I have a copy of the Pinkie Milkie ROIO that does not include
the the 15th track, Wish You Were Here.
-ANON
Perfect quality! This is a compilation of various outtakes
and live performances. Here are the BEST SOUNDING versions I
heard, for each song (except maybe "Atom Heart Mother",
because this is a mono version, and you can find stereo
versions on other RoIOs). Very professionnal. However, there
are some mistakes in the tracklist (sometimes, titles are
wrong or incomplete, sometimes references are wrong). Here
are my comments, song by song.
1. Arnold Layne This is the regular single version, in mono
(it sounds exactly like the official "Early Singles"
version). The stereo version can be found on "Relics". This
track was recorded at Sound Techniques Studios, London, on
11-12 Jan 1967. The single was released on 11 Mar 1967.
Sound quality: Sup!
2. Candy And A Currant Bun ("Candy And A Currant" on the
tracklist) As above, this is the regular version, in mono, as
it appears on the official "Pink Floyd Early Singles". This
track was the B-side of the "Arnold Layne" single, and was
recorded during the same sessions.
Sound quality: Sup!
3. Flaming ("Flamming" on the tracklist) This is the
alternate mix, as it appeared on the 3rd U.S. single,
released on 5 Aug 1967, on Capitol's Tower label. This single
was released on U.S. because this track didn't appear on the
U.S. release of "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn". The mix is
not so different from the regular one, just a little bit
rough, and with some background sounds mixed louder. It's
mono. Quality, again, is the best you can find. There are no
vinyl crackles, so I guess this must have been taken from the
Westwood One CD sampler "A CD Full Of Secrets".
Sound quality: Sup
4. Scream Thy Last Scream This one is wonderful! The famous
unreleased single appears here with the best sound quality
ever. There's absolutely no tape hiss, no distortion, no
background noise! Sound quality is better than on "Magnesium
Proverbs", "Sights And Sounds Of Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd",
"Early Singles"... If you want the definitive STLS version,
get this CD. It was recorded on 9 Aug 1967, and it was
planned to be the third U.K. single (w/ "Vegetable Man" as
the B-side), but it was cancelled, so the third single (the
last with Barrett) was finally "Apples And
Oranges"/"Paintbox", released on 18 Nov 1967.
Sound quality: Sup!
5. Julia Dream Recorded on 25 June 1968 for BBC's "Top Gear",
201 Picadilly Studio 1 in London. Excellent quality, better
than most of other "BBC sessions" RoIOs. The only RoIO I know
with comparable sound quality is "Ultra Rare Trax Vol.1".
Sound quality: Ex+
6. Point Me At The Sky The booklet says this was taken from
the same "Top Gear" session, but this is exactly the same
version as the mono version that appears on the official
"Pink Floyd Early Singles". Perfect sound quality, although I
prefer the "stereo" version on the Westwood One CD sampler "A
CD Full Of Secrets".
Sound quality: Sup!
7. Embryo Wrongly listed as from "Top Gear" 14 Jan 1970. It's
in fact from the 2 Dec 1968 "Top Gear" session, Maida Vale
Studio 4, London. Sound quality is OK, but not as good as for
"Julia Dream".
Sound quality: Ex-
8. Atom Heart Mother This is the performance for the "Peel
Sunday Concert" broadcast, recorded on 16 July 1970, at the
BBC Paris Theatre, London. The date on the booklet is wrong
(16 Sept 1970). This is the whole song, 24 minutes long, with
the orchestra. Sound is excellent, but in MONO! In all the
X-references I know, this broadcast is in stereo! It's a pity
they didn't find the stereo source for this CD.
Sound quality: Sup-
9. Breathe The booklet says it's a demo version, dated 17 Feb
1970. It's WRONG. This is from one of the very first public
performances of "The Dark Side Of The Moon". It was recorded
in London, at the Rainbow Theatre, 17 Feb 1972. So the
booklet at least had the right day and month! Excellent
stereo (maybe soundboard). It sounds like a copy of version
on the "Best Of Tour 1972" RoIO (Swinging Pig), with the very
good NoNoise mastering.
Sound quality: Ex+
10. On The Run Same as for "Breathe". Booklet is wrong about
the date and the source. This is from 17 Feb 1972. This
version of OtR is the "jam" version, very different from the
version on the official DSotM (released more than one year
later!).
Sound quality: Ex+
11. Money This time, this is really a demo version. Roger
Waters sings the lyrics, accompying himself on acoustic
guitar. Very interesting, because it's very different from
the final developpement of the song. There's no Gilmour,
Wright or Mason here. It's obvious that this track was
recorded months before the first public performances, since
it's a very "minimal" version. I think the year could be 1971
(not 1972, as listed on the booklet). This is a mono
recording.
Sound quality: Ex+
12. Pigs On The Wing Pt.I-II This is the complete studio
version of this song, as the Floyd recorded it, in 1977.
Between the first and second part, there's an electric guitar
solo by Snowy White (he was the second guitarist on the "In
the Flesh" tour). Unfortunately, they decided to cut this
song in two parts for the album "Animals", and the beautiful
middle part with Snowy White disappeared! The full version
can only be found on the very rare 8-track release of
"Animals". So here it is, in stereo, with some tape hiss (but
not too annoying).
Sound quality: Sup-
13. Mother Taken from the film version of "The Wall". The
song is very different from the album version. The sound is
really superb, in stereo. I think they copied it directly
from the LaserDisk.
Sound quality: Sup!
14. Empty Spaces / What Shall We Do Now? Listed as "Outside
The Wall" on the booklet! This follows "Mother" on the film.
"What Shall We Do Now" wasn't on the album version, but was
played during "The Wall" shows.
Sound quality: Sup!
15. Wish You Were Here Public performance, recorded on 20 Oct
1994, Earls Court, London. The sound quality seems to be
better than on the (even excellent) TV broadcast RoIOs. So
this could have been copied directly from the official
"P.U.L.S.E" video.
Sound quality: Sup
Even if there are some tracks that you can find very easily
on other RoIOs, this CD is an absolute must-have, especially
for the rare "Money" demo and "Pigs On The Wing Pt. I & II",
and for the superb sound quality of "Flaming" and "Scream Thy
Last Scream".
-MARC-OLIVIER.
|