The restoration effort uses the original 35mm footage, accompanied with newly mixed audio, courtesy of Steven Wilson. The 2025 version of the film will be the fourth iteration, and with the upcoming film featuring documentary footage of the band working on ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’, it seems it will be a remaster of the 1974 edition, which was the most commercially successful cut too. The accompanying soundtrack album marks the first time that an album has been released alongside a theatrical cut too.

The film was directed by Adrian Maben, who also conceived of the project. Maben envisioned the would-be concert as an “anti-Woodstock”, where the amphitheater itself could be used as an instrument, and the band would play amongst the natural sounds of their environment. Drummer Nick Mason revealed that Maben described the idea as being “where there would be nobody present, and the music and the silence… would mean as much as, if not more than, a crowd of thousands.”

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Filmed in 1971 and released in 1972, the first version of the film featured just the performance. Two years later, at Maben’s suggestion, the film was recut, now including 20 minutes of documentary footage of the band in the studio recording ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’.. In 2002, a special director’s cut was released which introduced new edits, including footage from the Apollo missions, and heavily edited the setlist included from the performance, including omitting some songs entirely.   

The music video for the recently released ‘One Of These Days’ has racked up 300k views on YouTube in four days, and has been noted for its focus on the drumming of Nick Mason. One X user noticed the lack of footage of the rest of the band, which consisted of Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Richard Wright, and Mason. Another Floyd fan responded that the original footage had been lost before the original cut had even been released. Still, the video gives one of rock’s greatest, yet often under-appreciated drummers, his dues.

  Despite the various revisions of the order in which the tracks appear in the film, ‘Echoes’ always bookends the film, with the first part always appearing as one of the opening two tracks, and part two as a finale. The accompanying soundtrack album seems to match the original cut’s track listing, meaning ‘Echoes – Part One’ will play after the opener, ‘Pompeii’. It also appears that all of the tracks have gone under a remastering process too, with all album tracks labeled as ‘2025 Mix’ on streaming platforms.

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Pink Floyd’s performance in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius remains one of the band’s many iconic moments, and has inspired a range of artists, including Radiohead, Beastie Boys (whose inspiration is evident in the music video for ‘Gratitude’), and even David Gilmour, who returned to the venue in 2018. In Nick Mason’s own words, the film is a “rare and unique document of the band performing live in the period prior to ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’”.

The new version was released to mark the 10 year anniversary of their single “Pompeii,” taken from their debut album, Bad Blood. The track reached Number 2 in the UK Charts back in 2013 and is currently included in the Top 50 most streamed songs of all time in the UK.

The orchestral rendition of the track is titled “Pompeii MMXXIII.” Listen below.

Speaking on the collaboration with Hans Zimmer, Bastille frontman Dan Smith said, “Having the opportunity to work with the living legend that is Hans Zimmer, and his brilliant team, has been an absolute dream. Working with them on this new version of ‘Pompeii’ has been incredible and has put the biggest smiles on our faces throughout the whole wonderfully surreal experience.”

Smith had already been working with Hans Zimmer on other projects, with this being how this alternative version of “Pompeii” came to be created.

Hans Zimmer shared his thoughts on the track, saying, “It’s been proven time and time again that a beautiful, crafted song by a great band can have many lives and ‘Pompeii’ is a shining example of this.”

Zimmer continued, “Working hand in hand with Bastille and my team at Bleeding Fingers has been an exhilarating experience and an honour to be part of this remarkable journey. I’m so excited to share this rendition with you all!”

BASTILLE and HANS ZIMMER – POMPEII MMXXIII – OUT NOWhttps://t.co/roMzTG4JGR@HansZimmer pic.twitter.com/dtrmTVBgj5

— BASTILLE (@bastille) September 1, 2023

Bastille are currently touring the US to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Bad Blood. Their UK tour dates ended in July, with a commemorative double album version of Bad Blood also being released in July too.

The special edition reissue includes previously unheard demos, covers and live performances. The reissue is titled Bad Blood X (10th Anniversary Edition) and is available for purchase here.

In a press statement, frontman Dan Smith said, “When I started working on the songs that became ‘Bad Blood’ 10 years ago at a laptop in my bedroom, I never imagined that they’d be heard by so many people and then take us all over the world – it’s really mad to think about.”

He continued, “Ten years on, we wanted to put something special together to celebrate the album, whilst not messing with it too much. We had so much fun digging back through old artwork, photos and videos from that time to make a totally new package of artworks. My Dad even found an old CD-R of some of demos in the attic (that somehow people managed to pry out of my hands for a new 7” vinyl as part of this release – trust me… I didn’t think those versions would ever get heard).”

