P-U-L-S-E

This album contains a few classics that are played well as always. Pink Floyd live shows have always been amazing but this collection can be quite a dull experience. The band are quite old and do not play with half as much energy as in the 60's or 70's. There are much better live albums on offer such as "Is There Anybody Out There?" and "Ummagumma" and i would strongly recommend these over PULSE. It is nice to see the live attempt of Dark Side of the Moon and to see how it has evolved from the studio album and this is probably the best part of the album. The new material is played just as weakly as on the studio album and really is a strain to listen to. This album is for the collectors but i would recommend buying this over The Division Bell as it contains the best songs from that album.

You can't dismiss the quality of Pulse. By now Pink Floyd were the masters of anthem type stage shows, special effects etc.The visual effects on the video of Pulse is awesome especially on ' On the run' where a small plane crashes into the theatre at the climax. the DSOTM played live is a success, even their thanks to an old friend Roger at the end after the encores. As a CD Pulse is very good but I just can't help feeling that a double live album after each studio album is pushing it just a bit! ' A great day for Freedom' and ' High Hopes' are the best of the rest on disc one.

The songs from "The Division Bell" were played better in these live versions. There are again the "obligatory" Roger Wates`s songs in Compact Disc One for some old fans who still missed him. There is a very good live version of "The Dark Side of the Moon" in Compact Disc Two, followed by other very good old songs. I don`t like the recording of this album very much, but this live album is better than "Delicate Sound of Thunder" in some points.

I risk admission of how new a FLOYD fan I am...but this was my first album, bought when it very first came out. It was through this album that I actually got to know the band. I still see it as a very enjoyable album, even in light of the large collection of studio albums that I now own. In fact, I even believe there are certain cuts on PULSE that are far superior to the studio versions.

Believe it or not, I actually found that the studio album of Dark Side of the Moon (most particularly the 20th anniversary edition--the 30th was an improvement) paled in certain places to this version, in terms of sound quality! I much prefer the effect of the guitar and drums thundering through the stadium at the beginning of "Time"--this resonant, rich sound gives it a certain air of...magnitude...like the beginning of Creation, for lack of a better metaphor.

While I would say that on "Great Gig" Clare Torry's original singing is probably better--I don't think there's anything at all lost by the choice of the three background singers who take up her role. Also, WRIGHT does not stick note-for-note with the original; he improvises where possible. The other real standout track from DSotM is "Any Colour You Like"...for some reason, there is just something so entrancing about that synth solo.

Another song that benefits from the stadium performance is "Learning to Fly". Somehow, it really takes on that spacey sound that it ought to have had in the studio album; one can really imagine speeding down the runway and suddenly lifting into flight. A switch that I believe was made that made the most dramatic moment of the song twice as effective: I cannot tell for sure, but it almost seems as if that dinky prop plane was replaced with a massive jumbo jet. This is also a case where that reverberating stadium sound really transports the listener "above the planet on a wing and a prayer". The studio album doesn't even come close.

The one mistake, however (despite the fact that I love it to death!) is in "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". I only call it a mistake in retrospect, now that I am familiar with Wish You Were Here. Somehow, as I was not familiar with the story of BARRETT or WYWH at the time, I took this for an uplifting, inspiring piece. Though musically very beautiful and I will always love it, I have to say that leaving out the "darker" parts of the song rather interferes with its mood--even causing a new fan to miss the point.

Of course, beyond doubt the most powerful performance is "Comfortably Numb". This surpasses the studio original by so much that it is almost beyond explanation; however, I will attempt it! It is in this song that you can truly see just how stifled the musicians (GILMOUR and WRIGHT in particular) were during the production of the studio original...because it is incredible what gets free in the live setting!

Much of what I write here will be a sort of reverse reaction--I actually reacted adversely when I heard the studio original, after being used to this one--I simply could not stand it! The thing felt wrong from so many angles. Almost immediately, the first thing that separates PULSE from the studio original is the slowed tempo--this creates a swaying feeling...as though things really are coming through in waves that push the "numb" listener back and forth...a feeling that was very much lacking in the less expressive studio version. Also, the guitar throughout the whole song (not just the famous solo) is far more passionately played--and in the second solo, there is even a screaming noise that sounds as if it could be all of the agony that Pink held inside until then.

The sound itself is very flowing, so rich that it is almost tangible, lifted upwards by the beautiful synth playing of RICHARD WRIGHT. Without knowing a thing about the circumstances of the breakup, this is something I immediately noted in the studio album as a hollow absence...as though the music had been forcibly sucked dry. But how wonderfully things changed, in the creation of this new FLOYD fan seven years ago. It is none other than WRIGHT himself that takes over for the now absent ROGER WATERS. He really takes well to the role, and his enthusiasm shows clearly in the musical result.

Forever it will be his haunting, ethereal sounding voice that I associate with the "doctor" in "Comfortably Numb". WRIGHT can pull off an incredibly spooky effect when he wants to--you can almost imagine the nearly walled-in Pink hearing this voice coming through as though from another plane, one in which he no longer fully functions. This, and the incredible musical power of this song, both in the guitar solo and in WRIGHT's contribution, make this easily the best version of "Comfortably Numb" in existence.

All in all, this is probably the FLOYD's best concert album.

While not FLOYD's best ever live offering, "P-U-L-S-E" is still a marvelous journey to behold. A wonderful choice on song selection was done for this release, with respectful numbers of new, older and even some really old obscure tunes for the longtime fans. Everything on P-U-L-S-E from the production of the music, to its seemless track flow (a FLOYD standard), right down to the packaging is top notch. This is an historical document of FLOYD's work and worth acquiring. Especially if your version has the oh-so-very trendy pulsing red light...

