Pink Floyd - Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd

A Pleasing Compilation

Let's get all the nitpicking out of the way. Firstly, it's a bit funny this compilation is called "Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd," when Echoes is presented in an abridged form. This isn't the only song that suffers from being cut short, as the classic Shine On You Crazy Diamond also suffers from unnecessary edits. Breaking apart the songs from Dark Side of the Moon gets rid of the notion of the album being one 42 minute long song. Original segways of songs into other songs are replaced with new ones to fit the track listing of this album.

So why did I give this compilation five stars? Well, given the few flaws stated above, this is still a really fantastic collection of Floyd songs. Every era of the band is represented, and you're given the early singles "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play," along with other Barret era songs. Sure, you may feel that there should be more tracks from certain albums, but the track listing gives you a taste of many different times in Floydian history. What's really noteworthy here is the price. For what you're paying, typically no more than $20, you get a hefty amount of material. It's a perfect listen if you want to listen to a Pink Floyd playlist, rather than having to switch out albums. September 16, 2008

Really is "The Best of Pink Floyd".

I am a big 70s music fan, and Pink Floyd is one of my favorite bands from the era. The whole CD is wonderful, and I think all of the songs that are in the compilation deserve to be there. I also like that they included music from the Syd Barrett-led era of the band, as well as the Roger Walters-led era. Great compilation. September 16, 2008

This is a review of the 4-LP 'Echoes' box set

In the last year or so, I have read in various places that the vinyl LP is making a comeback, a resurgence, or just not dying out altogether in the CD and MP3 age. As someone who grew up with vinyl as the medium where I heard my favorite music (the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Yes, etc), this comes as little surprise and much delight for me -- the whole experience of the vinyl LP encompassed not just the music on the 12" vinyl slab, but the artwork, graphics, and visual component that was the album cover. and countless PInk Floyd fans who held onto their LPs of 'Dark Side of the Moon' (and kept replacing them as they wore out) and just about any of their other albums would concur with me that they are among the top bands who excelled at providing as compelling visuals as the music itself. Granted, having long now been accustomed to CDs, hearing an entire album in one sitting without having to deal with changing a side of a record, admittedly is a nice convenience, itself more or less rendering the idea of vinyl LPs (with their nasty ticks, pops, and scratches) to the dustbin of audio history. Once Pink Floyd decided to issue as comprehensive a 'best of' career-spanning compilation in 2001, it was released as a two-CD set, and was a very good, non-chronologically sequenced set of Floyd classics that flowed particually well in two sets of thirteen songs apiece -- starting and ending with a Syd Barrett-era track.

However, much to the delight of this particular fan of the vinyl LP, the 2-CD set was issued some time later as a four-LP box set, on heavyweight vinyl. Both discs' track listing of course is broken up to be spread out over eight sides of vinyl -- this, plus that each LP is wrapped in an individual cover and inner sleeve resplendent with superb Storm Thurgesen visuals (right down to each record's label -- see my images I provided), the 'Echoes' LP box set is very much a winner for any Pink Floyd fan who would prefer to hear this set the way the original albums (except for 'The Division Bell' for which the LP was limited and by then, CDs were de facto) were issued, and the sound of the remastered tracks on fresh vinyl is something to look forward to, for you analog, vinyl fans. The 'Echoes' LP box is the closest way to hear almost all of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" on one side of an LP (they present parts I to VII -- some day it would be nice to hear all nine parts as one cohesive track). September 9, 2008

good for the casual listener

this is a good CD if you're a casual listener looking for Pink Floyd's best songs. less expensive and less cumbersome than buying their complete set and not bogged down by lesser songs. if you're a hard core fan you will probably find this CD lacking in continuity. Pink Floyd albums were not simply a collection of singles they were a coherent continuous package. that continuity is lost when compiling a greatest hits album. July 29, 2008

Great songs, but this isn't how Pink Floyd is meant to be listened to

I've heard all of the songs on this compilation, and I own most of the albums that they are from. To me, it seems that these songs lose a lot of their appeal and meaning when they are separated from the albums in which they were originally released. In particular, The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon are best listened to from start to finish. Part of the reason I love Pink Floyd so much is that they could create an entire album that was in itself a work of art.

Pink Floyd worked on a scale that is beyond most artists, especially today's sound bite radio-friendly pop and rap artists.
(Some rappers have shown some serious talent and artistry, but almost none of the marketable, wealthy ones do.) Pardon the digression...

Anyway, this is a compilation of some excellent songs, and for the person interested in the individual songs it's a good buy. However, I think that what made Pink Floyd music truly great was the way it was composed as an album.
July 21, 2008

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