It’s hard to believe that Wish You Were Here is officially 50 years old. It’s even harder to believe that since its physical and digital re-release this month, it’s gone back to the #1 spot in the United Kingdom. I don’t know whether that says more about the timelessness and perfection of this album, or the current state of music. My guess would be a combination of both.
When I saw this box set announced, I was almost sure I was going to pass on it. Not too thrilled with the last few Floyd box sets, I figured that 250 USD was just too much money to fork over for an album I already have a million official and unofficial copies of. However, many of my collector friends were saying it was great and might even be worth the money, so I decided to give it a shot. I got it from Amazon and figured if the pressing turned out to be horrible, that I could just return it for a refund or exchange it and try for a better copy.
Well, I not only ended up picking up the box set, but also what I believe to be all the variant issues of the album itself. These include multicolored splatter, four-color liquid-filled clear, a Japanese Mastersound re-issue on orange/yellow flame wax, a Wal-Mart exclusive yellow version and a white version that was exclusive to… something. I am still waiting on the liquid and white versions and am planning on doing a write-up on all of them in one go in a future post. Hopefully this month if all goes well with shipping. These are all official releases, but many of the variant versions are now sold out at retail. If you want to find copies of any of these, go do it now instead of waiting for my post. As always, prices are sure to climb on the resale market.
The Box
When my box set arrived from Amazon, I was thrilled at the packaging. It was wrapped up in a similar way to the last Ozzy set, in a strong custom-made box from the record company. Amazon, in turn, put this box inside another box and sent it along to me. I am happy to report that unlike the latest David Gilmour set, this one made it all the way to my porch without even a seam-split on the inner sleeves. It was tightly wrapped in cellophane, which kept everything from moving around. Just like when you pack anything, no movement is essential to the product arriving undamaged. Good on Columbia for their efforts here.
The actual box itself has no markings on it at all and is open on one side with a hole in the middle. The entire contents of the set are contained in individual record sleeves, not including the hard cover book. So, you are getting four LPs with sleeves, a hardback book, and an LP sleeve sized folder containing some “extras”. The back of the book contains two CDs and one Blu-ray disc which is filled mostly with the same content that’s found on the vinyl, but with some notable additions that we’ll cover later.
The Vinyl
If you are a die-hard Pink Floyd collector like I am, then you probably already have everything that’s included in this box. As I always say though, I think it’s important to buy the official releases when the record companies put them out, even if we already have some of the material in our collections through bootleg or unofficial versions. With that being said, however, this box has a lot of the exact same content from the Wish You Were Here Immersion Box Set from 2011. The main difference is that you get the album and some of the supplemental material on vinyl, as well as the new contents of the Blu-ray. It’s also important to note that this is not a new 2025 mix of Wish You Were Here but rather appears to be the 2016 mix. This is an excellent version, but it is still widely available and owned by most collectors already.
If some of this bonus material is new to you, I think you will almost certainly enjoy it. For me, it’s cool to have it on wax, but the Immersion Box is also still pretty great. As readers may remember, the Wish You Were Here / Remade box set I covered some time ago contains a lot of this material as well, no doubt ripped from the 2011 box and pressed to vinyl. There are some specifics in that review about what all these pieces are, but I won’t get into that again right now. Basically, they are exactly what’s described in the track-listing. Pretty straight forward.
Rarities 1
C1 Wine Glasses
C2 Have A Cigar (Alternate Version)
C3 Wish You Were Here (Featuring Stephane Grapelli)
D1 Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Early Instrumental Version, Rough Mix)
D2 The Machine Song (Roger’s Demo)
Rarities 2
E1 The Machine Song (Demo #2, Revisited)
E2 Wish You Were Here (Take 1)
E3 Wish You Were Here (Pedal Steel Instrumental Mix)
F1 Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 1-9, New Stereo Mix)
Live At Wembley 1974
G1 Shine On You Crazy Diamond
H1 You’ve Got To Be Crazy
Japanese Replica 7″ Single
I1 Have A Cigar
J1 Welcome To The Machine
The vinyl pressing itself is where we really hit a snag on this set. As you have probably seen with the reviews on sites like Discogs, there are two different versions of this set. One was pressed in the US, and one was pressed in the EU. The consensus is that the US version is terrible, and the EU version is much better. I didn’t know there was going to be a difference when I ordered, so I ended up receiving the US version since that’s where I live. If I had it to do over again, I probably would have just found some way to get the EU version instead.
