Echoes: the best of Pink Floyd.
N the surface, the notion of a "Best-of" compilation from "The Floyd" seems quite contradictory of what the band are all about. After all, what other group in rock history has so fully embraced the concept album?
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 and musical evolution. The set kicks off with a pair of psychedelic gems that highlight the songwriting genius of founding leader and 60s Acid casualty Syd Barrett.
Despite the brevity of his tenure with the group (he was kicked out shortly after the release of the band's debut album), the Barrett era is represented by five songs on Echoes-a measure of the singer's enduring impact.
These vintage recordings then give way to a song sequence based less on chronology then being aurally seamless. Hence, for example, the 20-year gap between "Marooned" and "The Great Gig In The Sky", but it works. With regard to track selection, the inclusion of such classic-rock titans as "Time," "Comfortably Numb," and "Sine on You Crazy Diamond" was a given. To their credit, however, the band members (including ex-compatriot Roger Waters) managed to agree on a handful of lesser-known songs as well. Notable among these are "The Fletcher Memorial Home" (from 1982's The Final Cut) and "When the Tigers Broke Free," a ballad from The Wall soundtrack, which appears on the first time on CD. This compilation is a must-have for Pink Floyd Fans, and a great introduction to music enthusiasts that are curious to know what the fuss is all about.
ROTTEN APPLES: THE BEST OF THE SMASHING PUMPKINS
The Smashing Pumpkins were always an acquired taste. The band was instrumental in changing the rock scene, from the 80's hair bands to what it became in the 90's Grunge. The grunge movement, led by bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam and the pumpkins made guitar music serious again. Brooding, beautiful, angst filled and narcissistic. The soundtrack for Generation X. For starters, Billy Corgan was a pompous prim Donna. But he sure could write some great music. This greatest hits release is a testament to that. Sure, at times he fought with his band mates and sure he had a nasty habit of rerecording their parts without their consent, but it was all in the name of Rock n' Roll. And don't forget back in the mid-nineties, Corgan was named by Time magazine as one of America's most influential people.
Rotten Apples, traces the band's early days to their status as kings of alternative rock. Apples kicks off with some of the band's strongest material. "Siva" and "Rhinoceros" (from the bands first album) seamlessly mixed dream pop with noisy Goth-rock as prime examples of the pumpkin's early 90s sound. The collection then takes us to the Siamese Dream era, the Pumpkins breakout album. The disc makes the band's mid-90s directional swing obvious. Starting with "Bullet with Butterfly Wings," the aggressive alternative metal concoction released on the excellent Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Fans of the group will be happy to know that every single hit is on this retrospective, even the minor ones. Along with the previously unreleased track "Real Love" and an untitled new track the rounds off the mix. A good compilation, which showcases how the music of the 90s was more daring then today's.