“Wish You Were Here” at 50: Pink Floyd’s deluxe box set is a triumph for devoted fans

Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” has received the deluxe box-set treatment just in time for the holiday season—and it’s a winner in every possible facet. The band’s obsessives—and they are legion—will find much to adore in this exciting and expansive new release in celebration of the legendary LP’s 50th anniversary.

Originally released in September 1975, the Floyd’s ninth album had the arduous fate of being released as the follow-up LP to “The Dark Side of the Moon,” the band’s critically acclaimed juggernaut. “Wish You Were Here” is famously anchored by the multipart “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” the group’s tribute to Syd Barrett, their fallen leader who left their orbit years earlier after suffering a debilitating mental breakdown. From the poignant title track to the oozing, satirical groove of “Have a Cigar,” the album holds its rightful place as one of the decade’s enduring masterworks.

Which brings us to the box set, a three-disc, 30-song collection of remastered tracks, outtakes and bravura selections from the band’s 1975 tour. To call the 50th-anniversary edition of “Wish You Were Here” a smorgasbord is an understatement. Completists will revel in the vast selection of outtakes, a musical progress that affords listeners a window into each song’s evolution. As knowing meditations on the greed and hypocrisy at the heart of the music industry, “Have a Cigar” and “Welcome to the Machine” shine in particular, as do the title track’s various incarnations, which witness the band at its genre-eclipsing finest.

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The box set is rounded out by the Floyd’s epic April 1975 performance of “The Dark Side of the Moon” and selected works-in-progress from “Wish You Were Here” and “Animals,” the band’s 1977 release, at LA’s Sports Arena. The 16-song set, which closes with the magnum opus “Echoes” from “Meddle” (1971), is not to be missed. In and of itself, the deluxe edition’s concert forays offer a thrilling portrait of the group at the height of their powers.