Wish You Were Here

In the time between their previous album and this release, Pink Floyd had risen to the very top of rock ‘n' roll's elite. And while most would consider this a high-class problem, the band seemed none-the-happier for it. The first attempt at a follow-up, the Household Objects project, was abandoned in the fall of 1973. The band reconvened in early 1975, only to have the sessions interrupted by two US tours. Once back in the studio, artistic torpor prevailed until Roger Waters ultimately took over. The bulk of Wish You Were Here is the nine-part suite "Shine on You Crazy Diamond:" a tribute to their erstwhile member, Syd Barrett, who—bald, pale and fat—appeared at Abbey Road Studios while the band prepared the album's final mix. It would be the last "band" composition for the Floyd. Pressure from their record label (and a healthy dose of Waters's cynicism) provided inspiration for both "Welcome to the Machine" and "Have a Cigar." The former is a Floyd classic, lurking underneath a percolating VCS3, while the latter features Roy Harper on vocals. The title track, the lone David Gilmour composition, became almost every budding guitarist's first cover. The album proved to be one of the band's finest; the stark arrangements belie a cool and concise precision, in both the band's compositions and performance; Rick Wright in particular makes a strong showing. Enormously successful, the album topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic and provided a stylistic blueprint for many to follow. The album was originally packaged in blue shrink wrap (in the US, that is; it was black in the UK), with only a sticker to identify the contents.