Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd

Untitled

Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd is a compilation album by Pink Floyd. It was released on November 5, 2001 in the UK and November 6 in the U.S. It debuted on the Billboard 200 album chart on November 24, 2001, at number 2 with sales of 214,650 copies (it was kept from #1 in the US by Britney Spears' Britney but they did help her dethrone Michael Jackson's Invincible as it fell to #3). It remained on the chart for 26 weeks. The album was certified Gold, Platinum and Double Platinum on December 6, 2001 in the U.S. by the RIAA. It was certified Triple Platinum (three million copies sold) in the U.S. by the RIAA on January 8, 2002, and Quadruple platinum on September 10, 2007 by the RIAA.

History

Echoes is the first album released on Compact Disc that includes "When the Tigers Broke Free", which appeared in the film version of The Wall (the song later appeared on the 2004 re-release of The Final Cut in a slightly re-mixed form).

The compilation spans the career of Pink Floyd from their first single "Arnold Layne" in 1967, through to "High Hopes", the final track from their 1994 studio album The Division Bell. Each of the twenty-six tracks non-chronologically fades from one to the next with no break in the music (apart from a disc switch after thirteen tracks), courtesy of longtime producer-engineer James Guthrie. This was done to help recreate the concept-album feel of the band's mid-period work. All twenty-six tracks were newly remastered specifically for this compilation.

Storm Thorgerson, best known for creating the majority of album covers for Pink Floyd, worked with the band Dream Theater on their 1997 album Falling into Infinity and submitted to the band two sketches for possible covers. One became the cover that was used on the release. The second, rejected by the band, ended up being used by Pink Floyd for Echoes four years later. The two original sketches are framed and hanging in the home of Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy and is pointed out by Mike on in his Hudson Music instructional drum DVD In Constant Motion.

Artwork

The artwork is a collage of several well-known images from previous album covers. Some of these include:

• A burning man (from Wish You Were Here's album cover).
• A porcelain pig and cow (symbolizing the covers of the albums Animals and Atom Heart Mother, respectively).
• A sheep, representing the album Animals.
• Several pyramids representing The Dark Side of the Moon.
• A man in a lightbulb suit (from the cover of the live album Delicate Sound of Thunder).
• An iron bedstead representing A Momentary Lapse of Reason.
• A white brick wall (representing The Wall).
• A crossed-hammer insignia (made popular in the 1982 film adaptation of the album The Wall).
• A bike (referencing the song "Bike" from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn).
• An axe (referencing the spoken line from "One of These Days", "One of these days, I'm going to cut you into little pieces", the song "Careful with that Axe, Eugene", or the line "Run to the bedroom, In the suitcase on the left You'll find my favorite ax." From the song "One of My Turns").
• A Piper at the Gates of Dawn poster.
• A fishbowl (referencing the lyrics to the song "Wish You Were Here" from the album of the same name).
• A man in military attire (referencing the concept album The Final Cut).
• A mirror ball (referencing the one used during the final solo in "Comfortably Numb" on the DVD P*U*L*S*E).
• An aeroplane model referencing the crashing aeroplane used in the DVD P*U*L*S*E, perhaps also David Gilmour's and Nick Mason's love for aviation or possible the plane that killed Pink's father and symbolizing his mother in "The Trial", from The Wall.
• A rowing boat - referencing one of the screen films on the DVD P*U*L*S*E.
• Two metal statues representing The Division Bell.
• A Shine On DVD poster.
• Four masks representing Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81.
• A picture of an ear from the album art for Meddle
• A swimmer drying off from the inner art of Wish You Were Here
• A couple of dancers from A Collection of Great Dance Songs
• The Maid can also be seen in the insert for A Momentary Lapse of Reason
• The sitting man with his briefcase is on the back art of Wish You Were Here

Track listing

Disc one

1. "Astronomy Domine" – 4:10 (from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, 1967)
2. "See Emily Play" – 2:47 (Single, also appeared on Relics and the US and Japan releases from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, 1967)
3. "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" – 1:38 (from The Wall, 1979)
4. "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" – 4:01 (from The Wall, 1979)
5. "Echoes" – 16:30 (Edited version) (from Meddle, 1971)
6. "Hey You" – 4:39 (from The Wall, 1979)
7. "Marooned" – 2:02 (Edited version) (from The Division Bell, 1994)
   • Only the first half of the track is present, the track fades out before the drums begin.
8. "The Great Gig in the Sky" – 4:39 (from Dark Side of the Moon, 1973)
9. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" – 5:20 (from A Saucerful of Secrets, 1968)
10. "Money" – 6:29 (from Dark Side of the Moon, 1973)
11. "Keep Talking" – 5:57 (from The Division Bell, 1994)
12. "Sheep" – 9:46 (early fade-out) (from Animals, 1977)
13. "Sorrow" – 8:45 (from A Momentary Lapse of Reason, 1987)

