TBH Eamonn The Final Cut is really just songs that were rejected from The Wall sessions. The title is very apt as Richard Wright was already gone and Roger Waters left soon after. No tour followed the release of the album. From the last Wall live show in 1981 to the time they reformed for Live 8 in 2005 they hadn't played as a four piece. If you want to listen to a really ground breaking album try Meddle. It was the album that bridged the psychedelic era to the Dark side of the moon. Echos takes up the whole second side of the album and is amazing. I was watching the performance movie from the Gladiator arena ruins in Pompeii the other night and it was magic, I hadn't watched it in a while.
Nick Masons book Inside out is a great read as It tells the story from a band member instead of an outsider. It's very witty in a Monty Python way and sad concerning the end of the Syd Barrett era. There are photos of Syd Barrett with the band in 1969 and David Gilmour had joined then and they were a five piece band for a short time. There are photos of Syd when he showed up in Abbey Road during the recording sessions for Wish you were here in 1974 and it is shocking to see the change, at first no one recognized him. Keith Moon, John Bonham, and Hendrix killed themselves with drink but Syd lost his mind from LSD. He died in 2000 just a shell of a man. The versions of Shine on you crazy diamond and Wish you were here that we know now came from that day.
I haven't heard the version of Dark side from who you mention, I must have a listen to it. I did hear a version of it released with an edition of Q from various artists years ago and it was interesting. The night I saw them in Earls Court there was an intermission after One of these days, after about ten minutes the lights went down and the heart beat started. They played Dark side in it's entirety, it was note perfect.
Rich,