The Division Bell (1994 Remastered Version) [VINYL]

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Those of us who are waay into Pink Floyd have a favorite album that we will defend as the BEST ever (for many Dark Side of the Moon) and we will travel whereever we have to go to see them play live. As a P.F. fanatic, I have to say that the promotional tour gig for The Division Bell in Phoenix, Az in 1994 was the most knockout Pink Floyd concert ever. They were just killin' us with new songs from this album. From the moment they stepped on stage they put the pedal to the metal and never let up the intensity and the thrills which kept us on our feet screaming for hours. Then, they treated us to a stunning array of their earlier songs as well and never sounded better. They locked in our devotion and no one cared when P.F. tossed away the key. That April night in the desert was very cold, and the moon was full. We stood shivvering in summer clothes until they started to play and the energy levels ratcheted up 'til we were sweating. Then they tripped us out with an awesome array of effects including smoke and lights pulsing to the music; a large overhead TV screen showing a mishmash of totally wierd images; and those outrageous enormous plastic pigs that popped out of chutes on either side of the stage. Then they brought out the dazzling, colossal mirror ball that opened like a lotus and shot splinters of light that painted the sky, each other and everywhere. We were blissed out while the music blasted us into whole new levels of experiencing both sight and sound. We were glassy eyed and high from each other's energy hours later as we finally stumbled from the arena at concert's end with ears buzzing while trying to sing "wearing the inside out" and gripping the tour tee shirts and posters of the album cover's two talking heads. It was wild. David, Rick and Nick were HOT that night. David electrified the audience with such dazzling guitar work that we were breathless from screaming. It is probably true that nothing can replace the intensity of that live concert, but The Division Bell studio album is a wonderful way to dial in the memories and be there again. Yet, to P.F. heads it really doesn't matter, we'll make it happen whatever way we can. Like other reviewers have noted, The Division Bell is about communication. The magic of music is communication, isn't it? "What do you want from me", "Keep Talking",and "Lost for Words" tells their story of anger, pain, and great loss that still simmers in their feelings after Roger walked. The band let us know that it has not been easy to have lost such a gifted musician. I think the lyrics are eloquently understated and brilliant. Does one really need a hammer to get the point? Those who have seen P.F. live KNOW how cooked the band is and this is why we are still so fanatical about this group. Yes, we may miss Roger, but the Division Bell has its own power and it is still Pink Floyd to the MAX. Many of us will continue to clamor for more from this band - probably until the end of time. While we wait, we always have their albums. Rumor has it that there is a new one on the way. Perhaps it is wishful thinking, but for this music lover, The Division Bell is a new classic Pink Floyd, and that's alright with me.

Great package, a lot of care has been put into this product. Feels like a 180gram pressing size/weight-wise, although it doesn't actually say it is anywhere on the packaging. They have gone to a lot of effort to make the sleeve as symmetrical/reversible as possible, without text on the front or back, and mirrored in both directions on the spine. The front + back covers, gatefold and record sleeves, each concentrate on one of the pairs of "heads" created for the CD vs Cassette album art (metal vs stone heads), so it's great to finally see details of both of these at this size, for those of us who only had 12cm CD booklets at the time. Full lyrics on the inside, and each song credits the writers in order, which makes it interesting to see which songs' lyrics were more predominantly Samson's, and which were more Gilmour's. Sound quality is very impressive - this is the 2014 master from the original vinyl tapes, which searching on dr.loudness-war.info will reveal, has a great dynamic, second only to the same year's Immersion Blu-Ray 5.1 (downmix). I was able to hear every voice and instrument articulately. Almost makes some of the earlier tracks on the album lose their "mysterious magic" a bit when you can hear every separate part so clearly! One thing I hadn't previously noticed from the CD/digital versions is which tracks have Michael Kamen's live orchestration vs. which have synth strings/pads, but it is more noticeable here. And High Hopes sounds overwhelmingly immense, as expected :) On first playthrough there was one jump on the first side despite no visible marks or dust, which was fixed by applying IPA record cleaning fluid and a few rotations with the anti-static cleaner. Hasn't skipped since. Highly recommended!

Excellent product

One of my fav floyd albums, great bed time music. Super hard to find in stores, so grab it while you can.