While having a decent number of 'new' (i.e. five "Division Bell") songs, P-U-L-S-E does not overdo it; whereas maybe "The Delicate Sound of Thunder" did have too many new "AMLOR" songs on it. As usual with FLOYD, the live versions of these newer songs have new life breathed into them and generally sound fresher than those offered on the original studio versions.

"Lime and limpid green, the second scene.."

The most enjoyable thing about this double-CD is the FLOYD 'classic era' stuff. I remember people leaving the Olympic Stadium in Montreal in 1994 saying joyfully "I can't believe they actually played 'Astronomy Domine'!" While a little faster paced than the original, it was still quite remarkable to hear the band crank this old chestnut out live. Listen to the roar of the crowd when the initial guitar riffs of 'Domine' are recognized.

Many reviewers have mentioned that they actually prefer the complete live version of "Dark Side of the Moon" offered here over the original studio gem. I'd tend to agree with them, except for one small point. There is the glaring absence of a certain Mr. Waters that should be singing the climactic 'Brain Damage/Eclipse' portion of this prog masterpiece. For this reason, a star HAS to be deducted from the final rating. But aside from that, hearing the band play 'Speak To Me', 'Any Colour You Like', 'Great Gig in the Sky' and 'On The Run' in the full live version of "Dark Side" is priceless, and for this reason alone is worth buying this release.

A final note about the packaging. Marketing directors take note! This is how you should release music to your fans! The limited edition "P-U-L-S-E" flashing red light, combined with the lavishly illustrated book, and the little box set case is a sight to behold. It draws comments from collectors and disinterested parties alike. The "P-U-L-S-E" Iris image on its cover is unique in its display. Look closely inside the image, what do you see? A bike...clock machinery...a children's doll with red slippers... Surely these are references to BARRETT's 'Bike', WATERS' 'Time' and the female doll with the ruby slippers, well that's Dorothy of course! It is by paying attention to little details like these, that FLOYD and Storm Thorgerson have acheived an almost cult status among its followers.

Dave Gilmour is in top form here. His singing and note-bending on his stratocaster is untouchable, especially on "Numb". A mind-boggling 2 and 1/2 hours of live FLOYD music. 4/5 stars, highly recommended, if only it had Roger, it would be perfect...

Good but not that good...The sound is ...I don´t know how to say it, but ther are just too many sounds and instruments at the same time...personaly I like my Floyd with one guitar, one voice, one keyboard, one bass and one drum. There are like three guitars, two keyboards, two drums and I don´t know what else, but it´s just too much. There are better live Floyd albums than this one (Delicate sound of thunder, Anybody out ther?..). But not everything is lost here, I think "Wish you were here" is here even better than in the original format...but the rest...not that intersting...

This live concert was captured to very well designed and produced releases, and there are some fine soundscapes to be heard during the show. Nevertheless I must admit that this stuff sounds somehow hollow when compared to the classics of the band's early days. The performing of the album "Dark Side of The Moon" is a nice idea, but I prefer to listen some parts of the original instead. Also playing songs like "Astronomy Domine" without Barrett or Waters sounds silly. Forgive me...

Don't you think music is a contagious disease? I do. The reason I spin this cd was due to my experience the day before when I watched David Gilmour in Concert DVD. When David Gilmour played lap guitar during High Hopes, I suddenly remembered that this track was featured in PULSE live set. This live set was recorded during the band's tour between March to October 1994 from various stages in Europe and in the UK using Levoyageur II Mobile, produced by James Guthrie and David Gilmour. Original band members remained three without Roger Waters, backed with a lot of musicians who have become the band's regulars, like energetic bass player Guy Pratt, guitarist Tim Renwick, backing vocal Sam Brown, saxophonist Dick Parry, etc.

It's a joy enjoying this double CD set in its entirety last night while I was flipping the full colour 50-page wonderful booklet that accompany the set - of course with a cup of coffee. I turned the volume quite high to get the detailed sound perfectly. For a live recording, the sonic quality is great as it has sufficient bass sounds. Some variation of styles from the original studio version are the real treat that elevate my listening pleasure.

The album kicks off with Shine On You Crazy Diamond which I have a little regret because as there are at least three music bars truncated, i.e. exactly before David's vocal enters the music at the first time: "Remember when you're young .". The guitar solo before this lyrical part is truly stunning; unfortunately truncated. It has reduced my respect on this first track. Overall, the song was performed well and continued seamlessly to guitar driven Astronomy Domine in energetic fashion and followed with What Do You Want From Me (from the Division Bell album) where the music turns into a heavier blues influence style. Another three tracks coming from Division Bells album that follow: Learning to fly (5:06), Keep talking (6:56), Coming back to life (6:31) are also performed smoothly by the band.

The peak of enjoyment (for me) is when the album reaches track 9, Sorrow (10:30) where the band plays the music in floating style with firm drum beats. And also, as I said before that High hopes (7:48) is another highlight of the show. Composition-wise, it's a great track where it combines a smooth musical moves from opening to interlude part.

CD2 brings us to the performance of The Dark Side of The Moon which I find a bit of regret when the female voice of The Great Gig In The Sky was not performed to my expectation as it's worse than studio version. But overall performance of The DSotM is excellent. Wish you were here (5:40) with acoustic-guitar based music is another excellent track. The show concludes with two tracks from The Wall: Comfortably numb (9:10) and Run like hell (7:58).

Overall, I enjoy this live set very much. It's probably I have seen the laser disc (double discs) version of the show. It's an excellent addition to any prog music collection. Keep on proggin' ..!

