A couple of weeks ago, I did a review on a recent triple LP release of a Pink Floyd show from 1994 called Torino (Turin) by a label called Late Lunch Records. In that review, I explained that the release was low-quality. It had a lot of issues, including just bad pressing in general. I bought two copies, and both of them had the same problems, so I don’t believe it was an isolated incident. You can find that original review here: Pink Floyd – Torino 1994. I didn’t expect to be writing a review for another version of this record at all, let alone this soon, but here we are.
I also mentioned that this was one of my favorite “new” Pink Floyd shows, and that in a lot of ways, I like it better than the officially released Delicate Sound of Thunder. It was my hope that someone else who also liked this show a lot would re-press this thing properly. Imagine my surprise when not only did someone do just that, but it happened to be the same company that put out the low-quality pressing in the first place: Late Lunch Records.
This second version of the release is identical in musical content to the original: it’s still the same great Pink Floyd show from that day in 1994. The labels on the discs are also identical (not the best feature), but this is where most similarities between the two end, thankfully. What we have this time is a better product all around. A friend of mine in Italy got a few copies into his shop and reached out, and I ordered one immediately.
This version of Torino is also a 3 LP set but comes pressed on beautiful splatter wax. The colors are sort of red, black, clear, and green as you can see. When I saw the sample pictures, I was hoping mine would arrive looking similar, but didn’t expect it due to the random nature of splatter pressings. So, I was very pleased when I discovered that it looked almost identical to the photos, even including the little bit of green on the third disc. These sets are limited to 300 copies, and each one is hand numbered on a high-quality sticker which is affixed to the actual record jacket. Mine was on the back, but I have seen a couple photos with the sticker on the front. Either placement looks nice.
Another thing that makes this pressing interesting and different from the first version is that this is the “Japanese” edition. These days, it’s difficult to tell if something is really made for the Japanese market, or if it’s just meant to cash in on the fact that people want Japanese (or even just Japanese looking) records. In this case, the album comes with an obi which is covered in Japanese writing, and the sleeve actually looks like it was meant to be sold in Japan. However, I haven’t seen a single copy for sale coming out of Japan, so who really knows. It’s safe to say this has been pressed in Europe, probably at the same place the other version was. Where it’s intended to be sold exactly still remains a mystery.
On the original green vinyl release, the three discs were all in a single, oversized sleeve, and packed into very cheap paper inners which added to the scratches and disc damage. These issues have been corrected in this version. Now, we have a high quality three panel gatefold, and the inner sleeves are of much better quality. The artwork on the jacket is minimalist, but very cool and appropriate for Pink Floyd. I think that when you see the records in contrast to the jacket, it forms quite a visually striking image. Appearance wise, I’d say this is official release type quality.
Soundboard Recording – Stadio delle Alpi, Torino, Italy 1994-09-13
A1 Intro
A2 Astronomy Domine
A3 Learning to Fly
A4 What Do You Want From Me
A5 On The Turning Away
B6 Take It Back
B7 A Great Day For Freedom
B8 Sorrow
C9 Keep Talking
C10 One Of These Days
C11 Money
D12 Shine On You Crazy Diamond
D13 Breathe
D14 Time
E15 High Hopes
E16 The Great Gig In The Sky
E17 Wish You Were Here
E18 Us And Them
F19 Another Brick In The Wall
F20 Comfortably Numb
F21 Hey You
What about the sound quality? As for the show itself, you can read my thoughts in the original review for this concert. The short version is that this is a unique and excellent performance that any Pink Floyd fan would be happy to own. As far as the pressing goes, this version is miles ahead of its green predecessor. These discs are heavy and of great quality. I always clean everything before I play it, but unlike the other version, this copy was pretty clean to begin with. These discs are also free from visible defects and the weird flecking I found in the original release. Once I spun the records, it was immediately apparent that this is the superior copy, and that Late Lunch Records has corrected many of the previous quality issues.
Are there any problems with this version? There are still a couple. We still have the same issue I mentioned previously with the abrupt and awkward cuts and fadeouts at the end of the discs. This makes sense because this version was almost certainly pressed using the same stampers as the green one. Also, the labels are the same, and they don’t look fantastic. On this current splatter version, there are small bits and pieces of the labels that are actually missing. This looks bad, but it’s not a deal breaker for me. I’m not sure why, but this seems to only be an issue with records coming out of Italy and some specific spots in Europe. Maybe they are coming from the same plant?
Although this release is MUCH better than its predecessor, my copy still has a pretty bad scratch on side two. This is very disheartening because other than that, I am very happy. It doesn’t skip, but causes a loud cracking sound that lasts for the duration of the first two tracks. Scratches like these are hard to see with splatter vinyl, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there. So, quality control is still an issue here.
As far as the rating goes, I gave the original green release a 4/10. Easily the worst rating I have given any pressing on this site so far. How does this version stack up? This 2.0 splatter version of Torino is about a 7/10 overall. If my copy hadn’t had scratches straight from the factory (for a third time), this would have been an easy 9/10. They chose a great show to work with, the audio source is fantastic, and the pressing is good if you can overlook the scratching. The packaging itself is a solid 10/10. Late Lunch has done a much better job with this version over their last pressing, but they should still make quality control a priority if they want to catch up with some of the other labels, such as Andy Capp.
So, what should you expect to pay for this record? Well, the first thing I should mention is that this one is a bit difficult to find. Much like some of the Ozzy boots I have written about previously, this one was going for a ton of money on eBay before it hit the wider market. Even still, there are very few copies for sale out there. I imagine that’s due to the fact that this one is actually limited as it says, but there is no way to know for sure. There are, however, a few copies available out there, and if you want one, you should get on it now. As of the time of this writing, you can expect to spend between 100.00 and 120.00 USD shipped for a brand-new copy. Best of luck in the search!