Speaking on the reissue, Smith concluded, “Putting all this together was such a nice way to step back into that world for a moment, and we really hope our fans feel the same way.”

Stream Bad Blood X (10th Anniversary Edition) here.

The video for the leading track “Running Away” has been directed by Casey Raymond, Le Bon’s long collaborator. It’s been shoot in The Factory in Porth, Wales. The clip shows the singer and saxophonist Euan Hinshelwood. “The song radiates sax-swagger; a tale exquisite in nature but ultimately doomed”. “The fountain that empties the world / Too beautiful to hold, we can hear the lyrics. Watch the video for “Running Away” below.

The new album is an “audacious tribute to memory, compassion and mortal salience“. Songs of Pompeii “feel suspended in time both of the moment and instant but reactionary and Dada-esque in their insistence to be playful, satirical, and surreal” says the statement.

Le Bon is a multi-instrumentalist and recorded the album largely by herself, with a help of co-producer Samur Khouja. “Pompeii was written and recorded in a quagmire of unease. Solo. In a time warp. In a house I had a life in 15 years ago. I grappled with existence, resignation and faith. I felt culpable for the mess but it smacked hard of the collective guilt imposed by religion and original sin” commented Le Bon on her upcoming release.

“The subtitle is: You will be forever connected to everything. Which, depending on the time of day, is as comforting as it is terrifying. The sense of finality has always been here. It seems strangely hopeful. Someone is playing with the focus lens. The world is on fire but the bins must go out on a Tuesday night. Political dissonance meets beauty regimes. I put a groove behind it for something to hold on to. The grief is in the saxophones.”

The album features signature synths made on the singer’s favourite Yamaha DX7, basslines inspired by 1980’s Japanese City Pop and vocals that add depth to each song. 

Le Bon fifth album Reward released in 2019 has reached the Top 50 Best Albums of 2019 by Pitchfork and its been nominate for Mercury Prize. The album received great reviews with mxdwn saying: “Le Bon’s dazzling vocals carry her lyrical narrative like a story untold, just as the melody drools like thick honey, turning into a goopy mass of ambiguous mysticism“.  

Cate Le Bon’s new album Pompeii is out February 4th. Listen / watch the new single “Running Away”https://t.co/sGUTXB9XFp

Mae albwm newydd Cate Le Bon ‘Pompeii” allan ar y 4ydd o Chwefror. Gwyliwch/gwrandech i’r sengl newydd ‘Running Away’https://t.co/sGUTXB9XFp pic.twitter.com/uAGSP89rZu

— Cate Le Bon (@CateLeBon) October 12, 2021

Cate Le Bon will hit the road next year for her World Tour 2022, starting in the USA in February and finishing off in April in the Netherlands. See the full list of the dates below. Tickets are available to purchase here.

6/02/2022 – Colony – Woodstock, NY
8/02 – Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY
9/02 – Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY
11/02 – Great Hall – Toronto, ON
14/02 – Thalia Hall – Chicago, IL
16/02 – Wonder Ballroom – Portland, OR
17/02 – Crocodile – Seattle, WA
20/02 – The Rock / SLO Brew Music Hall – San Luis Obispo, CA
24/02 – Teragram Ballroom – Los Angeles, CA
26/02 – Pappy’s – Pioneertown, CA

14/03 – Engine Rooms – Southampton, the UK
15/03 – Hackney Empire – London, UK
16/03 – Albert Hall – Manchester, the UK
17/03 – SWG3 TV Studio – Glasgow, UK
18/03 – Empire Music Hall – Belfast, UK
19/03 – The National Concert Hall – Dublin, IE
21/03 – Arts Club – Liverpool, the UK
22/03 – Irish Centre – Leeds, the UK
23/03 – The Mill – Birmingham, UK
28/03 – L’Aeronef – Lille, FR
29/03 – La Maroquinerie – Paris, FR
31/03 – Epicerie Moderne – Lyon, FR
1/04 – Bogen F – Zurich, CH
2/04 – Manufaktur – Schorndorf, DE
3/04 – UT Connewitz – Leipzig, DE
5/04 – Frannz Club – Berlin, DE
6/04 – Nochtspeicher – Hamburg, DE
7/04 – Stockholm – Hus 7 / Slaktkyrkan, SE
8/04 – Parkteatret – Oslo, NO
9/04 – Vega – Copenhagen, DK
11/04 – AB Box – Brussels, BE
12/04 – Paradiso – Amsterdam, NL

Photo Credit:  Press/ H Hawkline