For years, I stood by the assertion that without Roger Waters, it simply wasn't Pink Floyd. This was during the time of 'A Momentary Lapse of Reason' when it first came out in 1987. It seemed more a very slick, over-produced David Gilmour album that happened to have Nick Mason and Richard Wright play on it (with a cast of many others as well); even though I did buy it on LP at the time (then the CD later on), much as I enjoyed it, I more or less considered it Gilmour's third solo album, and not the Pink Floyd follow-up to 'The Final Cut' (itself, obstensibly the first Roger Waters solo album).

One more 'Rog-free' Floyd album followed, 'The Division Bell' in 1994 (preceeded by a lackluster live album 'The Delicate Sound of Thunder' in 1988) and that was a better album then 'Momentary' ... in part due to more involvement on Wright's behalf (who got to sing lead and co-write a track for the first time in ages, a welcome return). So the subsequent live album 'Pulse' the year after 'Divison' came and I ignored it until a year ago since I felt it might be no better than the other post Rog live album.

That opinon changed when I decided it was time to fill holes in my Pink Floyd collection, so I got the 'Pulse' DVD and was amazed at how good it was, how well the band played and kept the flame going. OK, for this die-hard Roger Waters fan, it sill felt like it missing something (Rog's acerbic, edgy bent is absent, once David Gilmour took the reins) but it's still worth having in the DVD collection. So I chanced the live 'Pulse' CD (blinking light and all) and found that they did a very good job with 'Dark Side of the Moon' (that Rog sang lead on only the last two songs 'Brain Damage/Eclipse' means that he's vocally not missed that much) and the newer material shone bright too, as did other Floyd classics "Shine on you Crazy Diamond", "Comfortably Numb" and all the rest.

Goes to show that even with the most legendary of bands, if they end up where one key member leaves and there's still the remainder of the band around to keep it going, still usually better than none at all.

Pink Floyd's twenty first overall and second double live album PULSE was released in June of 1995.
This double live album was recorded on the European leg of Pink Floyd's 1994 world tour to support their chart-topping album entitled The Division Bell (which is now officially their final studio album as of September, 2008 following the death of keyboard player Rick Wright).
The reason for the double live PULSE album and its off-shoot video (later released on DVD) was at the end of the North American and Canadian leg of the tour (I had the priviledge of seeing them in Foxboro, MA in May of 1994 with 55,000 fans embracing them on one of their three nights sold out nights at Foxboro Stadium in Mass), they decided to resurrect something they had not done since their 1975 US Tour, their 1973 classic Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety.
The PULSE album was superbly produced by singer and guitarist David Gilmour and longtime engineer James Guthrie whom also engineered and mixed the album. Some songs had solos dubbed in from other shows because either the playing was awful (by the band's standards) or the solo came in a bar late or a vocal was flubbed. Hence, the album was not re-recorded in the studio unlike many live albums but edited from other shows as technology today allows fixings to come from a click of a mouse.
The first disc is a potpourri of material of classic Floyd tracks like the Syd Barrett era classic "Astronomy Domine", plus The Wall classic "Hey You", the masterpiece "Shine on You Crazy Diamond (pts. 1-5 and 7)" and a stellar "Another Brick in the Wall(pt.2)" (with teasers of part 1 and Happiest Days thrown in for good measure) and post-Roger Waters material which were stellar readings of the Momentary Lapse tracks "Learning to Fly" and "Sorrow" (better on PULSE than on Delicate Sound of Thunder) and the tracks from The Division Bell starting with "What Do You Want From Me", "Keep Talking", "Coming Back to Life", "A Great Day For Freedom" and a spirited "High Hopes".
The second disc is the complete Dark Side of the Moon album in its entirety plus encores of "Wish You Were Here", "Comfortably Numb" and "Run Like Hell". Except for the jam in the middle of "Money" and a modern sounding version of "On the Run", the whole of Dark Side of the Moon sounds just like the studio LP, but almost better in some cases like "Time" (with Gilmour playing stellar leads here), "The Great Gig in the Sky" (I apologize but Sam Brown did the first part way better than Clare Torry IMHO and Durga McBroom and Claudia Fontaine were impressive) and "Us and Them". The rest is superb as well ("Speak to Me", "Breathe", "Any Colour You Like" and "Brain Damage"/"Eclipse").
On the cassette version of the album . Of note, on the original LP and cassette versions was a superb live version of "One of These Days" and a 22 minute ambient piece which wasn't on the CD due to time constraints.
The PULSE album, when first released, originally came packaged with a blinking light on the spine of the CD artwork. Also, the album was an instant smash hitting #1 in both the US and UK in its first week and selling over three million copies here in the US alone immediately.
Sadly, this album is now a document of Pink Floyd's final tour in wake of Rick Wright's September, 2008 passing but the album is a living teatament to not only Wright but also Pink Floyd's incredible legacy.
RECOMMENDED!

