Floyd have issued earlier compilation albums, but not on a double CD. A single LP was never going to do adequate justice to the band, even though they attempted it with the COLLECTION OF GREAT DANCE SONGS. But no collection could sincerely claim to be the best of the Floyd without including, say, all 23 minutes of 'Echoes', and that blows half an LP right away.

This album contains almost all of 'Echoes', together with almost all of almost every other Floyd that one would expect to hear on a 'Best of' collection. I say almost all, because the tracks have been judiciously segued into each other, in most cases just before the fade-out on the original. To some, it may seem sacrilege to interleave DARK SIDE tracks such as 'The Great Gig in the Sky', 'Money', 'Time' and 'Us and Them' with other Floyd classics, but believe me, it works. The only classic which I'm disappointed not to see here is the opening track from OBSCURED BY CLOUDS.

There can be few Floyds fans who don't have the classic sequence of four albums from the 70s -- MEDDLE, DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, WISH YOU WERE HERE and ANIMALS. But there may be many who, like me, have never bought a Pink Floyd album on which Syd Barrett played. The early stuff -- for instance, 'See Emily Play', 'Arnold Layne' and the glorious 'Bike' -- has been ingeniously blended into the meld, despite the production standards of the period appearing primaeval compared to Alan Parsons' engineering work on DARK SIDE.

It's a wonderful, wonderful collection. I re-purchased my Floyd albums on CD too early -- i.e. before they were re-mastered. The tracks chosen here are from the re-mastered CDs, and it's frankly a relief that I cannot tell the difference in sound quality between these remastered versions and my acoustic memory of my CDs. That's a small fortune saved!

The CD inlay booklet is up to the usual Floyd standard, with a cover reminiscent of UMMAGUMMA. We get the lyrics to every song -- I don't believe that all the original LPs disclosed these -- and we get the info on who-played-what. Floyd have even taken away that second notch on the transparent CD case which makes the inlay booklet so difficult to remove. This is the early Xmas present you need to give yourself.

I'll admit I was a little hesitant about this so-called "Best of" compilation...given the fact that nearly all of Pink Floyd's albums rely on the interweaving of songs to create an album long song-piece. To take these songs out of context (and out of time) for a compilation seems like an exceedingly bad idea, one created in the back rooms of a record studio looking to further cash-in on one of the best selling bands in history.

However, this album does come together on several different levels, and is about as perfect as a two-disc anthology of Pink Floyd could possibly be. It isn't really a "Greatest Hits" since numerous radio standards have been left off, including Breathe, Brain Damage/Eclipse, Welcome to the Machine, Have a Cigar, Mother, Young Lust, Run Like Hell, and On the Turning Away. And it isn't necessarily a "Best of" either, with the inclusion of the instrumental Marooned and The Fletcher Memorial Home and the seldom heard When the Tigers Broke Free instead of numerous other choices.

A more appropriate album title would have been The Pink Floyd Story, because what Echoes really attempts to do is document the various and distinct periods of the band, from early Syd Barret material, through the band's 1970s creative peaks, and then when the band was essentially a solo vehicle for Waters and then Gilmour. But the underlying theme through all the music is Barrett, and the inclusion of five tracks off of Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Saucerful of Secrets is much more than giving his tunes equal time as a tribute, it shows how much his legacy affected and was ultimately responsible for the greatness Pink Floyd achieved. And so it is extremely appropriate that as Disc 2 winds down, we are returned to one of Pink Floyd's ealiest tunes, Arnold Lane. Wish You Were Here follows as the band's tribute to Syd, but then Jugband Blues appears with Syd singing the bittersweet lines "It's awfully considerate of you to think of me here." Pink Floyd would have never existed if it wasn't for Syd, and he serves as the inspiration for most of the band's great works, so it is quite appropriate that he is represented so strongly on this set.

So in short, if you're looking for a comfortable, greatest hits package, this isn't it. But if you really want to know what Pink Floyd was all about, this is the place to start.

