Now, in truth, there is only so much that can be done by re-mastering an album, as opposed to going for an all out remix in the manner of the King Crimson back catalogue, and the 90s re-masters certainly did improve over the original CD pressings, but to many they felt far from definitive.Д®nter, then, the 2011 re-masters which are, for the most part, an improvement on the previous set and certainly the discovery box set itself is a great improvement, sonically, over the confused mishmash that was вЂoh by the wayвЂ™ which didnвЂ™t seem to know which versions to go for and thus offered representatives from across the board ( please note, before you overload my message board with vitriol, that I mentioned it was вЂsonicallyвЂ™ an improvement and not materially вЂ“ weвЂ™ll come to that later). Equally the re-master of вЂanimalsвЂ™ failed entirely to match up to the high hopes set by the original vinyl pressing, and as many have noted over the years the drum sound on that version is truly poor. The spacey effects at the start of вЂshine onвЂ™ are all but entirely absent from the re-master, whilst the resonating bass of вЂwelcome to the machineвЂ™ has none of the savagery of the vinyl pressing, even at high volumes. Try, for example, listening to вЂWish you were hereвЂ™ on CD and then vinyl and youвЂ™ll see what I mean. The reason for this is simply that the mid-90s re-masters often felt flat with subtle elements even missing entirely. Subsequently I collected the entire back catalogue and I own the mid-90s re-masters as well as various original vinyl pressings and to date, I have always turned to the vinyl for sonic quality, pops and crackles notwithstanding. I started with вЂthe wallвЂ™ and got lost in the album for weeks, thrilled by the snarling вЂanother brick in the wall part 2вЂ™ and elated by the high drama of вЂthe trialвЂ™ and then, of course, there was вЂcomfortably numbвЂ™ a song that ranks in my top ten songs of all time and which never fails to bring goose-bumps to my arms whenever I hear it.

I was fascinated, initially, by the covers вЂ“ they were unlike any other album IвЂ™d seen and they encouraged me to check out some of the music. My first encounter with the band was at school. It will not, however, review the albums themselves for that is ground sufficiently well-trodden enough at this point.ДЄs I stated at the outset I have been an avid fan of Pink Floyd for many years. This review вЂ“ looking at the вЂdiscoveryвЂ™ box set will attempt to resolve some of these issues. The resultant racket on the internet has centred around two main threads вЂ“ the first concerning the packaging/rip-off/money-grabbing aspect and the second concerning the actual benefits of the re-masters themselves. Thus in 2011, the вЂњwhy Pink Floyd?вЂќ campaign vexed fans of the band by issuing entirely new re-masters for every studio album the band released along with вЂexperienceвЂ™ and вЂimmersionвЂ™ editions of вЂthe big threeвЂ™. EMI know this and as a result the Pink Floyd back catalogue has been repackaged and recreated more times than almost any other back catalogue in history вЂ“ particularly if you look at the repressing of the most popular releases. To their detractors they are overblown, pompous, divisive and worse, but to the legions of fans across the globe they are a band to whom we return time and time again. As a music lover for over two thirds of my life (I canвЂ™t, in all honesty, include the first ten years, although I did grow up listening to my motherвЂ™s well-loved copy of вЂRubber soulвЂ™) and a fan of progressive music in general, the question вЂњwhy Pink FloydвЂќ is axiomatic вЂ“ Pink Floyd, quite simply, are one of the greatest rock bands to have existed.

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