Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd

Untitled

Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd is a compilation album by Pink Floyd. It was released by EMI Records on 5 November 2001, in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States through Capitol Records. It debuted on the Billboard 200 album chart on 24 November 2001, at number 2 with sales of 214,650 copies. It remained on the chart for 26 weeks. The album was certified Gold, Platinum and Double Platinum on 6 December 2001, in the U.S. by the RIAA. It was certified Triple Platinum in the U.S. on 8 January 2002, and Quadruple platinum on 10 September 2007.

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. Four of their albums—Soundtrack from the Film More, Ummagumma, Atom Heart Mother, and Obscured by Clouds- are not represented whatsoever, though multiple tracks from Atom Heart Mother and Ummagumma were planned to appear on the compilation. Each of the twenty-six tracks fades from one to the next with no break in the music, courtesy of longtime producer–engineer James Guthrie 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 and are not sequenced in chronological order.

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 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 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 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 light bulb suit (from the cover of the live album Delicate Sound of Thunder)
• An iron bedstead representing A Momentary Lapse of Reason.
• A white and black brick walls (representing The Wall and Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980–81, respectively)
• A crossed-hammer insignia (made popular in the 1982 film adaptation of the album The Wall)
• A bike (referring to the song "Bike" from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn)
• An axe (referring to 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 favourite axe" from the song "One of My Turns")
• A The Piper at the Gates of Dawn poster.
• A fishbowl (referring to the lyrics to the song "Wish You Were Here")
• A man in military attire (referring to the concept album The Final Cut)
• A mirror ball (referring to the one used during the final solo in "Comfortably Numb" on the video album P*U*L*S*E)
• An aeroplane model referring to 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 (referring to the picture label on the vinyl edition of A Momentary Lapse of Reason)
• Two metal statues representing The Division Bell
• A Shine On 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
• The lake is shaped like a pig, representing the pigs they would fly during their concerts
• The multiple windows in an infinite like passage can be a reference to Ummagumma which has an infinite like picture.
• Empty bottles on shelves by the window resemble those on the cover of A Saucerful of Secrets

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 original 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" (Edited version) – 16:30 (from Meddle, 1971)
6. "Hey You" – 4:39 (from The Wall, 1979)
7. "Marooned" (Edited version) – 2:02 (from The Division Bell, 1994)
8. "The Great Gig in the Sky" – 4:39 (from The 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 The 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)
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"/"Bring the Boys Back Home" – 6:53 (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" (Edited version) – 5:14 (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 four-disc vinyl version, "Marooned" and "The Great Gig in the Sky" are placed before "Echoes".

Rejected songs

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

• "Scarecrow" (Barrett, from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn)
• "Interstellar Overdrive" (Barrett, Waters, Wright, Mason; from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn)
• "Chapter 24" (Barrett; 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)
• "Grantchester Meadows" (Waters; from Ummagumma)
• "Atom Heart Mother Suite (abridged)" (Waters, Wright, Gilmour, Mason, Geesin; from Atom Heart Mother)
• "If" (Waters; from Atom Heart Mother)
• "Fat Old Sun" (Gilmour; from Atom Heart Mother)
• "San Tropez" (Waters; from Meddle)
• "Fearless" (Gilmour/Waters; from Meddle)
• "Breathe" (Waters, Gilmour, Wright; from The Dark Side of the Moon)
• "Brain Damage" (Waters; from The Dark Side of the Moon)
• "Eclipse" (Waters; from The Dark Side of the Moon)
• "Dogs" (Waters, Gilmour; from Animals)
• "Mother" (Waters; from The Wall)
• "Young Lust" (Waters, Gilmour; from The Wall)
• "Nobody Home" (Waters; from The Wall)
• "Paranoid Eyes" (Waters; from The Final Cut)
• "Your Possible Pasts" (Waters; from The Final Cut)
• "The Gunner's Dream" (Waters; from The Final Cut)

Sales chart performance

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	9

Sales certifications

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

Credits

Pink Floyd

• Syd Barrett – guitar and vocals on "Astronomy Domine", "See Emily Play", "Arnold Layne", "Jugband Blues" and "Bike"
• David Gilmour – guitars; fretless bass guitar on "Hey You"; bass guitar on "Sheep", "High Hopes", and "One Of These Days"; keyboards; drum programming on "Sorrow", vocals
• Nick Mason – drums, percussion, tape effects, vocalisations on "One of These Days"
• Roger Waters – bass guitar, rhythm guitar on "Sheep", tape effects, vocals
• Richard Wright – keyboards, organ, piano, synthesizers, clavinet, vocals

Additional personnel

• Sam Brown – backing vocals on "Keep Talking"
• Jon Carin – keyboards on "Marooned", "Keep Talking", "Learning to Fly" and "High Hopes"
• Lesley Duncan – backing vocals on "Time" and "Us and Them"
• Venetta Fields – backing vocals on "Shine On You Crazy Diamond"
• Donnie Gerard – backing vocals on "Sorrow" and "Learning to Fly"
• James Guthrie – remastering, percussion on "The Happiest Days of Our Lives"
• Islington Green School – choir on "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)"
• Michael Kamen – orchestrations
• Carol Kenyon – backing vocals on "Keep Talking"
• Darlene Koldenhaven – backing vocals on "Sorrow" and "Learning to Fly"
• Tony Levin – bass guitar on "Learning to Fly"
• Durga McBroom – backing vocals on "Keep Talking"
• Dick Parry – saxophones
• Pontarddulais Male Voice Choir led by Noel Davis – choir on "When the Tigers Broke Free"
• Guy Pratt – bass guitar on "Marooned" and "Keep Talking"
• The Salvation Army (The International Staff Band) on "Jugband Blues":

• Ray Bowes (cornet)
• Terry Camsey (cornet)
• Mac Carter (trombone)
• Les Condon (E♭ bass)
• Maurice Cooper (euphonium)
• Ian Hankey (trombone)
• George Whittingham (B♭ bass)
• One other uncredited musician

• Phyllis St. James – backing vocals on "Sorrow" and "Learning to Fly"
• Barry St. Johnnbsp;– backing vocals on "Time" and "Us and Them"
• Liza Strike – backing vocals on "Time" and "Us and Them"
• Storm Thorgerson – cover design
• Clare Torry – vocals on "The Great Gig in the Sky"
• Doris Troy – backing vocals on "Time" and "Us and Them"
• Carmen Twillie – backing vocals on "Sorrow" and "Learning to Fly"
• Gary Wallis – percussion on "Keep Talking"
• Carlena Williams – backing vocals on "Shine On You Crazy Diamond"

External links

• Album's official website