Any true fan of Pink Floyd will know that Pulse is by far the very best compilation of their best works.

This is an excellent CD for all who love live music and specially Pink Floyd, it comes with a 2 CD set and the art in the CD is awesome

Finally I decided to bought this cd. First to say I had listened it a time ago and didn't care about it. So I decided to give a second chance. (Ten years after!!!) I must to say I love it!!!!!!!!.

I went to this tour in NJ & NY when they came around. This captures the dynamics and excitement of those shows superbly! Excellent sound & production. Quite possibly one of the best live CD recordings ever. I highly recommend this CD to any current (or future) Pink Floyd fan.

This 1995 live set simply kicks Delicate Sound Of Thunder's butt in documenting live Pink Floyd. The songs performed here try to stay true to their studio originals. As with the previous live set, this one also has a video version. It was recorded in October 1994 at Earls Court in London in support of the Division Bell album. There is also a complete live performance of Pink Floyd's best-seller The Dark Side Of The Moon which is the highlight of the whole set. The songs from the classic 1973 release stay to original form. Another highlight is Comfortably Numb in which David Gilmour probably does his best guitar work ever. The band members here feel more united than ever before doing their best work without having to contend with Roger Waters. The feud with Waters during their late-1980's tour probably marred their live performance as documented on Delicate Sound Of Thunder. Not here. This is pure, unadulterated live Pink Floyd.

A MUST HAVE for any true Floyd phan's collection. Includes songs not on the also incredible DVD. You'll love it!

I was first introduced to Pink Floyd's "Pulse" by renting the concert DVD as a suggestion from a friend. Let me just start by saying that the DVD was so good, that I immediately went down to the store to by it. After watching it a few times, still in awe, I then went out and bought the 2 disk CD set. No doubt this DVD and CD set is the best concert work of Pink Floyd I've ever seen or heard. Even with the absence of Roger Waters they seem to hit every note to every song to a tee. I find that it's impossible for any aging band to try to sing there songs as good as there original LP recordings. In this concert they did! A must have if you're a Pink Floyd fan and I believe you'll get more enjoyment if you buy both the DVD and the CD.

For those of you buying the CD without seeing the DVD concert, you may not appreciate or understand what is happening. The DVD is very visual, so just hearing the CD may not be as good. We rented the Pulse DVD and were amazed at how much we loved it. Roger Waters isn't there, true, but Gilmore and band mates did a fantatstic job. I bought the DVD after renting it and then bought the CD for our car. It takes you back to moments of the DVD. Crank it up!

There are never any disappointments with this concert and David Gilmour and others are at their very best. Happy Birthday to David at 61 on February 7th. You are truly a genius how you pick that guitar. I never get tired of watching this final tour concert. It provides a new thrill every time I have the privilege to watch it. I have nearly every album ever produced by Pink Floyd, which provides me endless listening enjoyment of their music.

