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 band, who have been known in the past to take delight in the absurd, combine glam and prog rock to create a chaotic 40-minute epic. Inside the belly of the worm, England has evolved into a feudal system ruled by “the Devertebrates” – lords who have removed their spines to honour the great beast. Henry Spychalski, the lead singer of the ensemble, transforms himself into the heroic leader of the counter-resistant group called “the Grunters” who attempt to escape from the creature.

The frontman explained: “The Worm here is both a metaphor for capitalist greed, and the embodiment of a whole generation’s anxiety, dread and fear in the face of ever-looming apocalypse and world-ending natural disasters”. A manifesto further explaining the great mythical lore behind the album is also available to purchase alongside a physical copy here.

Music videos for “The End Is Now”, “Wyrmland”, and “The Worm” have brought to life the nightmarish England all directed by Spychalski.

Watch the video for “The End Is Now” below:

HMLTD started off as Happy Meal Ltd. in London in 2015. However, the band didn’t release their debut EP, Hate Music Last Time Delete, until 2018, and their debut album, West of Eden, until 2020. Having signed to the major label Sony in 2017, the band were dropped after inconsolable disagreements between the label and the band on their image and direction. Their first and second albums have been released through the London-based independent label Lucky Number.

Back in 2017, the flamboyant band, who often play with gendered dress codes, came under fire for what some perceived as queer baiting. “We’re trying to challenge toxic masculinity and we’re doing that from the perspective we can do that from, as the human beings we were born into being, which is predominantly straight cis men,” lead singer Henry Spychalski told DIY Magazine. “But I don’t think having that role should exclude or prohibit you from taking on that political perspective and from taking on what is probably the most violent, toxic, cruel force in our society. We’re learning from queer methods and we always try to express that indebtedness”.

The theatrical band is sure to put on a show during their two consecutive dates at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London this May. They will also be taking the stage at End of the Road Festival this summer. For tickets see here.

For HMTLD’s UK dates see below:

18/05/23 – Institute of Contemporary Arts – London
19/05 – Institute of Contemporary Arts – London
31/08 – End of the Road Festival – Salisbury

In the post to Ian McDonald’s official fan page on Facebook, the multi-instrumentalist’s son posted the heart-warming statement. “I’m deeply saddened to tell you that my father passed away yesterday from cancer. He was incredibly brave, and never lost his kindness or his sense of humour even when the going was rough.” He continued to pay tribute to his father, “My father was a brilliant, intuitive musician, a gentle soul, and a wonderful dad. He will live on forever through his beautiful music and the love of his fans. Thank you all.” Al Greenwood, Foreigner co-founder, also posted a touching tribute to his bandmate via Facebook.

McDonald was an accomplished musician, predominately a saxophonist he also played the keyboard, flute, vibraphone and guitar. Before he was making waves in the rock scene, McDonald learnt his craft as an army musician, where he also taught himself music theory.  Upon his departure from the Army, he joined forces with Judy Dyble, Robert Fripp and Michael Giles to form King Crimson. The group’s debut album, In the Court of the Crimson King, was released on 10th October 1969 via Island Records, and has proved to be highly influential and is regarded as one of the earliest successes within the prog-rock genre.

After leaving King Crimson, McDonald moved to New York City and in 1976 co-founded Foreigner. The group sired a huge catalogue of hits and became one of modern music’s most popular groups, McDonald played the guitar, woodwind instruments and keyboards. The group released their self-titled debut album in 1977, the ten-track album featured three big hits, “Feels Like the First Time” and “Long, Long Way From Home”. The album also featured the single “Cold as Ice”,  the track is highly ranked in published lists of greatest songs and is now regarded a key part of the rock genre’s canon.

McDonald left the group after their third studio album Headgames released in 1979 and saw great success as a session musician. McDonald’s musical talents can be heard on “Get it On (Bang a Gong)” by T-Rex. The talented artist continued to lend his talent to further collaborations and produced several albums. In 1999, McDonald released his solo album entitled Drivers Eyes, the album featured King Crimson band member John Wetton and Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm.

Since the news of the musician’s tragic passing, tributes from McDonald’s peers and fans have been pouring in. Among his bandmates, musicians who have also paid their respect include Gary Kemp, Sid Smith and the classic rock group Asia. The tributes posted to social media all tell of McDonald’s incredible influence and hail his immense musical talent.

Gilmour has recently stated to Guitar Player magazine his thoughts on the reunion and his ex-bandmates comments on the ordeal. “It has run its course, we are done. I’m all for Roger [Waters] doing whatever he wants to do and enjoying himself. But I absolutely don’t want to go back. I don’t want to go and play stadiums. I’m free to do exactly what I want to do and how I want to do it.”

“It has run its course, we are done” – @davidgilmour says there will never be a @pinkfloyd reunionhttps://t.co/7oidBpATFF

— Planet Rock (@PlanetRockRadio) March 11, 2021

In 1985, bass player Roger Waters left the band, openly stating they would not reunite. Waters took the remaining members to court so they could not carry on using the iconic band name, Pink Floyd. However, he lost and Pink Floyd continued, with Gilmour at the helm from 1985 through to 1994. The band, comprised of Gilmour, Nick Mason (drums), Richard Wright (keyboard) and a range of other musicians for song writing and composition, continued to make iconic, acclaimed albums using the Pink Floyd name. In 2005, the whole band, including Waters, got together for the final time, performing at the Live 8 concert which was organised by Bob Geldof.

The ‘Money’ singer has toured solo since the bands spilt. In 2006, Gilmour embarked on his ‘On An Island’ tour performing both solo and Pink Floyd tracks. In the Royal Albert Hall, the legendary artist David Bowie joined Gilmour on stage for an eerie yet brilliant rendition of Pink Floyd track, ‘Comfortably Numb’. This is believed to be Bowie’s last UK performance before his passing in January 2016.

Pink Floyd shook the world with their most critical acclaimed album, ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon.’ Their revolutionary use of sonic sound and psychedelic rock has influenced many legendary artists from Radiohead, Dream Theatre and most recently, Tame Impala. Whilst it is a shame that the legends will not be reuniting on stage, it is understandable with the past pandemic, the uncertainties of live music touring in Europe and the rich, emotional history Pink Floyd have.

Gilmour has recently released a new single, ‘Yes, I Have Ghosts’, his first new track in 5 years. Originally made as part of his wives, Polly Samson, audiobook ‘A Theatre For Dreamers’, it has now been released online and can be streamed on all major platforms.