Delicate Sound of Thunder is a
Pink FloydPink Floyd were an English rock band who, in the late 1960s, earned recognition for their psychedelic and space rock music, and in the 1970s, as they evolved, for their progressive rock music. Pink Floyd's work is marked by philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album cover art,...
liveA live album – commonly contrasted with a studio album – is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances. Live albums may be recorded at a single concert, or combine recordings made at multiple concerts...
double albumA double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold . A double album is typically, though not always, released because the recording is longer than the capacity of the medium...
from the
David GilmourDavid Jon Gilmour CBE is an English musician, best known as the guitarist, lead singer, and one of the songwriters in the rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a record producer for a variety of artists, and has enjoyed a successful career as a solo...
-led era of the band which was recorded over five nights at the Nassau Coliseum on
Long IslandLong Island is an island located in southeastern New York, United States, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City, and two of which are mainly suburban...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in August 1988 and mixed at
Abbey Road StudiosAbbey Road Studios, established in November of 1931 by EMI in London, England, is an iconic recording studio located at Abbey Road, in St John's Wood in the City of Westminster...
in September 1988. It was released on 22 November 1988, through
EMI RecordsEMI Records is a record label, founded by EMI in 1972 as the successor to the Columbia label. The global success that EMI enjoyed with pop music in the 1960s also exposed trade mark issues as EMI only had the rights to some of its trade marks, most notably His Master's Voice and Columbia, in parts...
in the United Kingdom and
Columbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label founded in 1888.Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in pre-recorded sound, being the first record company to produce pre-recorded records as opposed to blank cylinders. Columbia Records went on to release records by an array of notable singers,...
in the United States. This would be the last Pink Floyd release made with vinyl as it's primary medium, all following released were made with CD as their primary medium.
The band recorded and filmed their series of shows at the
Omni ColiseumThe Omni Coliseum, usually called The Omni, from the Latin for "all," or "every," was an indoor arena located in Atlanta, Georgia. Completed in 1972, the arena seated 16,378 for basketball and 15,278 for ice hockey. It was part of the Omni Complex, now known as the CNN Center...
in Atlanta,
GeorgiaGeorgia is a state in the United States. One of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution, it had been the last of the Thirteen Colonies to be established, in 1733. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January...
in November 1987 for a potential live concert film and album.
Delicate Sound of Thunder is a
Pink FloydPink Floyd were an English rock band who, in the late 1960s, earned recognition for their psychedelic and space rock music, and in the 1970s, as they evolved, for their progressive rock music. Pink Floyd's work is marked by philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album cover art,...
liveA live album – commonly contrasted with a studio album – is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances. Live albums may be recorded at a single concert, or combine recordings made at multiple concerts...
double albumA double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold . A double album is typically, though not always, released because the recording is longer than the capacity of the medium...
from the
David GilmourDavid Jon Gilmour CBE is an English musician, best known as the guitarist, lead singer, and one of the songwriters in the rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a record producer for a variety of artists, and has enjoyed a successful career as a solo...
-led era of the band which was recorded over five nights at the Nassau Coliseum on
Long IslandLong Island is an island located in southeastern New York, United States, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City, and two of which are mainly suburban...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in August 1988 and mixed at
Abbey Road StudiosAbbey Road Studios, established in November of 1931 by EMI in London, England, is an iconic recording studio located at Abbey Road, in St John's Wood in the City of Westminster...
in September 1988. It was released on 22 November 1988, through
EMI RecordsEMI Records is a record label, founded by EMI in 1972 as the successor to the Columbia label. The global success that EMI enjoyed with pop music in the 1960s also exposed trade mark issues as EMI only had the rights to some of its trade marks, most notably His Master's Voice and Columbia, in parts...
in the United Kingdom and
Columbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label founded in 1888.Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in pre-recorded sound, being the first record company to produce pre-recorded records as opposed to blank cylinders. Columbia Records went on to release records by an array of notable singers,...
in the United States. This would be the last Pink Floyd release made with vinyl as it's primary medium, all following released were made with CD as their primary medium.
