Disco de Pink Floyd: “Pulse [Blinking Cover]”

Like so many others, I reluctantly and sadly gave up on Pink Floyd after The Wall. Final Cut is too dismal, and without Roger Waters, how could they possibly still be the true Pink Floyd we all know and love? I missed them terribly, and I wanted more. In my bias (and I'm not proud of this), Momentary Lapse seemed more a solo album, or perhaps an offshoot of PF, but not the real Pink Floyd, and I scarcely gave it a chance. Not long ago, a friend loaned me Pulse, mainly to hear the entire performance of Dark Side (which is excellent). The other familiar songs were good, too, even the singles I had heard from Momentary Lapse.

Before returning the CD to my friend, I felt obliged from loyalty to the great years to at least give the unknowns a serious ear. Randomly, I started with "Keep Talking." To my complete wonder and amazement, here was a true Pink Floyd song, as pure and as enthralling as anything from Animals or Wish You Were Here. It must be a lucky fluke, I thought. My second choice was "Sorrow," simply because it is long. Again, I found myself grinning and drawn in exactly like during their prime. It was wonderful to realize that the mistake was mine. These songs definitely ARE true Pink Floyd, and taking nothing away from Roger Waters, he is NOT an essential ingredient after all. So I went back - "What Do You Want With Me," "Coming Back to Life," "A Great Day For Freedom," "High Hopes," and "Sorrow" again (even better the second time). I felt like I had discovered a rare gem I never knew existed - another lost Pink Floyd masterpiece. How could I have been so blind and so deaf? Since 1980, I have thirsted for more Pink Floyd, and here it has been all along!

To those others like me who may have given up on them and have always wanted more, give Pulse a chance. Listen closely, turn it up, and see if you are not transported to the same place that PF has always been able to take us. I defy you to hear that little concert within the concert and not run out and buy Division Bell and Momentary Lapse. Gilmour, Mason, and Wright, please forgive my own lapse. Thank you all once again.

I risk admission of how new a Floyd fan I am...but this was my first album, bought when it very first came out. It was through this album that I actually got to know the band. I still see it as a very enjoyable album, even in light of the large collection of studio albums that I now own. In fact, I even believe there are certain cuts on PULSE that are far superior to the studio versions.

Believe it or not, I actually found that the studio album of Dark Side of the Moon paled in certain places to this, in terms of sound quality! I much prefer the effect of the guitar and drums thundering through the stadium at the beginning of "Time"--this resonant, rich sound gives it a certain air of...magnitude...like the beginning of Creation, for lack of a better metaphor.

While I would say that on "Great Gig" Clare Torry's original singing is probably better--I don't think there's anything at all lost by the choice of the three background singers who take up her role. Also, Mr. Wright does not stick note-for-note with the original; he improvises where possible. The other real standout track from DSotM is "Any Colour You Like"...for some reason, there is just something so entrancing about that synth solo.

Another song that benefits from the stadium performance is "Learning to Fly". Somehow, it really takes on that spacey sound that it ought to have had in the studio album; one can really imagine speeding down the runway and suddenly lifting into flight. A switch that I believe was made that made the most dramatic moment of the song twice as effective: I cannot tell for sure, but it almost seems as if that dinky prop plane was replaced with a massive jumbo jet. This is also a case where that reverberating stadium sound really transports the listener "above the planet on a wing and a prayer". The studio album doesn't even come close.

The one mistake, however (despite the fact that I love it to death!) is in "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". I only call it a mistake in retrospect, now that I am familiar with Wish You Were Here. Somehow, as I was not familiar with the story of Mr. Barrett or WYWH, I took this for an uplifting, inspiring piece. Though musically very beautiful and I will always love it, I have to say that leaving out the "darker" parts of the song rather interferes with its mood--even causing a new fan to miss the point.

Of course, beyond doubt the most powerful performance is "Comfortably Numb". This surpasses the studio original by so much that it is almost beyond explanation; however, I will attempt it! It is in this song that you can truly see just how stifled the musicians (Mr. Gilmour and Mr. Wright in particular) were during the production of the studio original...because it is incredible what gets free in the live setting!