Pink Floyd has released several hits compilations, but Echoes is the first to span the entire Floyd catalog. From the Syd Barrett led days to the more recent Roger Waters less incarnation, all their eras are representing including a previously unreleased song, "When The Tigers Broke Free" which is from The Wall movie. What makes the album extremely interesting, especially for Floyd fans who have these songs already, is the sequencing of the music. Not following the traditional greatest hits album track listing in chronological order, songs are sequenced to seamlessly flow into one another creating the effect of one long song suite per disk. All four band members were heavily involved in the song selection and sequencing, but unfortunately they never got into the studio together. Echoes is a great way for Floyd neophytes to be introduced to the band and for long time fans to get a new track and hear the music in a new and different way.

From the opening notes of "Astronomy Domine" to the weird laughing on "Bike", you know that you are on a music journey that only Pink Floyd could provide. This is a continuous project, meaning that the music doesn't stop except for when you have to change the disc.

For the fans of the Syd Barrett=era Pink Floyd, you won't be disappointed! Pink Floyd's first two hit songs, "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play", were composed by Syd Barrett and feature him on lead vocals. "Astronomy Domine" is a truly psychedelic song featuring Barrett and Richard Wright on lead vocals. "Jugband Blues" is the last song Barrett recorded with Pink Floyd before David Gilmour joined. And "Bike" has a certain whimsical flavor that only Barrett could provide.

There is one song featuring a five-member Pink Floyd (Barrett, Gilmour, Wright, Roger Waters, and Nick Mason). The song is "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun". This song was a concert staple of Pink Floyd until the early 1970s. Only Roger Waters has performed this song in concert since the early 1970s (during his 1984-85 Pros & Cons Of Hitchhiking tour, his 1987 Radio KAOS tour, and his recent 1999-2001 In The Flesh tour).

All the tracks sound great. Although the song "Echoes" is slightly edited, I think it still sounds great and that the edit was done quite nicely. The only song that I feel did not belong on this CD is "Marooned"...if you're going to put a song on a CD, put the whole song on there, not an excerpt.

This CD also includes the extremely rare song "When The Tigers Broke Free" (this song was released as a limited-edition single in 1982 with the movie version of "Bring The Boys Back Home" on the opposite side). This is more than a worthy addition to this collection...it is almost worth the cost of the CD.

Of course, what Pink Floyd collection would be complete without "Wish You Were Here", "Comfortably Numb", "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", "Money", "Us And Them", "Hey You", and "Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)"? I enjoy all the songs on this collection...my faves are "Echoes", "SOYCD", "The Great Gig In The Sky" (Clare Torrey has an AMAZING voice), "Keep Talking" (Gilmour shines on the talkbox), "Sorrow" (my favorite non-Waters PF song), "One Of These Days" (the only released song featuring Nick Mason on vocals), "Set The Controls...", "Comfortably Numb" (one of the best guitar solos in history), and "Astronomy Domine" (Syd RULES!).

I gave this collection 5 stars because it obviously contains some incredible music. Theres one thing that needs to be understood though. Pink Floyd has never been a band that is about songs, or hits, or anything like that. Floyd is THE definitive album band. Each one of the songs on this collection loses much of its effect when taken out of the context of the album that it was originally featured on, with the exception of some of the Barrett tunes. This collection is NOT good as an introduction to the band. Newcomers should begin with Dark Side of the Moon or Wish You Were Here. Otherwise, you are missing the point of what Pink Floyd has always stood for and tried to accomplish. What this collection IS good for is Hardcore Fans of the band, and here is why:

1. "When the Tigers Broke Free" - Undoubtedly the holy-grail of Floyd songs (at least to us Floyd-heads). This incredible song is featured in The Wall (the film), but this is the first time it has been released on disc. Worth the price of the disc alone for the hardcore fan.

2. The remixes of the longer songs - A good chunk of "Echoes"has been cut out, mostly from the creepy wind blowing middle section. Good to listen to if you don't have 22 minutes to kill, but need your fix. Also, the two bookend parts of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" have been pasted together (much like on "A Collection of Great Dance Songs"). Its dissapointing that they cut out so much for time, but the main themes of the song are still intact, making for a pretty good abbreviated version.

Now on to the complaints: