The new Pulse DVD is the much-anticipated follow-up to the VHS release of Pink Floyd's best-selling concert video documenting their monumental Division Bell tour of 1994. Rumors began spreading back in 2004, possibly earlier, of the DVD's imminent release, but the date was pushed back numerous times, with production problems or scheduling conflicts usually to blame. Now that it has finally arrived, was it worth the wait? Of course it was.

The two-disk DVD package comes in a basic two-fold digipack and features some trippy new artwork by Storm Thorgerson. A four-page booklet is inside includes mainly concert photos and menu maps for each disk. David Gilmour also made sure to throw in a postcard ad for his new On An Island album. Much of the video has been re-edited, sometimes for the worse, using alternate camera angles, which may leave you scratching your head if you recently viewed the VHS version.

Pulse was recorded on October 20th, 1994, during Pink Floyd's two-week stand at London's Earls Court, while touring in support of the recently released, Roger Waters-less, Division Bell album. For those of you lucky enough to have seen the tour, or who at least saw the original VHS version of Pulse, you know that the Division Bell tour was one of the most amazing visual spectacles to ever call itself a rock concert. I can't say that it has been, or ever will be, topped. The stage is so damn enormous, and the wall of lights, lasers, videos, and special effects are so spectacular that you might find yourself forgetting that there is actually a band playing up there.

Although this tour was in support of the Division Bell album, the real star here was The Dark Side Of The Moon - performed in its entirety. The performance was absolutely stunning, and I look forward to comparing Roger Waters' version, when I see him next month. Before the Dark Side album was trotted out, the Floyds opened the show with a mesmerizing "Shine On You Crazy Diamond". Right off the bat you will notice that some of the camera angles have changed dramatically from the original release, especially the opening sequence which now focused much more on Gilmour than the screen film.

From there, they trot out the best of the post-Waters material, with four songs from the Division Bell and two from A Momentary Lapse Of Reason. I probably appreciate the Division Bell material more than most long time Floyd fans, but these performances mostly just created a high sense of anticipation for what was soon to follow. The end of the first set gives you a sneak peek of exactly that, starting with a loose, highly improvised version of "Another Brick In the Wall", followed by their ferocious instrumental classic "One Of These Days", from 1971's Meddle album. Watching two giant inflatable pigs squealing in delight as Gilmour tears through this brilliant slide guitar masterpiece made it the obvious highlight of the first set. Too bad the editor couldn't add the footage of the pigs actually jumping down to the ground.