Fans will admit without hesitation that Pink Floyd was well beyond their time in the 70's. Their experimenting with sounds was second to none with some of the most inovative music that we are every going to hear. Let's face it, "Dark Side" of 1973 remains a listening legend to this very day with songs from the cut always coming up on the pop radio stations.

Yes Pink Floyd (and especially David Gilmore), you guys are the best of the best and I only "Wish you were here" still as a live concert group. I am thankful for what you have given to us with your music talents and believe Pink Floyd will truly live on to eternity.

I still don't understand how can someone rate this as a one star album.
You are a great fan of Pink Floyd, you gave Dark side a five star rating and you hate this cd ? Maybe you should see a doctor.
The Dark side version is nearly perfect, plus you have other classics in very good live version and the best from "Division Bell"
Yes I am a Roger Waters fan and I know he was the genious and spirit of the band but one should admit that David, Rick and Nick also contributed to what was Pink Floyd and make some effort to appreciate their works on this great double cd live set. You don't have to hate the rest of the band only because Roger left the band...

My old box for the 2-disc set had a blinking red LED. I was disappointed that this box did not.

Other than that, it's the same as my old one and the music is great as usual.

Sound quality is very good. Listening to CD (and seeing the DVD show), I have relived their '94 concert which I saw in New York. Can listen to it again and again.

This was purchased and arrive well in time for a Christmas gift. There were no problems and the disc arrived in great shape.

Any fan of Floyd should own this CD. A great collection of songs and most of them sound incredible live.

Yet, I'll give it a go. I bought the CDs mainly due to the performance of Comfortably Numb (which is absolutely the best guitar solo ever!) but it is so much more than just one song. Especially Disc 2(from Dark Side Of The Moon). A must buy. David Gilmour has created a real masterpiece. It really is indescribable. Next, I'm definitely getting hold of the DVD.

This purchase just corroborated my previous good experience with amazon.com
The DVD has no damage at all, arrived to my address quickly and was in a fairly good price.

There is only one thing I don't like about this recording. The woman they used for great gig (actually I believe they used two) just doesn't do a very good job at all. Normally one of my favorite songs on dark side, I usually skip it when listening to this.

That being said however, every other track is all that you have come to expect from Pink Floyd, whether live or otherwise.

Highly Recommended.

I usually don't care much for recordings of live performances, but this is an exception. Not as structured as a studio recording, it's free and flowing music. Love it!

On the road, is there anything better than this? Did you live without listening to PF?

Pink Floyd's 1995 live album "Pulse" is by far one of the finest live albums I've ever heard. Recorded during their 1994 tour to support their then new album "The Division Bell", "Pulse" is Floyd at the top of their game, even without Roger Waters. There's tons of great performances, including an amazing set consisting of every song from "Dark Side Of The Moon", as well as bonechilling interpretations of "Cmfortably Numb", "Run Like Hell" and many other classic Floyd tunes. "Pulse" is definitely worth your money.

The only time I ever got to see Pink Floyd live in concert was on their last tour for "The Division Bell" album back in 1994. Although a lot of that Floyd concert I saw is now only a big blur in my mind, I do remember the sheer spectacle of it all---the lasers, the lighting, the trippy-looking animations & films on the circular screen behind the band, the quadrophonic sound, and those great big inflatable pigs during "One Of These Days"! I also remember how great the band sounded in concert, and this live album from 1995, "Pulse," documents the Floyd on their "Division Bell" tour in all of it's sonic glory. I think it's a better live album than "The Delicate Sound Of Thunder," too. There's a better selection of songs, and the band themselves sound better on this one, their performances very tight and clean throughout. And Gilmour's voice has also improved immensely since "Delicate Sound Of Thunder," where he *growled* the words too damn much instead of singing them (Gilmour was also a lot heavier on that previous tour---the weight loss definitely did him good in more ways than one!). And, of course, there's the complete live performance of "Dark Side Of The Moon," which is marvelously done. Not only that, but "Pulse" also boasts incredible packaging. I LOVE the beautiful accompanying tour book and cover artwork! It's really well done. The only thing missing from Pink Floyd's "Pulse" is Roger Waters, although Guy Pratt does a good job filling in for Waters on bass (and his co-lead vocal with Gilmour on "Run Like Hell" is also a big improvement from his previous try on "Delicate Sound Of Thunder," which sounded too ragged. This time around, Pratt gets it right). While I'm disappointed that David Gilmour, reportedly, cannot be swayed into touring and recording with Pink Floyd anymore---he says it wouldn't make him "a happier person" to do Pink Floyd again---I am happy that at least the Floyd went out with a great album and tour. "The Division Bell" is an excellent album, and "Pulse" is an equally-excellent live document from the tour. If you gotta go out, go out on top, and Pink Floyd definitely did just that. Long live the mighty Pink Floyd!

