16 illinoisentertainer. com october 2025 potent title track“ Phobia” are drawn from the band’ s final studio album, Phobia.
Dave Davies plays sublime solos to introduce“ Celluloid Heroes” and“ I’ m Not Like Everybody Else.” Ray Davies teases“ Lola” but says the audience isn’ t ready. He instead launches the effervescent“ Apeman.” It may have been different at the full-length show, but the band never gets back around to“ Lola” on this album. Phil Alexander’ s liner notes about the show mention the performance of the bouncy“ Dead End Street” in an“ unstoppable barrage of four era-defining‘ 60s tunes,” which makes the song’ s absence from the record even more of a shame. The live set concludes with the Grateful Dead ' s“ Days” from The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society.
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– Jeff Elbel
PINK FLOYD Pink Floyd at Pompeii 2xLP( Columbia)
Pink Floyd at Pompeii is drawn from the 1972 film capturing Pink Floyd on the cusp of creating Obscured by Clouds and Dark Side of the Moon. The heart of the film is a performance spread across four days in early October 1971, with a full PA in the ruins of the Roman Amphitheatre at Pompeii, attended only by the sound and film crew, a Russian Wolfhound, and the ghosts of those lost in the eruption of nearby Mount Vesuvius. The film was painstakingly remastered for exhibition on IMAX screens this spring. Porcupine Tree frontman Steven Wilson’ s remixed audio is now available on formats including( surprisingly, for the first time) gatefold double vinyl. Pink Floyd’ s excursion to Pompeii was undertaken in the closing days of the band’ s Atom Heart Mother world tour, although the coliseum set includes no songs from the album. Meddle was to be released within a month, and that album is represented by the side-long instrumental epic“ Echoes,” split into two parts to bookend the film, as well as David Gilmour’ s grinding lap steel workout“ One of These Days.” Also performed is the album’ s country blues track“ Seamus,” renamed“ Mademoiselle Nobs” and reinterpreted as an instrumental with titular dog Nobs howling into keyboardist Richard Wright’ s microphone as accompaniment to Gilmour’ s harmonica playing. The hypnotic and doom-laden“ Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun” and title track“ A Saucerful of Secrets” appear from the band’ s second album( and its last with participation by tragic founder Syd Barrett).“ Careful with that Axe, Eugene” had appeared on the live half of 1969’ s Ummagumma. The five key tracks( omitting“ Nobs” as a comical outlier) fill three sides of vinyl with the band’ s heady, psychedelic blues-rock and document the quartet’ s rapid evolution from 1968 to 1971. The band had been performing steadily, and the performances are tight with intuitive interplay. Wright’ s ghostly piano drifts through“ Echoes” alongside Gilmour’ s violin-like slide guitar before the two join in melancholy vocal harmony. The song stretches into ecstatic spaceblues and terse funk anchored by Waters’ steady bass. Each musician is featured at various moments, although Waters’ singing is primarily limited to“ Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun.” His whispered vocal and unmistakable banshee wail slice through the moody and unnerving“ Careful with that Axe, Eugene.” Drummer Nick Mason plays spidery cymbals while Waters bashes a gong during“ A Saucerful of Secrets.” Mason plays a thundering rhythmic pattern with mesmerizing repetition, while Gilmour creates a chaotic maelstrom with his slide guitar, and Wright thrashes out his acoustic piano. Wright’ s Farfisa organ twists and dances during“ Set the Controls” while Mason’ s muted, malletstruck percussion increases tempo toward manic fervor. Waters’ menacing echoed bass figure drives the turbulent“ One of These Days,” contrasting with shivering clouds of Hammond organ by Wright. This album reflects the content of the original 1972 Pompeii film directed by Adrian Maben. Missing are the clips of Dark Side of the Moon studio work on“ Us and Them” and“ Brain Damage,” as seen in the 1974 theatrical release and recent cinema showings. New to this set is an alternate take of“ Careful with that Axe, Eugene” and an unedited cut of“ A Saucerful of Secrets” that stretches two and a half minutes beyond the familiar soundtrack version. A 24” x 36” movie poster included with the LP set promises“ An explosive cinema