12 September 2012

Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here" (1975)

Wish You Were Here
release date: Sep. 12, 1975
format: vinyl (reissue) / cd (2011 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: Pink Floyd
label: Harvest - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Part One) (1-5)" - 2. "Welcome to the Machine" - 3. "Have a Cigar" - 4. "Wish You Were Here" - 5. "Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Part Two) (6-9)"

9th studio album by Pink Floyd following 2½ years after The Dark Side of the Moon (Mar. 1973), which had been an enormous commercial and artistic success, and as a result the band then found it difficult to work on new material.
Wish You Were Here is far from its predecessor but nevertheless it's still another great achievement by a highly innovative band. Stylistically, this it signals a move away from the experimental and psychedelic universe, and it's more like the band's first combo of progressive rock and art rock album, a style the band would later continue on The Wall (1979) and later successive albums.
Wish You Were Here is one of my favourite Pink Floyd albums and like their '73 album this is enlisted in countless lists with the best albums of all time, and thus (deservedly) included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". Again, the iconic cover art is made by (George Hardie at) Hipgnosis.
My vinyl issue is a Swedish print purchased around 1982-84.
[ allmusic.com, Blender, The Daily Telegraph 5 / 5 stars ]

1975 Favourite releases: 1. Bruce Springsteen Born to Run - 2. Patti Smith Horses - 3. Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here