History
The band recorded and filmed their series of shows at the
Omni ColiseumThe Omni Coliseum, usually called The Omni, from the Latin for "all," or "every," was an indoor arena located in Atlanta, Georgia. Completed in 1972, the arena seated 16,378 for basketball and 15,278 for ice hockey. It was part of the Omni Complex, now known as the CNN Center...
in Atlanta,
GeorgiaGeorgia is a state in the United States. One of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution, it had been the last of the Thirteen Colonies to be established, in 1733. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January...
in November 1987 for a potential live concert film and album. However, the band were not happy with the results. Consequently, the material from these shows would make up videos and B-sides for the
A Momentary Lapse of ReasonA Momentary Lapse of Reason is a studio album by Pink Floyd released by EMI Records on 8 September 1987, in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States by Columbia Records. It was the band's first release after the departure of Roger Waters from the band in 1985...
singles and later these shows were released as a
bootleg recordingA bootleg recording is an audio and/or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist, or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
entitled
Pink Floyd: The Calhoun Tapes. Then in August 1988, the band went to Nassau Coliseum and filmed and recorded their five night stand for Delicate Sound of Thunder at the end of the initial Momentary Lapse 1987/88 tour.
The album was released in 1988 as a double LP, double cassette, and a double
CDA Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store sound recordings exclusively, but later it also allowed the preservation of other types of data. Audio CDs have been commercially available since October 1982...
, each format containing a slightly different track listing. The album includes many works from
A Momentary Lapse of ReasonA Momentary Lapse of Reason is a studio album by Pink Floyd released by EMI Records on 8 September 1987, in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States by Columbia Records. It was the band's first release after the departure of Roger Waters from the band in 1985...
as well as quite a few from older albums. The double LP format did not have "Us and Them" on the track listing. Both the double LP and the double cassette had "Wish You Were Here" between "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" and "Comfortably Numb".
Although David Gilmour stated around the time of its release and on a radio interview in 1992 that the album contained no studio
overdubbingOverdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance....
whatsoever, he embellished the tracks during mixing with some extra acoustic guitar on "Comfortably Numb", according to engineer Buford Jones. In addition, some harmonies were replaced by studio re-takes: Richard Wright re-did his vocal on "Us and Them" and Sam Brown replaced Rachel Fury's part in "Comfortably Numb".
Delicate Sound of Thunder reached #11 on the
Billboard 200The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling new music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
and is currently listed as Triple Platinum in U.S. sales — it was certified Gold and Platinum on January 23, 1989 and Triple Platinum in April 1997.
Delicate Sound of Thunder became the first rock album to be played in space, as
SovietThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
cosmonauts took it aboard
Soyuz TM-7Soyuz TM-7 was the seventh expedition to the Russian Space Station Mir.-Crew:Launched:*Alexander Volkov *Sergei Krikalev *Jean-Loup Chrétien - FranceLanded:*Alexander Volkov *Sergei Krikalev *Valeri Polyakov...
. They left the cassette box on Earth to save weight. The members of Pink Floyd were present at the launch. The double LP was also the band's only album to be officially released in the Soviet Union by the state-owned label
MelodiyaMelodiya is a Russian record label. It was the state-owned major record company/label of the Soviet Union.-History:...
.
CD
Disc 1
- "Shine On You Crazy Diamond
"Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is a nine-part Pink Floyd composition with lyrics written by Roger Waters in tribute to former band member Syd Barrett and music written by Waters, Richard Wright, and David Gilmour. It was first performed on their 1974 French tour. It was recorded for the 1975 concept...
"
(Above track is from Wish You Were Here)
- "Learning To Fly
"Learning to Fly" is the second song on Pink Floyd's album A Momentary Lapse of Reason. The first single released from the album, it reached #70 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart.-Background:...
"
- "Yet Another Movie
"Yet Another Movie" is the sixth track, along with "Round and Around" on Pink Floyd's 1987 album, A Momentary Lapse of Reason. It features soundbites from the film, Casablanca....
