‘Pink Floyd at Pompeii MCMLXXII’ Reappears: Review
by Jeff Burger
Pink Floyd conquered the world with their eighth LP, 1973’s Dark Side of the Moon, which became one of the bestselling albums of all time. Its music is certainly adventurous, but to these ears, not quite as experimental—or exciting—as much of what the band released before the masses took notice.
You can find performances of some of the best of that earlier work in Pink Floyd at Pompeii MCMLXXII, a concert film that Pink Floyd first released in 1972. A significantly enhanced version of the movie debuted in theaters in April 2025 and was issued in a variety of formats on May 2.
The title, Pink Floyd at Pompeii MCMLXXII, is a bit of a misnomer. For one thing, while the movie was initially released in the year denoted by the Roman numerals, the performances took place in late 1971. Moreover, Pink Floyd recorded only three of them in the ruins of the ancient amphitheater in Pompeii, Italy. (However, these are lengthy numbers that account for roughly two-thirds of the 64-minute concert.) They include the psychedelic instrumental title track from 1968’s A Saucerful of Secrets, which owes debts to avant-garde classical composers, and two more intense instrumentals: “One of These Days” and “Echoes,” both from the then soon-to-be-released Meddle, with the 25-minute latter number divided into two parts that bookend the show.
For various reasons, the band had to record the other performances in studios in Paris. They include the spacey “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun,” which first appeared on A Saucerful of Secrets and is the only song here credited solely to Roger Waters rather than to the entire quartet. Also filmed in Paris: a reading of the single B-side “Careful with That Axe, Eugene,” which opens serenely, builds methodically and ends with Waters’ blood-curdling screams; and “Seamus” (retitled here as “Mademoiselle Nobs”), a brief blues number from Meddle that finds the group’s David Gilmour playing harmonica as a Russian wolfhound named Nobs barks and yelps. (It works better than that description might lead you to expect.)
Related: Just how big was Dark Side of the Moon?
The visuals, which are as unusual as the music, contribute to the sense that you’ve entered some sort of LSD dreamworld. For starters, there’s the amphitheater, which offers a stunning backdrop for the performances there. Moreover, images of the musicians at work are interspersed with ones of bubbling mud and bodies of Pompeii residents that were petrified when the Vesuvius volcano erupted in A.D. 79. As for living people, there are none at the Pompeii concert aside from the band and a handful of crewmembers. Director Adrian Maben opted to film the group with no audience because he wanted to keep the focus on the music.
This is far from the first time that Pink Floyd at Pompeii has been reissued. An initial 60-minute release in 1972 was followed two years later by a theatrical version that added footage of the band working on Dark Side of the Moon at London’s Abbey Road Studios. Then came a 90-minute Director’s Cut in 2003 and, in 2016, the band included stereo CD and surround-sound film editions in its mammoth Early Years box set.
Photo of Pink Floyd at Pompeii courtesy of Sony Music
Still, the new releases feature more than enough enhancements to justify their existence. Working from the recently discovered original 35mm negatives, the film has been restored, frame by frame; expanded slightly to 92 minutes; and digitally remastered in 4K. (It’s more than half a century old, so don’t expect widescreen. However, the picture’s quality belies its age.) Moreover, the audio has been remastered and skillfully remixed by Steven Wilson, who has done similar work for such bands as Yes, King Crimson and Jethro Tull. Moreover, it is presented in several formats, including 5.1 surround and—for the first time—Dolby Atmos on the Blu-ray.
Also, the CD and vinyl editions add an alternate take of “Careful with That Axe, Eugene” and an unedited, nearly 13-minute version of “A Saucerful of Secrets.” The Blu-ray, meanwhile, offers two options: you can watch the film, which incorporates the London material, or, should you prefer to skip the studio chatter, you can view only the concert.
If you visit Pompeii, as this writer did in 2019, you can see an exhibit that commemorates Pink Floyd’s performance there. Happily, though, you don’t have to travel to Italy to experience the thrilling music on these new releases.
Pink Floyd at Pompeii is available in a variety of formats in the U.S. here and in the U.K. here.
A top editor at leading consumer and trade magazines for more than 40 years, Jeff has interviewed dozens of musical luminaries, including Bruce Springsteen, Steve Van Zandt, Roger McGuinn, John Sebastian, Wolfman Jack, Tommy James, Tom Waits, the Righteous Brothers, and the members of Steely Dan.
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