Why ‘Wish You Were Here’ Was Initially Called a Letdown — and When the Tide Turned

Right after The Dark Side of the Moon, expectations were absurd. When Wish You Were Here landed in September 1975, the NME’s Nick Kent gave it a mixed review, calling parts “incredibly trite” and the whole thing a “bitter disappointment.” Melody Maker’s Karl Dallas was more puzzled than hostile, writing that the album felt “stretched” and lacked the tight, cohesive punch of its predecessor. Neither review was a pan — both seemed to wish the band had done something else.

That initial coolness didn’t last long. By the end of 1975, the album had already started climbing in reputation, helped by the sheer power of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” and the growing awareness that it was a meditation on absence, not a retreat. The serious reappraisal kicked off in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, when critics began reading it as a companion piece to Dark Side rather than a failed follow-up. By the time Rolling Stone named it one of the 500 Greatest Albums in 2003, the “disappointment” label had long been retired.