Pink Floyd – Absolutely Years (Siréne-119)

Absolutely Years (Siréne-119)

Empire Pool, Wembley, Middlesex, England – November 15th & 16th, 1974
Disc 1, Empire Pool, Wembley – November 16th, 1974:  Speak To Me, Breathe, On the Run, Time, Breathe (Reprise), The Great Gig In The Sky, Money, Us And Them, Any Colour You Like, Brain Damage, Eclipse

Disc 2:  audience, Echoes.  Empire Pool, Wembley – November 15th, 1974:  You Gotta Be Crazy (the last part only), Speak To Me, Breathe, On The Run, Time, Breathe (Reprise), The Great Gig In The Sky, Money

The Sirene label was only a couple months old in early 2004 when they released Wembley 1974 Pre-FM Master (Sirene-009).  The first edition sold out very quickly and was subsequently reprinted (the first edition with a blue tint, the second with sepia tint).  There have been countless releases of this BBC radio broadcast (including some releases attributing it to Philadelphia, Atlanta and New York), but this was the first release to utilize the master BBC tape and to include the encore for the evening “Echoes”.  While their title generally attracted rave reviews, the only criticism was the comment “I was made for fucking years…” was edited from the beginning of the Dark Side suite.  This was edited in the original broadcast on the “Alan Freeman Show” from January 11th, 1975. 

To celebrate its thirty-year anniversary, BBC 6 Music broadcast the whole of Dark Side of the Moon from The Empire Pool, Wembley, as part of a series of programs known as “DreamTicket”.  What makes the rebroadcast most interesting is the inclusion of the formally edited line.  Some collectors used the Sirene release and edited the line back in to create a more definitive version and that has been available on the internet.  Sirene released an unedited version as a cdr last fall as a free gift.  Absolutely Years is their fourth release of this show and contains the unedited Dark Side Of The Moon plus the encore “Echoes”.  It’s been said the first half of the show with “You Gotta Be Crazy”, “Raving And Drooling” and “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” wasn’t recorded by the BBC, so this release probably deserves definitive status. As a bonus on disc two Sirene includes the mysterious soundboard recording that surfaced in the fall of 2004 as Strange One. 

It is a half hour fragment from the November 15th show.  It has the final three minutes of “You Gotta Be Crazy” and runs to 4:27 in “Money” and is extremely unbalanced, focusing upon the drums and bass with the vocals and guitars in the background.  It is mysterious because there is no definitive statement of its origin.  Some have speculated it is a test tape by the BBC, others claim it is a stage tape made by the group. Whatever the case is, these are two very rare professionally recorded Pink Floyd shows that contain some of their best performances and Absolutely Years is another sterling Sirene release that is worth having.  (GS)