Description
Offered for sale is a complete limited edition half speed mastered Japanese pressing of Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd, including the original obi, postcard, and poster.
This particular pressing is generally regarded to be the best-sounding pressing of Wish You Were Here ever released.
About this copy: This copy of Wish You Were Here is a 1980 Japanese pressing on the CBS/Sony label.
The cover is VG++ and close to M- with slight wear at the mouth and corners. The obi is M-.
Also included:
Poster – The poster is M-.
Record company survey postcard and Mono Lake postcard. Both are M-.
Generic Mastersound inner sleeve is VG++ with slight corner wear.
Lyric insert is M-.
Custom inner sleeve is VG++ with a couple of minor wrinkles.
The generic Mastersound catalog is M-.
The half speed mastered disc is M- with a couple of spindle marks on the labels, but no marks on the vinyl. Clean disc!
A beautiful copy of a very rare Pink Floyd album that is almost never found complete.
Background:
Columbia Records had a short-lived series of audiophile pressings in the early 1980s that they called their Mastersound series.
These were high-quality pressings mastered with extra care and pressed on premium quality vinyl, and sold at a premium price.
Probably 90% of the records issued in that series in the United States were half speed mastered, while the remainder were digitally mastered. Most of the digitally mastered titles were of classical music.
That wasn’t the case with the Japanese Mastersound series, however. Nearly all of the titles in the CBS Mastersound series from Japan were digitally remastered, and most of them don’t sound as good as their analog Japanese counterparts.
In fact, there were only five pop/rock titles in the Japanese series that were half speed mastered:
- Billy Joel – The Stranger (first issue only; second issue was digitally remastered)
- Earth, Wind & Fire – Greatest Hits
- Electric Light Orchestra – Discovery
- Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here
- Boz Scaggs – Silk Degrees
All are quite rare, and all sound great. The Pink Floyd is easily the rarest of the five titles.
Released in 1975, Wish You Were Here was the ninth studio album by Pink Floyd.
The album reached #1 on the charts in the U.S. and the UK.
Allmusic.com gave Wish You Were Here a 5 star review:
Pink Floyd followed the commercial breakthrough of Dark Side of the Moon with Wish You Were Here, a loose concept album about and dedicated to their founding member Syd Barrett. The record unfolds gradually, as the jazzy textures of “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” reveal its melodic motif, and in its leisurely pace, the album shows itself to be a warmer record than its predecessor. Musically, it’s arguably even more impressive, showcasing the group’s interplay and David Gilmour’s solos in particular. And while it’s short on actual songs, the long, winding soundscapes are constantly enthralling.
