PINK FLOYD
- CD
THE GREAT GIG IN THE SKY - AN ALTERNATE TAKE ON THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
LABEL: |
Silent Sea SSR 41925 |
SOURCE: |
Various Demos, Outtakes and Live |
FORMAT: |
1CD |
RUNNING TIME: |
62:02 |
SOUND/SOURCE: |
Stereo Soundboard tracks 6-10; |
PACKAGING: |
Cardboard Gatefold Digipack |
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The Great Gig In The Sky - An Alternate Take on The Dark Side Of The Moon - For Rick 1943-2008 front |
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SOUND 9 / PACKAGING 9
/ PERFORMANCE 9
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TRACK LIST: |
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Speak To Me (Rainbow Theater, London 1972)
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Breathe (Rainbow Theater, London 1972)
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On The Run (Outtake, Abbey Road Studios November 1972)
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Time/Breathe Reprise (Outtake, Abbey Road Studios November 1972)
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The Great Gig In The Sky ("Mortality Sequence", Rainbow Theater, London 1972)
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Money (One Side Of The Moon)
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Us And Them (One Side Of The Moon)
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Any Colour You Like (One Side Of The Moon)
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Brain Damage (One Side Of The Moon)
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Eclipse (One Side Of The Moon)
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Money (Acoustic Demo, Abbey Road Studios)
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Us And Them (Acoustic Demo, Abbey Road, June 1972)
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Brain Damage/Eclipse (Demo, Abbey Road, June 1972)
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Brain Damage Part 1 (Outtake, Abbey Road, November 1972)
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Brain Damage Part 2 (Outtake, Abbey Road, November 1972)
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REVIEW: |
The premise for this stellar release is the tape that only a few have heard until December 2008 and is referred to as "One Side Of The Moon". As Mike B briefly summarizes in his notes featured on the back panel of this digipack, during the remastering sessions back in the 90's - it seems a studio hand was able to run a cassette tape and catch about 30 minutes of the unmixed Side 2 of DSOTM while the engineers were at lunch. The mixing board faders were all 'up', thus catching multiple guitar tracks, sax solos and more that weren't featured at all in the original album mixdown. This tape is a wonderful experience to listen to all these years later and it is bookended by cherry-picked performances, demos and outtakes that provide a unique profile of the epic LP...or as the subtitle suggests, an alternate take of The Dark Side Of The Moon...and a very cool tribute to the late Richard Wright.
The sound quality of the One Side Of The Moon
tape is astounding. We can only imagine what a similar tape dub of side one would have sounded like! However, Silent
Sea
has done a nice job assembling what would be Side 1 to preface this new experience by leveraging the decent tape from London's Rainbow Theater on February 20th, 1972 when the band unveiled their new project to the press over a two-night stand and the studio outtakes from Abbey Road later that year after touring the new material throughout 1972. The only hitch in the program in terms of a listening experience is the dramatic change in tape quality from this new tape, to the "Money" demo from Abbey Road on Track 11. It is quite a dramatic change up after the sonic bombardment from the final notes of "Eclipse" on Track 10. It will startle you in the first listen but once you have heard and can expect it, the transition to the balance of the material on this CD is perfectly acceptable and very enjoyable. What is quite funny is the looped tape interviews the band conducted with various members of their road crew and friends that are interspersed throughout the LP - here they are the full track recordings back to back and unmixed. If you've seen the Classic Album series from VH-1 and the DSOTM DVD/episode, you know the story behind those taped quips, answers to questions that Roger Waters asked unsuspecting parties. I don't think the taped pieces included here are all of them, but they are the key responses..."There is no dark side of the moon, in fact it's all dark", etc. This is a unique release, without question - and quite a treat in this day and age to have such an opportunity to hear a different and authentic slant to a production that we have engrained in our perceptions. It will make you smile because it is soooo familiar and yet, very different.
The packaging from Silent Sea is their standard cardboard digipack with dedicated black & white graphics that celebrate the life and contributions of Floyd keyboardist, Rick Wright. On one hand I feel this important release could have been wrapped up in a more classier treatment since the sepiatone approach provides a somber shell. But on the other hand it's a subtle presentation that is much like the celebrated talent Rick Wright was...so, I'm OK with it. Any Colour You Like...it's real, it's now available to inhale and analyze and it's definitely the late party crasher for making it into the Top 10 for 2008. Amazing stuff! Thanks Silent Sea and Mike B., well done. |
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Excellent release!!! Comment by LedMan wrote on 2009-02-26 09:04:18
Thanks for the review. Can't wait for my copy !! Comment by Habanero4me wrote on 2009-02-27 03:36:33
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The best toys are the ones that are both educational and multi-purposeful.
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Feb 23, 2009 - 6:59:49 PM
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