Just announced is the release of Pink Floyd's A Momentary Lapse Of Reason - Remixed & Updated on physical and digital formats (including some unusual ones) in October 2021.

Remixed and updated from the original 1987 master tapes for ‘The Later Years’ by Andy Jackson with David Gilmour, assisted by Damon Iddins, the album on Pink Floyd Records (PFR37) will be available from 29 October on 2LP heavyweight 180g vinyl (cut at 45rpm for enhanced sound quality), CD, CD & DVD, CD & Blu-ray and digitally with stereo and 5.1 mixes. In addition, for the first time, and from 19 October 2021, the album will be presented in 360 Reality Audio, a new immersive music experience that closely mimics the omni-directional soundscape of live musical performance for the listener using Sony’s object-based 360 Spatial Sound technologies. This new edition of AMLOR will also be released in Dolby Audio and UHD in addition to 360 Reality Audio, all of which will continue with other Pink Floyd releases.

The release of The Later Years project in 2019 gave an opportunity for a fresh overview of A Momentary Lapse Of Reason, originally released in 1987. By returning to some of Richard Wright's original keyboard takes, and by re-recording new drum tracks with Nick Mason, producers David Gilmour and Bob Ezrin have restored a better creative balance between the three Pink Floyd members. Nick and David explain:

David Gilmour said: "Some years after we had recorded the album, we came to the conclusion that we should update it to make it more timeless, featuring more of the traditional instruments that we liked and that we were more used to playing. This was something we thought it would benefit from. We also looked for and found some previously unused keyboard parts of Rick’s which helped us to come up with a new vibe, a new feeling for the album.

"Bob Ezrin had worked on ‘The Wall’ with us back in ’79 and on some solo albums with me. I learnt a lot from Bob and he’s a valuable person to have on board. We started working on pieces of music that I had been writing and, come Christmas, we knew it was going well. One day, I felt this ‘thing’ coming on me that became Sorrow. I wrote five verses one evening. They just flowed out from nowhere in one of those great serendipitous moments that you recognize later as having been very valuable…. I knew that we were on a good roll and that this thing was going to work.”

Nick Mason, talking about this new version, added: "Initially it seemed a bit odd to start re-assembling a record after 35 odd years, but the public's appetite for alternate views of the same work has undoubtedly increased immeasurably over time. Inevitably the opportunity to revisit earlier work from a period where digital technology was the brave new world became increasingly interesting.

"There’s little doubt of the advantages in being able to find new elements within the music, or more often uncovering elements that became overwhelmed with all that new science…I think there is an element of taking the album back in time and taking the opportunity to create a slightly more open sound - utilising some of the things we had learned from playing so much of the album live over two massive tours.

"I enjoyed re-recording drum tracks with unlimited studio time. Momentary Lapse had been recorded under considerable stress and time constraints, and indeed some of the final mixing was done at the same time as rehearsals for the forthcoming tour.

"It was also nice to have an opportunity to enhance some of Rick’s work. Again, that positive tidal wave of technology just might have provided too many digital opportunities to overwhelm the band feel. Hopefully that’s one of the benefits of this remix!"

The remixed and updated ‘A Momentary Lapse Of Reason’ album also features a new album cover using an alternative beds photo by Robert Dowling from the original album cover shoot directed by the late Storm Thorgerson. Echoing the iconic original sleeve the 2021 album artwork is designed and art directed by Aubrey Powell/Hipgnosis and Peter Curzon/StormStudios.

Aubrey Powell explained: "I was looking to update the iconic five hundred beds picture my partner in Hipgnosis, Storm Thorgerson, had designed. On looking through the archives I discovered a version where the sea was encroaching on the set, just before Storm shut down the shot worried he would lose all the beds. I also wanted to make something more of the microlight. There were no shots of the plane in close up, so I hunted one down that was similar but white, and had Peter Curzon retouch the fuselage with the right colouring - red - then strip the microlight into the picture in an upfront position. David Gilmour and Nick Mason gave their approval and, voila, a fresh approach to an original favourite." 

BONUS MATERIAL & SPECIFICATIONS - DVD and Blu-ray

• Music Videos - Learning To Fly, Album Cover Photo Shoot 1987 (8m 46s), Learning To Fly (alternate version)
• Concert screen films (1987) - Signs Of Life, Learning To Fly, The Dogs Of War
• Documentary: David Gilmour & Storm Thorgerson - Interview re: AMLOR Album Cover Photo Shoot
• Audio only: The Dogs Of War (live, Atlanta 1987), On The Turning Away (live, Atlanta 1987), Run Like Hell (live, Atlanta 1987)

DVD audio resolution:

• Stereo PCM 48/16
• 5.1 Dolby Digital 48/16
• 5.1 dts 48k/16

• Stereo PCM 96/24
• 5.1 dts Master Audio 96/24
• 5.1 PCM 96/24

To order the various physical editions, you can do so from the following Amazon stores thus helping Brain Damage with a much needed contribution towards site running costs, at no extra cost to you! You will also have the advantage of the Amazon Price Promise where you automatically pay the lowest price they charge between the time you order something, and release.

Please note: not all the links are live at the time of posting this story (in particular the US store and the French store), but we will keep an eye out and update where necessary, should the links change.