The iconic concert film featuring Pink Floyd at Pompeii is receiving an exciting and much-anticipated update, offering fans a unique opportunity to experience this legendary performance in a manner that was once unimaginable. This revitalized version of Pink Floyd at Pompeii -MCMLXXII will be showcased globally starting on April 24, thanks to the collaboration between Sony Music Vision and Trafalgar Releasing, including select screenings in the immersive IMAX format. Remarkably, the original 35mm negative, which was previously thought to be lost, was discovered in what has been described as “five dubiously labeled cans” within the archives of Pink Floyd. The footage underwent an extensive restoration process, painstakingly handled frame by frame to ensure the best possible quality. Additionally, the talented Steven Wilson, renowned for his remarkable work in remixing the catalogs of classic progressive artists and his own successful career, was tasked with revisiting and restoring the audio.

In a recent and insightful interview with the UCR Podcast, Wilson explained that restoring the audio was a significant challenge. “The recording was quite basic,” he remarked. “There were only four mono feeds available – one for drums, one for bass, one for guitar, and one for keyboards. Much of what you hear in the original performance is just those four channels,” he elaborated. “While some overdubbing was done later in Paris, and there are occasional vocals, at this stage in their career, Pink Floyd was not particularly vocal-heavy. The focus was mostly on instrumental performance.”

Watch Pink Floyd’s ‘One of These Days’ Recorded Live at Pompeii

READ MORE: Discover Why Pink Floyd Performed at Pompeii Without an Audience

“So, for the most part, you’re listening to just four channels, making me wonder, ‘How can I adapt this for Dolby Atmos and spatial audio?’ I did my best,” he continued. “My approach was to maintain a fairly dry and upfront sound. I invested considerable time in eliminating distortion, tape hiss, and level fluctuations, while trying to EQ the sounds to achieve a golden clarity without modernizing them too much. The challenges were mostly related to the limitations of the original recording. However, the true test will be the response from Floyd fans.”

Steven Wilson’s Unique Connection to the Pompeii Film

Throughout his illustrious career, Wilson has remixed classic recordings from legendary bands such as Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, King Crimson, and Jethro Tull, among others. As an ardent fan, he has always held a deep appreciation for the distinctive nature of the Pompeii film, which was conceived by French director Adrian Maben as an “anti-concert” film, a creative response to films like Monterey Pop and Gimme Shelter. “I first watched the movie as a child and was captivated by it. It had a profound influence on me,” he reflected. “I felt immensely honored to be invited to create the soundtrack for this incredible new print. When you see it, you will truly be amazed. It has taken Lana Topham [the director of restoration for Pink Floyd] three years to restore this print, and it appears as if it could have been filmed just yesterday.”

READ MORE: Watch a Clip of Pink Floyd Performing ‘A Saucerful of Secrets’

His approach to the audio work on the Pompeii film was highly specific, aiming for it to complement the new visual print while remaining authentic to the original event. “I firmly believed that since the band was performing outdoors, the sound would not have included much ambience,” he explained. “It should reflect a very dry, clear, and upfront sound. Therefore, that’s the mixing style I adopted—very dry and focused. While I know that Floyd fans can be quite discerning, and not everyone may appreciate my choices, this is the path I have chosen. It truly reflects what I always imagined the sound would have been like if you were standing under the hot sun in the desert that day.”

Updates on Steven Wilson’s Recent Projects

Steven Wilson, recognized for his contributions both as a solo artist and with bands like Porcupine Tree and Blackfield, launched his latest album, The Overview, in March. This album presents an engaging musical journey, accompanied by a corresponding film, and showcases the artist’s ability to blend both modern and vintage technology to craft an experience that fans will cherish. “I absolutely love creating music in 2025 because there are unprecedented creative avenues available for sound creation, processing, and manipulation,” he expressed with enthusiasm. “The plugins available today are phenomenal in terms of creativity and the possibilities they offer. However, I also have a strong affinity for vintage sounds. On The Overview, you will hear instruments like the Fender Rhodes, Hammond organ, mellotron, piano, and acoustic guitars.”

“Expect to hear a multitude of harmony vocals, along with those nostalgic ‘old-fashioned sounds.’ You’ll experience guitar tones processed through amplifiers and other tones generated via modeling techniques, including some recorded through modeling and later re-amped through traditional amps,” he elaborated. “I’m not a purist; I genuinely don’t mind as long as it sounds great and enjoyable. Consequently, when planning the live tour, we must find a way to integrate the best of both worlds. I’ll be bringing along a keyboard setup on the road, as I play a significant amount of keyboards on this record, including a Moog keyboard and a Prophet keyboard. I want to have the chance to manipulate the filters in real time, which enhances the live experience. I believe this is one of the most exhilarating times for music creation, given the array of tools at our disposal, both modern modeling and vintage equipment, and I intend to utilize both during the tour.”

The The Overview tour kicks off on May 1 in Stockholm, Sweden, and will conclude its first leg on June 13 in Madrid, Spain. The U.S. segment of the tour is scheduled to commence on September 9 in San Francisco. This album, comprising only two tracks, is a conceptual work inspired by the overview effect experienced by astronauts as they gaze back at Earth from space. During the forthcoming tour, Wilson will perform the entire album, stating, “It felt essential to do so with this particular project. The album isn’t very lengthy; it has the classic vinyl duration of 42 minutes. The live show will be approximately two and a half hours long, which means it will occupy about a third of the evening. However, there’s still ample opportunity for me to explore the rest of my back catalog,”

Listen to Steven Wilson on the ‘UCR Podcast’

Listen to Steven Wilson’s ‘The Overview’