Pink Floyd ‘Wish’ comes true on SACD
January 20, 2012
Pink Floyd appears to have a hit on SACD — or what passes for a hit in that low-profile audiophile format.
The specialty label Analogue Productions released the Pink Floyd album “Wish You Were Here” on a 5.1 SACD late last year, and now reports that it’s “easily the biggest SACD title in the catalog.”
First a bit of history: Super Audio CD (SACD) was introduced in 1999 but failed to catch on with the public, despite quality that’s sometimes billed as four times as good as CDs.
After a burst of activity (2002-2005) that saw releases of classic albums such as Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon” and the Who’s “Tommy,” the format staggered and appeared to be pretty much a goner by the end of the 2000s.
“In retrospect, SACD and (rival format) DVD-A never had a chance,” the Guardian duly reported in 2007.
Yet SACD soldiered on, catering mostly to classical music fans. Audiophile label Analogue Productions (aka Acoustic Sounds), now a decade old, also found a market in jazz albums from Blue Note. Longtime audiophile specialists Mobile Fidelity also remains active with SACDs. (Both labels are quite active in high-end vinyl as well.) Now, improbably, SACD has made a comeback.
“Wish You Were Here,” the Pink Floyd album that followed “Dark Side of the Moon,” arrived on SACD as part of EMI’s huge Why Pink Floyd…? campaign that began last fall. The SACD was created via the original analog master tapes with the 5.1 mix done by the band’s producer/engineer James Guthrie, who reportedly worked on the project for several years.
It is first multichannel presentation of “Wish You Were Here,” Analogue Productions says. The label has “exclusive distribution rights” to the album, which comes to SACD with a price tag of $35. (It’s not available on Amazon as of this writing.)
Critics and fans are turning in raves, mostly. “Guthrie’s expert, musically impeccable multichannel remix added depth and clarity to the superb original,” the Audio Beat’s Paul Bolin wrote in November. “How he got Richard Wright’s ARP string to orbit the room several feet above my head has to be the result of some sort of voodoo.”
Guthrie has said he’d like to make “The Wall” the next Pink Floyd multitrack album, if and when there are more SACDs.
On Nov. 4, EMI rereleased the CD of “Wish You Were Here”
In addition to the two Pink Floyd albums and “Tommy,” currently available SACD titles
(As with all things audio, the potential for excellence does not always equal excellence, so be sure to check out the reviews.)
Some current Blu-ray players are built to handle SACD signals, as is the PlayStation 3 game console. Hybrid SACDs such as “Wish You Were Here” will play on all CD players since traditional stereo tracks are included, but performance would be the same as from a well-made regular CD.
Abbey Rd. for sale: home to Beatles, Floyd
February 16, 2010
Abbey Road, the London recording studio where the Beatles and Pink Floyd crafted their classic psychedelic albums, reportedly has gone on the block.
EMI built the studio in 1929 and has owned and operated it since. Numerous sources told the Financial Times that the famed studio was being sold to help lower the debt from the 2007 leveraged buyout of EMI.
Update: EMI denied the FT report a week later: “We believe that Abbey Road should remain in EMI’s ownership,” the company said. EMI said it was in talks with third-parties about revitalizing the studio.
The Beatles
Pink Floyd — Abbey Road’s other “house band” — tripped out in the venerable studios with “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” “A Saucerful of Secrets,” “Ummagumma,” “Atom Heart Mother” and “The Dark Side of the Moon.”
While previously known as a classical studio, Abbey Road briefly ruled the pop charts. In 1963, 15 out of the year’s 19 No. 1 singles were recorded there. The Beatles and George Martin worked most of their magic in Studio 2.
The Abbey Road brand is considered as valuable as the studio facilities. The zebra-striped traffic crosswalk featured on the cover of the Beatles’ “Abbey Road” still draws tourists from across the world to that corner of St. John’s Wood.
The studio, which can accommodate full orchestras, evolved into a film-recording destination, where scores for movies such as the “Star Wars,” “The Lord of the Rings” and “Harry Potter” series were recorded.
The mutitracking technical innovations inspired by the Beatles now can be found on laptop computer software, making Abbey Road an expensive destination for rock musicians. “If an artist goes to a label and asks to record at Abbey Road they will be met with maniacal laughter,” a media lawyer told the Financial Times in its story on Abbey Road being sold.
Both the Beatles and Pink Floyd worked with the legendary house engineer and producer Norman Smith. The later rock star Alan Parsons was a staff engineer at Abbey Road who worked on “The Dark Side of the Moon.”
The Beatles’ satellite performance of “All You Need Is Love” (from the 1967 “Our World” linkup) was captured at 3 Abbey Road.
The Zombies recorded most of the baroque psychedelic classic “Odessey and Oracle” at Abbey Road while the Pretty Things created the rock opera “S.F. Sorrow” (produced by Smith). George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass” triple album also came to life there.
Syd Barrett made several solo albums at Abbey Road. Later, the Alan Parsons Project recorded “Tales of Mystery and Imagination” and “I Robot.” Procol Harum’s “A Salty Dog” found the space for its orchestrations in the studio complex.
Other progressive artists making albums at Abbey Road included Kate Bush, Radiohead, Mike Oldfield, XTC and Camel.
The rereleased Beatles CDs
