Delicate Sound of Thunder

Delicate Sound of Thunder
Live album by Pink Floyd
Released	22 November 1988
Recorded	19–23 August 1988
Venue	Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, New York, United States
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	104:08
Language	English
Label	EMI (UK/Europe) CBS Columbia (US/Canada) Melodiya (USSR)
Producer	David Gilmour
Pink Floyd chronology
A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987) Delicate Sound of Thunder (1988) Shine On (1992)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Blender	link
Robert Christgau	C [2]
Rolling Stone	[3]

Delicate Sound of Thunder is a double live album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd which was recorded over five nights at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, New York in August 1988 and mixed at Abbey Road Studios in September 1988. It was released on 22 November 1988, through EMI Records in the United Kingdom and Columbia Records in the United States.

Recording

The band recorded and filmed their series of shows at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia in November 1987 for a potential live concert film and album. However, the band was not happy with the results. Consequently, the material from these shows would make up videos and B-sides for the A Momentary Lapse of Reason singles and later these shows were released as bootleg recordings entitled Pink Floyd: The Calhoun Tapes and Would You Buy a Ticket to This Show. Then in August 1988, the band went to Nassau Coliseum and filmed and recorded their five night stand at the end of the initial Momentary Lapse 1987/88 tour.

Release

The album was released in 1988 as a double LP, double cassette, and a double CD, each format containing a slightly different track listing. The album includes many works from A Momentary Lapse of Reason as well as tracks from older Pink Floyd albums. The double LP release did not have "Us and Them" on the track listing. Both the double LP and the double cassette had "Wish You Were Here" between "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" and "Comfortably Numb".

Although David Gilmour stated around the time of its release and on a radio interview in 1992 that the album contained no studio overdubbing whatsoever, he embellished the tracks during mixing with some extra acoustic guitar on "Comfortably Numb", according to engineer Buford Jones. In addition, some harmonies were replaced by studio re-takes: Richard Wright re-did his vocal on "Us and Them" and Sam Brown replaced Rachel Fury's part in "Comfortably Numb".^[4]

Chart performance

Delicate Sound of Thunder reached #11 on the Billboard 200 and is currently listed as Triple Platinum in U.S. sales — it was certified Gold and Platinum on 23 January 1989 and Triple Platinum in April 1997.

In space

Delicate Sound of Thunder became the first rock album to be played in space, as Soviet cosmonauts took it aboard Soyuz TM-7.

The double LP was also the band's only album to be officially released in the Soviet Union by the state-owned label Melodiya.

Track listing

CD

Disc one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording date	Length
1.	"Shine On You Crazy Diamond"	Roger Waters/David Gilmour/Richard Wright	20 August 1988	11:53
2.	"Learning to Fly"	Gilmour/Bob Ezrin/Jon Carin/Anthony Moore	21 August 1988	5:27
3.	"Yet Another Movie"	Gilmour/Pat Leonard	19 August 1988	6:21
4.	"Round and Around"	Gilmour	19 August 1988	0:33
5.	"Sorrow"	Gilmour	23 August 1988	9:28
6.	"The Dogs of War"	Gilmour/Moore	21 August 1988	7:18
7.	"On the Turning Away"	Gilmour/Moore	21 August 1988	7:58

Disc two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Recording date	Length
1.	"One of These Days"	Waters/Gilmour/Nick Mason/Wright	23 August 1988	6:15
2.	"Time"	Waters/Gilmour/Mason/Wright	19 August 1988	5:16
3.	"Wish You Were Here"	Waters/Gilmour	20 August 1988	4:49
4.	"Us and Them"	Waters/Wright	22 August 1988	7:22
5.	"Money"	Waters	23 August 1988	9:52
6.	"Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)"	Waters	19 August 1988	5:28
7.	"Comfortably Numb"	Gilmour/Waters	23 August 1988	8:56
8.	"Run Like Hell"	Waters/Gilmour	21 August 1988	7:12

LP Edition

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Shine On You Crazy Diamond"	Waters/Gilmour/Wright	11:53
2.	"Learning to Fly"	Gilmour/Ezrin/Carin/Moore	5:27
3.	"Yet Another Movie"	Gilmour/Leonard	6:21
4.	"Round and Around"	Gilmour	0:33