I have to say that the records didn’t sound great right out of the box, but after an intense ultrasonic cleaning paired with a vacuum machine, they sounded much better. Most people don’t have access to these two very expensive machines just to make the records they already paid 250 dollars for listenable, and I certainly understand that. Some collectors are reporting that the surface noise on their copies is so loud that the music is basically unlistenable. Mine weren’t quite that bad, so maybe quality is hit or miss. There certainly is some surface noise, but it’s only bad in the quiet parts of the record. Of course this means it’s probably present the whole time, but we just can’t hear it when things get loud.
All four LPs are pressed on clear wax, which I really hate. Next to white, this is my least favorite color for records. Clear is difficult to see damage and dirt on, and I swear they always sound bad. My favorite part of the vinyl here are certainly the inner sleeves. These are very well done and almost look like Pink Floyd themed wrapping paper. This is one reason I was very glad that my copy didn’t have any seam-splits. Some of this imagery was also used on the “obi-like” insert that sits on the outside of the box. It will be visible on the spine if you save it and put it back on before shelving the set. I always put my box sets in outer sleeves, so overlay sheets and obis are easy to hang onto and store. I would recommend that you consider doing the same.
Digital Content
In addition to the 4 LPs, we also get two CDs and the Blu-ray. The CDs are the same stuff as the records, so there is really nothing different to go over here. If you are really into this stuff, you can listen to it in your car or rip it to your Digital Audio Player. It’s good to have options, and I really do like it when CDs are also included in both official and bootleg releases. I love my FLAC player and always have it with me when I travel. Will I be listening to people playing the wine glasses on my next flight? Probably not, but at least we have the option and don’t have to mess with download cards that always seem to be expired.
The real crown jewel of this set, and possibly the only real piece that makes it worthwhile to serious collectors, is the Blu-ray. This disc contains most of the content from the vinyl and CDs, but also has the original 1975 Stereo Mix, 2025 Dolby Atmos Mix, 2009 5.1 Surround Mix, and the 4.0 Quad Mix from 1975. Regrettably, I don’t have an ATMOS system yet (it’s on my list), but I have to say that for me, the Quad Mix is where it’s at.
Historically, quad mix albums have been very difficult to listen to even if you have the record. Quad LPs can be played on a standard system (and will sound different), but obviously you won’t get the full effect that you would with the proper gear. These systems were always expensive, and they are even harder to come by in 2025. I am happy to report that this version sounds splendid on my 5.1 system, and I think it really adds some value to the package. ATMOS listeners will probably feel the same about that version, and the regular 5.1 is great as well. Generally, I don’t like listening to music on my television, but in this case, it was worth it.
There are also some “videos” and concert visuals, but no special 50th Anniversary documentary or anything like that. I saw some social media videos of David celebrating the album going back to #1, but I don’t think I saw anything from Nick, and certainly nothing from Roger. The catalog has been sold, and for the most part, I’m sure that the band couldn’t care less about what happens these days. I guess it’s no surprise that they couldn’t get these guys in a room to talk about a fifty-year-old record when Roger could be spending his time saying mean stuff about Ozzy for no reason, which he really seems to enjoy.
So, all of this stuff is great to have, but the real star of the show… the main reason why I decided to buy this box… is the official release of the Mike Millard bootleg audience recording from April 26, 1975. This recording has always sounded incredible, but in this version, it’s been professionally cleaned up, restored, and edited for time by Steven Wilson. Basically, there was a lot of dead space between some of the songs, and the editing has removed a lot of this. It’s also removed the introduction by Millard and perhaps a bit of the “personality” of the recording, but I don’t think most fans will notice or mind.
The good news is that this version does sound incredible. I think that anyone who hears it and is into live Pink Floyd is going to love it and realize it’s important historical value. It’s also nice that there is a write-up in the back of the included book about the recording written by Wilson. It says a little bit about Millard and addresses the fact that bands back then just didn’t record their own shows. So, whether the record company likes it or not, it’s a good thing that somebody cared enough about the music to risk life and limb to record it. I think Millard would have absolutely loved to know that his work had been “legitimized” in such a fashion.
