Review: Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here 50" in Dolby Atmos

Contents

“Wish You Were Here” was perhaps Pink Floyd's most difficult album in 1975. After the global success of “The Dark Side of the Moon” two years prior, what could the band possibly follow it up with? Suddenly, all major labels were clamoring for the band, promising big money. Pink Floyd addressed this artistically dangerous phase of success on their next album.

The irony of history: The criticism of the music industry expressed on the album contributed significantly to its lasting success. For its 50th anniversary, “Wish You Were Here” is being released again – in addition to vinyl, CD, and stream – on Blu-ray Disc, providing Sony Music with a final push for the Christmas business.

And although the Dolby Atmos version has been available on streaming services like Apple Music since last Friday, December 12, 2025, some music lovers have likely realized that streaming quality, especially for Atmos mixes, does not match that of a disc due to the significantly reduced data rate. The online retailer JPC, one of Germany's largest music retailers, at least reassured customers on Friday: delivery was delayed because logistics were overloaded due to high demand. The album currently occupies the top four positions in the retailer's sales charts – the Blu-ray ahead of vinyl and CD versions, indicating the growing importance of this niche market.

We have listened to the disc and will compare the sound on the following pages with earlier mixes in stereo, quadraphonic, and 5.1, as well as the streaming version. If your audio system does not play the album in the desired quality, we can help you optimize the sound. To this end, we are hosting a c't webinar on January 8, 2026, which will explain step-by-step how to expand a home theater and music system, the sonic characteristics of room acoustics programs like Dirac Live ART, and measurement and optimization methods.

Which one's Pink?

Many listeners associate the name Pink Floyd with psychedelic sound experiments and progressive rock. The band's blues roots often fade into the background. “Wish You Were Here” envelops the listener in spherical synthesizer pads but repeatedly breaks through them with classic blues riffs and phrasing.

Even the name Pink Floyd is a homage to two blues musicians who are hardly known today: Pink Anderson (1900–1974) and Floyd Council (1911–1976), who played country blues in South and North Carolina. The fact that a US manager later seriously asked, „which one's Pink,” was symptomatic.

Strictly speaking, “Wish You Were Here” comprises only four songs. However, by dividing “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” into an introduction and conclusion, a five-movement dramaturgy is created. Together with the three songs about the music industry, the album takes on the character of a symphonic reflection on loss, absence, and alienation.

The opener “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” consists of nine parts, originally intended as a continuous piece. However, when it became clear that a total length of around 26 minutes would be sonically problematic for a single vinyl side – the grooves would have had to be cut very closely – the band decided to divide it. Thus, the piece frames the other three compositions. On the Blu-ray, “Shine On” can also be heard in a new stereo mix in its complete, uninterrupted length. Additionally, there is the instrumental piece “Wine Glasses,” an early study that already experiments with characteristic synthesizer pads.

The song is about founding member Syd Barrett, who died in 2006 and oscillated between genius and psychological breakdown – a “Crazy Diamond” who still shone. According to official accounts, Barrett increasingly experimented with psychoactive substances like LSD after the debut album “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” (1967). His reliability suffered considerably. For the 1968 tours, he was initially joined by David Gilmour and finally replaced after working on “A Saucerful of Secrets” and a final joint performance in Hastings in January 1968.