Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd [Vinyl]

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What Customers Say About Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd [Vinyl]:

In order to fit Mother and Run Like Hell, I would have replaced Echoes from Meddle with Echoes Part 1 from Live in Pompeii. The track is certainly a classic, but a little too long for a Best Of compilation, in my opinion. Besides, the Pompeii version is brilliant.

Also if you are not necessarily a "big fan" of the band, but do enjoy the songs you've heard on the radio, it's useful for that as well and you'll probably find some nice, new tracks you haven't heard before that you'll like.However, I don't recommend this album for people who are just discovering the band and want to really, really, REALLY get into them and their music. It doesn't even include things like "Apples and Oranges", "Julia Dream","Careful With That Axe, Eugene", "Corporal Clegg", "Green Is The Colour", "If", "Cymbaline", "On The Turning Away" or any of those. Pointless. And seguing got to be a little too much after awhile. And those tracks were some of the band at their greatest, in my opinion. I'm sorry, but "Echoes" is the best Floyd song ever written and you cannot get the full enjoyment and emotion out of it unless you are listening to the original cut from "Meddle." Not this crappy cut-down sixteen and a half minute one.

You don't need to buy a "greatest hits" album. Like how the end of "Bring The Boys Back Home" was put with "Comfortably Numb." Why. I think they should've put atleast one song from each album on here. I mean, sure, it has songs from "Dark Side of The Moon" and "The Wall", but, seriously, if those are all you are after, you can just tune into the radio. And they did that by shortening and cutting out some of the best parts of the song.

Or buy THOSE albums individually. You don't have to switch out your CD's. Thanks. Like, if you want to listen to a couple of songs from "The Wall", but you also want to hear a few songs from "The Division Bell." In that case, this album is good for that. But, no, it's all "time is money" nowadays, innit.There was also some useless cut-ins. If you want to REALLY get into the band, this is not the best place to get started. (I listen to it for that purpose). And those were some of their best non-commercial works.

One thing I do think this album is useful for is if you would like to listen to the Floyd, but you want variety. The song was perfectly fine with just the simple, dark bass note intro. Plus, it was the only free-standing song on "The Wall" album and they had to to ruin that glory by putting in a useless segue. I mean, seriously, play the beginning of "Sorrow" on this album and the outro of "Sheep" is still cutting into it. I'm sorry, but if you can feature a song from "The Final Cut", then you can feature atleast one song from "Atom Heart Mother." (My second favorite Floyd album).Also, the greatest Floyd song ever, "Echoes" was chopped down in this compilation. But, if you are someone who REALLY wants to get into the band and become a "real" fan, in my opinion, you do that best by purchasing their actual albums. Because it really doesn't highlight the band at their greatest. Owning a greatest hits compilation doesn't make you a true fan.

But, the soundtrack to "More", "Ummagumma", "Atom Heart Mother" and "Obscured by Clouds" were completely snubbed. The original version from "Meddle" lasted at nearly twenty-four minutes, while this version only lasts at about 16:30. If this were a concept album, I would have no problem with the seguing.but, it was not a concept album, so the seguing should've been kept to a mini.Also, the songs weren't in chronological order, but, that's the least of my complaints.Anyway, I think this album is alright, like I said, if you want to listen to Floyd in variety. And it never has, not just with the Floyd but with any band.

So, just call "Echoes" a teaser; there isn't one dud in the bunch. It's a very good compilation of various nuggets of the band's reign as the true poineers of their field. As a jaded, long-time fan of Pink Floyd, I do appreciate this journey through sound. But, at the same time, "Echoes" could have been a three-disc set, and the one-star people would still complain.Just know, there aren't any tracks from "Tonight Let's All Make Love In London," "More," "Ummagumma," or "Obscured By Clouds," and you'll be fine. The bad reviews of this release ask where certain material is, but when there are no less than fourteen studio albums, several live releases, and who knows how many other tidbits out there, something has to be omitted. Even the compact disc format has its limitations, hence the extensive editing of certain longer tracks, most notably the fade-out used halfway through "Marooned." The first half, quiet and delicate, gives way to a very powerful, stronger second half, not included here. ;-) I personally would have made a compilation of lesser-known, more obscure tracks, but the "Echoes" set is obviously meant to expand on an already vast fan base. The almighty dollar is a powerful lure.

