Since mid-December 2022, streaming services are richer for 18 archival live Pink Floyd albums from before the Dark Side Of The Moon era – as well as a five-song EP of “alternative tracks” from 1972.
As a number of sources report, all 18 of the live albums are pulled from concert recordings over the year 1972, when Pink Floyd was touring in support of their sixth and seventh albums – Meddle (1971) and Obscured By Clouds (1972), respectively – and, most notably, road-testing and refining songs from the following year’s Dark Side Of The Moon album.
UK monthly Uncut adds that six of the concerts were tracked in the UK – the first at the Southampton Guildhall on January 23, 1972, then four back-to-back shows at London’s Rainbow Theatre over February 17-20, and finally another London show (this time at Empire Pool in Wembley) on October 21.
Three of the albums were tracked at shows that Pink Floyd played in the US (New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles), another three come from shows in Japan, two each from shows in France and Germany, and the last two come from the band’s respective shows in Belgium and Switzerland.
Meanwhile, the compilation EP – titled simply Alternative Tracks 1972 – comprises trance remixes of “Any Colour You Like” and a mash-up of “Speak To Me” and “Breathe (In The Air),” a demo version of “On The Run,” and ‘ultra rare alternative versions’ of “Us And Them” and a reprisal mash-up of “Time” and “Breathe (In The Air).”
