Believe it or not, there was a time when the members of Pink Floyd actually got along. Oh, it’s not like it is today, where bassist/vocalist Roger Waters and guitarist/vocalist David Gilmour seem to despise each other more now than back in the ’80s and ’90s after Waters left the band and Gilmour carried on with drummer Nick Mason and keyboardist/vocalist Richard Wright by his side. No, in the early 1970s, with the band on their way to creating their masterpiece The Dark Side of the Moon (DOSTM), these four stiff upper lip Brits seemed to enjoy playing music together and being in each other’s company.
The proof is there for all to see in Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII, the recently remastered 1972 film that looks and sounds better than ever. Directed by Adrian Maben, the Blu-ray features two versions of the movie: the feature film that captures Floyd’s performance in the deserted Pompeii amphitheatre, interspersed with footage of Waters, Wright, Gilmour and Mason in the studio working on music that would soon become part of DSOTM; and a concert-only version. The latter is the one I grew up on, having taped it off of Canada’s MuchMusic on VHS back in the early ’90s and worn it out after repeated views. Pink Floyd at Pompeii captures the band delivering thunderous, defining performances of a few of their early classics, songs like “A Saucerful of Secrets,” “Careful With That Axe, Eugene,” “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun,” and perhaps the band’s defining pre-Dark Side song, “Echoes.”
Visually and sonically, Pink Floyd at Pompeii has never been better, thanks to a gorgeous 4K restoration and an audio remix from the esteemed Steven Wilson that lets each musician’s contribution shine through. While the performances are all stunningly delivered, I’d argue that the movie really highlights what a fantastic beast of a drummer Nick Mason was during this era of the band.
The music the band was creating around this time was neither the Syd Barret-era art-pop of “See Emily Play” and “Arnold Lane” nor the more refined prog of DSOTM and the creations that followed; instead, the Pink Floyd captured on film here is less precise, their music longer and more expansive. It’s also incredibly exciting and visceral. Their four-album run of Meddle, Obscured By Clouds, DSOTM, and Wish You Were Here is, to my ears, their career’s strongest and most musically welcoming. Pink Floyd at Pompeii captures that momentum perfectly.
It’s worth noting that along with the Blu-ray of Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII, the band has released the remixed soundtrack to the film for the first time as a standalone album; amazingly, that album just topped the UK album charts. While it’s tempting to have, Pompeii was previously released on CD and DVD as part of The Early Years box set, and on CD with its break-out compilation, 1972: Obfusc/ation. That version has the complete 26-minute version of “Echoes,” while the new soundtrack breaks it up into two parts as per the film. That collection will likely continue to be my audio Pompeii experience.
For old-school Floyd fans or newcomers to the band, though, Pink Floyd at Pompeii – MCMLXXII is worth experiencing in any iteration.