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Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd

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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.[1]

Artwork

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

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 (Lengthened to include part of "Bring the Boys Back Home" - from The Wall, 1979)
  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:[2]

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 [3] 50,000 + 2002
Canada 6x Platinum [4] 600,000+ 29/04/02
Europe 3x Platinum [5] 3,000,000+ 2007
Germany 1x Gold [6] 100,000+ 2002
United Kingdom 2x Platinum [7] 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

Notes

  1. ^ Mike Portnoy - In Constant Motion Drum Lesson DVD - Learn to Play Drums like Mike - Hudson Music
  2. ^ James Guthrie: the audio
  3. ^ UKMIX - Forums - View topic - biggest selling artists of all time
  4. ^ Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA): Certification Results
  5. ^ Sales in Europe
  6. ^ http://www.ifpi.de/wirtschaft/gpergebnis.php?strAktion=suche&txtSuche=Echoes%20-%20The%20Best%20Of%20Pink%20Floyd
  7. ^ BPI
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