the band's truly finest hour, and rightfully so. It is here that the contributions of Mssrs. Waters, Gilmore, and Wright blend together in the most harmonious manner, while reflecting upon the band's past ghosts, namely that of founding member Syd Barrett. In comparing all the Floyd albums saturated with Waters' depressing visions, Wish You Were Here is the one that rings most sincere and least overblown to me. No maniacal screaming or 'loony' laughter, no 'he leadeth me to the slaughterhouse' readings on vocoder, no "The Trial." The message is despairing, but clear, direct, and not self-aggrandizing or self-pitying. Every song on here, whether taken together or apart, is a staple of classic rock radio, whether you like that fact or not. My favorite is "Welcome to the Machine," one of the most incredible works the band ever accomplished from a construction standpoint. Never has a rock song sounded so hollow and effectively zombie-like to me, with Gilmour's octave-separated wail caught like a fly in a spider's web of musique concrete. "Have a Cigar" contains some of Waters' best lyrics and features an unexpected guest vocal from cult artist Roy Harper. Harper turns in a magnificent performance, perfectly capturing the portrait of the Gordon Gecko'd record exec and orgasmically cooing: "Everybody else is just greeeen, have you seen the charts?" and "We're so happy, we can hardly count." I could comment on the anthemic title track and the album's epic "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" as well, but instead I'll keep this reasonably short, figuring most everybody who's a prog rock fan has probably heard this album already. If you haven't, shame on you. This is a magnum opus of rock music in general, not just the prog rock genre; the sort of album that gets made only when the planets are in a certain conjunction.

Eric Porter:
The follow-up to the monumental Dark Side Of The Moon sets a standard which few, if any, bands can match. The challenge and pressure to repeat Dark Side's success was there, I'm sure, but what is most impressive is that this is a great album that is no mere clone of its predecessor. The opening strains of Rick Wright's keyboard for "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" set the tone, creating an eerie mood for Gilmour to add his fluid guitar lines over the top while Waters spins a yarn. The band's effortless-sounding songs have a strange beauty to them, oddly melodic and mesmerizing. You get lost in a Floyd record; it provides an incredible 45 minute escape from the world. I can't think of a band that is better at creating subtleties and nuances that make good songs great. "Welcome To The Machine" has a harsh mechanical feel, and contains some of Wright's most effective keyboard work on record. Unfortunately his contributions to the band would greatly diminish on the next few albums. The nine sections of "Shine On..." all have their own feel, but fit perfectly opening and closing the record. One could argue that the two popular FM radio songs "Have A Cigar" and the acoustic based "Wish You Were Here" are problematic, but again everything just fits perfectly. I admit to usually skipping those tracks due to overplay. Those of us who have listened to Floyd over these many years probably do not put this in the player much anymore, but when the mood hits and you dust these off to listen to, there is no place you would rather be. A classic, and essential to your collection.

Brandon Wu:
How many prog fans are out there that haven't heard at least one or two of the pieces on this album? Wish You Were Here was my absolute favorite album for several years, and still occupies a very, very high spot in my hierarchy of Good Music. I generally hate it when people say that so-and-so song is "The Best Song Ever Written", but when people say it about "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", I can understand. "Shine On..." is an incredible piece, all nine parts of it, ranging from gorgeous, lyrical guitar playing over nearly motionless keyboard washes (the modulations are so simple, so obvious, yet so beautiful) to wistful rock-oriented vocal sections to somewhat weirder synth-led instrumental. Beautiful and evocative. Of the rest, well, I'm not the world's biggest fan of "Welcome to the Machine" and "Have a Cigar" - I think Wright's synths are rather too over-the-top, for one thing - but they're not bad pieces by any means. The title track, on the other hand, is an amazing piece, with excellent acoustic guitar playing and even better lyrics. I don't think I've ever heard a better ballad than this one. Although overall it may be too simple for many prog fans, Wish You Were Here is undeniably a classic of whatever genre in which you wish to place it. It is my favorite Floyd effort by far, and I'd recommend it to just about anyone.

www.progreviews.com
 

 L y r i c s


Shine on You Crazy Diamond I-V

Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
You were caught in the crossfire of childhood and stardom,blown on the steel breeze.
Come on you target for faraway laughter,come on you stranger, you legend, you martyr, and shine!

You reached for the secret too soon, you cried for the moon.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Threatened by shadows at night and exposed in the light.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Well you wore out your welcome with random precision,rode on the steel breeze.
Come on you raver, you seer of visions,come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine!


Welcome to the Machine

Welcome my son, welcome to the machine.
Where have you been? It's alright, we know where you've been.
You've been in the pipeline, filling in time,provided with toys and 'Scouting for Boys'.
You bought a guitar to punish your ma,
And you didn't like school, and you know you're nobody's fool,
So welcome to the machine.

Welcome my son, welcome to the machine.
What did you dream? It's alright we told you what to dream.
You dreamed of a big star.
He played a mean guitar.
And he always ate in the Steak Bar.
He loved to drive in his Jaguar.
So welcome to the machine.


Have a Cigar

Come in here, dear boy, have a cigar. You're gonna go far, fly high,
You're never gonna die, you're gonna make it if you try;
they're gonna love you.
Well I've always had a deep respect, and I mean that most sincerely.
The band is just fantastic, that is really what I think.
Oh by the way, which one's Pink?

And did we tell you the name of the game, boy?We call it Riding the Gravy Train.

We're just knocked out.We heard about the sell out.You gotta get an album out,
You owe it to the people.We're so happy we can hardly count.
Everybody else is just green, have you seen the chart?
It's a helluva start.It could be made into a monster if we all pull together as a team.

And did we tell you the name of the game, boy?We call it Riding the Gravy Train.


Wish You Were Here

So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field
from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

Did they get you to trade
your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
Did you exchange a walk
on part in the war
for a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls
swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found?
The same old fears.
Wish you were here...


Shine on You Crazy Diamond VI-IX

Nobody knows where you are, how near or how far.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
Pile on many more layers and I'll be joining you there.
Shine on you crazy diamond.
And we'll bask in the shadow of yesterday's triumph,sail on the steel breeze.
Come on you boy child, you winner and loser,come on you miner for truth and delusion, and shine!

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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