Pink Floyd - 'Echoes' (EMI)
5/5
By: Toby L
It's always a worry to go back in time via the re-release of a band's classic material, in the form of the inevitable 'best of' album. For such an astoundingly influential act as Pink Floyd, this fortunately comes more as a blessing than a curse. Long heralded as one of the greatest alternative bands of all time - and finest stage-acts this side of the moon - the arrival of 'Echoes' to planet earth is a special thing.
At first, you may think that weighing in at over 140 minutes, disguised as 26 tracks, 'Echoes' is taking the term 'best of' slightly too loosely: surely a band can't have that many essential moments in a lifespan? Well, that's the thing - the Floyd must have done, because never once do you allow your mind to wander as the music starts; in fact, such a possibility is absurd. The guitars soar and the arrangements grow, whilst the somewhat bedraggled, grisly vocals offer an open window of necessary change and variation, letting such tracks as 'Keep Talking' - supplemented by fantastic choral singing parts - either haunt or enrich mind and soul alike.
From hearing this several times from start to finish, it's clear that the legendary players - Gilmour, Mason, Waters and Wright - possess a collectiveness in their sound that is scarce to find in many other acts' recordings, despite the real life fact that they really weren't that close. Still, maybe many of their differences from one another as people allowed them to present much of their brave spin to making music. Arguably, their solo efforts were no way near as thrilling as the matter they formed together.
People that aren't so well accustomed with their work may be slightly disturbed by what's actually on 'Echoes', if only because it's not all in the vein of such hit smashes as 'Money' and the quintessential 'Another Brick In The Wall'. Instead, there are the opuses and the epics, housed in big harmonies, ambitious chord structures and long pauses of solid instrumentation, from as wide a range of styles as you could ever imagine existing in an entire weekend at the Glastonbury Festival. Things that may particularly stick out are the full seven parts to 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond' whose gigantic saxophone piece is oddly moving, not to mention its recurring lyrical and melodic theme, which runs intermittently throughout. Aside from this, the extra weird bits are caught in full remastered glory too, such as the puzzling 'Time', which bears one of the most memorable intros ever, thanks to a cocophony of clock sound-effects... And why not?
Also - despite their tagging - the threat of them turning out too psychedelic is eradicated once hearing 'Echoes' in its entirety. However, it must be remembered that Pink Floyd have existed in different eras, their career having enough fuel to expand time-zones and fashion. To think that a band which began in '67 with an album such as 'The Piper At The Gates of Dawn' would go on to create something such as '94's 'The Division Bell' is testament to the idea that re-invention can spawn longevity in a musical existence. It's hardly dated as well, as a consequence, the production and engineering as vibrant as ever, and orchestration and songwriting skills still owning much that's missing from their contemporaries.
Incidentally, perhaps one way to recognise their relevance as a band that has stood the test of time is to examine traces of their sound in modern day musicians. For instance, Elbow's 'Any Day Now' certainly steps back in some way to the collection's opening number, 'Astronomy Domine', which is sang exquisitely by the late Syd Barrett, who passed away after a frenzied time of over-indulgence with LSD. Also - as much as it could cause controversy in saying so - would Mogwai really have turned out as experimental and muso-y as they endeavour to be if a band like this hadn't already paved the way? One thing's for sure - and that is that it's a tough job trying to listen to this and letting it escape your consciousness within a twenty-four hour period, so there's little surprise in such a flurry of acts finding something to work from in the rich selection Pink Floyd have on offer.
The history of the band is noted down as historically being full of hic-cups, break-ups and general f**k-ups, but if this album is to be the final piece to the puzzle of the band's genius, then I for one am convinced that this is a worthy and fair indication of their enduring greatness.
Artists in this article: Pink Floyd
Your Feedback
Login to post your comment