While Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon may be better known, the follow-up, Wish You Were Here, is for many the better album. Despite struggling with the overwhelming success and relentless touring engendered by Dark Side, the band worked through their feelings of alienation and cynicism about the music business to deliver an exceptionally strong five-track set. Loaded with sonic effects and then-new synthesizers, Wish You Were Here was recorded over seven months in 1975 at Abbey Road Studios by Brian Humphries, who replaced Dark Side's engineer, Alan Parsons. Despite the change, the sound is equally rich and expressive. 

Pink Floyd's ninth album is bookended by the two parts of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," a tribute to its debilitated co-founder Syd Barrett who made an unannounced appearance at the studio as they were working on the track. This surprise visit influenced the song's final version and was the last time that all the band members other than Roger Waters saw Barrett alive. 

This 50th anniversary edition includes six previously unreleased tracks including a slow instrumental rough mix and a new stereo mix of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and an acoustic version of "Wish You Were Here" with the wonderful addition of pedal steel guitar. Most exciting is the official appearance of the famed bootleg of the band's 1975 show at the Los Angeles Sports Arena recorded by legendary taper Mike "The Mic" Millard, who used a wheelchair to sneak in his Nakamichi 550. Millard's cassettes are notable for their astonishing fidelity and the Steven Wilson remaster of the show beautifully portrays the band at the top of their game as a live act. The amazingly clear sound is unaffected by any of the usual sonic issues that afflict most bootlegs. While Pink Floyd close the show with the entirety of Dark Side played in order, "Shine On" and "Have a Cigar" from Wish You Were Here get impassioned performances. © Robert Baird/Qobuz