Pink Floyd Expand and Upgrade ‘Delicate Sound of Thunder’ for Reissue

Pink Floyd will re-release Delicate Sound of Thunder — a document of their blockbuster tour supporting 1987’s A Momentary Lapse of Reason — this fall in a variety of formats.

The concert film, which has been restored and re-edited from the original 35mm film and remixed into 5.1 surround sound, will be available on Blu-ray and DVD, while the live album, which was certified three times platinum in its original release, will be available in sets of two CDs, three LPs or a deluxe, four-disc set with bonus tracks. All of the versions will be available on November 20th.

The restored film and soundtrack were previously available only as part of the box set The Later Years. The new editions each come with a 24-page photo booklet, while the deluxe edition sports a 40-page booklet, poster and postcards. The double-CD version contains eight songs not on the original release, while the triple-vinyl edition has nine.

The Momentary Lapse of Reason tour documented on the release marked a rebirth for Pink Floyd. Singer-guitarist David Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason had won the rights to the band’s name after a legal tussle with bassist Roger Waters, who had left the group a few years earlier. They brought back keyboardist Rick Wright, who had been fired around the making of The Wall, and made A Momentary Lapse, which made it up to Number Three in the U.S. and solidified their place as an act that could play arenas and stadiums. They ended up playing to more than 4.25 million fans around the world over the course of more than two years.

The band’s August 1988 stop at Long Island, New York’s Nassau Coliseum served as the basis for Delicate Sound of Thunder. Director Wayne Isham used more than 100 cans of 35mm negatives to capture the concert. Film editor Benny Trickett took the film, since remastered in 4K, and worked with Aubrey Powell — a cofounder of the graphic arts group Hipgnosis, which created many iconic Pink Floyd covers, including Delicate Sound of Thunder — and assembled the new cut. Gilmour worked on the new release’s sound with engineer Andy Jackson and assistant David Iddins.

“The Delicate Sound film was shot on 35-millimeter, and it now looks and sounds stunning on Blu-ray,” Rolling Stone wrote in a review of The Later Years. “Gilmour’s solos soar, and you can see how gracefully he and everyone could move between the lasers in the baggy clothing of the era, and saxophonist Scott Page’s uber-mullet looks positively unreal as he juggles saxes. It’s the jewel of the collection.”

Delicate Sound of Thunder Blu-ray Tracklist

1. “Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Parts 1-5”
2. “Signs of Life”
3. “Learning to Fly”
4. “Sorrow”
5. “The Dogs of War”
6. “On the Turning Away”
7. “One of These Days”
8. “Time”
9. “On the Run”
10. “The Great Gig in the Sky”
11. “Wish You Were Here”
12. “Us and Them”
13. “Money”
14. “Comfortably Numb”
15. “One Slip”
16. “Run Like Hell”