Much of what I write here will be a sort of reverse reaction--I actually reacted adversely when I heard the studio original, after being used to this one--I simply could not stand it! The thing felt wrong from so many angles. Almost immediately, the first thing that separates PULSE from the studio original is the slowed tempo--this creates a swaying feeling...as though things really are coming through in waves that push the "numb" listener back and forth...a feeling that was very much lacking in the less expressive studio version. Also, the guitar throughout the whole song (not just the famous solo) is far more passionately played--and in the second solo, there is even a screaming noise that sounds as if it could be all of the agony that Pink held inside until then.

The sound itself is very flowing, so rich that it is almost tangible, lifted upwards by the beautiful synth playing of Richard Wright. Without knowing a thing about the circumstances of the breakup, this is something I immediately noted in the studio album as a hollow absence...as though the music had been forcibly sucked dry. But how wonderfully things changed, in the creation of this new Floyd fan seven years ago. It is none other than Mr. Wright himself that takes over for the now absent Roger Waters. He really takes well to the role, and his enthusiasm shows clearly in the musical result.

Forever it will be his haunting, ethereal sounding voice that I associate with the "doctor" in "Comfortably Numb". Mr. Wright can pull off an incredibly spooky effect when he wants to--you can almost imagine the nearly walled-in Pink hearing this voice coming through as though from another plane, one in which he no longer fully functions. This, and the incredible musical power of this song, both in the guitar solo and in Mr. Wright's contribution, make this easily the best version of "Comfortably Numb" in existence.

All in all, this is probably the Floyd's best concert album.

It seems this CD, and the DVD, are the products David Gilmour fought for all these years. Doing most of the lead vocals, playing the bulk of the guitar solos, and having longtime bandmates Nick Mason and Rick Wright on the stage with him, with no apparent conflict within the band, and possibly the biggest, most elaborate lightshow in history to compliment the sound, are all elements for the end result of decades of wrangling with others, often with frustrating results. Given, Roger Waters was, and is, a superior songwriter and conceptualist, but missing in his work is the texture his former bandmates added to it. But, this isn't a review about Waters. This is about Gilmour, Mason, and Wright, the auxiliary musicians, and this stellar document.

I attended the Pittsburgh leg of the "Division Bell" tour, in May of 1994, and as good as the video and sound of the CD are, it's not like seeing this spectacle in person. The show I saw opened with "Astronomy Domine," and this really surprised me. In an interview I read in a magazine once (can't remember which one), Nick Mason said he loved "Astronomy Domine," but for the life of him, he couldn't picture David Gilmour, in dignified middle age, shreiking out Syd Barrett's lyrics about the I Ching and interstellar exploration to an audience, and being taken seriously. Of the four men who played on the original version, we now only have two (Mason and Wright), and a slew of others, and I can see why some purists would be a little miffed at this. It's Syd Barrett's song, and Gilmour wasn't even a member of Pink Floyd when it was written. But, Gilmour has remained Barrett's friend over the years, and it was a nice gesture to commemorate him with one of his most successful songs on the biggest tour his former band ever embarked on.

The sound quality on this disc is loud and clear, just like the show. It's a tri-parteid event, the first part using familiar material at first, focusing mostly on what was new material at the time. The set closer, "One Of These Days," doesn't have the bite the "Pompeii" video had soundwise, but it is the single most mind-blowing part of the show, with the possible exception of the show's finale. (though it's not on the compact disc-bummer!) Oscillating lights, liquid projections, lasers, smoke, explosions, and huge, evil-looking inflatable pigs with boars' tusks peering out of windows built into the top of the stage backdrop, more than make up for the smooth, lifeless tempo of the song as they have grown to play it. It's not supposed to "swing" as it does here, but in this case, the song's tempo is incidental. It is just an excercise in excess. In fact, the whole show is a triumph of excess.

As others have said, part two of the show is the complete "Dark Side Of The Moon." The show I attended, didn't have this; they only played five selections from it. So, listening to the CD and watching the video, gives a one a rare treat, most of the original personnel playing their biggest-selling LP, all the way through, and it's a real treat. But I have to say, even though the original will always have something subsequent versions lack, the definitive version of "The Great Gig In The Sky" is the one heard on "The Delicate Sound Of Thunder" video. I don't even know if this is still available, but it will change the way you listen to this piece. Originally called "The Mortality Suite," the vocal was developed by Claire Torry for "The Dark Side Of The Moon", on instructions to sing wordlessly about the spectre of death. And she really delivered. The "Pulse" version is good, but the one I keep going on about ("Delicate Sound..."), features vocals by Rachel Fury, Durga McBroom (on this tour as well), and Margaret Taylor. Taylor's performance will absolutely FLOOR you. That's all I can say about it. No description.

