Ok, so Pink Floyd are long gone, but fans got a real treat over the last couple of years as the original members made the rounds. The David Gilmour/Rick Wright tour in 2006, followed almost immediately by Roger Waters on the road with the occasional Nick Mason appearance in '06, and Waters never-ending "Dark Side" tours that continued into May, 2008 showed each man at his best. Roger completely in his element launching missives at the recent socio-political mess, and Gilmour continuing to evolve and getting his "On an Island" material out there with Floyd classics thrown in. Sorta nostalgic....and sorta not.

Although Gilmour's solo material has never achieved the energy and gravitas of Pink Floyd as a whole, there's gold in every single thing he's done because of that guitar. You'd be hard-pressed to find any song that doesn't include SOME kind of soaring melodic soloing that in an instant tells you it's David Gilmour.

"Live in Gdansk," recorded at the tail-end of the 2006 tour, has something for everyone. If you're a Floyd fan, there's so much to like in here. Classics like "Shine On, You Crazy Diamond," Astronomy Domine," and "Comfortably Numb" have NEVER been performed better live. And "Echoes," (all 25 minutes of it) is just spot-on perfect!

I'm not aware of any existing calculus to back this up, but has anybody this old ever played guitar this well? I mean, David Gilmour has that guitar barking, squealing, moaning and groaning, and screaming with that big fat tone that only he can conjure up. What is it, compressed, distorted, compressed again, sent out the country for more compression....Jeez! Anyway, even the "On An Island" material presented in concert has WAY more balls than the studio version, and the nuance and precision this guy brings to his playing is unmistakable.

Interestingly, the album has been packaged 5 different ways, inlcluding vinyl. The deluxe box set has all kinds of extras; two DVD's and bonus tracks too numerous to mention, and some cool tickets, passes, postcards and a guitar pick commemorating the concert in the Gdansk shipyard. So you're free to choose how far in you want to go.

But whatever you decide, you won't be disappointed. We've listened to this guy for decades, and I've never heard him sound better. The recordings just sparkle! The incredible detail and creativity that Gilmour and his band bring to material both old and new makes this a monumentally pleasing sonic experience. Play it loud and play it with the lights off.