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Rating: Is it possible to make a compilation of one of the greatest bands in history like Pink Floyd? The answer is NO. Of course, a compilation is inherently designed solely with the purpose of selling, particularly aimed at those who know barely a single or two from the said band that have been aired on television broadcasts (like in the case of "One of These Days"). Therefore, it's impossible to come across a perfect Greatest Hits, also because anyone can criticize the absence of essential tracks from an artist's career, most of the time due to space issues.
"Echoes: The Best Of Pink Floyd" was released in 2001, accompanied by a beautiful cover by the visionary and lamented Storm Thorgerson, who also created the images contained in the booklet. It already presents itself well, and I'm driven by the curiosity to explore the record. Actually, THE RECORDS, given that they took the trouble to make at least two. Noticing the tracklist and inserting the records into the stereo, after years of hearing other collections like "Relics" (not as full as this but perhaps more interesting), I've concluded that Pink Floyd is a group impossible to conceptually enclose in a mere Best Of, as each of their works is based on a very specific concept, and limiting it in a commercial operation is not only inappropriate but a suicidal endeavor, even though the intentions were there; according to Waters, the tracks on the first side metaphorically represent the constraints that oppress man, while the second side embodies his desire for redemption. The songs, strictly not in chronological order (as Waters would have actually wanted), are mixed and connected to one another, somewhat as if it were a concept album itself.
Fans of the Barrett era might feel satisfied, given the presence of five tracks of the Madcap: the journey among the stars of "Astronomy Domine", the playful "See Emily Play", the march of "Jugband Blues", a nice single version of "Bike", and even "Arnold Layne", which until then had only appeared in "Relics". Certainly, one notices the absence of gems like "Interstellar Overdrive", but Barrett is omnipresent throughout the entire record, as desired by Pink Floyd themselves. It wrinkles the nose the absence of a track from that immense masterpiece "Atom Heart Mother" (at least an "If" could have been included), as well as from the experimental "Ummagumma", although taking a track that fully represents the latter is not an easy task; they tried with "A Saucerful Of Secrets", including the hypnotic dance around the fire of "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun", one of their paradoxically less commercial tracks in their discography, which fortunately they included, also because it’s one of the first works where Waters begins to timidly sing beyond playing the bass.
The rest of the record speaks for itself: from the prism, the most iconic tracks have been taken, pieces like "Time", "The Great Gig In The Sky", "Money", and "Us And Them", although "Brain Damage" would be missing, considering Syd was just being talked about a moment ago. Surprising is the presence of "When The Tigers Broke Free", present in the beginning of the film "The Wall", also contained in the criticized "The Final Cut", along with the splendid "The Fletcher Memorial Home", bringing us back to a Barry Lyndon-esque landscape. And speaking of "The Wall" we obviously have the inevitable "The Happiest Days Of Our Lives/Another Brick In The Wall Pt.2", although it makes a leap of almost 12 years from the previous track, but we’ll talk about this shortly. I appreciated the presence of "Comfortably Numb" extended with the finale of "Bring The Boys Back Home", so we can once again hear that gloomy "Is there anybody out there". Although here too for me "Run Like Hell" wouldn’t have hurt as much as a "Mother", but "Hey You" taps me on the shoulder from behind and makes me feel a bit better. There have also been quite some predatory actions, starting with the two "suites" if we want to define them in such a mundane manner: the magnificent "Echoes" reduced from 23 minutes to 16!, violently abbreviating the interlude of sound orgies from another galaxy coming from Gilmour's screaming guitar, as well as "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", divided into two parts in the magnificent "Wish You Were Here"; here it reaches up to the seventh, removing the splendid final journey of the original track. The same goes for "Marooned", one of the best moments from "The Division Bell" (along with "High Hopes", fortunately included here, and the beautiful "Keep Talking"), reduced from 5 minutes to 2 as a sort of transition for the next song. At least "Sheep", from the controversial "Animals", hasn't been overly violated (there was a tug-of-war between it and "Dogs", crucial that the latter is missing, however).
Moreover, the lack of a chronological order among the songs can leave one more confused than ecstatic, especially for those approaching Pink Floyd for the first time. For example, shifting from "Sheep" to "Sorrow", making a time jump to a dimension where Waters is busy minding his own business, while Gilmour takes the helm, is a paradoxical thing, and I could make the same example with "Learning To Fly" followed by a track from Dark Side. But I admit that, in truth, it's not a completely serious issue, as the mixing between tracks, if one tries to see it from an exclusively conceptual perspective, can be somewhat tolerable despite winking, compared to the understandably criticized cuts made to the tracks mentioned above. Finally, there are cases like "Wish You Were Here", which have been treated with absolute respect without linking them to any track, although it’s the only instance.