Progressively yours,

GW

This is a wonderful live set that worked perfectly where Delicate Sound of Thunder failed. It contains amazing versions of both the AMLOR and Division Bell albums, plus a neat disc with an entire performance of DSOTM and the best guitar solo ever done live by Dave on "Comfortably Numb", a true special moment (i don't have words to describe how that solo affects me emotionally, and seeing it live may be an even more out of this world experience). Tracks like "Astronomy Domine" are brought back in perfect shape, and even without Syd this song manages to be a magical psychedelic trip. "Another Brick in the Wall II" sounds great here, with an amazing new arrangement at the intro based on "The happiest days of our lives", and the live rendition of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" with part seven together is amazing, especially on part three's keyboard solo, carried with pure wonderful emotion. The highlight here, though, is of course "High Hopes". Magical as the studio version, here we have one of the most special moments at the ending solo together with an orchestra giving that extra feel. The violins work in a very neat way, and at the ending you'll feel that what your soul just experience was pure magic. The "Dark Side of the Moon" songs are well played, not as greatly as the others on disc one, but it is always convenient to have a live performance of such a great album. The extended time given to the applauses on "Speak To Me" really bothers me, but well the FLOYD surely deserve such praise - although waiting for almost one minute of clapping until the song's arrival is quite boring. The encore set, containing "Wish You Were Here", "Comfortably Numb" and "Run Like Hell" has amazing versions of its respective songs, and that intro on "Run Like Hell" shows that Dave is the definite master of guitar.

Overall an amazing set of live songs that can be very enjoyable if people remember that FLOYD without Waters is still quality FLOYD - as i pointed on my AMLOR review. So, get both the audio and video of this performance. You won't be disappointed, you'll be actually dazzled by how great this band is live.

The final Pink Floyd tour sure would have been a sight to see (my uncle always tells me about how it was the best show he's ever seen, and from the live release and video from that tour, I can't say I wouldn't disagree with him). The live incarnation of Pink Floyd at this time was a touring unit that consisted of many different musicians (but at the core was still Wright, Gilmour, and Mason) giving the overall sound a more complete and full vibe, and it doesn't really end there. Add a stellar setlist that includes newer pieces and live favorites (and then some) as well as some great extensions and live bits that aren't originally on the studio pieces and you have yourself in a brief word PULSE. The only thing I really complain about with this release (and it plagued the Division Bell, but it wasn't too bad) is that Gilmour gets a bit too over indulgent in his guitar solos (although some pieces really call for that) and really not enough light is shed on Wright.

The first disc is a nice mixture of newer and older Pink Floyd pieces, and it all starts off with the concert version of Shine On You Crazy Diamond. What's different about this piece from the studio version is that some of the instrumental bits were cut out so they could put both parts of the song (which would originally go on for 25-30 minutes) together for a concise 14 minute piece. It's a really nice live piece, with Gilmour's signature solo being still the focal point of the piece, but Dick Perry really shines as well with his spectacular saxophone solo (which actually involves him switching saxes seamlessly at one point). Other little live additions made are the extended guitar intros and outros to Sorrow (which in my opinion was the second best song on the underwhelming A Momentary Lapse of Reason behind Learning to Fly) from Gilmour. The material in between, though, is pretty faithful to the original piece and doesn't really stray far away (especially Astronomy Domine, which is a fitting tribute to Syd following the epic tribute to Syd). The version of Another Brick in the Wall part 2 here is also rather nice (it has a nice instrumental introduction of The Happiest Days of our Lives) with a nice extended solo from Gilmour.

The second disc is comprised of the entire Dark Side of the Moon album and the three encores. The Dark Side of the Moon, in my opinion, was one of the most overrated albums ever, but it still was a pretty good piece in the end. The overall rendition of it here is rather nice, with great performances of all the pieces (Time and Us and Them particularly). Add an unreasonably long middle section in Money (it really should have been an extra 30 seconds or a minute, not two and a half) and you have yourself a pretty solid and cohesive rendition of one of the most important albums in rock. The encores exceed the overall quality of The Dark Side of the Moon immensely, though. The first is Wish You Were Here, which as always the case with Gilmour is nothing short of tear jerking, his emotive guitar/vocal solo really giving the perfect eulogy piece a more at home feeling. Comfortably Numb is severely benefitted from the largely extended solo from Gilmour (who belts out easily a 4 minute guitar solo), who really shows his prowess and emotive strength when he plays the guitar. The final piece, Run Like Hell, begins with some noodling from Gilmour before becoming the stomp beat piece it is. Add in an extended synthesizer experiment from Richard Wright and you have yourself the final piece to the final Pink Floyd live album.

In the end, the live album aspect of PULSE would ultimately not be as rewarding as the visual aspect of it. The Division Bell was one of my favorite Pink Floyd albums, and this is probably the best live album Pink Floyd ever released (despite the absence of Roger Waters), although the Ummagumma live album was nothing short of brilliant. Still, those looking into getting a Pink Floyd live album that has a comprehensive look at all eras of the group, then this will be the purchase to make. It's not a masterpiece live record, but it still is the best Pink Floyd has to offer in live terms. 4.5/5.

The Floyd has always sounded better live (IMO). I would categorize their live work in several stages :

1. The early days (1967 - 1970) : their gigs had little to do with their studio efforts. They extended their numbers quite significantly injecting the most psychedelic flavours to make their live sets always a happening (even a track like "Mathilda Mother" was often played in excess of fifteen minutes). The Floyd could turn an average song into whatever they wanted in a live set.

2. The "post early days" or "pre-DSOTM" (1971 - 1972) : still lots of long jams, but the tendency will, little by little, be to get "closer" to the original.

3. The DSOTM - The Wall era : the shows will be more and more a replica of the studio work. Their incredible light shows and visual effects providing little room to improvisation (or then as I call it : organized improv.). They will usually play the entire albums, in the same sequence than the studio work.