Learning to Fly doesn't quite fit after Us and Them. Never before have so many tracks been compiled together. The latest of Pink Floyd's "Greatest Hits" collections, Echoes is the first created for the capacity of the compact disc. Minor points aside, Echoes is an excellent group of some of Floyd's more memorable songs. Although abbreviated, their longer tracks like Echoes, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, and One of These Days are represented here. The songs are seamlessly remixed together to create a continuous flow of related songs.Luckily, there are very few songs from The Division Bell and Momentary Lapse Of Reason. The artwork is a major bonus as well. Original designer Storm Thorgerson was enlisted to revisit his classic album covers and reconfigure them in a new, trapezoidal design that works well.[DW]

Most of the songs played ubiquitously on radio are here, though there are some major exceptions: "Breathe," "Brain Damage/Eclipse," "Welcome to the Machine," "Have a Cigar," "Young Lust," "Run like Hell," etc. There is a divide among fans between those who love the early Syd Barrett material and those who do not; the former will be glad for the inclusion of several Barrett cuts, but the latter will be annoyed that there are any. All compilations are thus inherently limited - and, in true fans' eyes, inherently flawed. Floyd has too many great songs to fit on two discs, and their best albums are meant to be heard in full; songs often lose something - or even make no sense - out of context.

Most compilations are chronological, but this is arranged to give at least a semblance of unity; some transitions are downright shocking, but it flows pretty well overall and gives a new way of listening to tried and true favorites. The cover and other packaging, overseen by long-time collaborator Storm Thorgerson, are also excellent. There had been several prior compilations, but Echoes is the first two-disc one covering their whole career. However, many of the band's best songs are non-radio friendly and (almost inevitably) passed over here, "Dogs" being a prominent example, while other excellent works (e.g., "Free Four") are missing as well. The tracks from Floyd's hotly debated last three albums are also sure to be controversial; many will wish some or none had been used.

Others will of course have different views on these and other inclusions; compilations never satisfy everyone, but this is about as good a compromise as one could hope for.Floyd and the other compilers certainly went out of their proverbial way to make Echoes worthwhile. However, Echoes does a good job of introducing Floyd and conveying their range and depth. Also, several of the longer songs that are included - notably "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and "Echoes" - are heavily edited, as are some shorter ones. It is also worth noting that all the songs have been remastered and sound great - certainly better than early CDs - though this is also true of the remastered albums.

Pink Floyd is perhaps the ultimate album band, but their continuing popularity ensures a large Best Of market. The Final Cut is the band's most debated album; many think it an overlooked masterpiece, but at least as many consider it their worst effort. I am in the former category, but "The Fletcher Memorial Home" is not the best cut for an album like this. This is where much of the editing comes into play - a fact that can only annoy hard-cores but that will of course not bother casuals. The remaining edits annoy to various extents. In the end, though, one of this is in my view anywhere near reason enough to buy Echoes if one already has all or most of the albums.As for casuals, the bottomline is that Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Wall are essential albums, and several others have great merit. Further complicating things is that Floyd's music is incredibly diverse.

They cost a little more, but the investment is very worthwhile. Both of these monoliths have nearly ten minutes removed; this arguably improves "Echoes," but "Shine" is hopelessly crippled - a pale shadow of itself giving a drastically misleading impression of what may be the greatest song of all-time and selling it rather short. One can also quibble with other inclusions. There are no previously unreleased or alternate versions to attract hard-cores, but "When the Tigers Broke Free," written for The Wall movie and not released before on CD but later included on The Final Cut remaster, is presumably here for them as it has little value in itself.