In conclusion, "Echoes" is a best of that can undeniably be a starting point for those wanting to get interested in this band, but I highly recommend studying the tracks you are listening to before pressing play, to be aware of the time jumps present within the collection. Thereafter, explore their discography, which certainly won't do any harm.
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 Astronomy Domine (04:10)
Lime and limpid green, a second scene
A fight between the blue you once knew.
Floating down, the sound resounds
Around the icy waters underground.
Jupiter and Saturn, Oberon, Miranda
And Titania, Neptune, Titan.
Stars can frighten.
Blinding signs flap,
Flicker, flicker, flicker blam. Pow, pow.
Stairway scare Dan Dare who's there?
Lime and limpid green
The sounds surrounds the icy waters underground
Lime and limpid green
The sounds surrounds the icy waters underground.
02 See Emily Play (02:47)
Emily tries but misunderstands, ah ooh
She often inclined to borrow somebody's dreams till tomorrow
There is no other day
Let's try it another way
You'll lose your mind and play
Free games for may
See Emily play
Soon after dark Emily cries, ah ooh
Gazing through trees in sorrow hardly a sound till tomorrow
There is no other day
Let's try it another way
You'll lose your mind and play
Free games for may
See Emily play
Put on a gown that touches the ground, ah ooh
Float on a river forever and ever, Emily
There is no other day
Let's try it another way
You'll lose your mind and play
Free games for may
See Emily play
04 Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2 (04:01)
The opening quote is from the 1933 light heavyweight boxing match between Max Baer and Max Schmeling
We don't need no education
We don’t need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave the kids alone
Hey! Teacher! Leave us kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.
We don't need no education
We don’t need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave the kids alone
Hey! Teacher! Leave us kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.
Spoken:
'Wrong, Do it again!
Wrong, Do it again!
If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding.
How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat?
You! Yes, you behind the bikesheds, stand still laddie!'
05 Echoes (16:30)
Overhead the albatross hangs motionless upon the air
And deep beneath the rolling waves
In labyrinths of coral caves
The echo of a distant time
Comes willowing across the sand
And everything is green and submarine
And no-one showed us to the land
And no-one knows the where or whys
But something stirs and something tries
And starts to climb towards the light
Strangers passing in the street
By chance two separate glances meet
And I am you and what I see is me
And do I take you by the hand
And lead you through the land
And help me understand the best I can
And no one calls us to move on
And no one forces down our eyes
And no one speaks and no one tries
And no one flies around the sun
Cloudless everyday you fall upon my waking eyes
Inviting and inciting me to rise
And through the window in the wall
Come streaming in on sunlight wings
A million bright ambassadors of morning
And no-one sings me lullabies
And no-one makes me close my eyes
so I throw the windows wide
And call to you across the sky
06 Hey You (04:39)
Hey you! Out there in the cold
Getting lonely, getting old, can you feel me?
Hey you! Standing in the aisles
With itchy feet and fading smiles, can you feel me?
Hey you! Don't help them to bury the light
Don't give in without a fight.
Hey you! Out there on your own
Sitting naked by the phone, would you touch me?
Hey you! With your ear against the wall
Waiting for someone to call out, would you touch me?
Hey you! Would you help me to carry the stone?
Open your heart, I'm coming home
But it was only a fantasy
The wall was too high as you can see
No matter how he tried he could not break free
And the worms ate into his brain.
Hey you! Out there on the road
Always doing what you're told, can you help me?
Hey you! Out there beyond the wall
Breaking bottles in the hall, can you help me?
Hey you! Don't tell me there's no hope at all
Together we stand, divided we fall.
''{spoken} [Click of TV being turned on]
Well, only got an hour of daylight left. Better get started.
Isn't it unsafe to travel at night?
It'll be a lot less safe to stay here. You're father's gunna pick up our trail before long
Can Loca ride?
Yeah, I can ride... Magaret, time to go! Maigret, thank you for everything.
Goodbye Chenga.
Goodbye miss...
I'll be back''
08 The Great Gig in the Sky (04:40)
''{spoken} And I am not frightened of dying, any time will do, I don't mind. Why should I be frightened of dying? There's no reason for it, you've gotta go sometime.
I never said I was frightened of dying.
{the rest of this song is an instrumental}''
09 Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun (05:20)
Little by little the night turns around
Counting the leaves which tremble at dawn
Lotuses lean on each other in yearning
Under the eaves a swallow is resting
Set the controls for the heart of the sun
Over the mountain watching the watcher
Breaking the darkness waking the grapevine
One inch of love is one inch of shadow
Love is the chateau that ripens the wine
Set the controls for the heart of the sun
The heart of the sun...
