Wish You Were Here is the ninth studio album by Pink Floyd, released on 12 September 1975 through Harvest Records in the United Kingdom and a day later in the United States through Columbia Records, as their first album for the label. Based on material composed by Pink Floyd while performing in Europe, Wish You Were Here was recorded in numerous sessions throughout 1975 at EMI Studios in London.

As the follow-up to Floyd’s landmark, groundbreaking 1973 album The Dark Side Of The Moon, this album is often unfairly overlooked. With the benefit of hindsight, Wish You Were Here has the same impeccable rhythm and sequencing as its predecessor, but a more coherent musical narrative, structure and tone, as well as greater lyrical sophistication. Here, the “idea” is more down-to-earth, as much of the album is an extended tribute to the late Syd Barrett, the genius behind their early work, who soared high and shone bright, making him one of rock’s most notorious drug victims before Pink Floyd emerged from London’s psychedelic underground to become one of the biggest success stories of the 1970s.

Barrett is the subject of the epic “Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Part1 &2,” which takes up more than half the running time and is supplemented by only three other shorter tracks. Despite questionable keyboard tones from Richard Wright, the majestically relaxed orchestral intro is a triumph of suspense. It takes almost nine minutes before Roger Waters starts singing, and the effect is stunning, as are the lyrics:

“Remember when you were young?
You shone like the sun
You shone like Crazy Diamond!
Now there’s a look in your eye
Like black holes in the sky.”

It’s questionable whether the “iPod generation” will get all the eerie, almost visual sonic detail on the more melodramatic “Welcome To The Machine,” which foreshadows some of the grandeur of their later work. Guest vocalist Roy Harper is a fierce presence on the music industry-sweeping “Have A Cigar,” and the breathtaking title track finds Waters’ lyrics at their most psychedelic. Some may balk at Dave Gilmour’s long, bluesy guitar riffs, which form the backbone of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” and appear throughout the album. Well, these were the last days of progressive rock. Punk was on the rise and it’s easy to see why, but the post-psychedelic angst of the mid-’70s rarely sounded so cool.

From this landmark album in music history, I select, among other things, the first five tracks of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.”
 
Tracklist

Side one
1. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I–V) 13:33
2. Welcome To The Machine 7:25

Side two
1. Have a Cigar 5:08
2. Wish You Were Here 5:35
3. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI–IX) 12:24