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Pink Floyd<\/a> are reissuing their classic 1975 album, Wish You Were Here<\/em><\/a>, for its 50th anniversary. Wish You Were Here 50<\/em><\/a> is out December 12 via Sony Music Entertainment<\/a>. The expanded edition will be available in 3xLP and 2xCD formats featuring alternate mixes and demos, or as a box set that also includes a fourth LP of live material recorded at Wembley Stadium and a Blu-ray that gathers three concert films from Pink Floyd\u2019s 1975 tour and a short film by graphic designer Storm Thorgerson<\/a>. Listen to \u201cThe Machine Song (Demo #2, Revisited),\u201d a demo of \u201cWelcome to the Machine,\u201d below.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the 1970s, album covers were equally as important as the music, because the cover helped to sell the record,\u201d Aubrey Powell, who co-founded the UK design collective Hipgnosis and designed the Wish You Were Here<\/em> cover alongside Thorgerson, said in a statement. \u201cRecord stores would carry 10,000 different images in album sleeves, so what we were doing had to look different and stand out amongst the crowd. I remember turning around to Storm and saying, \u2018How are we going to set a man on fire?\u2019 Because there was no digital way of doing it in those days. He said, \u2018Po, you\u2019re just going to have to do it for real.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Wish You Were Here<\/em> was in large part a tribute to Syd Barrett<\/a>, Pink Floyd\u2019s co-founder and original vocalist, who had left the band seven years prior due to his deteriorating mental health. Roger Waters<\/a> and David Gilmour<\/a> shared lead vocals on the album. Waters handled both halves of the 25-minute epic \u201cShine On You Crazy Diamond\u201d while Gilmour sang \u201cWelcome to the Machine\u201d and \u201cWish You Were Here.\u201d \u201cHave a Cigar\u201d was an exception: The band recruited folk songwriter Roy Harper<\/a> to perform the song.<\/p>\n Revisit Sam Sodomsky\u2019s Sunday Review of Wish You Were Here<\/em><\/a>, and read about the album\u2019s title track at No. 39 in \u201cThe 200 Best Songs of the 1970s<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n All products featured on Pitchfork are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n