I have listened to this cd several times since purchase and I am very pleased with it.I didn't really care for track 1,too much pre-concert noise.I realize it is a live concert but at home it just gets in the way of the enjoyment.The cd itself was in perfect condition and it arrived in good time,thanks.

I LIKED THE CD AND RECEIVED JUST ON TIME IN MY HOUSE (BRAZIL). THANKS AMAZON.

This album lacks more than just energy, it lacks that surrealisism that we attracted Pink Floyd fans in the first place. The music itself is technically well played but the vocals are, at best, flat and at times downright pathetic. With hokey emphasis on specific words that remind me of how perhaps a fourteen year old may sing these songs. Perhaps it is just me, but the original surreal quality of Pink I always stemmed from the almost "matter of fact" way Waters sang songs like Run like hell. This album places almost juvenile over emphasis on thier lyrics that destroys the surrealistic style of the original music. Pink Floyd fans of all types will find this album just plain lacking.

****1/2
I agree with the other reviewer who said that this recording of the 1994 Earl's Court performance "seems to lack energy at times." It sounds great, don't get me wrong, but the crowd doesn't seem particularly enthusiastic for most of the performance. Yes, they cheer, but I like a live album where you can hear them singing along faintly in the background and where the cheers following the performance of a song reach the same volume or a greater volume than the song itself. This is one of the things that separates a live recording from a studio album, and that energy is somewhat lacking on this CD. I can only conclude that none of the mics were angled towards the audience, but I get the impression that seeing this show live must have been incredible.

That said, Floyd sounds as good as ever on this work. The biggest attraction here is obviously the live performance of the entire "Dark Side Of The Moon" album, which is utterly fantastic. PULSE is worth owning for this live rendition of the Floyd's masterpiece alone. The rest of the material on here is an added bonus. PULSE includes what I believe is the best-ever recording of "Wish You Were Here," but I do think it should have been the last encore rather than the first... but that's just me. In any case, it sounds better than the studio recording, which was fantastic to begin with.

Floyd fans really can't go wrong here, especially those who enjoy the band's post-Waters work. Those who prefer the Waters-era Floyd the most will want this just for the DSOTM performance. This is a great live CD by any standard, and is well worth picking up.

One of the best concert DVDs I've ever seen. I had to go over to my friends house and watch it on a big screen the second time just to make sure I wasn't dreaming about my picture. The extra features are great and the navigation of the disks is well thought out and every easy flowing. Who am I kidding, its the music and Pink Floyd that you would buy this for and that is the reason to get this, well worth it!

the cd i had been looking for was not in music stores at the mall, so i checked out amazon for the first time and there it was. this is my favorite pink floyd cd. and i had to have it again. I gave my first one years ago to a good freind leaving for a new carreer in Texas. so i had to get this cd back. My teenage kids love pink floyd know. Thanks to Amazon I have it back.

pink floyd is incredible! i wish i could b more eloquent n describing them, but the awe that i feel, the admiration 4 their gift, leaves me with but one word: INCREDIBLE!
so it goes without saying that this live album of the division bell tour is as well.
i was at the concert n '92 n clemson, sc, and i only wish that id been clear-headed so i could remember the details. so, this album takes me back, and makes me pray 4 the day that they tour again!

