Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’ 50th Anniversary Set Has Bonus Songs

Pink Floyd’s landmark album Wish You Were Here will receive a 50th anniversary edition re-release, the band announced on Friday (Sept. 12).

Wish You Were Here was first unveiled 50 years ago on this date, becoming Pink Floyd’s first album to top the U.K. Albums Chart, as well as the Billboard 200. The lyrics explored longing and disillusion, marking a thematic change for the band. It is now recognized as one of the greatest classic rock records ever made, having sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.

The band’s ninth studio album has been restored, remastered and expanded with an additional 25 bonus tracks, spanning alternate studio takes and live recordings by the famed bootlegger Mike Millard at Pink Floyd’s Los Angeles Sports Arena concert on April 26, 1975. The audio restoration for the latter was overseen by producer and Porcupine Tree member Steve Wilson.

Rarities on the set include “The Machine Song (Roger’s demo)”, the first home demo of the song that bassist/cofounder Roger Waters originally brought to the band; an instrumental mix of the track “Wish You Were Here”; and a complete version of the nine-part composition “Shine on You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 1-9).”

Wish You Were Here 50 will be released digitally on Dec. 12 via Sony Music, as well as across multiple physical formats including 3LP, 2CD, Blu-ray and a box set. The former features a new Dolby Atmos mix by James Guthrie, whose work with Pink Floyd dates back to 1979’s The Wall.

The Blu-ray edition, meanwhile, will include three concert films from the band’s 1975 world tour, plus a short film directed by the late Storm Thorgerson, with details not yet revealed. In addition, the box set will house all 2CD, 3LP and Blu-Ray material, plus a fourth clear vinyl LP, Live At Wembley 1974, a replica Japanese 7” Single of “Have A Cigar” and “Welcome To The Machine”, a hardcover photo book, a comic book tour program and a concert poster. 

As a preview of what Wish You Were Here 50 will entail, the band shared an early recording of “Welcome to the Machine.” Previously titled “The Machine Song,” it is shorter in length than the original and is a demo track that has never been heard until now. Listen to it below: