P.U.L.S.E. Live at Earls Court 20.10.94, London

Forgive the anal-retentive ranting of a true fan. I would sum up the representative cross-section of the entire Floyd output on the first disc as a great audiovisual spectacle, but where I fail to understand – "rant #1 " – is why the last 2 albums (which don't have the typical Floyd sound anymore, I rather see them as Gilmour's solo albums) cover more than half of the 11 tracks and the rest of the band’s rich output – from the Barrett beginnings, through the psychedelic period, the rock turn to the Waters era – is represented by only 5 tracks. The 2-disc set features a concert version of arguably their most famous album, “The Dark Side Of The Moon” (which still holds the Guinness Book of World Records as the album that remained in the top 200 best-selling albums in the United States for 741 weeks, sold over 40 million copies, and is, along with Michael Jackson's “Thriller”, the best-selling album of all time), in the exact track order as the album itself. Which brings me to “rant #2”: If only the backing vocalists hadn't struggled so hard in their only solo performance in “The Great Gig in the Sky”, if only there hadn't been that strangely hushed improvisational passage in “Money”, and if the distinctive hypnotic keyboard solo in “Any Colour You Like” hadn't mysteriously disappeared somewhere (Wright tried to do something there, but you could barely hear anything), it would have been a perfect experience. So this is just......98% :) Anyway, for Floyd fans, a hearty meal that – seen live – equals chicken medallions with caviar, chocolate cake and Chardonnay vintage 2003 :) (25.05.2007)