‘Echoes’ not your usual hits album
By Ethan Dougherty
Old Gold and Black Reviewer

Greatest hits albums are usually fairly straightforward. They put any song that a casual listener would want to hear onto a single disc to save fans from having to buy an artist’s whole catalog to get the songs they’re familiar with. Placement of the tracks on the album is usually chronological, so the disc doesn’t work as a holistic listening experience.

If any band was formed to break this mold, it’s Pink Floyd. Long renowned for making albums that sound more like one epic song than a collection of short ones, the British rockers have crafted Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd, a new two-disc set that spans the decades of the band’s greatness but still provides a coherent, provocative listen.
The album’s 26 tracks, which range from such familiar anthems as “Money” and “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)” to more obscure tracks like “When the Tigers Broke Free” that are appearing on CD for the first time, capture the very essence of Pink Floyd’s psychedelic brilliance.

The opening tracks “Astronomy Domine” and “See Emily Play” are typical of founding frontman Syd Barrett’s work; they transport the listener into another dimension painted with bright colors but marred by madness. Barrett, who lost his mind and his position in the band to a mixture of schizophrenia and LSD, appeared on few of the band’s albums, but his fantastical soundscapes and confused lyricism shine on in Echoes.

Pink Floyd didn’t really ascend to the Olympus of rock gods until guitarist David Gilmour joined vocalist and bassist Roger Waters, drummer Nick Mason, and guitarist Richard Wright after Barrett’s exodus. After two successful albums, Ummagumma (1969) and Meddle (1971), the band scored its first huge success in the United States with Dark Side of the Moon in 1973.

The concept album went platinum 15 times and is the standard by which progressive rock acts like Radiohead are measured. Five of its 10 tracks are represented on Echoes, most notably the crazed clock ballad “Time.”

Naturally, the soundtrack to The Wall, the band’s ambitious film project about a totalitarian state is also included in large portions on the compilation. While none of these tracks are anything but old news to die-hard Floyd fans, they still rock hard and help make Echoes a solid Pink Floyd primer.

Echoes manages to avoid the pitfalls of most greatest hits compilations. To a hard-core fan, the interesting production work, remastered sound, and intricate track arrangement will make even the most familiar hits take on a new depth and crisp feel.

The inclusion of most of the group’s top singles will provide over two hours of fun Brit-rock for casual fans. Whether you own your own Dark Side of the Moon T-shirt or you think Pink Floyd is an English guy with sunburn, Echoes is worth a listen or two.