4. The "Gilmour" years : gigantism at its peak (although "The Wall" paved the way). These sets will return in a certain way into a more classic scheme: a collection of Floyd songs throughout time (and space).

I love each of them almost equally.

So, when the live set consists mostly of great original numbers one can only expect to reach heaven. A fabulous packaging (but this is another Floyd trademark), an hypnotic small light "pulsing" like your heart beats on the edge of the cover, great photos from their live tour etc. The more important though is the music, right ? The numbers played here are taken from lots of different shows (twelve to be precise - but most of them being recorded at Earl's Court). So, what do we get here ?

Well, lots of jewels. Although it was the supporting tour for the Division Bell album, the first disc contains some earlier work as well. And what a work !

"Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is one of my two preferred Floyd songs ever. The rendition here is great. The link between "Shine" and the following track "Astronomy Domine" is obviously Syd. It is a beautiful homage to him (David and Syd were friends before the Pink Floyd adventure started). The remaining section of CD one contains songs from their last studio efforts (including "The Wall" and each track deserves to be here (specially "Hey You", "Sorrow" and "High Hopes").

Second CD consists of the full rendition for "TDSOTM" for the very first time in an official live release. Then three encores : "WYWH" - again in homage to Syd (I guess) and two great numbers from "The Wall".

Interesting enough is what Dave said : "The reason for Pulse is Dark Side Of The Moon, obviously. We weren't going to do a live album for this tour; it seemed a bit superfluous having just done one a few years ago. But, as we started out on the tour, we were looking for ways to change the show around and make ourselves a little more flexible and have a little fun, and Dark Side Of The Moon was one of the ideas that came across."

"So we did it on the end of our American tour, and then when we carried it over to Europe, we started thinking,'Well, it would be nice for us...and for posterity...to have a live version of Dark Side Of The Moon, which I always particularly wanted."

"I'm not big on playing small places with Pink Floyd. I mean, when we'd been doing this tour for six months and finally got back to London, we played Earl's Court, which holds about 18,000 people. That was a nice small club, like being in Madison Square Garden." (laughs).

At the start of the tour the track list was as follows : Part one : "Astronomy", "Learning To Fly", "What Do You Want from Me", "Take It Back, "Lost For Words", "Sorrow", "A Great Day for Freedom", "Keep Talking", "One Of These Days".

Part two : "Shine on You Crazy Diamond", "Breathe", "Time", "Breathe Reprise", "High Hopes", "Wish You Were Here", "Another Brick Part II", "The Great Gig in the Sky", "Us and Them", "Money" and "Comfortably Numb".

In October 1994, the Floyd performed the end of The Division Bell tour at Earls Court (London).The proceeds from all 14 of the shows performed (one was cancelled due to seating collapse) were donated to benefit Greenpeace, Amnesty International and other groups.

Some special events during this tour :

May 6th : the band's mirror ball attracted a giant cloud of fireflies, who made an unexpected but beautiful contribution to the show.

May 10th : the day of a total eclipse of the sun, Pink Floyd played in Raleigh, North Carolina

May 14th : Dave Gilmour states that his performance of "Comfortably Numb" was the best he had ever done.

July 15th : Detroit audience was treated to the first performance of "Dark Side Of The Moon" in its entirety since Knebworth 1975. September 7th : President Vaclav Havel was among the 115,000 crowd for the Pink Floyd first ever show in the former Czechoslovakia. He then entertained the band to dinner, apparently talking well into the night with David Gilmour.

At some point during one of the Earl's Court shows, Roger Waters was in attendance with a group of friends. David invited Roger to come on stage and perform during DSOTM but Roger refused.

The Division Bell tour was one of the most ambitious tours ever staged. The daily operating costs came to more than $752,000.00 per day. There were three stages, and three separate crews (red crew, blue crew, green crew). The size of the crew varied according to the venue, but the average was in excess of 200 people. Each stage took three days to build, approx. 18 hours to prepare, approx. 7 plus hours to break down, and two days to fully dismantle for load-out. Feeding the crew, technicians, family and friends of the band, was no small feat, they daily consumed 1,200 bags of tea, 1,200 cans of soft drinks, 1,000 eggs, and lots of bread baked on site, amongst other foodstuffs.

What else can I say ? Nine out of ten ? Four stars ?

The light went out years ago (but only on the box)

While we patiently waited and waited for the DVD version of "Pulse" to be released, we could at least enjoy the music on CD in the meantime. "Pulse" is a double live album record by the band on their tour subsequent to the release of their final (and to date at last) studio album "The Division Bell". This of course means that Roger Waters plays no part in the performance, although many of the songs he created with his fellow band members do.

The first part of the album contains a good cross section of new and old, with tracks such as "What do you want from me", "Keep talking", and "high hopes" from "The Division Bell" sitting well alongside older classics such as "Astronomy Domine" and a composite version of "Shine on you crazy diamond".

The centrepiece of the performance though, is a rendition of "Dark side of the moon" in its entirety. Even though "Money" is the only track which is substantially different, as it has an elongated centre section, the album is given a wonderful new dimension here. The performance is exemplary, every song sounding fresh and reinvigorated. Things are brought to a conclusion with a triple encore, including a superb rendition of "Comfortably numb".

With the entire concert (minus two of the tracks on this collection, "Hey you" and "A great day for freedom") now being available in full 5.1 surround sound on DVD, this double CD is something of a poor relation. The DVD is definitely the one to go for, for the full audio and visual experience. Nevertheless, seen in its own right, this is a mighty live album.

The original packaging included a flashing red LED which looked great in the record shops when the boxes were lined up side by side.

