P·U·L·S·E at 30: Pink Floyd’s Last Great Eclipse

 

P·U·L·S·E Boxed CD Cover.  Pretty cool!

As I have said before, one thing leads to another.  I have an idea for a future blog post "All The Ways To Be Comfortably Numb."  There are several really good versions of this Pink Floyd song performed by the band as well as by Roger Waters and David Gilmour separately.  I decided I would blog about all the interesting facets of the different performances of that song.  There would be no covers.  At least one band member had to be involved.  I have my favorites and several that are not as good but nevertheless interesting.

In putting the list together from YouTube videos naturally I came across in the incredible performance at Earl's Court on October 20, 1994.  This appeared in 1995's CD (and 2005's DVD) entitled P·U·L·S·E.  This was the final full-on tour by Pink Floyd, so this music is special.  Suddenly, where I was once obsessed with just "Comfortably Numb" I became hyper-fixated with the music on the CD and the extraordinary video on the DVD. 

P·U·L·S·E somehow still feels like a postcard from the future. It has this electric confidence, a band at the peak of its stadium powers, blasting lasers into the stratosphere as if the moon might call them home. It is outrageous and excessive and completely wonderful. And now it’s been three decades since it arrived.

The DVD (right) and the packaging of the CD (left).  Note the LED light casing exposed in the lower right.

There are really two versions of P·U·L·S·E. An amazing and highly unique double CD boxed set and the 2-disc DVD (and now a Blu-ray which I haven't bought). The twins grow up in the same house but they aren't identical. The CD is a supercut of multiple nights on the 1994 The Division Bell tour. The very best takes of the very best performances, stitched together like the ideal Pink Floyd concert if the gods were running Pro Tools. The DVD is a single night, October 20, 1994, filmed at Earl’s Court in London. One splendidly powerful, full-throttle show.

The boxed CD release was packaged as a collectible artifact instead of just music. A thick clamshell box, glossy and superbly strange artwork, and, uniquely, that blinking red LED light on the spine. Mine had died probably a dozen years ago but, thankfully, there was no battery corrosion. When I pulled it out this time I took the opportunity to replace the two AA batteries tucked inside the spine and it is pulsing just fine again today, like some sci‑fi heartbeat pulsing from your shelf. I remember thinking, what a cool idea! As far as I can tell, this fact alone places P·U·L·S·E in a category by itself. It’s basically one-of-a-kind, almost as iconic as the rainbow "pulse" from The Dark Side of the Moon.  Almost.

Two AA Batteries will power the "pulsing" LED light for years.  I have had this CD since it came out in 1995.  This is my third set of batteries (I think).  But, admittedly, the CD sat on my shelf for years without pulsing.  Fortunately, the corrosion was minimal.  Note the sticker which tells you that the batteries should be "periodically replaced."  Not exactly environmentally conscious by today's standards.

The casing slides into the inner box spine.

And the inner spine slides into the box, of course.

You end up with a one-of-a-kind flashing, pulsing CD package which definitely calls attention to itself on your CD shelf, if you have one anymore in these stream-everything days. Definitely a nostalgic flair.

Generally speaking, most performances sound better on the CD than the DVD because it was taken from performances throughout the entire tour from August - October.  The best parts of the best takes were edited together in the studio to ensure the absolute best quality artistic and musical quality.  The DVD is, of course, one concert only.

"Coming Back to Life" was strong on The Division Bell but it is outstanding on the P·U·L·S·E CD, definitely one of my favorite "post-Waters" Pink Floyd tunes, especially this version.  Gilmour's vocals and guitar work are really smooth and inspire you to move, an upbeat groove, clearly better than the DVD performance. "Wish You Were Here" captures the crowd turned into a massive sing along much more audible than the DVD which mutes them somewhat.  You feel the CD in your bones instead of just seeing it happen on camera. Then there’s the Syd Barrett era "Astronomy Domine," which sneaks onto the CD with a nod to Pink Floyd's psychedelic early years. Clocking in at only about 4 minutes, I question why they failed to include it on the DVD. 

But the reverse could be said for the splendid old tune "One of These Days" which appears only on the DVD. This is a wow moment for the video.  Not only is it an outstanding performance but it gets the light show it clearly deserves.  Pink Floyd were known for their live lighting back in the late-1960's.  They were always a "psychedelic" type band live.  But, of course, those crude effects with slide projectors, lava lamps and whatnot are no comparison to the, at times, over-the-top light show during the Earls Court performance from 1994. The DVD version punches the sky.

"Sorrow" on the DVD might be the most powerful post-Waters Pink Floyd moment ever dropped on a stadium. Gilmour’s guitar doesn’t just sound huge, it erupts, and the extraordinary laser show syncs with every wail and bend like the entire stage rig is plugged straight into his emotions, laser show in precision sync with his guitar.  It is almost awe-inspiring to behold in spite of the rather downer lyrics of the song.  This is another fine song, one with the right balance of angst and rock that contend at the heart of most of the Floyd's best songs.

