Delicate Sound of Thunder

Delicate Sound of Thunder
Live album by Pink Floyd
Released	22 November 1988
Recorded	19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 August 1988, Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, New York, United States
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	104:08
Language	English
Label	EMI
Producer	David Gilmour
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Blender link Robert Christgau (C) link Rolling Stone link
Pink Floyd live albums chronology
Ummagumma (1969) Delicate Sound of Thunder (1988) Pulse (1995)

Delicate Sound of Thunder is a Pink Floyd live double album from the David Gilmour-led era of the band which was recorded over five nights at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York in August 1988 and mixed at Abbey Road Studios in September 1988. It was released on 22 November 1988, through EMI Records in the United Kingdom and Columbia Records in the United States.

History

The band recorded and filmed their series of shows at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia 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 Reason singles and later these shows were released as a bootleg recording 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 CD, each format containing a slightly different track listing. The album includes many works from A Momentary Lapse of Reason 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 overdubbing 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".^{[1][dead link]}

An accompanying video recording of one of the concerts was also released.

Delicate Sound of Thunder (the album) reached #11 on the Billboard 200 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 Soviet cosmonauts took it aboard Soyuz TM-7. 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 Melodiya.

Track listing

All lead vocals performed by David Gilmour unless otherwise noted.

Side one

1. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", Pts. 1-5 (David Gilmour, Richard Wright, Roger Waters) – 11:54
   • Originally from Wish You Were Here
2. "Learning to Fly" (Gilmour, Anthony Moore, Bob Ezrin, Jon Carin) – 5:27
   • Originally from A Momentary Lapse of Reason
3. "Yet Another Movie" (Gilmour, Patrick Leonard) – 6:21
   • Originally from A Momentary Lapse of Reason
4. "Round and Around" (Gilmour) – 0:33
   • Originally from A Momentary Lapse of Reason

Side two

5. "Sorrow" (Gilmour) – 9:28
   • Originally from A Momentary Lapse of Reason
6. "The Dogs of War" (Gilmour, Moore) – 7:19
   • Originally from A Momentary Lapse of Reason
7. "On the Turning Away" (Gilmour, Moore) – 7:57
   • Originally from A Momentary Lapse of Reason

Side three

8. "One of These Days" (Gilmour, Wright, Nick Mason, Waters) – 6:16
   • Originally from Meddle
9. "Time" (Gilmour, Wright, Mason, Waters) – 5:16
   • Originally from The Dark Side of the Moon
10. "Money" (Waters) – 9:52
    • Originally from The Dark Side of the Moon
11. "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" (Waters) – 5:29
    • Originally from The Wall'

Side four

12. "Wish You Were Here" (Gilmour, Waters) – 4:49
    • Originally from Wish You Were Here
13. "Comfortably Numb" (Waters, Gilmour) – 8:56
    • Originally from The Wall
14. "Run Like Hell" (Gilmour, Waters) – 7:12
    • Originally from The Wall

Compact Disc edition

Track listing is identical up to this point

10. "Wish You Were Here" (Gilmour, Waters) – 4:49
    • Originally from Wish You Were Here
11. "Us and Them" (Wright, Waters) – 7:22
    • Originally from The Dark Side of the Moon
12. "Money" (Waters) – 9:52
    • Originally from The Dark Side of the Moon
13. "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" (Waters) – 5:29
    • Originally from The Wall
14. "Comfortably Numb" (Gilmour, Waters) – 8:56
    • Originally from The Wall
15. "Run Like Hell" (Gilmour, Waters) – 7:12
    • Originally from The Wall

Personnel

Pink Floyd

• David Gilmour – guitars, vocals, lead vocals on "Comfortably Numb" (choruses) and "Run Like Hell"
• Nick Mason – drums, percussion
• Richard Wright – keyboards, vocals, dueton "Time", lead vocals on "Comfortably Numb" (verses)

Additional musicians

• Jon Carin – keyboards, vocals, lead vocals on "Comfortably Numb" (verses)
• Rachel Fury – backing vocals
• Durga McBroom – backing vocals
• Scott Page – saxophones, guitar
• Guy Pratt – bass guitar, vocals, lead vocals on "Comfortably Numb" (verses) and "Run Like Hell"
• Tim Renwick – guitars, vocals
• Margret Taylor – backing vocals
• Gary Wallis – percussion

Production

• Doug Sax – mastering
• David Hewitt – assistant engineering
• Buford Jones – engineering
• Dimo Safari – band photography
• Storm Thorgerson – cover design and graphics

Sales chart performance

References