Pulse was a 2-CD set recording of live material during Pink Floyd's Division Bell tour. Not having released much live material in their history (one LP of Ummagumma and 1988's Delicate Sound of Thunder, and later, 2000's Is There Anybody Out There?), Pulse is the most important work to acquire if you want to have a live recording by the band. There are probably countless bootlegs available out there that would contain much of their 1970s material, but none of it would compare with the sound quality of Pulse. Admittedly it would have been nice to hear material from Animals or more of their Pre-Dark Side era. Still you can only fit so much on 2 CDs and for as old as these guys were in 1994, you couldn't expect them to last more than the customary three hours on stage.

The first disc contains chiefly more recent material from Division Bell and A Momentary Lapse of Reason, but includes a resurrected Barrett-penned Astronomy Domine, the thrilling One of These Days, and a beautiful performance of Shine On You Crazy Diamond. The second disc contains an amazing performance of the Dark Side of the Moon album in its entirety, followed by their classic live closers of Wish You Were Here, Comfortably Numb and Run Like Hell.

An excellent acquisition that every Pink Floyd fan should have. It would have been a masterpiece if some of the Division Bell material was replaced with some of their better earlier stuff. Four stars. Highly recommended.

One of the very worst live albums there are; absolutely bloodless. Just listening to that trio of female background singers alone makes me cringe, especially when all three of them are needed to sing Claire Torry's outburst from "Dark side of the Moon" NOTE FOR NOTE! How fantastic this could have been if just one female singer went on overdrive like Torry did and improvised her heart out. Instead they stick to the Torry performance note for note and divide the part onto three, so all can have a go. I don't need a band who try to reproduce their studio sound live. What I want from a band that plays live is showing a live spirit, but Pink Floyd here behave as if they are in the studio. There was a time when they were a good live band; just listen to the live parts of "Ummagumma". But this album makes me stick my fingers into my ears.

My opinions about Pink Floyd are very controversial. For one thing I don't really think they are a progressive rock band. I also don't particularly like some of their most popular albums. But this live album blew me away! David Gilmore's guitar sound is amazing here, very distinctive and his vocals are flawless and distinctive as well. Judging from this live album, it seems to me that Gilmore is the true star of Pink Floyd (another very controversial statement).

When I first heard this live album I knew several of the older studio albums - that for some reason never impressed me that much. I knew The Wall, Dark Side Of The Moon, Animals and some others. But the tracks that impressed me the most on PULSE - and this is another controversial opinion of mine - were the tracks from the two most recent albums A Momentary Lapse Of Reason and The Division Bell.

Since then I have heard these two studio albums as well, and they are among my favourite Pink Floyd albums for sure, but the live versions of these songs as presented on PULSE are better than on their respective studio albums. Learning To Fly, Coming Back To Life, A Great Day For Freedom, Sorrow and High Hopes (particularly in their PULSE versions) are now among my all time favourite Pink Floyd songs! The loud and well defined bass guitar on Sorrow is great. And, as I have already mentioned, the guitar sound is fantastic throughout.

But we also get some great classic songs here like Shine On You Crazy Diamond and Wish You Were Here both from Pink Floyd's best album, Wish You Were Here as well as the 60's Astronomy Domine. And these versions are all great! I also think - and this is yet another controversial matter - that this double live album is much better than the double DVD set. I think that the PULSE DVD set has way too much theatrics that distract from the music. The stage is so huge that Gilmore, and the others on it, look so tiny in front of those outrageously large screens showing art films. There is even an aeroplane flying across the auditorium crashing by the side of the stage! There are even inflatable pigs! This is all too much for me and it takes away from the music. I prefer to see musicians playing their instruments without too many distractions.

Also the set list is shorter on the DVD compared to the CD version and some of the best material has been edited out. So I definitely would recommend going for the CD version over the DVD version.

The first disc of the double album is better than the second disc. And the newer songs on the first disc are better than the older ones. On the second disc we get a full live performance of Dark Side Of The Moon, an album that I think is one of the most overrated rock albums of all time (I would put The Wall on that list as well). Still, this performance betters the original album, I think!

All this is probably contested by Pink Floyd fans, but this is how I see it anyway.

PULSE is not only the definitive Pink Floyd live album, for me it is the definitive Pink Floyd product full stop, and an excellent place to start your Pink Floyd collection.

A nice selection here, played by a "band" that are consistently good but never amazing.

There were lots of people on stage for this tour, all adding something (some more than others; PARRY!) to the overall sound without things becoming busy. The ACTUAL members aren't playing at their best but, it had been a while since they last touched an instrument so fairplay to them. All the classics, plus some very un-classic material are showcased with a lot of fire and energy, especially in the 'DSOTM' recital. I think for the first half though, the Floyd had a momentary lapse of reason when choosing certain songs...

'Shine On' is abridged (shame, 'cos Water's did the lot when he went solo) but retains the "feel" nonetheless. 'Astronomy Domine' works so well that you sort of wish more Barrett-era songs were included; it sends a shiver down my spine. Then we have a whole bunch of mediocre tunes from the post-Waters albums. These are fine and loyal to the originals, trouble is, the originals weren't particularly great compositions. 'What Do You Want From Me?' is the only track from this section that fits with the older stuff, because it was written in that psychedelic blues-rock style in the first place. As for the 'Dark Side', we have a very retrospective yet developed song cycle with a lot of enjoyment to release. In particular, the 'Great Gig...', 'Money' (of course), and 'Any Colour You Like' have a lot of power. The latter song I've always loved anyway, I only wish they had extended the jam on stage. After these we have what I assume is the encore, a fairly straight rendition of 'WYWH', a cool 'Comfortably Numb' which is overrated as usual, and a much better 'Run Like Hell' that works well as a finale.

