Delicate Sound Of Thunder by Pink Floyd is a live album recorded in 1988 on the A Momentary Lapse of Reason tour without Roger Waters.
Could the Floyd cut it without their former band leader and main song writer?
Pink Floyd Delicate Sound Of Thunder Overall Rating – 20/30
At least it has a better name than the follow up live album Pulse.
Set List Rating – 7/10
Disc one
- Shine On You Crazy Diamond – 11:53 (from the album Wish You Were Here)
- Learning to Fly – 5:27 (A Momentary Lapse Of Reason)
- Yet Another Movie – 6:21 (A Momentary Lapse Of Reason)
- Round and Around – 0:33 (A Momentary Lapse Of Reason)
- Sorrow – 9:28 (A Momentary Lapse Of Reason)
- The Dogs of War – 7:18 (A Momentary Lapse Of Reason)
- On the Turning Away – 7:58 (A Momentary Lapse Of Reason)
Disc two
- One of These Days – 6:15 (Meddle)
- Time – 5:16 (Dark Side Of The Moon)
- Wish You Were Here – 4:49 (Wish You Were Here)
- Us and Them – 7:22 (Dark Side Of The Moon)
- Money – 9:52 (Dark Side Of The Moon)
- Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2) – 5:28 (The Wall)
- Comfortably Numb – 8:56 (The Wall)
- Run Like Hell – 7:12 (The Wall)
This is basically songs from A Delicate Sound Of Thunder plus a short summary of the best of earlier Pink Floyd.
The problem this album has is that it’s been made redundant by the more comprehensive Pulse recording from the Division Bell tour in 1995 which included all of the Dark Side Of The Moon songs.
At the time this set list was exciting so I give it 7/10
Performance Rating – 7/10
The big problem with Pink Floyd live after the seventies is that they sound too much like the studio recordings.
The recent album tracks from A Momentary Lapse Of Reason come over well but I doubt many Floyd fans buy this album for them.
The interest is in the classics from Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here and The Wall.
You have to be impressed that the group can deliver the tracks so well in a live setting but I’d have liked to have seen more experimentation.
Here are some videos of Pink Floyd performing live in 1988 taken from YouTube.
Us And Them
Shine On You Crazy Diamond
Atmosphere & Authenticity Rating – 6/10
When I reviewed Pulse, I made the point strongly that I didn’t feel Pink Floyd were the genuine article without Roger Waters.
I think that’s even more true for this album. yes we’ve still got Dave Gilmour’s beautiful guitar playing and he does a good job of singing but it’s not the Floyd I want.
Total Rating For Delicate Sound Of Thunder – 20/30
This isn’t a horrible live album by Pink Floyd but it isn’t very compelling either.
I was disappointed when I got it many years ago and I haven’t played it much since.
I don’t believe that Floyd have released a definitive live album yet. Despite my love of live albums, if I want to hear Floyd I turn to Animals, Dark Side Of the Moon, Wish You Were Here. Even The Wall.
I have the same problem with Pulse which I think is a little better than this because of the more extensive set list.
What Other People Say About Delicate Sound Of Thunder
In the lists of greatest live albums, this album doesn’t appear but Pulse does sometimes.
One interesting fact reported by Wikipedia is…
“Delicate Sound of Thunder became the first rock album to be played in space, as Soviet cosmonauts took it aboard Soyuz TM-7.”
Now that’s neat and I’m sure Floyd feel pleased. It’s just a shame that there isn’t some of their space rock on the album
Many of the Amazon reviewers say I am wrong. There are 80 five star reviews at the time of writing.
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Buying The Delicate Sound Of Thunder Live Album
To help you to find the album quickly and easily, I’ve given you the following links::
- Amazon.com as a CD or mp3
- Amazon.co.uk as a CD or mp3
- iTunes as a digital download
- eBay as a CD
What Do You Think About This Pink Floyd Live Album?
I’d like to know what you think about this album so please leave a comment.
The impression I have from reading the reviews of Amazon is that opinion varies depending on which album introduced you to Floyd. Those who started late, rate this album highly.
What Are The Best Live Albums Ever?
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If You Like This…
If you like Pink Floyd, I think you’ll like Genesis, Yes, Grobschnitt,