"
- "Round and Around
"Round and Around" is a song from Pink Floyd's 1987 album, A Momentary Lapse of Reason. It shares the sixth track with "Yet Another Movie" and is a repetitive instrumental in 5/8 time. It was released as a separate track on the live album Delicate Sound of Thunder...
"
- "Sorrow
"Sorrow" is the final track from Pink Floyd's 1987 album, A Momentary Lapse of Reason although it was the seventh song from the album performed in the Momentary Lapse set of the 1987/88/89/90 tours. It was written and composed by guitarist David Gilmour...
"
- "The Dogs of War"
- "On The Turning Away
"On the Turning Away" is a power ballad from Pink Floyd's 1987 album, A Momentary Lapse of Reason. Released as the second single from the album, it reached number one on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart in early 1988. In the United Kingdom, the song charted at number 55 on the UK Singles Chart...
"
(Above tracks are from A Momentary Lapse of ReasonA Momentary Lapse of Reason is a studio album by Pink Floyd released by EMI Records on 8 September 1987, in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States by Columbia Records. It was the band's first release after the departure of Roger Waters from the band in 1985...
)
Disc 2
- "One of These Days
"One of These Days" is the opening track from Pink Floyd's 1971 album Meddle. The song is instrumental and features double-tracked bass guitars played by David Gilmour and Roger Waters. One of the two bass guitars sounds quite muted and dull compared to the other...
"
(Above track is from MeddleMeddle is the fifth studio album by Pink Floyd. It was released in October 1971, and demonstrates the band's change in genre from psychedelic rock, to progressive rock....
)
- "Time
"Time" is the fourth track from English progressive rock band Pink Floyd's 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon, and the only song on the album credited to all four members of the band...
"
(Above track is from Dark Side of the Moon)
- "Wish You Were Here"
(Above track is from Wish You Were Here)
- "Us and Them"*
- "Money
"Money" is the sixth track from English progressive rock band Pink Floyd's 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon. Written by bassist Roger Waters, it opened side two of the original vinyl LP, and is the only song on the album to enter the top 20 on the United States singles charts...
"
(Above tracks are from Dark Side of the Moon)
- "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)"
- "Comfortably Numb
"Comfortably Numb" is a song by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, which was released on the 1979 double album The Wall. It was also released as a single in the same year, with "Hey You" as the B-side...
"
- "Run Like Hell
"Run Like Hell" is a song on the Pink Floyd album The Wall. It is preceded by "In the Flesh" and is followed by "Waiting for the Worms". The song is from the point of view of anti-hero Pink during a hallucination, in which he becomes a fascist dictator and turns a concert audience into an angry mob...
"
(Above tracks are from The WallThe Wall is the ninth studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. Presented as a double album, it was released on 30 November 1979. It was subsequently performed live, with elaborate theatrical effects, and adapted into a film....
)
LP / Cassette
Side 1
- "Shine On You Crazy Diamond"
- "Learning To Fly
- "Yet Another Movie"
- "Round and Around"
Side 2
- "Sorrow"
- "The Dogs of War"
- "On The Turning Away"
Side 3
- "One of These Days"
- "Time"
- "Us and Them" (cassette only, omitted from LP).
- "Money"
- "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)"
Side 4
- "Wish You Were Here"
- "Comfortably Numb"
- "Run Like Hell"
Songs Omitted from the Album
The 1988 tour also featured the following songs which were not included on
Delicate Sound of Thunder: "Signs of Life", "A New Machine", "Terminal Frost", "On The Run", "The Great Gig in the Sky", "Welcome To The Machine" & "One Slip". Some of which made it onto the
video versionDelicate Sound of Thunder is a Pink Floyd concert video taken from the A Momentary Lapse of Reason tour. It was largely filmed during the concerts running from August 19, 1988 through August 23, 1988 at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York, with some additional footage from June 21, 1988 and...
instead.
