Floyd Revisits “The Wall”
Pink Floyd guitarist/vocalist David Gilmour wasn’t exactly lying
when he told the BBC last November “I greatly doubt there will be a
new album out by the millennium.” However, according to a source,
Pink Floyd are scheduled to release a record in December.| Details
are scant, but another source says it will be a commemorative
recording celebrating the twenty-year anniversary of the The
Wall, which was released on July 7, 1979. Insiders caution
this should not be confused with the forthcoming Sony/Columbia DVD
of The Wall, which hits the streets Nov. 9.
The record was first hinted at in an EMI Recorded Music press
release that states the company had recently secured the worldwide
rights to five more classic Floyd albums including The
Wall, Wish You Were Here, and Animals,
giving them a total of fourteen discs from the psychedelic
pioneers’ extensive catalog. More importantly, the company noted
that Pink Floyd are actually in a London studio working on a
record: “The band is currently in the studio finalizing work on an
anniversary album project which is set for release at the end of
1999.”
EMI’s U.S. office confirmed that the band was indeed in the studio
but would not say whether or not the band was working on new
material, or if bassist Roger Waters was involved in the project.
Sources there hinted that an agreement had not been reached between
Waters and the other members; Dave Gilmour, Nick Mason and Rick
Wright have been at odds with the bassist since his exit from the
band in 1984. Three weeks ago, Waters told USA Today that
he and the band members were still “uncomfortably estranged,” and
that he has absolutely no regrets about leaving the band. “It was
painful, like any divorce, but necessary,” Waters said. “We had
grown in different directions.”
Those divergent directions don’t seem to allow for a reunion tour
in the foreseeable future. Earlier this year, Pink Floyd’s
management company, ENKA, put a resounding end to rumors that the
band was going to perform at a Y2K show in Egypt this December. As
it stands, the group will not be performing anywhere on New Year
Eve, echoing what Gilmour told the BBC: “I can categorically tell
you there is no plan for a record, no plan for a tour. And we’re
not doing the ‘Millennium Show.'”