English progressive-rock icons Pink Floyd have given fans an early Christmas present, uploading 18 live concerts from 1972 onto streaming services without warning. The 18 previously-unreleased shows capture the group performing in the period directly preceding the release of their acclaimed 1973 album, The Dark Side Of The Moon.
As Rolling Stone reports, the live albums were released to streaming services this weekend, with the shows recorded at venues throughout the UK, Europe, Japan, and the US between January and December 1972. The performances have the group fine-tuning much of the material that would be released upon The Dark Side Of The Moon just months later.
Pink Floyd – ‘Money (Live At Southampton Guildhall 23 January 1972)’
Alongside the live albums, the group also shared an EP simply titled Alternative Tracks 1972. The five-track collection features a demo of ‘On The Run’, trance remixes of ‘Speak To Me/Breathe (In The Air)’ and ‘Any Colour You Like’, and “ultra rare alternative versions” of ‘Time/Breathe (In The Air)’ and ‘Us And Them’.
Notably, this isn’t the first time that Pink Floyd have surprise-released a batch of live recordings. In December 2021, the group shared a dozen concert performances from between 1970 and 1972. Upon the release of these new live albums, the previously-released recordings have since disappeared from streaming services.
As Rolling Stone points out, these concerts may have been released as a means to extend the copyright of the recorded material. Currently, no official statement has been made by members of Pink Floyd, nor have the release of the recordings been announced by the band’s official channels.
Further Reading
Pink Floyd Raising Funds For Ukraine With First New Single Since 1994
Love Letter To A Record: Silky Roads On Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’
Watch Roger Waters And Band Perform Pink Floyd’s ‘Mother’ From Isolation