Nothing of immense glory here but probably the best live release from this era of Floyd. I know they never do, but if they had played some 'Animals', 'Piper', and perhaps 'Meddle', it would have been a perfect show.

Watch out for Publius Enigmas!

P-U-L-S-E is one of those weird live albums that, at the time of its release, was meant to appeal to the band's aging fan base who would pay for any new Pink Floyd recording coming their way. The first edition of the album even featured a light-emitting diode in its design, a gimmick that was sure to make people pay little more just so they could show it off to all their friends. Fortunately time has been kind on this live album and, considering that the band hasn't released any new studio material since then, it now functions almost like a live retrospective of the ensemble that was Pink Floyd.

Since P-U-L-S-E was partially intended as a promotional album for the band's release of the new material, there are quite a few tracks from Division Bell and A Momentary Lapse Of Reason featured on the set-list. This is something that I, even to this day, tend to skip through just to get to the good stuff from the classic era Pink Floyd. Most of the new tunes come off sounding much more dated and there are also times when the band seems almost like a bunch of old-timers being sentimental about their past. High Hopes is a prime example of this very sad experience where the song's lyrics actually get a whole new meaning it the context of the performance.

The biggest highlight of this live release has to be its second act that gives us a complete version of Dark Side Of The Moon and this is definitely where the band looses their sad-face act and start sounding like the professionals that they really are! Classics like Breathe, Us And Them and the album's outro are just as intense as their original studio counterparts. Downsides comes with the much more extravagant sounding version of The Great Gig In The Sky which, I guess, was meant as a show-stopper that didn't work too well in the context of the live performance. I'm also not too keen on the over the top performance of Money with a sax solo that doesn't sound as pleasant as it was originally intended to be.

The combination of classic material like Astronomy Domine and the LP/Video-only version of One Of These Days with the later tracks from The Wall make this live album a nice little retrospective of the band known as Pink Floyd. There are a few lesser moments that make most of their appearances during the first half of the show but overall P-U-L-S-E is a good, but non-essential album that gets more recognition with each passing year.

***** star songs: Breathe (2:33) Us And Them (6:57) Brain Damage (3:45) Eclipse (2:37) Wish You Were Here (6:35) Comfortably Numb (9:29)

**** star songs: Shine On You Crazy Diamond (13:35) Astronomy Domine (4:20) Keep Talking (6:52) A Great Day For Freedom (4:30) Another Brick In The Wall (7:07) Speak To Me (2:30) On The Run (3:47) Time (6:46) Money (8:54) Any Colour You Like (3:21) Run Like Hell (8:36)

*** star songs: What Do You Want From Me (4:09) Learning To Fly (5:15) Coming Back To Life (6:56) Hey You (4:39) Sorrow (10:49) High Hopes (7:52) The Great Gig In The Sky (5:52)

Sure, there has only been one studio album released since the last Pink Floyd but given that they had been around for over a quarter century at this point, with only one LP from Ummagumma, and A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, this is a welcome addition.

The packaging on the original release is beautiful. A hard shell box, with a pulsing red light on the end (I hope you didn't store it with the original batteries in it) encloses a hard cover booklet and pockets for the two disks.

The unfortunate thing is that about half of the songs were on The Delicate Sound Of Thunder, and I prefer the versions of Money and Run Like Hell from that album. Otherwise, the performances range from good to great, The band sounds much more comfortable than on the previous live album as well.

If only Roger were there.

In many ways this live set was my introduction to Pink Floyd, and prog in general. It was a fairly recent release when I got it; I think it was Christmas '95 I received it for a present(my request). I had the cassette version, which features tracks not on the CD version(more on that later). I'm not exactly sure why I wanted the cassette version(didn't have the blinking light!), I had a CD player. Anyway, I'm glad I had this in that format for the bonus stuff(now I'm not so happy I still have it because I have nothing to play it on!).

I was familiar with some of the Floyd's music already, but believe it or not, this was the first time I had heard DSOTM in it's entirety. In some ways I think this version is superior to the original(yes, I just said that). For one thing, Gilmour was always a better singer than Waters, and he does all the lead vocals except the ones by Wright. Disc/tape 1 has better versions of songs from TDB than the studio album. Also, the songs from AMLOR here are not only better than the original studio versions, they are also much better than the ones on the Delicate Sound live set. In fact, all the songs that are on both sets are much better on PULSE. "Astronomy Domine" was brought back to life for TDB tour; it was the first time the band had played the song live since 1971! This version is good and somehow doesn't manage to sound like either the PATGOD or Ummagumma versions. The version of "Comfortably Numb" here is perhaps the best due to the extended guitar solo(the studio solo gets faded out).

OK, now the bonus stuff. First of all, my cassette had an amazing version of "One Of These Days"(the one on Meddle is my all-time fav Floyd song). The buildup to the "one of these days I'm going to cut you into little pieces" part is very spacey and well done. On cassette, DSOTM was all on one side; the other side had the 3 encore songs that came after plus about 30-45 minutes of sound effects. Yep, nothing but sound effects! I have no idea if the LP versions also had this or not. But let me tell you that as a teenager "under the influence" this stuff was a wild ride for the ears! I wouldn't call PULSE essential but it's a good introduction to PInk Floyd.

An excellent show!

This has remained as one of my all-time favorite live albums. It of course has to do with my love for Pink Floyd, so since the very first time I listen to it (and watched the DVD) felt trapped under its charm and power. This live album released in 1995 represents the pinnacle of the Gilmour as a leader era. Here we can appreciate an outstanding show with a considerable amount of songs, performed in an impeccable way thanks to the maturity of the members of the band, and also with the help of guest musicians whose quality cannot be denied, people like Dick Parry, Guy Pratt and Jon Carin who had been collaborating with them for some time, joined the stage and together created an unforgettable evening.