Disc two

1. "Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts 1-7" – 17:32 (from Wish You Were Here, 1975) An edited version of the song to incorporate both halves of the song.
2. "Time" (w/ "Breathe (Reprise)") – 6:48 (from Dark Side of the Moon, 1973)
3. "The Fletcher Memorial Home" – 4:07 (from The Final Cut, 1983)
4. "Comfortably Numb" – 6:53 (from The Wall, 1979)
   • On this collection the track is lengthened to include part of "Bring the Boys Back Home".
5. "When the Tigers Broke Free" – 3:42 (from the film version of The Wall, also appears on 2004 remaster of The Final Cut, 1983)
6. "One of These Days" – 5:14 (abridged) (from Meddle, 1971)
7. "Us and Them" – 7:51 (from Dark Side of the Moon, 1973)
8. "Learning to Fly" – 4:50 (from A Momentary Lapse of Reason, 1987)
9. "Arnold Layne" – 2:52 (non-album single, 1967; appears on Relics, 1971)
10. "Wish You Were Here" – 5:20 (from Wish You Were Here, 1975)
11. "Jugband Blues" – 2:56 (from A Saucerful of Secrets, 1968)
12. "High Hopes" – 6:59 (abridged) (from The Division Bell, 1994)
13. "Bike" – 3:24 (from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, 1967)

On the 4 disc Vinyl version, Marooned and The Great Gig in the Sky are placed before Echoes.

Rejected options

According to James Guthrie, the following songs were considered for inclusion:

• "Brain Damage" (Waters; from The Dark Side of the Moon)
• "Eclipse" (Waters; from The Dark Side of the Moon)
• "Interstellar Overdrive" (Barrett, Waters, Wright, Mason; from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn)
• "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" (Waters, Wright, Gilmour, Mason; B-side to "Point Me at the Sky", appears on Relics and The Early Singles)
• "Fearless" (Gilmour/Waters; from Meddle)
• "Breathe" (Waters, Gilmour, Wright; from The Dark Side of the Moon)
• "Paranoid Eyes" (Waters; from The Final Cut)
• "Mother" (Waters; from The Wall)
• "Your Possible Pasts" (Waters; from The Final Cut)
• "Fat Old Sun" (Gilmour; from Atom Heart Mother)
• "San Tropez" (Waters; from Meddle)
• "Atom Heart Mother Suite (abridged)" (Waters, Wright, Gilmour, Mason, Geesin; from Atom Heart Mother)
• "If" (Waters; from Atom Heart Mother)
• "Grantchester Meadows" (Waters; from Ummagumma)
• "Scarecrow" (Barrett, from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn)
• "Chapter 24" (Barrett; from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn)
• "Dogs" (Waters, Gilmour; from Animals)
• "Nobody Home" (Waters; from The Wall)
• "Young Lust" (Waters, Gilmour; from The Wall)
• "The Gunner's Dream" (Waters; from The Final Cut)

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
2001	UK Albums Chart	2
2001	The Billboard 200	2
2001	Billboard's Top Internet Albums	1
2001	Norway's album chart	2
2005	UK Albums Chart	19 (re-entry)

Selected album sales

Country	Certification	Sales	Last certification date
Belgium	1x Platinum	50,000 +	2002
Canada	6x Platinum	600,000+	29/04/02
Europe	3x Platinum	3,000,000+	2007
Germany	1x Gold	100,000+	2002
United Kingdom	2x Platinum	600,000+	11/01/02
United States RIAA	4x Platinum	4,000,000+	10/09/07

Credits

• Syd Barrett - Guitar and Vocals on "Astronomy Domine", "See Emily Play", "Arnold Layne", "Jugband Blues" and "Bike".
• Roger Waters - Bass Guitar, Rhythm Guitar on "Sheep", Tape effects and Vocals
• David Gilmour - Guitars, Fretless Bass on "Hey You", Bass guitar on "Sheep" and "High Hopes", additional keyboards, drum programming on "Sorrow" and Vocals
• Richard Wright - Keyboards, Organ, Piano, Synthesizers, Clavinet, and Vocals
• Nick Mason - Drums, Percussion, Tape effects and Vocalisations on "One of These Days".

with

• James Guthrie - Remastering, Percussion on "The Happiest Days of Our Lives"
• Islington Green School - choir on "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)"
• Pontardulais Male Voice Choir led by Noel Davis - choir on "When the Tigers Broke Free"
• Jon Carin - Additional keyboards on "Marooned", "Keep Talking" and "High Hopes"
• Guy Pratt - Bass on "Marooned" and "Keep Talking"
• Tony Levin - Bass on "Sorrow" and "Learning To Fly"
• Clare Torry - Vocalisations on "The Great Gig in the Sky"
• Sam Brown, Durga McBroom and Carol Kenyon - backing vocals on "Keep Talking"
• Dick Parry - baritone and tenor saxophones on "Money", "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and "Us and Them".
• Michael Kamen - orchestrations on "High Hopes", "The Fletcher Memorial Home" and "When the Tigers Broke Free" and piano on "The Fletcher Memorial Home".
• Lee Ritenour - acoustic guitar on "Comfortably Numb"
• 8 members of the Salvation Army (The International Staff Band) - Ray Bowes (cornet), Terry Camsey (cornet), Mac Carter (trombone), Les Condon (Eb bass), Maurice Cooper (Euphonium), Ian Hankey (trombone), George Whittingham (Bb bass), and one other on "Jugband Blues".
• Storm Thorgerson - Cover design

External links

• Album's official website