Sold Date: August 17, 2016
Start Date: August 13, 2016
Final Price: £19.95 (GBP)
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Buyer Feedback: 167

PINK FLOYD The Final Cut UK HARVEST 1st PRESSING 

STUNNING COPY WITH FLAWLESS HOLOPHONIC SOUND.

PINK FLOYD 

The Final Cut 

a requiem for the post war dream

ORIGINAL UK HARVEST (SHPF 1983) FIRST PRESSING (March 1983) OF PINK FLOYD'S VASTLY UNDERRATED, "DIFFICULT" AND UTTERLY STUNNING "The Final Cut" LP 

UNPLAYED (prior to my one careful play-check) AND DELIVERING STRONG, RICH, WARM AND BEAUTIFULLY CLEAN AUDIO

A REALLY EXCEPTIONAL COPY - INCREDIBLY RARE TO FIND PLAYING SO WELL - IN MY OPINION, THE ULTIMATE UPGRADE.

The Final Cut was recorded using "Holophonics" - an audio processing technique used to enhance the aural three-dimensional 'feel' of the recording. Holophonics was used to make sound effects on the album appear more three-dimensional to the listener - sound effects, particularly when heard on headphones, appear to pass not just from left to right in the stereo spectrum but also from in front to behind of the listener and around them. Perhaps the most notable use of holophonics on the album is on the song 'Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert' - during the intro, an airplane is heard to fly swiftly overhead, passing from in front of the listener to behind them, before a huge explosion from the bomb it has dropped is heard surrounding the listener both in front and behind them and to either side of the stereo picture. The use of this technique was in keeping with Pink Floyd's long standing interest in using atmospheric sound effects combined with advances and innovations in audio technology to enhance the listener's experience of their music. It was also claimed that this process could not be duplicated if one made a copy of the recording i.e., copying from the vinyl record to tape or digital transfer

PRESSED WITH CUSTOM PICTURE LABELS

MATRIX NUMBERS: SHPF 1983 A-5U -1 -5- (TML-S) / SHPF 1983 B-2U -1- 2- (TML-M, TML-M) (one of the many matrix sets used for the first pressing)

THE LP IS HOUSED IN THE ORIGINAL GARROD & LOFTHOUSE PRINTED "MILITARY STRIP" GATEFOLD SLEEVE (with title sticker still in place) WHICH HAS A FACTORY SEALED LEFT SIDE EDGE AND IS DATE CODED '8303' (1983, March)

AND THE SET COMES COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL BLACK POLY-LINED INNER (especially designed for this release)

The Final Cut extends the autobiography of The Wall, concentrating on Roger Waters' pain when his father died in World War II (the album is dedicated "for eric fletcher waters 1913-1944")

Waters spins this off into a treatise on the futility of war, concentrating on the Falkland Islands, setting his blistering condemnations and scathing anger to impossibly subdued music that demands full attention. 

This is more like a novel than a record, requiring total concentration since shifts in dynamics, orchestration, and instrumentation are used as effect. 

The even bent of the arrangements, where the music is used as atmosphere and texture, means that The Final Cut purposely alienates all but the most dedicated listener but dedicated fans maintain that this is among Pink Floyd's finest efforts. 

That doesn't make this easier to embrace, of course, and it's damn near impenetrable in many respects, but with its anger, emphasis on lyrics, and sonic textures, it's clear that the album is everything Waters intended it to be

Track Listing: 

Side 1: The Post War Dream / Your Possible Pasts / One Of The Few / The Hero's Return / The Gunners Dream / Paranoid Eyes

Side 2: Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert / The Fletcher Memorial Home / Southampton Dock / The Final Cut / Not Now John / Two Suns In The Sunset

LABELS: VERY GOOD.

Clean, bright, factory-fresh labels with no spindles or signs of use

VINYL Visual: VERY GOOD.

Both surfaces retain their original deep, like-new glossy sheen and are completely unmarked - even under a bright light no wispy hairlines are visible - I don't think this copy has ever even been taken out of its inner sleeve

VINYL Audio: VERY GOOD.

The soundscapes Pink Floyd create on this LP are stunning with an astonishing dynamic range and tremendous use of textural/ambient sounds - bomb explosions, fighter planes, clocks ticking, footsteps, laughing, whispers etc. 

The audio throughout is sensationally strong and the record is politically astute, emotionally profound and extremely moving. 

The more I return to this LP the more I appreciate that this is possibly their greatest achievement - and that's really saying something when you consider the rest of the PF catalogue. 

And this copy not only looks in exceptional, unused condition but it plays beautifully from start to finish - and I cannot emphasise enough how hard it is to find a copy which will play as well as this.

SLEEVE: GOOD.

The original 'Garrod & Lofthouse' printed gatefold cover is also in good condition.

BLACK INNER SLEEVE: GOOD.