PINK FLOYD-Echoes:The Best of Pink Floyd, 26 Tracks 4-LP Box Set

$

80

Cover: Good,  some slight splits on the side of individual record sleeves.
LP's: Very Good

Pink Floyd: Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Richard Wright, Syd Barrett. Producers inlcude: Pink Floyd, Michael Kamen, Bob Ezrin, Joe Boyd, Norman Smith. Compilation producer: James Guthrie, Pink Floyd. Digitally remastered by James Guthrie. Through their long history, Pink Floyd moved through psychedelia, prog-rock, space-rock, and more, emerging as pioneers in all of those styles. This four-disc compilation takes on the formidable task of creating a definitive Floyd collection. Though there's no chronological running order to give a sense of the group's development, there are plenty of key tracks from all the eras of Pink Floyd's career. We're given a healthy dose of material from the band's psychedelic '60s period, when they were spearheaded by the ultimate acid-damaged genius Syd Barrett (the loopy "Bike," the otherworldly "Astronomy Domine"). The most overtly progressive tendencies of '70s Floyd are aired on the glorious epic "Echoes," whose suite-like construction shows off both the band's technical facility and orchestration skills. Naturally, there are some cuts from the band's watershed album DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, one of the best-selling LPs of all time (the gospel-tinged "The Great Gig in the Sky," the near-funky capitalist plaint "Money"). Hardcore Floyd fans might object to the number of songs from the post-Roger Waters era, but even these less-celebrated tunes work in the overall historical context. While it's easy to quibble about the absence of various Floyd favorites (no "Interstellar Overdrive?"), there's so much crucial music on this collection that it's impossible to come away from it without a strong sense of what Pink Floyd such an important band.

Disc one Side A No. Title Writer(s) Original album Length
1. "Astronomy Domine"   Barrett The Piper at the Gates of Dawn 4:10 2. "See Emily Play"   Barrett Non-album single; appears on Relics, 1971 and original USA/Japan versions of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn 2:47 3. "The Happiest Days of Our Lives"   Waters The Wall 1:38 4. "Another Brick in the Wall (part 2)"   Waters The Wall 4:01 5. "Marooned" (Edited version) Gilmour, Wright The Division Bell 2:02 6. "The Great Gig in the Sky"   Wright, Torry The Dark Side of the Moon 4:40 Side B No. Title Writer(s) Original album Length
1. "Echoes" (Edited version) Gilmour, Waters, Wright, Mason Meddle 16:30 2. "Hey You"   Waters The Wall 4:39 Disc two Side A No. Title Writer(s) Original album Length
1. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"   Waters A Saucerful of Secrets 5:20 2. "Money"   Waters The Dark Side of the Moon 6:29 3. "Keep Talking"   Gilmour, Wright, Samson The Division Bell 5:57 Side B No. Title Writer(s) Original album Length
1. "Sheep" (Early fade-out) Waters Animals 9:46 2. "Sorrow"   Gilmour A Momentary Lapse of Reason 8:45 Disc three Side A No. Title Writer(s) Original album Length
1. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" (Parts 1–7) Gilmour, Waters, Wright Wish You Were Here 17:32 Side B No. Title Writer(s) Original album Length
1. "Time" (Includes "Breathe" (reprise)) Gilmour, Waters, Wright, Mason The Dark Side of the Moon 6:48 2. "The Fletcher Memorial Home"   Waters The Final Cut 4:07 3. "Comfortably Numb" (Includes ending of "Bring the Boys Back Home") Gilmour, Waters The Wall 6:53 4. "When the Tigers Broke Free"   Waters The Wall film soundtrack, also on 2004 remaster of The Final Cut 3:42 Disc four Side A No. Title Writer(s) Original album Length
1. "One of These Days" (Edited version) Gilmour, Waters, Wright, Mason Meddle 5:15 2. "Us and Them"   Waters, Wright The Dark Side of the Moon 7:51 3. "Learning to Fly"   Gilmour, Moore, Ezrin, Carin A Momentary Lapse of Reason 4:50 4. "Arnold Layne"   Barrett Non-album single; appears on Relics 2:52 Side B No. Title Writer(s) Original album Length
1. "Wish You Were Here"   Gilmour, Waters Wish You Were Here 5:21 2. "Jugband Blues"   Barrett A Saucerful of Secrets 2:56 3. "High Hopes" (Edited version) Gilmour, Samson The Division Bell 6:59 4. "Bike"   Barrett The Piper at the Gates of Dawn 3:24