Pink Floyd / Kanagawa, Japan – August 7, 1971 (Original LP Edition & Remaster with Corrected Tracks)

Among the many Pink Floyd recordings, *PEACE RECORD* has long been hailed as the “Holy Grail”—the rarest of the rare. It is a legendary, elusive vinyl LP capturing the band’s performance at the 1971 Hakone Aphrodite festival. Long the subject of myth—known to exist but never actually seen—this record has now been released on CD in the finest quality imaginable. We are proud to announce the urgent release of this definitive edition, created by digitizing a newly discovered “mint-condition” copy using a state-of-the-art laser turntable. The Holy Grail *PEACE RECORD*—in mint condition—has surfaced. Preserved forever on this release is, of course, the concert from August 7, 1971, at Hakone Aphrodite. While long believed to be the first day of the festival (August 6), recent research has confirmed it was actually the second day (August 7)—a night that has become legendary in the history of Western music in Japan. *PEACE RECORD* was the original medium that conveyed the sound of that mythic night. It was a strictly private LP produced in the 1970s; the story goes that the person who attended the Hakone Aphrodite festival and recorded Pink Floyd pressed a very limited number of copies as a personal memento. It never appeared in stores and was distributed only to close acquaintances and industry insiders. It bore no title or cover art—just a plain white label with a sticker featuring a peace symbol and the word “RECORD.” Its simple yet enigmatic appearance has long captivated collectors. Furthermore, the original master reel-to-reel tape no longer exists. It is said that only 100 copies were originally pressed, and recent speculation among researchers suggests that fewer than ten copies may still be in existence. It is truly the “Holy Grail.” Now, however, a mint-condition copy of this Holy Grail has been discovered. Brought to us by a dedicated collector, this marks its first public appearance. Given that so few copies exist, this mint-condition LP is likely the only one of its kind in the entire world. This release brings that miraculous original record to CD format. To fully appreciate this “Holy Grail” of a mint-condition LP, we produced two distinct live album versions, assigning one to each disc. Let us introduce them individually. DISC 1: A Straight Transfer of the “Holy Grail” LP. DISC 1 is a straight transfer, capturing the “Holy Grail” LP exactly as it is onto CD. While there was some minor pitch adjustment and treatment of very slight noise, no other sound processing was applied. It packages the natural sound originally captured by the LP with the highest precision in history. A laser turntable played a crucial role here. While recent releases like *THE BEST OF TOUR 72* and John Lennon’s *ROOTS* generated buzz, this equipment reads the grooves using a laser beam rather than a physical stylus. The physical reading accuracy is vastly superior, allowing us to fully unlock the true value of this “Holy Grail” LP. Indeed, the sound achieved through the combination of a mint-condition disc and a laser turntable is phenomenal. Some of you may recall our 2015 release, *APHRODITE 1971: PEACE RECORD*; compared to this new release, that earlier version pales in comparison. Of course, the previous release caused quite a stir at the time, but the disc quality was somewhat lacking, with scattered scratch noise. Although we carefully removed the noise digitally, the sheer volume of scratches left traces of correction, and the processing itself caused the sound to become muffled. In contrast, the record used for this release is in mint condition. There is almost no need for noise reduction, so there are no distracting correction artifacts. Furthermore, thanks to the laser turntable, we have virtually eliminated the distortion that plagued tracks cut on the inner grooves of the analog disc—such as “Echoes” and “Cymbaline”—in the previous release. The resulting sound is noise-free and incredibly stable—so much so that it is hard to believe it originated from an LP transfer. The entire release is imbued with a beauty and stability that make it feel as though it were mastered directly from the original master reels. DISC 2: A “pseudo-complete” version that presents the LP’s tracklist in a fully realized form. DISC 2 takes the “Holy Grail” LP and refines it to achieve a higher level of quality as a live album. The original *PEACE RECORD* LP was limited by the constraints of a single vinyl disc (approx. 46 minutes), necessitating a selection of tracks and a running order that differed from the actual performance sequence. For DISC 2, the tracks have been rearranged to match the concert’s actual setlist, and gaps within songs have been patched using other recordings. This results in a live album where each track plays uninterrupted, allowing the listener to fully enjoy the music. Since “patching” is a key feature here, the nature of the other available recordings becomes important. Let us briefly outline the five audience recordings made at the time. *Note: While this disc is an “expanded version of *PEACE RECORD*,” it is not a “complete recording of the day’s show.” Songs originally omitted from the LP—such as “A Saucerful of Secrets” and “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun”—as well as between-song tuning and announcements, remain excluded. For the complete, full show from that day, please enjoy the simultaneously released *APHRODITE 1971 2ND NIGHT 55TH ANNIVERSARY* (Sigma 362).* RECORDER 1 (The “Holy Grail” source serving as the main basis for this release): A monaural recording from the legendary, elusive *PEACE RECORD* LP—a release that was never even sold in stores. It is a valuable, long-established recording that, until the emergence of RECORDER 5 (described below), was the only source to capture “Cymbaline.” RECORDER 2 (Used for patching on DISC 2): A stereo recording that is the most famous of the set and boasts the best sound quality to this day. It serves as the primary source for the patches on DISC 2. For this release, it has been converted to mono to ensure seamless integration with the other sources. RECORDER 3 (Not used in this release): A monaural recording that excels in neither length nor quality. While valuable, it falls short of the standards set by the other sources and has not been used for this release. RECORDER 4 (Used to patch DISC 2): A superb recording unearthed in 2015 as a reel-to-reel master. Boasting sound quality rivaling the “PEACE RECORD,” it features the first-ever complete, uncut recordings of “A Saucerful of Secrets” and “Echoes.” For this release, the source material has been remastered from scratch, and it is used to fill four gaps on DISC 2. RECORDER 5 (Used to patch DISC 2): The most recently discovered recording to date. A sensational, extensive recording that offered the first chance to hear an uncut version of “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun,” it also includes complete versions of “A Saucerful of Secrets” and “Cymbaline.” It is used to patch two sections on DISC 2. While the major highlight is, of course, the vastly upgraded “RECORDER 1” (the “PEACE RECORD”), other sources have also been re-evaluated. In particular, “RECORDER 4” was revisited from the original source tape and remastered with state-of-the-art precision. “Echoes”—which suffered from significant pitch instability on previous releases—has undergone thorough pitch correction for the first time, resulting in top-tier audio quality. The final mastering was entrusted to “GRAF ZEPPELIN,” a master of vintage archive releases. Please refer to the patch notes in the tracklist below for details, but the general approach is as follows: 1. Maximizing the use of “PEACE RECORD” (RECORDER 1). 2. Primarily using the highest-fidelity “RECORDER 2” for patches (5 locations). 3. Supplementing remaining gaps with “RECORDER 4” (4 locations) and “RECORDER 5” (2 locations). The Hakone Aphrodite festival stands as a legendary milestone in the history of Western music in Japan. The elusive “PEACE RECORD” LP—long considered a holy grail—has now achieved its ultimate form through a miraculous combination of mint-condition vinyl and laser turntable technology. This is the definitive version of that “Holy Grail” disc, evolved to a level of quality previously unimaginable. A sacred sound, resurrected after more than half a century. The legendary, ultra-rare analog LP *PEACE RECORD*—often cited as the “rarest of the rare”—makes its debut on CD. This release features a miraculous transfer of a “Holy Grail” LP—a mint-condition copy of the legendary audience recording from the “Hakone Aphrodite” concert on August 7, 1971 (of which fewer than ten copies are said to exist). It represents the pinnacle of audio quality, meticulously transferred using a laser turntable. This two-disc set includes a “Straight Transfer Version” (unprocessed) on Disc 1, and an “Extended Version” on Disc 2—which enhances the album’s flow by patching mid-song cuts and correcting the track order—creating a definitive masterpiece that renders the quickly sold-out 2015 edition obsolete. This ultra-rare vintage LP has received a major upgrade! This release utilizes a proprietary transfer process via a laser turntable. Compared to previous releases, the source vinyl is in superior condition, resulting in reduced inner-groove distortion and improved overall sound quality. Since the original LP was a single disc (running just under 46 minutes) containing five tracks, the release is presented in two versions: Disc 1 prioritizes the archival nature of the original record, while Disc 2 rearranges the tracks chronologically and patches missing segments. Disc 1 preserves the original record’s characteristics, with processing limited to pitch correction and the reduction of crackle and hum noise. While previous “needle-drop” releases exist, this edition benefits from a high-quality source disc and minimal noise-reduction artifacts; even the background “trace noise” at the record’s edge reveals a greater sense of silence and clarity compared to earlier versions. Because the original *Peace Record* was a single LP, the tracklist was limited and the order differed from the actual performance; therefore, Disc 2 presents a “simulated complete performance” version, reordering the tracks chronologically and patching gaps (such as in “Echoes”). Naturally, this applies only to the tracks originally included on the LP; songs omitted from the original vinyl release are not included here. While all identified source recordings were considered for patching, the approach taken here differs completely from past releases; for instance, “Rec5” is a lossy source, so it was used sparingly as a last resort. Since “Rec2” is a stereo recording, it was converted to mono before being used for patches. The “Echoes” track from “Rec4” suffered from significant pitch instability on previous releases but has undergone thorough pitch correction for the first time here. Additionally, “Rec3” was ultimately left unused due to runtime constraints and its lower standing in the sound quality hierarchy. Disc 1: Features the original LP “Pink Floyd Live (Peace – TPL3003 A/B)” (45:43) 1. Announcement 2. Green Is The Colour 3. Careful With That Axe, Eugene 4. Echoes 5. Atom Heart Mother 6. Cymbaline Disc 2: Remastered and edited in the correct track order (70:11) 1. Announcement / Soundcheck ★0:15-2:18 Rec2 (mono conversion) / From 2:18: Rec4 2. Atom Heart Mother ★0:00-0:05 Rec4 / From 15:59: Rec2 (mono conversion) 3. Green Is The Colour ★0:00-0:33 Rec2 (mono conversion) 4. Careful With That Axe, Eugene ★From 11:15: Rec2 (mono conversion) / From 13:57: Rec4 5. Echoes ★0:00-5:19 Rec2 (mono conversion) / 9:12-21:07 Rec4 / From 24:26: Rec5 6. Cymbaline ★0:00-0:02 / 7:09-7:25 Rec5 Hakone Aphrodite, Hakone, Japan 7th August 1971 TRULY PERFECT SOUND (from Original Masters)