"Comfortably Numb," the whole reason I fell back down this rabbit hole in the first place, hits an otherworldly mix of cosmic and personal, the guitar solo burning a hole through the roof of Earl’s Court and the place lights up with a gigantic disco ball at one point.  Just a stunning musical and visual performance that is quite unlike anything I've ever seen.  Where does it rank in all the many fine versions of this song?  That's for a future blog post. The DVD doesn’t just capture a singular concert moment, it captures the manifestation of a myth.

Another tune deserving special praise is "Keep Talking" from The Division Bell.  This is also one of my favorite post-Waters Floydian tracks because it has that Waters edge to it even though it was written by Gilmour and his wife Polly Samson.  It features the late renowned physicist Stephen Hawking's electronic voice discussing how vital communication is to human survival.  Gilmour also accents the electronic nature of the piece by vocalizing into a talk box.

As it was on 1989's Delicate Sound of Thunder, 1975's "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is the perfect opener for all of this. It steps out slowly, glowing and mournful, and you feel the whole arena, the crowd noise, the anticipation, rising with it.  It seems like the obvious choice for an opening to a concert and it definitely establishes this band as the legitimate, classic Pink Floyd even though Waters is missing, except for his lyrics. 

On P·U·L·S·E all parts of "Shine On" are performed instead of splitting it in two halves (or performing only the first half) as it was on the original 1975 Wish You Were Here album.  This is one of several tunes that the CD uses from the same performance as the DVD captures.  One of the highlights of seeing "Shine On" is Dick Parry's saxophone work.  He uses two different saxes, one strapped to him and another waiting on a stand for him to pick up and play as he swings the strapped one around his body out of the way.

There is also the game of what’s missing and what shows up where. The CD offers fine performances of "Hey You," "A Great Day for Freedom," (there is a DVD outtake offered as a bonus track - its not that great of a song imo), "What Do Want from Me" (blah) and the aforementioned "Astronomy Domine." The DVD gives us "Take It Back" in addition to "One of These Days." Personally, I think the DVD is preferable to the CD with these additions.  

Both formats feature an entire start-to-finish version of their mega-classic Dark Side. What can I say?  It is equally great in both formats.  "Time," "Money," and "Great Gig in the Sky" are all very good in both versions.  Just a tremendous tribute to this milestone in rock history.  As good as the original recording?  Nope.  But that's a pretty high bar.  Frankly, a lot of the material from Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Division Bell are just kinda mediocre Floyd (listenable but not that great, really) and giving all the fans one final rendering of Dark Side helps make up for it.

Again, there are two choices, generally speaking.  The CD has better overall performances and sound quality.  But the DVD has the light show, which has to be seen to be believed. This is Pink Floyd pushing the presentation of their songs to the max.  Always known for their sensational live shows, especially with the highly theatrical The Wall in 1980, P·U·L·S·E is the state-of-the-art in 1994 and, honestly, you will likely be blown away by some the light and laser action.  How incredible it must have been to witness all this live!  P·U·L·S·E is as close as you can come today.

Then there is the choice of night. They filmed October 20. The tour didn’t end until October 29. Same venue, same set, same band. Filming a show before the finale is such an odd move that it practically invites further investigation. But I can't find an explanation for it.  Why would you not want to film the final Pink Floyd full concert?  Whatever the reason, the result is that P·U·L·S·E shows us Pink Floyd at their peak without revealing the moment the peak gave way to life beyond the stage.

Thirty years later, the P·U·L·S·E CD still delivers the goods. Honestly, this is one of the best concert albums/videos I've ever seen.  I had forgotten just how great it was until exploring "Comfortably Numb" caused me to immerse myself in the magic of these fantastic performances.  Together, the CD and DVD are a monument to the Pink Floyd people remember. If a band is going to go out, going out bombarding millions of concertgoers (across the full global tour) with a massive stadium laser show with blistering musical performances is definitely a high note.

Still, the critics didn't think much of it at the time.  Many felt it was a rather predictable "live" album following a studio album just as the live Delicate Sound of Thunder (1989) followed the studio Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987).  They felt it was Pink Floyd trying to make more mega-millions off of rehashing previous material.  

That's fair.  At the time no one really knew this was the final Pink Floyd concert tour.  So one could wonder if this was just the band applying a formula.  Still, I can remember listening to the CD cranked up on my stereo in my (then) new house and thinking it was just marvelous.  The laser show on the DVD blew me away a decade later.  It is the very definition of spectacle.

I will admit, as I stated in passing above, the concert has an obvious degree of excess to it.  Watching it today is rather awe inspiring (or can be).  Back in the mid-90's everyone was doing this sort of thing but not usually to the degree displayed here.  Nevertheless, no one into contemporary music can fail to be impressed by the music and the performances exhibited here.  

P·U·L·S·E was released 30 years ago on May 29, 1995.  I missed that date entirely until I stumbled into this gem again about a month ago.  Better late than never. It has sold about 5 million copies worldwide (low by Pink Floyd standards actually).  You can watch the entire DVD on YouTube here.

(AI assisted.)