P-U-L-S-E

Well, it certainly took long enough for the DVD version of "Pulse" to be made available, but it was well worth the wait. The concert has of course been available on CD and VHS video for some years, but at long last we have it in full 5.1 surround sound, and digital video.

To preserve the quality, and to allow space for about 90 minutes of extras, the gig is split over two discs. Disc one consists of a cross section of songs from the history of Pink Floyd from "One of these days" ("Meddle") through to several tracks from last Pink Floyd album ("The division bell"). Roger Waters does not perform here of course having left the band long before this 1994 gig in London, UK took place. The line up is however augmented by a further five instrumentalists and a trio of female backing vocalists. The renditions are faithful recreations of the album tracks, although "Shine on you crazy diamond" is an abbreviated composite version of the complete piece. Two tracks, "Hey you" and "A great day for freedom" appear to have been dropped from the CD version.

Disc 2 consists of "Dark side of the moon" in its entirety, with a wonderfully enhanced run through of "Money" plus three encore songs. Of these, "Comfortably numb" is naturally the show-stopper. "Dark side of the moon" though sounds remarkably fresh and new, the band's enthusiasm for the piece being clear and unequivocal.

Visually, the gig is quite stunning, with an ever changing light show, and every special effect you could conceivably imagine. The way the concert is presented here sets a standard for others to aspire to when creating live DVDs.

The set comes with numerous extras, including "Bootlegging the bootleggers" which focuses on the band's more recent songs, as do the two videos for "Learning to fly" and "Take it back". There are also separate showings of the screen films from the gig, and alternative versions of 5 tracks. For audiophiles, the option is included to play the audio at 640kbps instead of the standard 448kbps. How noticeable the difference is will depend entirely on the quality of the equipment used.

Waters or no Waters, this is the definitive Pink Floyd live presentation.

Share this PINK FLOYD review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Easy Livin
• Report this review (#110379)
• Buy PINK FLOYD music online with PA partners
• Show all PINK FLOYD MP3/Stream
• Go to PINK FLOYD page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to P-U-L-S-E page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for PINK FLOYD related discussions