Echoes (The Best of Pink Floyd)

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Echoes is a double-CD collection of some of Pink Floyd's best songs; it's also an interesting document of the band's history. They began life as Syd Barrett's mandrax-flavoured nursery-rhymers--gnomes, scarecrows, cats and bikes a speciality--before clasping the wings of Icarus and ascending towards the sun on an epic space-rock odyssey, eventually turning left once they reached the dark side of the moon and burning up on re-entry, crash-landing on every earthlings' home hi-fi with the imperious but seething embitterment of their (or more pertinently, Roger Waters') pomp rock; the sociological (Animals), totalitarianism (The Wall) and World War (The Final Cut). And it's all here--30 years of the Floyd's awesome back catalogue trimmed down to two handsome CDs. It is worth reiterating that, despite a fondness for pyrotechnics (and fittingly--and perhaps deliberately--the album was released on November 5th), Pink Floyd were never a prog-rock band. Sure, some of their songs were a bit long, and they never released singles (at least not for 11 years), but the same could be said for Led Zeppelin. Clinically devoid of the cod-classical overtures and vainglorious musicianship of that era, Pink Floyd were a pole apart; Meddle's epic maritime tone-poem "Echoes" remains The Floyds' apogee. But here, on this collection, "the albatross" which "hangs motionless upon the air" has had its wings clipped--seven full minutes are missing, but you'd never be able to tell. The sonar bleeps, the screeching seagulls, the howling winds are all retained and whoever wielded the editorial axe did so carefully, Eugene. Interestingly, the non-chronological track listing works--the summery, childhood enchantment of "See Emily Play" timetabled right next to the square-bashing school discipline of "Happiest Days Of Our Lives"--and at least this way no-one will switch off when material from "A Momentary Lapse in Reason" comes around. Despite the curious omission of "Atom Heart Mother", this really is the very best of the Floyd--from the throbbing "One Of These Days" (conceived as an attack on disc jockey Jimmy Young), to the pop operatic "Great Gig In The Sky" and the genius silvery fluidity of Dave Gilmour's guitar work. This is timeless, as many members of Sigur Ros, Radiohead, Blur, Beta Band etc will no doubt testify. --Kevin Maidment

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Customer reviews

review by: a.ka. enter sandman date: 2008-01-26 rating:
we don't need no education
i like this compilation as it contains most of pink floyd's classics. i'm not a big fan of them but my favorite songs are the two 1980s hits learning to fly and sorrow. then comes another brick in the wall, money, wish you were here and shine on you crazy diamond which i like better on the wish you were here album. but for classic rock fans, this is a must have!

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review by: s.vernon date: 2007-08-14 rating:
A BIT HIT AND MISS BUT STILL GOOD
eing the quintessential album rock band, Pink Floyd hasn't had much luck with "best-of" and "greatest-hits" compilations, like A Collection of Great Dance Songs and the bizarro follow-up, Works. Since both of those were released in the early '80s (and time travel being unavailable even to Pink Floyd), they obviously left out any tracks from the post-Roger Waters era albums. While countless hours in dorm rooms have been spent laboring over whether or not the post-Waters recordings should even be considered the "real Floyd," the later albums nonetheless stand as a further progression in the band's evolution and warrant recognition. The 2001 release Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd does just that, sequencing the tracks non-chronologically in an effort to place more emphasis on the individual songs as opposed to the era they're from. Unfortunately, the effect is rather jarring when the songs transition from the clinical mid-'90s sound of "High Hopes" directly into the psychedelic groove of the much earlier "Bike." Interestingly, as is the case with most of their albums (but a rarity in "hits" compilations), most of the tracks fade into one another; the hum of "Keep Talking" segueing into the bleating of "Sheep," making for an intriguing listen from one song to the next.