"PULSE" was divided in two CDs, a cool and obvious decision due to the amount of songs and the long length of some of them. The first CD is the most Gilmour-ish, with several songs from "The Division Bell", such as "Coming Back To Life", "High Hopes" or "What Do You Want From Me", and a couple of "Lapse of Reason" tracks that represented the Waters- less era. However, this first CD also features older songs, opening with a wonderful performance of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", which is followed by a surprisingly good live "Astronomy Domine" track. "Hey You" and "Another Brick in the Wall" are also featured here.

In the second CD they offer a complete performance of "Darkside of the Moon" which is probably their most recognized and successful album. This performance is wonderful, with a clean, powerful, disarming sound that is inserted in the listener's mind and don't disappear until it finishes. So warning, you may be hypnotized. After those ten songs, the band offers three more representative songs, "Wish You Were Here", "Comfortably Numb" and "Run Like Hell", and once again, with excellent interpretations that with leave you with a huge smile.

Though I totally love it, I believe this live show is mainly adored by Pink Floyd fans and not really progressive rock fans overall; through the years I have read both positive and negative reviews regarding this album, and despite to me it is a personal masterpiece, I believe for PA and people it would fit better as a highly recommendable album, in other words, four stars.

Enjoy it!

The peak of Pink Floyd's power is encapsulated in a live extravaganza.

This concert is the one that really put Gilmour, Mason and Wright's Pink Floyd back on the map as at the time of release they were touring and promoting "Division Bell". Suddenly there was this flashing LED red light on the CD shelves beaming it's beckoning message to all those who dared to browse. As people flicked CDs such as Prince, and Procol Harum, the other P band was flashing incessantly out with that innovative CD cover. Of course the LED light soon died out after a while but it was a piece of marketing innovation that was a real stroke of genius. The album cover was part of the strategy to entice the buyer but they need not have bothered as the music is so brilliant it speaks for itself.

This remarkable performance begins with 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' for 13 wonderful minutes and then straight into the utterly entrancing 'Astronomy Domine' that is criminally missing on the DVD! The "Division Bell" songs contained include 'What Do You Want From Me', 'Keep Talking', 'A Great Day For Freedom' and the brilliant 'High Hopes'. 'Coming Back to Life' is a strange choice but 'Learning to Fly' sounds terrific live, especially the middle section. It is nice to hear 'Sorrow' live with a huge intro solo and the whole song is here at 10:30.

We turn to "The Wall" with the mandatory 'Hey You' and 'Another Brick in the Wall: Part Two'. The piece de resistance on the DVD is the awesome 'One of These Days', but unfortunately this one is only available on the LP version. Perhaps it is best seen than heard live with the incredible eyeball searing light show.

CD 2 is the entire "Dark Side of the Moon" concert and one cannot complain listening to this treasure in any format. The live version on this album is certainly masterfully executed. Sam Brown, Claudia Fontaine and Durga McBroom are the girls who power out 'The Great Gig in the Sky'. 'Money' clocks 8:46 and is as amazing as ever with huge sax solo from the incomparable Dick Parry.

The encore of the concert consists of 'Wish You Were Here' and two "The Wall" classics. 'Comfortably Numb' is always a treat in the live arena and Gilmour's stellar lead solo is incredible. The concert ends with 'Run Like Hell' and there ends a brilliant show; 146 minutes of pure Pink Floyd prog excess. There are other live albums of course, but this is the pinnacle. The DVD is definitely the way to experience the concert but the CD still encompasses the true genius of the legendary Pink Floyd. I give the CD 4 stars, and the DVD 5 stars. That is a fair assessment as the full audio and visual experience is unbeatable.

Culled from Floyd's last(ever?) serious tour, 'Pulse' doesn't capture the British group at their peak - indeed, founding member and chief lyricist Roger Waters is obviously absent - yet it does showcase just what an outstanding repertoire of material this most iconic of progressive rock groups has produced over the last four decades. With such nuggets as 'Money', 'Sorrow', 'Comfortably Numb' and 'Another Brick In The Wall Part 2' delivered in consummate fashion by the ageing-but-still-brilliant trio of David Gilmour(guitars, vocals), Richard Wright(keyboards, vocals) and Nick Mason(drums) - augmented, of course, by a stellar cast of session players - 'Pulse' must surely rank as the definitive 'live' Pink Floyd album, especially so for those many new fans who were simply too young to experience them in concert during their peak years. Add the extraordinary concert footage itself(available on the video and DVD companion) and the overall 'Pulse' show becomes a genuine extravaganza. Taken from the 1994 tour, 'Pulse' begins in customary fashion with 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' before the group elect to reel off half-a-dozen of the better tracks from 'A Momentary Lapse Of Reason' and 'The Division Bell'. Then, its a few oldies(including, for the first time in almost 20 years, a performance of the mysterious 'One Of These Days' from 1971's 'Meddle') followed by 'Dark Side Of The Moon' in its full luminous glory. Then, the final encore trumps virtually all the brilliance before it as Floyd say goodbye with an epic version of 'Running Like Hell', one of the few tracks not written solely by Waters for 'The Wall'.

STEFAN TURNER, STOKE NEWINGTON, 2013

Tonight I'm going to see a show of Pink Floyd music, and the name of the Finnish tribute band happens to be PULSE! That's why I chose to make this review. In fact, the DVD of the same name and contents is quite dear to me (and naturally I've reviewed it already), whereas the CD version of P-U-L-S-E means next to nothing to me personally. But just for the heck I'll give my unnecessary thoughts focussing on the set list.

