Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii

Discussions about Pink Floyd and Solo Official Album CDs and DVDs.

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rememberaday
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Re: Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii

Post by rememberaday »

I always feel Pompeii is a disappointment, they just couldn't nail it quite right... as in, they could have IO or something like that. Hard to explain, it's just that something's missing for me, and that something would have been great.
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Re: Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii

Post by my breakfast. »

They should have filmed a Floyd gig in some ancient creaking concert hall in Northern Europe somewhere. There are bootlegs that knock the spots off the versions of Careful With that Axe, A Saucerful and Set the Controls... I think they kept those songs a bit short for the film. Given the band had to patch in vocals, instrument overdubs and recreate most of the scenes in a TV studio in Paris it is little wonder the film doesn't quite gel.
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Re: Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii

Post by danielcaux »

It works for me :smt102

The original films that is, with the "concert" footage and interviews, not the director's cut atrocity released in DVD. As far as rock movies goes I think "Pompeii" is a rather interesting and successful cinematic experiment from the 70s. Fortunately it's not a narrative/plot driven musical like that awful Tommy picture (imagine a movie were the band travels back in time to save the people from the explosion of the vesuvius, but arrive too late and get stranded there in A.D. 79 all alone), neither tries to be a realistic rock concert or "life on the road" documentary, even the interviews feel staged, more like a mockumentary! In my view "Pompeii" is closer to being a long form music video than anything else, where the music and intriguing visuals from the historical surroundings are the main protagonists, a simpler medium that just invites the viewer to get immersed in the beautiful yet ominous sounds and images...

That's why the director's cut ruins the whole thing for me, old 70s footage of ancient Roman paintings doesn't mix very well with the cheap CGI of a multimedia demo disc from the 90s.
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Re: Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii

Post by RonToon »

my breakfast. wrote:They should have filmed a Floyd gig in some ancient creaking concert hall in Northern Europe somewhere.
Yes! And in front of an audience... brings a whole new vibe to a performance. Pompeii was a huge opportunity wasted. Just imagine if an entire concert was filmed, a true visual representation of their stage show, instead of a few songs in a deserted ampitheatre.
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Re: Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii

Post by Nicholas »

RonToon wrote:
my breakfast. wrote:They should have filmed a Floyd gig in some ancient creaking concert hall in Northern Europe somewhere.
Yes! And in front of an audience... brings a whole new vibe to a performance. Pompeii was a huge opportunity wasted. Just imagine if an entire concert was filmed, a true visual representation of their stage show, instead of a few songs in a deserted ampitheatre.
I'm not sure if it was a huge opportunity wasted. When I first saw Live at Pompeii it was shortly after we'd learnt about Mount Vesuvius at school so it played into that memory. The music chosen covers all areas of the band's sound including sound collages and experimental work. I love it :)
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Re: Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii

Post by RonToon »

Nicholas wrote:I'm not sure if it was a huge opportunity wasted. When I first saw Live at Pompeii it was shortly after we'd learnt about Mount Vesuvius at school so it played into that memory. The music chosen covers all areas of the band's sound including sound collages and experimental work. I love it :)
I already covered this a few posts back...
RonToon wrote:Instead of the possibility of getting a complete concert film from 1972 (and I don't need to remind anyone of the setlist), we get 3 songs live from Pompeii (not 4); Echoes, One Of These Days, and A Saucerful of Secrets (all with heavy studio overdubs). The other songs were filmed in the studio. I wish they filmed much more of their pre-DSOTM repertoire at Pompeii. Opportunity wasted.
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Re: Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii

Post by my breakfast. »

And the tracks they record in the Paris studio are really insipid. Take Set The Controls... Roger overdubs his vocals (you can clearly hear the two takes overlaid), Dave's guitar is shit-thin and tinny sounding and it goes nowhere. The Brighton Dome video is much better (up until they use old filmstock of lava flows for whatever reason).
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Re: Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii

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my breakfast. wrote:The Brighton Dome video is much better (up until they use old filmstock of lava flows for whatever reason).
Agreed! Now try to imagine an entire concert filmed and released instead of only those 2 songs. That would have blown away Pomeii. ](*,)
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Re: Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii

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RonToon wrote:
my breakfast. wrote:The Brighton Dome video is much better (up until they use old filmstock of lava flows for whatever reason).
Agreed! Now try to imagine an entire concert filmed and released instead of only those 2 songs. That would have blown away Pomeii. ](*,)
But it was all recorded and filmed even though it obviously wasn't because I'm a whiny Pink Floyd fan and they owe me a full 2 DVD release! :cry: :cry: Nick Mason has 100 hours of rare Syd footage stashed away but he won't give us it. :cry: :cry: :cry:
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Re: Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii

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my breakfast. wrote:Nick Mason has 100 hours of rare Syd footage stashed away but he won't give us it. :cry: :cry: :cry:
Someone please tell that merry old man not be so selfish, please! :shock:
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Re: Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii

Post by Morty »

I got the original VHS from back in the day, and one later VHS with the Dark Side parts and two DVDs. The last DVD is the not so great Directors Cut. But I love this, and for me the best is the theatrical version version with the Dark Side parts. This is just a masterpiece, and I rated it 5.
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Re: Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii

Post by Fingals Cave »

I absolutely love this. I was a fan of the Floyd for 7 years before I got the chance to see it, and when I did I couldn't believe how much more powerful the Meddle tunes were than in the studio. It really shows what a devastatingly good live band they were and not just painstaking studio perfectionists.

It's only slightly disappointing to find out that half of it was recorded in a studio in France to pad it out.
I can see why at the time Harvest didn't release it as an album,as Meddle and Ummagumma were still recent, but why now now?
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Re: Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii

Post by Massed Gadgets »

I remember one weekend in high school my friends and I stayed up all night watching this (the original version) over and over again. I personally love it, but not the so-called 'Director's Cut'. That totally ruined it. I agree with what someone said before the table and studio banter was interesting when initially watching it, but these days when I watch it, it's the version with just the music. Saucerful of Secrets is especially memorable. I grew my hair long after seeing this just so I could stand in the wind playing my guitar and having my hair blow over my face like Gilmour does. :lol:
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Re: Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii

Post by Wolfpack »

Fingals Cave wrote:not just painstaking studio perfectionists.
[...] half of it was recorded in a studio in France to pad it out.
Cognitive dissonance? :lol:
Fingals Cave wrote:I can see why at the time Harvest didn't release it as an album,as Meddle and Ummagumma were still recent, but why [not] now?
I hope to see previously unreleased performances of the 1960s and early 1970s.
Does a good recording exist of the space version of 'Echoes'?
A live 'Embryo' also would be nice. And 'The Man and the Journey'.

A 'Live at Pompeii' album would just be the sound of the DVD.
To get better sound, a Blu-ray would be great.
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Re: Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii

Post by JanVanCau »

I'm listening to the audio mix on the Early Years 1972 Obfusc/ation album on Spotify, and there is a lot of 'static' (I don't know if that's the right word) on the loud parts of Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun.

Is that also the case on the cd?