The bad news is that these superb recordings are only available on the Blu-ray disc. No vinyl copies. This means that right now, as we speak, 20 different bootleg labels from around the world are probably racing to press this recording and get it out there to sell on vinyl. Is Columbia planning to do a special RSD release of it? Something separate, maybe? From the way it was talked about in the book though, my guess would be no. Although Wilson acknowledges the historical importance of the recording, he kind of also makes it sound like it’s still quite inferior overall. I obviously disagree with this stance, and I guess we’ll see what happens. If they do release it on wax, I’ll be first in line to buy it.
I have written some more about Mike “The Mic” Millard and his legendary Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath recordings in past articles. If you want to learn more about those recordings, definitely check out those posts.
The Extras
As far as extras go, the Wish You Were Here 50th Anniversary Deluxe Box Set doesn’t really have anything that’s all that exciting. The coolest thing by far is a re-press of the 7”, 45-RPM single from Japan that has “Welcome To The Machine” and “Have A Cigar” on it. I have to admit that I didn’t listen to this one, so if you decide to, the quality will be a surprise. It looks well made and the sleeve is certainly cool. It’s kind of just tossed right into the memorabilia folder, however, so it might be a little banged up by the time it reaches you. Mine has a corner ding, but I guess it’s nothing major.
The hardcover book has some cool historical photos, and the printing is all very nice. The front of it looks like a road case, and the main image shows through the hole in the cardboard box when the set is on display. Aside from the write-up on the Millard recording, there wasn’t anything in here that I found to be earth shattering, but I feel like most fans will enjoy looking through it once. It houses the two CDs and the Blu-ray disc, so I suppose it has a dual purpose.
The memorabilia folder itself contains a folded up Knebworth poster (mine was a bit torn along the fold), a reproduction Floyd comic book, the Japanese 45 and a credits insert for the Blu-ray that you would be sure to miss if I didn’t tell you it was in there. Compared with the extra content of the Immersion Set, I’d say this is a very weak effort. The 2011 set had a very nice art print of the “Diver” photo, 4 Storm Thorgerson collector’s cards with notes, reproductions of a WYWH era ticket and backstage pass, a WYWH collectable scarf, 9 coasters featuring early Pink Floyd art designs, and bizarrely… a sack of 3 clear glass marbles. I don’t recall anything being inside them, either. Just plain, clear marbles.
Final Thoughts
So… is this box set worth buying? My recommendation is to not put too much thought into this question. If you already have a copy of the album and you had to ask yourself, “is this for me?” or “do I really want this?”, the answer is no. You’re going to listen to it maybe once and put it on the shelf for all the rest of time. The exception to this might be the Millard recording and the various mixes on the Blu-ray. I think these are available in separate, lower priced sets as well if these are your main items of interest. If you don’t absolutely have to have everything on vinyl and you still want to get some cool collectors WYWH stuff, check out the Immersion Box Set from 2011 if you don’t already own a copy. They have been out of print for years but are still available on the used market. I think it’s a much cooler product at a much better price, but it won’t have the Millard recording.
But what if you don’t have the album already? Maybe you are just getting into Pink Floyd, or maybe you are just getting into vinyl. Would this be the best way to hear the album? No. In this scenario, your best bet would probably be to save the 250 dollars and buy the 2016 version, which sounds great and is still readily available at a good price. If you really want to have a 2025 copy, it’s probably a better idea to pick one of the variants I mentioned earlier and go with one of those. It might not sound better, but it will surely look cooler than clear vinyl, which in my opinion, is the ugliest and worst sounding color to press a record on.
As far as ratings are concerned, the packaging for this set is great. Some of the best I’ve ever seen for a box set, and a solid 10/10. I can only speak for my particular copy, but the pressing itself isn’t that great. It’s not atrocious or even worthy of a return, but there is some audible surface noise. Even though some of it can be cleaned away, I think we’re still at around 7/10. The CDs and Blu-ray are what they are, and we get the Millard recording on those, so I’ll give them a 9/10. I think they could have dug up some documentary footage from somewhere, but there’s still good value in what we do have here. The “extras” in this set are the worst part, coming in at about a 3/10. By far the laziest part of the set.
Even though I was disappointed overall with some of parts of the box, I still decided to get all the variant versions of the main album because… well, they look pretty cool. If you want to find out how those stack up sonically with the clear version we find here, check back in the next two to three weeks. I’m just waiting on the last two colors, so hopefully I’ll have those soon.
Until then, Happy New Year and Shine On!