Why Pink Floyd?

Today marks the release date (in some countries) for expanded editions of Wish You Were Here and a brand-new compilation called A Foot in the Door. Back in September we got the "Discovery" remastered album collection, and the terrific Dark Side of the Moon multi-disc editions which I've been enjoying immensely.

Have you picked any of these up yet? Will they be under your Christmas tree/Hanukkah mantle/Festivus pole? Are you looking forward to the next phase of the campaign when The Wall receives its deluxe treatment in February? Or is it all too overwhelming/uninspiring for you to bear parting with those hard-earned greenbacks in tough economic times?

I'm very interested but because of various reasons, my wife and I are on a bit of a shoestring these days. Maybe if the immersion sets lost the marbles and laundry and knick-knacks it could bring the price down a bit because I have a great interest in the 5.1 and quad mixes. I've had the live stuff for ages already though. I'm also interested in the screen films for the various songs that they were made for.

I'm not so much of an audiophile obsessive these days as I used to be in my younger years, so the '90s masters from "Shine On" and the rest of the individual albums that I picked up at the time still sound great to me.

The big problem is that this year seems to be anniversary/special edition overload with The Who, Nirvana, The Beach Boys, U2, PF, and millions of others. Who is really going to shell out $500 dollars for the mega-Achtung Baby! set, the half a dozen disc set of The Beach Boys' SMiLE, Quadrophenia and all the PF immersion sets and still be able to pursue other hobbies such as,, oh I don't know,,, EATING?

....but if I had the dosh, my shelves would definitely be bending at the middle under the weight of living in the past, which isn't really all that bad of a place to live.

With Christmas coming, I'm hoping for an immersion set or two...

If you're like me and can only afford to get one Immersion set right now, I'd recommend the DSotM box. The WYWH one doesn't offer as much of an upgrade from the Experience version (which should be an essential purchase for any self-respecting Floyd fan if you're not into box sets — the bonus tracks are amazingly good). Unless you absolutely need to have the surround versions and videos, I don't think it lives up to the "wow" factor of the Dark Side box.

Still haven't made my mind up about what version of The Wall, if any, I'll eventually buy in February. It sort of comes down to what early reviewers have to say about the box-exclusive bonuses, because a fair number of the unreleased demos are set to be included with the "pared down" three-disc Experience version (neither of the Gilmour solo demos are, which is unfortunate because those might be fascinating to have).