Pink floyd the wall album art
That captured the compilation’s spirit: while it was a seemingly random assortment of tracks, it included the band’s first two Syd Barrett-fronted hits, Arnold Layne and See Emily Play, along with then hard-to-source cuts such as Julia Dream, Paint Box and Careful With That Axe, Eugene, and the previously unreleased Biding My Time – all of which ensured the collection was a must-have for fans.įittingly, Relics came housed in a memorable sleeve depicting its very own “antique and curio”, with a black-and-white line drawing by Nick Mason depicting a wonderfully Heath Robinson-esque dream machine, conjured directly from Mason’s imagination. Photography: Aubrey Powell, Peter Christopherson (uncredited) | Design: TCP (Hipgnosis)įirst issued by EMI’s budget label, Starline, in 1971, to help maintain Pink Floyd’s profile while they grappled with that year’s Meddle, Relics was subtitled A Bizarre Collection Of Antiques And Curios.
It’s generally viewed as the best point of entry for newcomers, while the specially re-recorded version of Money and a unique edit of Shine On You Crazy Diamond also ensure it’s an essential purchase for dedicated fans. Though the band viewed it as a compromise, A Collection Of Great Dance Songs has since become a mandatory release. The title, A Collection Of Great Dance Songs, reportedly derived from drummer Nick Mason’s sardonic comment that their US label “probably thought we were a dance band”, so designers Hipgnosis (working under the pseudonym TCP) came up with a cover image depicting a pair of dancers held in place. However, when they discovered the band had nothing new in the can, they decided upon a “best of” collection, to be released in time for 1981’s Christmas holiday season. For Gilmour and Wright to perceive it as their favourite Pink Floyd album also says a great deal.20: ‘A Collection Of Great Dance Songs’ (1981)Īfter The Wall became a global smash, Pink Floyd’s US label, Columbia, were keen to issue more product. The album caught the band at their most candid, and this honesty shines through and gives the album an edge that even The Dark Side does not have. There’s a reason why Wish You Were Hereendures to this day. In 2011, Gilmour told Paul Rappaport that by the time the band had come to add the tracks ‘Have A Cigar’ and ‘Welcome to the Machine’ the band were “working on all cylinders”. The band were also confident in what they had made, with both David Gilmour and keyboardist Richard Wright citing it as their favourite Pink Floyd album. Regardless of the somewhat lukewarm critical reviews, the album still went to number one on both sides of the Atlantic, with EMI, the parent company of Floyd’s record label, Harvest, unable to keep up with the demand. This is perhaps why it has aged like a fine wine. Possibly the most introspective the band ever travelled, it deals with loneliness, absence and mental torment in a more subtle way than its predecessor, but is similar to it in the way that the themes it touches on are universal, and most can understand them in some capacity. Retrospectively, it is one of the most universally acclaimed records of all time and is hailed as a must-have for every rock fan. This is strange, as in many ways, Wish You Were Here can be taken as somewhat of a sister album to The Dark Side, touching on similar topics, coloured by the sadness that Barrett’s departure and health struggles stoked in the band. One interesting point about this period is that the band’s follow up to The Dark Side of the Moon, 1975’s Wish You Were Here, received mixed reviews from critics and fans upon release, with many citing the significance of its predecessor as being unmatched. It started with 1971’s Meddle and ended with 1979’s rock opera, The Wall, releases that would cement their legacy into the annals of rock music history. They would release two records after Barrett’s departure, More and Ummagumma, both in 1969, before kicking off the ’70s with Atom Heart Mother.Īrguably a band of the ’70s, throughout the decade they could do no wrong artistically and went on what is perhaps the most consistent run of form that a band has ever had.
After Barrett’s well-publicised departure from the band in April 1968, the era of the Gilmour-Waters partnership began, and this would give Pink Floyd their most important period.