The brilliance of Pink Floyd lingers all over us ALL THE TIME. The old punk contingency may argue but they are a vital fabric in music and always will be. Punk may have been a catalyst for the youth, but Floyd set the foundations for innovative music. Prog? Nah. They were always on their own. Wish You Were Here was their bridge before what happened next, says Wayne AF Carey…

Roger Waters may be a bit of a controversial figure nowadays, but let’s say he is still one of the best songwriters you will ever witness. David Gilmour always had it with that signature guitar sound, Richard Wright was a monster in keyboard wizardry, making the bellendry of Rick Wakeman sound like an amateur, and Nick Mason is still the envy of all drummers that exist today. Floyd purists always go for Piper At The Gates Of Dawn or Saucerful Of Secrets, yet WYWH, to me, was the bridge that rocketed PF to the success they deserved. OK, you had the noodling days of Ummagumma, Atom Heart Mother and Meddle’s Echoes, but Wish You Were Here followed the template set by Dark Side Of The Moon, which sent the Floyd into the stratosphere. Personally I think 1977’s Animals is the best album they ever did, but that’s my opinion after listening to it on a North Manchester Golf Course on mushrooms back in the day…

What I love about this whole album is the lingering presence of Syd Barrett on the opener. It’s an atmospheric wonder from the get go, with Shine On You Crazy Diamond Pts 1-5 creating a template for Floyd to build their seismic career. The genius of Gilmour shines through, with his fluid guitars floating through the piece, backed with Wright’s majestic keyboard sound expanding the enormity of sound.

Welcome To The Machine is just magic shit. Gilmour just doing random yet planned strums, backed by Wrights keyboard complications, melding into a weird as fuck mass of Floyd genius, that points to the future; the creation of The Wall. Have A Cigar is probably the bogus track on the whole record. Sounds like they were stoned and being lazy in MY opinion. A bog standard bit of wank, sung by Floyd mate Roy Harper (who was recording his own HQ at the same time) that gives us an indication of Water’s lyrical future. “And by the way which one’s Pink?” Still sounds fucking great though with Gilmours guitar solo fading out…

Wish you Were Here itself is one of the greatest songs ever written in my ears. Wyclef covered it with great expertise – it has some of the best guitars I’ve ever heard (I’ve witnessed people trying to play it and failing), and the best vocals you’ll ever hear in your life. Stunning as fuck. Better than drugs…

Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts 6=9 is just beautiful. Water’s bass is menacing, backed by Wrights keyboards, Mason’s mellow drums and Gilmour bossing it yet again. It goes a bit dodgy prog at one point, but Floyd fucking owned that sound from the start, before the pretenders nicked it. You can hear Waters going into his ‘owning it’ stage. It even goes a bit porn jazz in the middle. Wright’s keyboards fuckin’ boss it though!

The extras are nice to listen to, just Floyd a bit more polished to make you buy it! Your choice. We’ve heard every note going by our favourite band, yet still want more. Seriously though, for Pink Floyd fans I’d stick with the original stuff. It’s great having the extras if you really need them, but you’ve heard it all before. Stephan Grapelli’s version Of Wish You Were Here is pretty decent, but not a patch on Wyclef Jean’s!

Another great re-issue from the greats and one for the collectors and vinyl junkies out there to get excited about. Again.

Words by Wayne Carey, Reviews Editor for Louder Than War. His author profile is here