Pink Floyd drop 18 new live albums from 1972
For the second time in two years, Pink Floyd has discreetly dropped a new collection of live albums from their most notable era. Last year, the prog-rock giants released a dozen live albums from between 1970 and 1972, which saw the band transition out of their post-Syd Barrett confusion and into the refined song suites of their classic era.
This year, Pink Floyd has picked up where they left off from their previous releases, focusing on their live performances throughout 1972. The group released their seventh studio album, Obscured by Clouds, in June of that year, but that album was a soundtrack LP for the French film La Vallée. Instead, the band had a bigger focus: refining the material that would eventually appear on their 1973 magnum opus, Dark Side of the Moon.
The new group of live albums follow the band from January 23rd, 1972, to December 9th, 1972. The material that would make up Dark Side of the Moon first premiered on January 20th at The Dome in Brighton, and throughout the year, the full album was refined. Songs like ‘The Great Gig in the Sky’ and ‘On the Run’ went through name and compositional changes throughout the year, eventually resembling the final collection of songs that would appear on the album.
Included in the new albums is the band’s four-night run at London’s Rainbow Theatre, a gig at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl, and three Japanese shows. In addition to the live collections, a 5-song compilation titled Alternate Tracks 1972, is being released as well. The mini-LP includes rare demos and remixes of ‘Time’ and ‘On the Run’, among other tracks.
The new live albums have a slight wrinkle that makes them not altogether altruistic. Just like last year’s collection, Pink Floyd is dropping the live albums to extend their copyright claims under Europe’s “Use It or Lose It” provision, which states that recordings are only entitled to a 20-year extension of their copyright if they are offered for sale to the public before the expiration of the original 50-year term.
Basically, if Pink Floyd wants to retain the copyright on their live material from this era, they have to offer it up on new albums. Last year’s bounty of live albums was removed from streaming services after only a short period of time, so if you’re interested in hearing this material, you might want to jump on it before they disappear (or reappear on an official live release later down the line).
The new live albums are currently available to stream on YouTube Music.
New 1972 Pink Floyd live albums:
Live at Southampton Guildhall, UK, 23 January 1972
Live at Carnegie Hall, New York, 5 Feb 1972
Live at the Rainbow Theatre, London 17 February 1972
Live at the Rainbow Theatre, London 18 Feb 1972
Live at the Rainbow Theatre, London 19 Feb 1972
Live at the Rainbow Theatre, London 20 Feb 1972
Live at the Taiikukan, Tokyo, Japan, 3 Mar 1972
Live at Osaka Festival Hall, Japan, 8 Mar 1972
Live at Nakajima Sports Centre, Sapporo, Japan, 13 Mar 1972
Live at Chicago Auditorium Theatre, USA, 28 April 1972
Live at the Deutschlandhalle, Berlin, Germany, 18 May 1972
Live at the Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, 22 Sept 1972
Live at the Empire Pool, Wembley, London, 21 Oct 1972
Live at Ernst-Merck Halle, Hamburg, Germany, 12 Nov 1972
Live at the Palais des Sports, Poitiers, France 29 Nov 1972
Live at the Palais des Sports de L’Ile de la Jatte, Saint Ouen, France, 1 Dec 1972
Live at the Vorst Nationaal, Brussels, Belgium, 5 Dec 1972
Live at The Hallenstadion, Zurich, Switzerland 9 Dec 72
Alternative Tracks 1972
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