Ok. It's Pink Floyd or Pink Gimour but it's a great tour, especially because they choose the best songs of Pink Floyd, and particullarly a recomend all the work by Gilmour in the guitar awesome!!

I'll keep this review short and simple. If you like/love Pink Floyd, then you probably like/love Dark Side, and Pink Floyd is great in concert (at least I think so), so to put those together is enough to buy Pulse on its own. But Pulse offers so much more than that, with other great concert recordings. Pick it up if you enjoy hearing them live (and if you like them live, you really should get all of their live albums).

It's not Delicate Sound of Thunder But it's good Pink Floyd. And it comes with a picture book.

Like so many others, I reluctantly and sadly gave up on Pink Floyd after The Wall. Final Cut is too dismal, and without Roger Waters, how could they possibly still be the true Pink Floyd we all know and love? I missed them terribly, and I wanted more. In my bias (and I'm not proud of this), Momentary Lapse seemed more a solo album, or perhaps an offshoot of PF, but not the real Pink Floyd, and I scarcely gave it a chance. Not long ago, a friend loaned me Pulse, mainly to hear the entire performance of Dark Side (which is excellent). The other familiar songs were good, too, even the singles I had heard from Momentary Lapse.

Before returning the CD to my friend, I felt obliged from loyalty to the great years to at least give the unknowns a serious ear. Randomly, I started with "Keep Talking." To my complete wonder and amazement, here was a true Pink Floyd song, as pure and as enthralling as anything from Animals or Wish You Were Here. It must be a lucky fluke, I thought. My second choice was "Sorrow," simply because it is long. Again, I found myself grinning and drawn in exactly like during their prime. It was wonderful to realize that the mistake was mine. These songs definitely ARE true Pink Floyd, and taking nothing away from Roger Waters, he is NOT an essential ingredient after all. So I went back - "What Do You Want With Me," "Coming Back to Life," "A Great Day For Freedom," "High Hopes," and "Sorrow" again (even better the second time). I felt like I had discovered a rare gem I never knew existed - another lost Pink Floyd masterpiece. How could I have been so blind and so deaf? Since 1980, I have thirsted for more Pink Floyd, and here it has been all along!

To those others like me who may have given up on them and have always wanted more, give Pulse a chance. Listen closely, turn it up, and see if you are not transported to the same place that PF has always been able to take us. I defy you to hear that little concert within the concert and not run out and buy Division Bell and Momentary Lapse. Gilmour, Mason, and Wright, please forgive my own lapse. Thank you all once again.

It seems this CD, and the DVD, are the products David Gilmour fought for all these years. Doing most of the lead vocals, playing the bulk of the guitar solos, and having longtime bandmates Nick Mason and Rick Wright on the stage with him, with no apparent conflict within the band, and possibly the biggest, most elaborate lightshow in history to compliment the sound, are all elements for the end result of decades of wrangling with others, often with frustrating results. Given, Roger Waters was, and is, a superior songwriter and conceptualist, but missing in his work is the texture his former bandmates added to it. But, this isn't a review about Waters. This is about Gilmour, Mason, and Wright, the auxiliary musicians, and this stellar document.

I attended the Pittsburgh leg of the "Division Bell" tour, in May of 1994, and as good as the video and sound of the CD are, it's not like seeing this spectacle in person. The show I saw opened with "Astronomy Domine," and this really surprised me. In an interview I read in a magazine once (can't remember which one), Nick Mason said he loved "Astronomy Domine," but for the life of him, he couldn't picture David Gilmour, in dignified middle age, shreiking out Syd Barrett's lyrics about the I Ching and interstellar exploration to an audience, and being taken seriously. Of the four men who played on the original version, we now only have two (Mason and Wright), and a slew of others, and I can see why some purists would be a little miffed at this. It's Syd Barrett's song, and Gilmour wasn't even a member of Pink Floyd when it was written. But, Gilmour has remained Barrett's friend over the years, and it was a nice gesture to commemorate him with one of his most successful songs on the biggest tour his former band ever embarked on.

