Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd album) the UK, and on the following day in the US. In Britain, with 250,000 advance sales, it went straight to number one, and demand was such that EMI informed retailers that only 50 percent of their orders would be fulfilled. With 900,000 advance orders (the largest for any Columbia release) it reached number one on the US "Billboard" chart in its second week. "Wish You Were Here" was Pink Floyd's fastest-selling album ever. On release, the album received mixed reviews. Ben Edmunds wrote in "Rolling Stone": "Melody Maker" reviewer wrote: "From whichever direction one approaches "Wish You Were Here", it
Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd album) employed a publicist and kept themselves distant from the press, their relationship with the media began to sour. Following the publication by "NME" of a negative critique of the band's new material, written by Nick Kent (a devotee of Syd Barrett) and Pete Erskine, the band returned to the studio in the first week of 1975. "Wish You Were Here" is Floyd's second album with a conceptual theme written entirely by Roger Waters. It reflects his feeling that the camaraderie that had served the band was, by then, largely absent. The album begins with a long instrumental preamble and segues