Pink Floyd – Live At Pompeii

A monumental document of pre-The Dark Side of the Moon Floyd, this 1972 live-in-ruins performance is sacred ground for psych/prog devotees. More than a concert film, it's a ritual—the band unleashing cosmic improvisations amid ancient stones. The sonic clarity and brooding visuals make this as essential on vinyl or DVD as Meddle or Obscured by Clouds. The title itself (with that Roman numeral flair) signals reverence. A totemic piece for any Floyd completist—raw, reverberant, and elemental.

Had a chance to hear this Edition last weekend and got blown away by the excellent Sound-Stage in comparison to the actual Remaster by Steven Wilson. In fact all Tracks on this Counterfeit are the Remastered Versions by Andy Jackson and were obviously cut from the CD included in Floyd's "Early Years" Box-Set, except the Live-Version of "Atom Heart Mother", the "Pompeii" Intro and "Mademoiselle Knobs". All in all a fantastic Transfer of the complete Pompeii CD from the Box-Set to Vinyl in a slightly different Running Order but with "Echoes" as one Track in its entire Glory! If I had to make a Choice, I would certainly go for this Version of Pompeii instead of the new Remaster...

Unfortunately, my copy was flawed. Lots of pops and clicks, and really noticeable surface noise. Which is sad, since I got this for my birthday and I adore this live performance. Hope I can get a refund and order another one, but if that one also comes flawed, I'm staying with my 2 star rating ;(

The 2 stars are because of the packaging, which is beautiful, and the sound quality, that's superb, but this last one isn't really enjoyable due to the surface noise so...

The mix itself sounds great overall. I've always loved the movie and I can hear so much more detail on this vinyl than what I in the DVD which I've watched many times. There are some aspects I don't like. The cymbals in "Careful With That Axe Eugene" are very harsh and almost ruin the whole experience. "One of These Days" has a period of time when some weird buzzing is audible behind the distorted guitar.

I bought two copies of this US pressing. One had an audible scuff right at the beginning of side A, the second had a bad scuff during an important moment partway through Side A. Sides C/D on both copies were off center and had a serious ripple though it wasn't audible. One Copy side C had a scuff right at the start of the 2nd track and a number of audible scratches on Echoes. Unfortunately Ill have to pick my poison on these and just return the worst of the two. Disappointing.

When I first bought this I was reading reviews for the European release and didn't realize there were two separate pressings. Based only on reviews I'd recommend getting the European version and wish I had done so.

My EU pressing is stunning. Dead quiet, packaging is gorgeous. I did think this was an unnecessary purchase even as a big Floyd fan and almost didn’t bother. How wrong I was. Essential.

And watch the restored documentary/ concert film, which is excellent.

I'm 65, and was done with PF by the late 80s, but this looks interesting - to watch on Blu Ray in 7.2.6!

I really think it is an excellent remaster all things considered but the criticisms still ring true in my ears; the over engineering on this take a certain charm from the analog recording away. Does that detract from the final product? For purists maybe, but Im grateful enough to have a physical release of this.

Spent some time today doing very quick compares betweem the new Wilson mix and a couple of unofficial releases - one that is a 4CD set from 2018 that is said to be have used high res "Original Stereo & Quad mixes", and one that I'm not sure from which CD but claims to be from a "Stereo Mix from Japanese Laserdisc". Used Foobar 2000 ABX compare.

Few impressions:
1) As expected the Wilson has all the hiss pasteurized and obviously sounds cleaner and more clinical.

2) On "Careful With That Axe, Eugene" the rimshots on the opening have been removed on the Wilson mix, or at least reduced to a degree my old ears can't hear them. Check it out around 0:43 and on.

3) In "Echoes II" the fantastic pulsating bass starting around 04:30 has been buried deep on the new mix. Most evident around 05:37 compared to the unofficial releases.

These are just 2 spots I noticed skimming quickly. I cannot say of course if the unofficial releases had some sort of "remix" themselves.

The Bluray and video are excellent. However, unfortunately the audio is slightly out of sync with the video. Someone else mentioned this with the EU release.

QRP and RTI are my favorite U.S.-based plants; RI is my favorite Europe-based one. I have owned around 20 records pressed by RI and, with the exception of only one (2018 ANIMALS Remix -- first batch was BAAAAD -- the label replaced it with a perfect pressing from a corrected batch), RI achieves the pinnacle of vinyl, in my opinion. They're so great.

When this record was announced, I thought to myself: "Do I really need another DSD Floyd record pressed by Optimal?" My answer was no, but then Mike Esposito's advance preview convinced me to get it anyway. Thankfully, RI pressed it instead of Optimal and it stands up to the RI standard that I know and love. This is perfect vinyl, folks. Dead centered, flat, clean, and quiet. Gatefold jacket is immaculate. Anti-static sleeves would be fantastic, but I guess I can't have EVERYTHING for €36. RI aside, Wilson's cut sounds celestial. Usually, I find pre-DSOTM Floyd to be meandering and unsatisfying, but this is an incredible performance by artists on the cusp of something extraordinary. This performance in itself is already that.

I highly, HIGHLY recommend this album and this pressing in particular. No real Floyd fan's collection should be without this.