Immersion? Yeah, I suppose so: Pink Floyd's "The Wall"

So, today was a big day for me. I got my first iPhone (woo), and my wife gave me the OK to get the Immersion box set of Pink Floyd's "The Wall."

Missed? Syd is/was/will be

As talented as Syd Barrett undeniably was, his solo output highlights the issues that surrounded his departure from Pink Floyd.

What were those issues? Scattered performances, uncommercial lyrics/topics, an aversion to honing the material in the attempt to preserve the spontaneity of first performance (or whatever). Uneven temperament, increasingly weird behavior ... All of that and more.

Favorites? Favorites, more favorites ... Hmm.

What's your favorite band? Who is your favorite singer? What is your favorite song?

Common questions. Sucky questions. For the music addict, those questions can be nearly impossible to answer.

But we're all friends here, and we can take the time to discuss the most mundane things and the most challenging things alike. After all, you're reading a blog ... you don't have anything better to do! :)

Well, if Wishes were Dark Sides ... (Pink Floyd remasters)

When it comes to Pink Floyd albums, "Dark Side of the Moon" and "Wish You Were Here" are certainly two of the group's most popular works. And with every classic band deciding to remaster their albums, it only made sense for Pink Floyd to do the same. ... I guess. :) And these two albums were among the ones I was most curious about, for getting new details and revelations.

The longevity of both albums comes from the quality of the material, the quality of the performances and the quality of the audio experiences. Both albums have always sounded so clean, so detailed and so densely layered.

Those great qualities, in effect, work against the 2011 remastered editions of the albums.

Working on new reviews

Howdy, all.

Illness, work and a whole lot of music ... I've been hit by all three lately.

I've got new reviews / discussions in the works. Got something going for the Beach Boys and "The Smile Sessions" (addressing the big box version and the 2 CD version). Also have some stuff in the works for a few of the Pink Floyd remastered reissues (especially "Dark Side of the Moon" and "Wish You Were Here"). I've also started something on Brian Wilson's new Disney covers album ("Brian Wilson in the Key of Disney"). Oh, and there's some Radiohead ("Kid A" vs. "King of Limbs") and Monkees stuff (Rhino reissues, the box sets in general and the upcoming "Instant Replay" deluxe set in particular) in the pipeline, too.

Heck, I'm even working on a Beatles entry (in the past couple months, I've purchased the Capitol albums sets). There's plenty of stuff coming!

Rest assured, I have not lost interest or started ignoring the place. I apologize that new activity has been so scarce. But I have a few items that are several paragraphs long each, and I'll start wrapping them up and sharing them ASAP.

How're you all doing? Please feel free to drop a line. Comments are always welcome!

Album makes my final cut

Though not a popular pick, "The Final Cut" is one of my absolute favorite Pink Floyd albums. While understandably criticized for its negativity, its one-dimensional anti-war stance, and being a Pink Floyd album in name only (it was really more of a Roger Waters solo album), nothing can detract from the sonic quality, the passion and the brilliant musicality.

"The Wall" usually gets more credit for its thematic approach (as do "Dark Side of the Moon," "Wish You Were Here" and "Animals"), but "The Final Cut" is almost a suite: each song being a facet of the same story (a la "The Wall"), with many of the songs seguing into each other.