EMI Records announced today that they will release Immersion and Experience editions of Pink Floyd’s The Wall, the masterpiece by bassist Roger Waters. This is the final episode of the recent ‘Why Pink Floyd?‘ reissues and extended releases. The Wall remains Pink Floyd’s biggest-selling album after 1973’s celebrated The Dark Side Of The Moon.
The Wall ‘Immersion‘ 7-disc set features a DVD with a film clip from the 1980 tour and a ‘Behind The Wall’ documentary, plus, for the first time, CDs of excerpts from Roger Waters’ original demos and work-in-progress versions of songs on the final album. Additionally, among these previously unheard versions are David Gilmour’s original demos of “Comfortably Numb” and “Run Like Hell.” The Immersion box set also includes The Wall Live, compiled from the 1980-1981 original tour.
Both ‘The Wall’ Immersion box set and Experience edition include a rare recording of “Another Brick In The Wall Part 1.” A highlight for fans, this demo showcases the evolution of the final track. Additionally, “The Doctor” explores the origins of the landmark track “Comfortably Numb,” giving further insight into Pink Floyd’s early demo recordings.
About The Wall
In 1978, after finishing Pink Floyd’s Animals stadium tour, Roger Waters devised the concept for the album ‘The Wall.’ The album is a partly autobiographical story about a fictional rock star named Pink looking back at his early life and reflecting on the nature of fame and success.
Waters presented his band mates David Gilmour, Richard Wright and Nick Mason with an extensive demo of songs. Pink Floyd recorded their eleventh album ‘The Wall’ throughout 1979 in France, New York and Los Angeles, assisted by co-producer, Bob Ezrin and engineer, James Guthrie.
An adjunct to the sessions was the famous addition of a group of students from London’s Islington Green School, who recorded their backing vocals (“We don’t need no education…”) on “Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2” at Pink Floyd’s own Britannia Row Studios in London. This became the world’s introduction to the album with the release of its first single, an instant success, accompanied by a promotional film which included several of the groundbreaking images from the story, including Gerald Scarfe’s brilliantly realized marching hammers.
The Wall was originally released in November 1979. It topped the album charts in the US, France, Germany, Sweden and Australia. “Another Brick In The Wall, Part 2” – Pink Floyd’s first UK single since 1968 – became a Number 1 hit, selling more than one million copies within weeks of its release.
Between 1980 and 1981, Pink Floyd gave 31 performances of The Wall in the US, UK and Germany. It was an impressive show that included a 40-foot wall, constructed, brick by brick, across the front of the stage during the performance.
In 2010 and 2011 Roger Waters toured a new production of The Wall to huge international acclaim. He was joined onstage in May 2011 at London’s 02 Arena by guitarist David Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason. He continues to tour in the Southern Hemisphere and North America in 2012.
Pink Floyd: ‘The Wall’ Immersion box set, Experience edition and Collectors 180g 2LP Vinyl edition will be released February 28, 2012 through EMI. The 2CD remastered Discovery edition is out now.