Witness the man who raves at the wall
Making the shape of his question to heaven
Whether the sun will fall in the evening
Will he remember the lesson of giving?
Set the controls for the heart of the sun
The heart of the sun...
10 Money (06:29)
Money, get away.
Get a good job with more pay and you're okay.
Money, it's a gas.
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.
New car, caviar, four star daydream,
Think I'll buy me a football team.
Money, get back.
I'm all right Jack keep your hands off of my stack.
Money, it's a hit.
But Don't give me that do goody good bullshit.
I'm in the high-fidelity first class traveling set
And I think I need a Lear jet.
Money, it's a crime.
Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie.
Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil today.
But if you ask for a raise it's no surprise that they're giving none away.
''{spoken} HuHuh! I was in the right!
Yes, absolutely in the right!
I certainly was in the right!
You was definitely in the right. That geezer was cruising for a bruising!
Yeah!
Why does anyone do anything?
I don't know, I was really drunk at the time!
I was just telling him, he couldn't get into number 2. He was asking why he wasn't coming up on freely, after I was yelling and screaming and telling him why he wasn't coming up on freely.
It came as a heavy blow, but we sorted the matter out.''
11 Keep Talking (05:57)
For millions of years mankind lived just like the animals
Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination
We learned to talk
There's a silence surrounding me
I can't seem to think straight
I'll sit in the corner
No one can bother me
I think I should speak now
I can't seem to speak now
My words won't come out right
I feel like I'm drowning
I'm feeling weak now
But I can't show my weakness
I sometimes wonder
Where do we go from here
It doesn't have to be like this
All we need to do is make sure we keep talking
Why won't you talk to me
You never talk to me
What are you thinking
What are you feeling
Why won't you talk to me
You never talk to me
What are you thinking
Where do we go from here
It doesn't have to be like this
All we need to do is make sure we keep talking
Why won't you talk to me
You never talk to me
What are you thinking
What are you feeling
Why won't you talk to me
You never talk to me
What are you thinking
What are you feeling
I feel like I'm drowning
You know I can't breathe now
We're going nowhere
We're going nowhere
12 Sheep (09:46)
Harmlessly passing your time in the grassland away
Only dimly aware of a certain unease in the air
You better watch out
There may be dogs about
I've looked over Jordan and I have seen
Things are not what they seem
What do you get for pretending the danger's not real
Meek and obedient you follow the leader
Down well-trodden corridors into the valley of steel
What a surprise!
A look of terminal shock in your eyes
Now things are really what they seem
No, this is not a bad dream
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want
He makes me down to lie
Through pastures green he leadeth me the silent waters by
With bright knives he releaseth my soul
He maketh me to hang on hooks in high places
He converteth me to lamb cutlets
For lo, he hath great power, and great hunger
When cometh the day we lowly ones
Through quiet reflection and great dedication
Master the art of karate
Lo, we shall rise up
And then we'll make the bugger's eyes water
Bleating and babbling we fell on his neck with a scream
Wave upon wave of demented avengers
March cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream
Have you heard the news?
The dogs are dead!
You better stay home
And do as you're told
Get out of the road if you want to grow old
13 Sorrow (08:45)
The sweet smell of a great sorrow lies over the land
Plumes of smoke rise and merge into the leaden sky:
A man lies and dreams of green fields and rivers,
But awakes to a morning with no reason for waking
He's haunted by the memory of a lost paradise
In his youth or a dream, he can't be precise
He's chained forever to a world that's departed
It's not enough, it's not enough
His blood has frozen & curdled with fright
His knees have trembled & given way in the night
His hand has weakened at the moment of truth
His step has faltered
One world, one soul
Time pass, the river rolls
And he talks to the river of lost love and dedication
And silent replies that swirl invitation
Flow dark and troubled to an oily sea
A grim intimation of what is to be
There's an unceasing wind that blows through this night
And there's dust in my eyes, that blinds my sight
And silence that speaks so much louder that words,
Of promises broken
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Other reviews
By pier_paolo_farina
"Try making simple, quiet or rather you could say sluggish music seasoned with effects big and small, and manage to get it across to EVERYONE, even my mom."
"For the lovers of Floyd (the majority, myself included) 'Echoes' is a blast, perhaps the favorite piece. For the detractors, a notable boredom."
By MeddleForRock
I don’t like the track order: ... jumping from the Syd Barrett era immediately to the much later Roger Waters period, before jumping eight years back.
It seems very unfair to cut 'Marooned' from 5 minutes to 2 minutes (!).