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
5.	"Sorrow"	Gilmour	9:28
6.	"The Dogs of War"	Gilmour/Moore	7:18
7.	"On the Turning Away"	Gilmour/Moore	7:58

Side three
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"One of These Days"	Waters/Gilmour/Mason/Wright	6:15
2.	"Time"	Waters/Gilmour/Mason/Wright	5:16
3.	"Money"	Waters	9:52
4.	"Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)"	Waters	5:28

Side four
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
5.	"Wish You Were Here"	Waters/Gilmour	4:49
6.	"Comfortably Numb"	Gilmour/Waters	8:56
7.	"Run Like Hell"	Waters/Gilmour	7:12

Cassette

Cassette one

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Shine On You Crazy Diamond"	Waters/Gilmour/Wright	11:53
2.	"Learning to Fly"	Gilmour/Ezrin/Carin/Moore	5:27
3.	"Yet Another Movie"	Gilmour/Leonard	6:21
4.	"Round and Around"	Gilmour	0:33

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
5.	"Sorrow"	Gilmour	9:28
6.	"The Dogs of War"	Gilmour/Moore	7:18
7.	"On the Turning Away"	Gilmour/Moore	7:58

Cassette two

Side three
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"One of These Days"	Waters/Gilmour/Mason/Wright	6:15
2.	"Time"	Waters/Gilmour/Mason/Wright	5:16
3.	"Us and Them"	Waters/Wright	7:22
4.	"Money"	Waters	9:52
5.	"Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)"	Waters	5:28

Side four
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"Wish You Were Here"	Waters/Gilmour	4:49
7.	"Comfortably Numb"	Gilmour/Waters	8:56
8.	"Run Like Hell"	Waters/Gilmour	7:12

Songs omitted from the album

The concerts also featured the following songs which were not included on the album:

• "Signs of Life" *
• "A New Machine"
• "Terminal Frost"
• "On the Run" *
• "The Great Gig in the Sky" *
• "Welcome to the Machine"
• "One Slip" *

Songs with asterisk (*) are included in the video version. And these bootlegs:

• Another Movie in Long Island (20 August 1988).
• Nassau Coliseum 1988 (20–21 August 1988).

Personnel

Pink Floyd

• David Gilmour – guitars, console steel guitar, lead vocals
• Nick Mason – drums, percussion, vocal sample on "One of These Days"

Additional musicians

• Richard Wright – keyboards, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Time" & "Comfortably Numb"
• Jon Carin – keyboards, programming, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Comfortably Numb"
• Rachel Fury – backing vocals
• Durga McBroom – backing vocals
• Scott Page – saxophones
• Guy Pratt – bass guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)", "Comfortably Numb" and "Run Like Hell"
• Tim Renwick – guitars, backing vocals
• Margaret Taylor – backing vocals (also known as Machan Taylor)
• Gary Wallis – percussion, additional keyboards on "Comfortably Numb"

Production

David Hewitt Remote Recording Engineer

• Doug Sax – mastering
• David Gleeson – assistant engineering
• Buford Jones – engineering
• Dimo Safari – band photography
• Storm Thorgerson and Nick Marchant – cover design and graphics

Sales chart performance

Year	Chart	Position
1988	UK Albums Chart	11[5]
	Billboard 200	11[6]
	Norwegian Record Charts	2[7]
	Swiss Charts	4[8]
	Austrian Album Charts	15[9]
	Dutch Album Charts	20[9]
	Swedish Album Charts	14[9]
	Australian Album Charts	4[9]
	New Zealand Album Charts	4[9]

References

1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Album review at AllMusic. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
2. "Album review". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
3. Azerrad, Michael. "Album review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
4. The Live Albums Archived 20 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
5. "Chart Stats". www.chartstats.com. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
6. Billboard chart peak position at AllMusic. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
7. "norwegiancharts.com - Pink Floyd - Delicate Sound Of Thunder". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
8. "Pink Floyd - Delicate Sound of Thunder - hitparade.ch". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
9. "International peak chart positions". www.ultratop.be. Retrieved 8 July 2011.