The sound quality on this disc is loud and clear, just like the show. It's a tri-parteid event, the first part using familiar material at first, focusing mostly on what was new material at the time. The set closer, "One Of These Days," doesn't have the bite the "Pompeii" video had soundwise, but it is the single most mind-blowing part of the show, with the possible exception of the show's finale. Oscillating lights, liquid projections, lasers, smoke, explosions, and huge, evil-looking inflatable pigs with boars' tusks peering out of windows built into the top of the stage backdrop, more than make up for the smooth, lifeless tempo of the song as they have grown to play it. It's not supposed to "swing" as it does here, but in this case, the song's tempo is incidental. It is just an excercise in excess. In fact, the whole show is a triumph of excess.

As others have said, part two of the show is the complete "Dark Side Of The Moon." The show I attended, didn't have this; they only played five selections from it. So, listening to the CD and watching the video, gives a one a rare treat, most of the original personnel playing their biggest-selling LP, all the way through, and it's a real treat. But I have to say, even though the original will always have something subsequent versions lack, the definitive version of "The Great Gig In The Sky" is the one heard on "The Delicate Sound Of Thunder" video. I don't even know if this is still available, but it will change the way you listen to this piece. Originally called "The Mortality Suite," the vocal was developed by Claire Torry for "The Dark Side Of The Moon", on instructions to sing wordlessly about the spectre of death. And she really delivered. The "Pulse" version is good, but the one I keep going on about ("Delicate Sound..."), features vocals by Rachel Fury, Durga McBroom (on this tour as well), and Margaret Taylor. Taylor's performance will absolutely FLOOR you. That's all I can say about it. No description.

They added a funky section to "Money" for the live shows quite some time before this tour, and some people really don't like it. I like it, and I like it without that section, as well. Can't pick one over the other, though, I just listen to them and appreciate them on their own merits. "Any Colour You Like" is a return to the days when they played London's UFO Club, and even though the visuals are just some swirling lights, it's the same thing they used in the old days, and it's just a pleasant jam session, two chords back and forth, very relaxing. Over the years, Waters has been on the receiving end of my criticism over his singing abilities, but on "Brain Damage" and "Eclipse," his presence is missed. Gilmour's voice is technically superior, but he doesn't sing this with the same conviction as Waters. This is the reason no material from 1977's "Animals" is included on this, or "Delicate Sound." And I felt the visuals here took from the music. It is a song about losing one's hold on reality, but the clip shows the world's politicians in stock footage. Yes, you can say politicians are insane, but this takes away from the nature of the rest of the piece. We're all just one bad day away from our heads "exploding with dark forbodings." And "Eclipse" is another one tailored to Waters' voice. But the whole piece would suffer without it. In all, though, they did a remarkable job.

The third part is the encore. The same running order as "Delicate Sound," but a little more in the production. The audience sings along with "Wish You Were Here," but they render a version of "Comfortably Numb" that is in a class all its own. This is Gilmour's chance to let his Stratocaster speak to you, one on one. A song you can just get lost in.

And of course, "Run Like Hell," the grand finale, just completely envelops the stage and audience in light and sound. Not one of my favorite songs, but they play it well. Again, missing is that voice only Waters can deliver, but the production as a whole, more than makes up for it.

This has been a lengthy review, and I could have made it even more so, but I do need to have a cut-off point. I read review after review about Gilmour's laziness, and Waters' control issues, and Mason and Wright being only window dressing, and most of these people just want to love one camp and hate the other, but I consider myself a true Pink Floyd fan, and have been for well over thirty years, and I like some Floyd works more than others. Some don't hold up, but "Pulse" is an appropriate ending to one of the the most influential collective careers in the history of contemporary music. And, the reunion at "Live 8" closed the book on a good note.

One of my all-time favorite bands. Ever. Good work, gentlemen!