One thing I noticed at the IMAX screening of Pink Floyd’s Live At Pompeii was the intro music, now helpfully called Pompeii Intro on Spotify. What I’m curious of is that with the heartbeat and synthesiser, it’s very close to work in progress for the Dark Side of the Moon, and, if that’s the case, it seems to have snuck out without fanfare. NB/ The audio for the album is quite something
Pompeii Intro
I’m anticipating that the Blu-Ray version, pre-ordered back in Feb, will be arriving soon – hopefully today. The first thing I’ll do is to rip the soundtrack, as I’m hoping that will be, as you say, quite something.
Nothing here yet, no delivery, no emails, nothing.
The SDE website shows my order as ‘unfulfilled’ and the Blu-Ray as out of stock.
If they tell me that I didn’t get one, when I paid for the fecking thing in February, I’ll be spitting feathers and it’ll be the last time I ever buy anything from them.
Showing as ‘in stock’ on Amazon, with reviewers reporting delivery two days ahead of the release date (yesterday) – try to avoid the dodgers and this is what happens?
Anyone else had relatively poor service from the SDE Shop?
/1st world problem
Plenty of blurays on the shelf at my local hmv yesterday.
‘local HMV’? What’s that then? I haven’t seen one of those for over 5 years.
Isn’t there still one in Bristol? Thought you lived around there
There used to be a large HMV outlet in the Galleries shopping centre, but that store closed years ago in a DVD death-storm. There may well be another, perhaps in the Cabot Circus mall at the other end of the city centre, but I never venture in there (shudder) as it’s just another carbon-copy desperate retail development, pretty much identical to every other one in the provinces, and doomed to the same slow decline as all the rest under the Bozo onslaught.
There was also one in Cribb’s Causeway. A big one near the middle downstairs. I think it moved upstairs to a smaller footprint and was still there last time I visited which was probably around 2019.
Cribbs: shudder. Haven’t been there since well before Covid.
I used to work very close to it so knew it quite well.
Foxy, isn’t the one on Broadmead still open? On the east leg of Broadmead, roughly opposite Costa. I know everything’s roughly opposite Costa, in the multiverse. Where the German Market is at the appropriate time.
It’s entirely possible I suppose.
To be honest, when I go to the city centre it’s for only a limited number of reasons;
to visit the office,
to get my hair cut (https://www.hushbristol.co.uk/),
to go to St. Nick’s for lunch (https://www.bristol.gov.uk/st-nicholas-markets), to browse in the superb Wanted Records (https://www.wantedrecords.co.uk/),
to browse the excellent street market on Corn Street,
to chill out in the Wesleyan Chapel* between Broadmead and Horsefair (https://www.newroombristol.org.uk/) or
to visit the mighty Second Page second-hand bookshop (https://www.secondpagebooks.com/) in The Galleries.
All other options – the wider Broadmead area, the anono-mall that is Cabot Circus – all off limits for the sake of my mental health.
*Truly superb exhibition there right now of woodcuts from the anti-apartheid activist campaigns in South Africa – go if you can, just wander in.
We go to the Corn Street area quite regularly on a Saturday. Lunch is usually one of those Kurdish naan ‘wraps’ from the fantastic ‘Matina’. There’s a couple of quite nice ‘made in Bristol’ places in the middle; one near Apple, the other in the old M&S. Cabot is quite soul-destroying…
I spent a few hours in the Oxford St “HMV” the other week. The record shop downstairs is pretty well-stocked, if pricey, as all “vinyls” are these days. Upstairs is all pretty much satin and tat, though.
Southampton and Basingstoke branches are about 50% tat, 10% books, 10% DVDs, 10% vinyl, and a couple of shelves of CDs (mostly 101 Hits of (insert genre).
Reading Branch has less of the tat at the front of the store, more vinyl, but it does also have a large(ish) CD section. Not very “deep” in selection though
(and it’s cheaper on Am*zon)
They are owned by Canadian company Sunrise now. Their stores here are mainly vinyl, CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays. Also T shirts, posters etc. And prices are high. I do buy the occasional thing from them to support their ongoing presence
I also ordered from SDE and they are usually pretty good (and mostly ship out before release day).
I emailed them and they indicated there was a delay in the label shipping to them – they will be shipped out on Tuesday (I believe you have a holiday in the UK on Monday).
Thanks Chris – I also emailed, but got no reply. If what they’ve told you is correct, hopefully they have a reserved number of copies inbound, allocated to those who pre-ordered. I’ll keep my fingers crossed!
Yes, it’s May day on Monday (tomorrow), so hopefully some cogs will start to turn again on Tuesday.
Only ever had good service from SDE.
I’m still waiting for mine too though, but then it occurred to me that I also ordered the Avalon Blu-ray at the same time and that’s released this coming Friday so they might be coming together.
Do you know, I think I’ve heard that before? I think I’ve heard it (or something very like it) being used as an extended intro music prior to DSOTM on some live bootlegs of the time…I’ll have to dig them out later and check my memory.