There are many highlights on this collection: the inclusion of the Floyd holy grail "When the Tigers Broke Free," a sweeping Waters military dirge that has only appeared in the film The Wall, and the fascinating "Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Pts. 1-7," which has never before been released without the break in the middle (but conspicuously missing parts eight and nine). The confusing inclusion of "The Fletcher Memorial Home" (possibly just to cover something from The Final Cut) and three songs from the decidedly mediocre Division Bell stand out as obvious head-scratchers, making the die-hard Pink Floyd fan wonder if compiler James Guthrie was really clear on what this album should represent. Guthrie's job was unfortunately doomed from the start; since Pink Floyd's strength has always been in the band's rich, sprawling albums, listening to selections cut and chopped from here and there makes it almost like watching three-minute segments from Citizen Kane, Gone With the Wind, and Apocalypse Now, knowing full well that they hold together much better as whole works. Still, Echoes is nearly the best possible assembly of the band's individual songs one could hope for, and collectors and completists should be overjoyed. That being said, anyone just getting into this group's fascinating sound would be much better off starting with Dark Side of the Moon, then working forward, then backward from there: the time honored system of hungrily consuming the Pink Floyd catalog that has stood for generations.

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review by: date: 2007-06-27 rating:
A good introduction
If you don't know Pink Floyd at all or only a little, this is definitely a good place to start; it's a fair representation of their whole career and all the real classics are here, all beautifully mastered and segued.
Just a few minor complaints about track selection: 'Keep Talking' and 'The Fletcher Memorial Home' should have been nowhere near this; who wouldn't rather have had 'Cirrus Minor' and 'Careful with that Axe, Eugene', for example? But as I say it represents their whole career fairly evenly, and as such works better as an introduction than as a 'best of'.

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review by: Fintan date: 2006-12-24 rating:
Don't start here
There is some phenomonal music on here, but they ere several errors. Why have 'Echoes' and 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' been shortened? They are two of their best songs. Also, 'Marooned' and 'High Hopes' have been shortened, and they are fantastic songs. They have left out some amazing tracks, such as 'Run Like Hell', 'Coming Back To Life', 'On The Turnng Away', 'Lucifer Sam' etc. If they wanted some Barrett stuff, they shouldn't have used 'Bike', they should have used, say, 'Matilda Mother' or something.

If you are new to Pink Floyd, then don't look here. Go to their studio albums, which are much better.


review by: date: 2006-08-15 rating:
Well worth buying
This is like the bible for music.

Context: The Beatles and the Who were about all I listened to. Stop Making Sense by Talking Heads was the most arty CD I had, and at the time I hated it. I also wasn't much of a fan of my Led Zep best of. In short, I really didn't much like music.

A friend had heard his dad's copy of Dark Side and described it as weird. I went to his house and he played the opening parts of the songs. I hated it. We joked about how it would be impossible to actually stand and listen to this at a live show. Where had they put the lyrics, because I struggled to find any on any of the songs. It was so slow and pretentious.

The sound effects on Money were just plain weird. "This is not music. I don't know what it is, but it ain't music", I probably said.

So we laughed at it and decided a lot of people are idiots if they actually listen to this. And I was aware that an awful lot of people did.

A doc on Syd Barrett was screened on BBC2. The bits and pieces of Floyd songs on the soundtrack sounded great. The next day I went and bought Echoes, the new best of. It had all the tracks I knew from the doc.

It was horrid. Practically no lyrics. Boring slow music. And frankly, it was too gentle to be described as rock. And don't get me started on the length of the songs. For some reason I kept at it and listened to it on a regular basis.

After about six months I loaned it to my friend who had played me Dark Side. He tore it apart next time I saw him. For some reason, instead of agreeing with him I defended it by saying that it isn't quite that bad.

After he left I was intrigued by it. So I put it on and this time I had a more open mind about it. For some reason it started to click. If I didn't exactly get it, I at least heard some redeeming quality in it for the first time. So I listened to it on a regular basis and it started to work. With time I realised that I really liked it. And I became aware that it was the CD I most listened to.

So I bought the albums and I admitted my dark secret to myself: Floyd was my favourite band.

In a way I learned to like music through the Floyd. I learned to like long songs etc. Led Zep started to make sense for example.

Also I discovered an awful lot of good music in my search for something that sounded a bit like them. While I no longer listen to the Beatles I still listen to Pink Floyd.

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