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List Price: $29.98 | | Label: Capitol
Salesrank: 2055
Released: November 6, 2001 |
| Our Price: $12.35 |
| Used Price: $8.61 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Editorial Review:
Original Release Date: November 6, 2001
Track Listing:
Disc 1:
1. Astronomy Domine
2. See Emily Play
3. The Happiest Day of Our Lives
4. Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)
5. Echoes
6. Hey You
7. Marooned
8. The Great Gig in the Sky
9. Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
10. Money
11. Keep Talking
12. Sheep
13. Sorrow
Disc: 2
1. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 1-7)
2. Time
3. The Fletcher Memorial Home
4. Comfortably Numb
5. When the Tigers Broke Free
6. One of These Days
7. Us And Them
8. Learning to Fly
9. Arnold Layne
10. Wish You Were Here
11. Jug Band Blues
12. High Hopes
13. Bike
Description of Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd:
Echoes is a double-CD collection of some of Pink Floyd's best songs. It's also a fascinating document of the band's history. They began life as Syd Barrett's phantasmagoric plaything before clasping the wings of Icarus and ascending toward the sun on an epic space-rock odyssey, eventually turning left once they reached the dark side of the moon and burning up on reentry, crash-landing on every earthlings' home hi-fi. And it's all here--30 years of the Floyd's awesome back catalog trimmed down to two handsome CDs. It's worth remembering that, despite a fondness for pyrotechnics, Pink Floyd were never a prog-rock band. Sure, some of their songs are a bit long, and they never released singles (at least not for 11 years), but the same could be said for Led Zeppelin. Clinically devoid of the faux-classical overtures and vainglorious musicianship of that era, Pink Floyd were a pole apart; Meddle's epic maritime tone poem "Echoes" remains the Floyd's apogee. But here, on this collection, "the albatross" which "hangs motionless upon the air" has had its wings clipped--seven full minutes are missing, but you'd never be able to tell. The sonar bleeps, the screeching seagulls, the howling winds are all retained, and whoever wielded the editorial axe, Eugene, did so carefully.
Interestingly, the album's nonchronological track listing works--the summery, childhood enchantment of "See Emily Play" is right next to the school discipline of "Happiest Days of Our Lives"--and at least this way no one will switch off when material from A Momentary Lapse of Reason comes around. Despite the curious omission of "Atom Heart Mother," this really is the very best of the Floyd--from the throbbing "One of These Days" to the pop operatic "Great Gig in the Sky" to the genius silvery fluidity of Dave Gilmour's guitar work. This is timeless, as many members of Sigur Rós, Radiohead, and the Beta Band will attest. --Kevin Maidment
Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd Reviews:
Great collection of Pink Floyd's work 
2009-10-22 - This is a great album. It contains most of my favorite Pink Floyd songs, plus some that I haven't heard before. Some of Pink Floyd's early work on this album is great. I didn't know what I had been missing.
Best of: one of the best, Prog. rock bands ever. 
2009-09-02 - Two discs contain some of Pink Floyd's best material from almost ever album, that they have put out. The songs have been carefully edited together, somewhat like radio, songs fading in and out and overlapping slightly at the end or beginning, making for an excellent listening experience in a way you've never heard PINK FLOYD before.
PLEASANTLY SUPRISED
2009-06-27 - i was wondering how this would sound. PINK FLOYD has always done piece recordings and i didn't know had it would sound taking songs out of their element and throwing them together. well the songs fit nicely together and sounds great.
Fantastic Collection
2009-01-12 - Wow - what a great "Best of..." collection indeed! Pink Floyd's albums are meant to be heard in their entirety, so a "Best of" collection may not seem like a good idea, but here it really does work well. Before I purchased this collection, my only Pink Floyd CD was "Dark Side of the Moon," probably like so many other people. Through this collection, I have moved on to discover the terrific albums from which these songs have been drawn.
"Echoes" is named after Pink Floyd's magnificent song of the same name from the 1971 album "Meddle," although on this collection the song has been shortened from 23 minutes to 16 minutes. That is not a bad thing - the song is great in either length, and the shorter version gives you something to look forward to if you decide to move on to collect Pink Floyd's other albums.
Here are my song-by-song ratings.
Disc: 1
1. Astronomy Domine ***1/2
2. See Emily Play ***1/2
3. The Happiest Day of Our Lives ***1/2
4. Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2) ***
5. Echoes *****
6. Hey You ****1/2
7. Marooned *****
8. The Great Gig in the Sky *****
9. Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun ****
10. Money ****
11. Keep Talking ****1/2
12. Sheep *****
13. Sorrow *****
Disc: 2
1. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts 1-7) *****
2. Time *****
3. The Fletcher Memorial Home ****
4. Comfortably Numb *****
5. When the Tigers Broke Free ***
6. One of These Days *****
7. Us And Them ****
8. Learning to Fly ****1/2
9. Arnold Layne ***1/2
10. Wish You Were Here ****
11. Jug Band Blues **1/2
12. High Hopes *****
13. Bike ***
Make no mistake, Pink Floyd is a 5-star band all the way, and some of the songs in this collection work better in context on their original albums. But for the price, this collection is a great introduction to the works of a truly magnificent band. Set aside some time to listen to this collection - it is 2 ½ hours long. As an interesting aside, the way the songs fade into each other and the sequence itself creates a kind of guided tour through Pink Floyd's catalog.
Came after Christmas, disappointing
2009-01-06 - This was a gift for my son. It was sad that I didn't have it on Christmas. I did receive it in the shipping window, but I ordered it on Nov. 30. Almost a month getting it. Dealing with the seller was just okay, and I saw some other responses from him that were NOT nice. Would NOT buy from this seller again!!!