They added a funky section to "Money" for the live shows quite some time before this tour, and some people really don't like it. I like it, and I like it without that section, as well. Can't pick one over the other, though, I just listen to them and appreciate them on their own merits. "Any Colour You Like" is a return to the days when they played London's UFO Club, and even though the visuals are just some swirling lights, it's the same thing they used in the old days, and it's just a pleasant jam session, two chords back and forth, very relaxing. Over the years, Waters has been on the receiving end of my criticism over his singing abilities, but on "Brain Damage" and "Eclipse," his presence is missed. Gilmour's voice is technically superior, but he doesn't sing this with the same conviction as Waters. This is the reason no material from 1977's "Animals" is included on this, or "Delicate Sound." And I felt the visuals here took from the music. It is a song about losing one's hold on reality, but the clip shows the world's politicians in stock footage. Yes, you can say politicians are insane, but this takes away from the nature of the rest of the piece. We're all just one bad day away from our heads "exploding with dark forbodings." And "Eclipse" is another one tailored to Waters' voice. But the whole piece would suffer without it. In all, though, they did a remarkable job.

The third part is the encore. The same running order as "Delicate Sound," but a little more in the production. The audience sings along with "Wish You Were Here," but they render a version of "Comfortably Numb" that is in a class all its own. This is Gilmour's chance to let his Stratocaster speak to you, one on one. A song you can just get lost in.

And of course, "Run Like Hell," the grand finale, just completely envelops the stage and audience in light and sound. Not one of my favorite songs, but they play it well. Again, missing is that voice only Waters can deliver, but the production as a whole, more than makes up for it.

This has been a lengthy review, and I could have made it even more so, but I do need to have a cut-off point. I read review after review about Gilmour's laziness, and Waters' control issues, and Mason and Wright being only window dressing, and most of these people just want to love one camp and hate the other, but I consider myself a true Pink Floyd fan, and have been for well over thirty years, and I like some Floyd works more than others. Some don't hold up, but "Pulse" is an appropriate ending to one of the the most influential collective careers in the history of contemporary music. And, the reunion at "Live 8" closed the book on a good note.

One of my all-time favorite bands. Ever. Good work, gentlemen!

In the seventies, Pink Floyd was an incredible live band. It wasn't just the visual show or the surround sound. It was the music. In the first set, they would experiment with new material. In the second set, they would play old material in new and exciting ways. Atom Heart Mother and Echoes were played in numerous different ways and at one time were even combined into one song. Before Dark Side of the Moon was released on album they would play an early version of it called Eclipsed, that was quite a bit different than the finished product. On the tour to support Dark Side of the Moon, they played early versions of songs from Animals and Wish You Were Here. They also played a great extended version of Dark Side of the Moon that was an hour long.

Pulse is from the 1994-5 tour to support the Division Bell CD. Midway through the tour, they decided to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Dark Side of the Moon by playing the complete piece. Pulse represents a typical Pink Floyd concert. Most of the first set is new material from A Momentary Lapse of Reason and the Division Bell. The second set is the older material.

The big disappointment here is that most of the material doesn't vary much from the studio versions. Except for the jam in the middle of Money, the whole of Dark Side of the Moon sounds just like the studio LP, but not as good. The only songs where the group really breaks out are Comfortably Numb and Run. But similar live versions of those songs can be found the Delicate Sound of Thunder.

This is a better CD than the Delicate Sound of Thunder, but if you have one it isn't necessary to get the other. Pulse used to come with a blinking LED that pulsed to the heartbeat at the beginning of Dark Side of the Moon.

For either of the Pink Floyd live CD's the videos would be a much better choice. On the Delicate Sound of Thunder, you get more tracks. On Pulse, they leave off one unnecessary track. But, in both cases, you get to hear the music in the context of the visual show. This is much more impressive, since the performances don't stand up on their own.

If you're looking for your first Pink Floyd CD, you'll probably love this one. It serves as a great "greatest hits" collection. But if you're a diehard fan who already has their other major albums, there's nothing new for you here.