This nearly 2½-hour show is from the time when Division Bell was new (and when there certainly wasn't to be expected any collaboration between the Gilmour-led band and Roger Waters...). So it's pretty understandable how much Division Bell material there is in the set list. It is a stronger album than A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987), but now I realize I actually haven't listened to either of them for ages as complete albums, even if both would contain some interesting material excluded from this concert. When watching the DVD, songs such as 'What Do You Want from Me' and 'Coming Back to Life', not to speak of the rather worn-out hit 'Learning to Fly' from the earlier album, tend to bore me. 'Keep Talking' is very effective as a live number, and 'A Great Day for Freedom' and 'High Hopes' truly deserve to be included. The Lapse song 'Sorrow', stretched here to ten minutes, is a strong choice too.

On the 2nd disc, The Dark Side of the Moon is performed completely. Count me among those who prefer this live version over the original 1973 album, sonically speaking. Of course on some places Roger's vocals are missed, but the large line-up does its best to compensate that. The rest of the set is a relatively thin and narrow selection, concerning the whole Pink Floyd discography. Apart from the obvious Wish You Were Here and The Wall outings, there is 'Astronomy Domine' from the 1967 debut. This is a brave and respectable move from Gilmour, who even wasn't yet in the band back then. It certainly works!

It's hard for me to evaluate this as a live CD. The set list has its pros and CONS, and the possibilities of what COULD have been included also is vast. The performances are well crafted and often perhaps a bit clinical. Three lame stars.

Ever since Gilmour took the leadership of Pink Floyd, the band has released a studio album (with Gilmour the sole author, and Wright only appearing as a session man), "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" and, after that, Pink Floyd did a world tour that has been immortalized by the double live "Delicate Sound of Thunder" (that I call Thunder, here). Subsequently, PF reunited after several years, with Wright again an integral part of the group, and they composed together " The Division Bell", an album that found harmony among the three survivors, and then embarked on another world tour also immortalized from a double live, "P-u-l-s-e".

For lovers of progressive I think it is a must to listen to at least one of the two live of Pink Floyd, given the uniqueness of their live performances (although in the absence of Waters). Which one to choose between Sound of Thunder and Pulse? Both are played and recorded beautifully; in Pulse the three musicians begin to have a certain age, and the weighting and slowness of the rhythms is felt, in certain passages. But Pulse contains a few tracks from the two previous albums, preferring to put in the lineup classic pieces of Pink Floyd, including a discreet number (five) of songs written by only Waters, absolute ruler from 1976 to 1983. In this way, the live concert showed in Pulse is an excellent documentary of the group's career and especially of the disk "Dark Side of the Moon" which is reproduced entirely. In fact, Pulse is a commemoration ceremony for that masterpiece... and for the group. Pulse certainly is more complete than Delicate Sound of Thunder. However I prefer Thunder. Why?

Because "Delicate Sound of Thunder" is more honest than "Pulse". In Thunder Gilmour sings half his songs, written especially for Momentary Lapse of Reason, and in the other half he sings PF classics in which he is coauthor (except in two songs, written only by Waters), and often the main voice. Here, however, in Pulse, Gilmour took possession of "Dark Side of the Moon", a project that belonged to the whole group, and in some cases as in three songs ("Hey You", "Eclipse" and "Brain Damage"), he replaced the voice of Waters.

Considering therefore that only one between Thunder and PULSE can be considered mandatory for every prog fan, my choice falls on Thunder. But Pulse has some moments, absent in Thunder, that could make the joy of every listener of Prog like the power of "Hey You" and "Brain Damage" (both signed by Waters) and the sweetness of "The Great Gig in the Sky" (by Wright). So, great music.

Vote album: 8,5/9. Rating: Four (and a half) stars.

Without initially intending to and during the extensive promotional tour for "The Division Bell", David Gilmour and the other members of Pink Floyd decided that it was propitious to include the entirety of the iconic "The Dark Side of the Moon" in the setlist of the shows still to come. And that idea came to fruition with the recordings at London's Earls Court in November 1994 and their subsequent release as "PULSE" (1995), a live double album.

The two sections that make up "PULSE" show the enormous quality and neatness of the trio that survived the bitter quarrels with Roger Waters, with the utmost care for instrumental details (although it is true that Gilmour's voice is perceived as a little exhausted at times), and that counts, as on the "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" tour, with a group of support musicians that enhance and help to sustain even more the lavishness and melodic richness of each performance.

Timeless band tracks like "Shine on You Crazy Diamond", the cosmic "Astronomy Domine", the disturbing "One of These Days" and its astral additions in the middle section, or the mega hit "Another Brick in the Wall: Part Two", intermingle with novelty pieces from "The Division Bell" like the bluesy "What Do You Want from Me", the heartfelt "Coming Back to Life" or the majestic "High Hopes", shaping the first section of the album.

The second section reproduces very faithfully the complete "Dark Side of the Moon", with the addition of the very good guitar solos by Gilmour and guest Tim Renwick and the notorious bass of guest Guy Pratt on "Money", the deep sax of another guest Dick Parry on "Us & Them", and the awakened and boxed guitar solo again by Gilmour on "Any Colour You Like", before the lunatic closing with the impeccably executed "Brain Damage" and "Eclipse"'. The encore was crowned by the delicate "Wish You Were Here" chanted by the audience, the unsurpassed guitar solo on the timeless "Comfortably Numb", and the vocal interplay between Gilmour and Pratt on the escapist and thunderous "Run Like Hell", to the general ecstasy of the venue.

"PULSE" was a renewed communion between Pink Floyd and their audience who, judging by the remarkable success of the tour, did not seem to attach much importance to the absence of the former leader.

4 stars