Well, that’s interesting. The initial synth sounds from the Pompeii Intro track appear in the opening to DSOTM live at The Empire Pool, Wembley, 1974, before the first voice appears. Also the voices appear in a slightly different way, suggest that they didn’t just play the album version of Speak to Me…
I haven’t had a chance to listen to any others yet (ongoing)…
I can report that the Atmos mix is extremely trippy, even on laptop speakers (I know, I know). It has me fooled into thinking there are more speakers than there actually are. And when the Intro music stops and the first ‘ping’ of Echoes comes in… goosebumps…
I have reached a point in love when this really floats my boat. Who knew I liked Pink Floyd so much? I can do without the dog track, though, and I love dogs.
I quite like Pink Floyd and always have. Not the most exciting live band though for me
Thought I’d left it too late for the BluRay as it’s sold out in most places but thankfully the Dodgers still have them
Be careful – I tried ordering the Blu-Ray from Amazon to see if they still had stock, but despite clicking through on the Blu-Ray, what appeared in my order was labelled as a DVD when it comes to paying – i.e. it’s NOT a Blu-Ray you are clicking for – I cancelled the order at that point. Before you part with thirty quid, check that you’re paying for the Blu-Ray!
Yes, it wasn’t entirely clear at first but I’m pretty sure it IS the Bluray. Will be going straight back if not !
Yes, I came to the same decision – no comms, no product from the Special Deluxe mob, so after the hesitation above, a belt&braces blu-ray order has gone in to the dodgers just in case.
As you say, if it ain’t right it’ll go straight back, and if the other one does turn up – increasingly unlikely – it’ll go back then as well!
I decided I would check with their Customer Service just to be sure but after telling me that it was a “DVD with Bluray quality” they were clearly just reading the listing so I gave up.
I did, however, see that they are selling a specific DVD version that is £21 as opposed to the £29 for the Bluray, so I think it’s a safe bet.
;mnfgdf oimr kre tghjv sorry, typing with crossed fingers there.
Due to arrive this afternoon – I anticipate greatly
…and relax. It’s a Bluray
…not yet – Bozo delivery delayed until tomorrow.
SDE delivery has also not yet happened.
Don’t worry- it will arrive one of these days.
I just got a dispatch notification from SDE so with any luck yours will have gone out today too.
Thank Seamus, they’ve both arrived, and both are yer actual blu-rays.
One of these days I’ll pass one copy on to my little brother.
A very welcome release on CD and all beautifully recorded. I missed the movie screening as the three local cinemas decided in their wisdom to show it on the same day (Sunday) and at the same time as each other – when I had a previous engagement. Always the way, but I have the old DVD if I get the itch. The addition of the Pompeii Intro on the soundtrack album was very welcome, as were the alternate takes of Careful With That Axe and Saucerful of Secrets (although I do not know the latter track well enough to immediately spot the differences between the two takes).
Echoes is my favoured Floyd track at the moment. I reckon, though, that the version used on ‘Pink Floyd At Pompeii’ is a composite comprised of four takes. Clearly Echoes is broken into two parts on the album, but within those parts I think there are pieces that were recorded separately (although obviously at the same venue). I don’t have a problem with that at all, as the whole album is clearly not of a single concert and has never been promoted as such.
There is another version of Echoes available which I would recommend. This one was recorded live and in full during a BBC concert on September 30 1971 (Pompeii was recorded in October 1971); it is beautifully recorded and unedited and has a very different feel to it. As John Peel says as he introduces the track ‘it is an extraordinarily good number’. Pink Floyd have released this BBC concert on the album ‘Reverber/ation’, but this is pricey and the concert is also available on other unofficial releases, including the three-CD set ‘Transmission Impossible’ and Audio Vaults’ ‘One of These Days’. Recommended.
Seconded. I have the Reverber/ation set, largely purchased for that performance and the Nothings. Echoes has been my favourite PF track for ever – and that’s how I justified the expense!!
The sound and mix on this 25 version are astonishing, a real step up. I could lose myself in the groove of Echoes part one all day.
Tiggs is a Floyd fan! Tiggs is a Floyd fan! Soon you’ll be buying the seven-disc Immersion Edition of The Wall and thinking “wow, that Gary fella was right all along, I must check out all his recommendations, no matter what the financial cost.” Oh yes.
I kept waiting for Vesuvius to wreak its rightful revenge….
Has Mr Wilson remixed any Genesis? I have a hankering for Foxtrot.
The vinyl has been half-speed mastered at Abbey Road by Miles Showell. Hurrah!
Are we any closer to working out the provenance of Pompeii Intro, though?
Only a guess, that it might have been (an outtake of?) one of the bits of VCS3 noodling that we see Roger doing in the original film in the Abbey Road footage. The Speak To Me heartbeat may well have been a ‘thing’ by that point already.
Yes, I think you’re right. Abs this loop may have found itself used at the early DSOTM shows. An odd choice for introducing Pompeii, though, seeing as it’s nothing to do with the concert.
Yebbut connects with the DSOTM/Abbey Road bits…