Personnel
Pink Floyd
- David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour CBE is an English musician, best known as the guitarist, lead singer, and one of the songwriters in the rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a record producer for a variety of artists, and has enjoyed a successful career as a solo...
– guitarThe guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that adapts readily to a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six strings, but four-, seven-, eight-, ten-, eleven-, twelve-, thirteen- and eighteen-string guitars also exist. The size and shape of the neck and the base of the guitar...
s, lead vocalsSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. A person who sings is called a singer or vocalist...
- Nick Mason
Nicholas Berkeley "Nick" Mason is the drummer for Pink Floyd. He has been the only constant member of the band since its formation in 1964. He also competes in auto racing events, such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans...
– drumsA drum set is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person . The term "drum kit" first became used in the 1700s in Britain...
, percussionA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound by being hit with an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration...
Additional musicians
- Richard Wright
Richard William "Rick" Wright was an English pianist, keyboardist, vocalist and songwriter, best known for his career with Pink Floyd. Wright's richly textured keyboard layers were a vital ingredient and a distinctive characteristic of Pink Floyd's sound...
– keyboardsA keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include various types of organs as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Time" & "Comfortably Numb". (Wright was not an official member of Pink Floyd at this time, as he left in 1981.)
- Jon Carin
Jon Carin is a producer, artist and musician best known for his association with Pink Floyd, and more specifically its guitarist David Gilmour and former member Roger Waters over the last twenty five years. In the early eighties, he gained fame as the front-man for the band Industry...
– keyboards, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Comfortably Numb"
- Rachel Fury – backing vocals
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
- Durga McBroom
Durga McBroom is a singer and actress, born October 16, 1962 in California, who has performed backing vocals for Pink Floyd. She had a long stint with them, being the only backing vocalist to appear consistently on all of the A Momentary Lapse of Reason, Delicate Sound of Thunder and The Division...
– backing vocals
- Scott Page
Scott Page is a session musician, and is frequently hired to perform with bands on tour. He is a multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, saxophone, flute and other instruments.- Career :...
– saxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bored transposing musical instrument considered a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and are played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by Adolphe Sax in 1841...
s
- Guy Pratt
Guy Pratt is a well-known session bassist and also a songwriter, actor and comedian. He is the son of actor Mike Pratt. In Kensington and Chelsea, London, in 1996, Pratt married Gala Wright, the daughter of Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright...
– bass guitarThe electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum....
, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Comfortably Numb" and "Run Like Hell"
- Tim Renwick
Timothy John Pearson 'Tim' Renwick is anEnglish guitarist.-Career:Renwick started playing guitar in the 1960s. He performed with many bands, including Little Women, Wages of Sin, Junior's Eyes, The Hype, Quiver and Lazy Racer...
– guitars, vocals
- Margret Taylor – backing vocals
- Gary Wallis
Gary Wallis is a drummer/percussionist trained at the London Symphony School of Music. He is best known as the secondary percussionist for Pink Floyd in the post-Waters era for live performances...
– percussion
Production
- Doug Sax – mastering
Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
- David Hewitt – assistant engineering
Audio engineering is a part of audio science dealing with the recording and reproduction of sound through mechanical and electronic means. The field draws on many disciplines, including electrical engineering, acoustics, psychoacoustics, and music. Unlike acoustical engineering, audio...
- Buford Jones – engineering
- Dimo Safari – band photography
- Storm Thorgerson
Storm Thorgerson is an English graphic designer, known for his work for rock bands like Pink Floyd, 10cc, Led Zeppelin, Dream Theater, The Mars Volta, Muse and The Cranberries.-Biography:...
– cover design and graphics
Sales chart performance
| Year |
Chart |
Position |
| 1988 |
UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled by The Official UK Charts Company and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website ; the full Top 200 is published exclusively in ChartsPlus.To qualify for the UK albums...
|
11 |
| 1988 |
The Billboard 200 |
11 |
| 1988 |
Billboard CD Charts |
|
| 1988 |
Norwegian Record Charts |
2 |
| 1988 |
Swiss Charts |
4 |