This compilation and "greatest hits" package has the odd distinction of being released well before the band hit its stadium-filling prime in the mid-to-late '70s. This album essentially bridges the considerable gap between original leader Syd Barrett's baroque psychedelic pop-single bent (exemplified here by the band's first chart hit "See Emily Play" and the cross-dressing mini-epic "Arnold Layne," both stellar singles left off the band's debut album) and the more ponderous musical pretensions of Roger Waters, the band's de facto leader after mental illness sidelined Barrett early on. It's a good introduction to the band's foundations for Floyd novices, and the inclusion of the early singles and two early outtakes ("Julia Dream" and "Biding My Time") make it a must for aficionados. --Jerry McCulley
Summary:A Great Complimation Of Early Floyd Songs Overall Rating: Comment:good complimation=great songs= you buy now
thats all that needs to be said about this cd
buy today people if you love psychdellic music like me
Summary:enjoy a masterpiece when you hear it Overall Rating: Comment:An album that takes the psychedelic style of the early days of Pink Floyd and makes memorable pop songs out of them. That quite possibly places the band (and this album) on the same level as the Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. Do you agree? You should, because it's true! Relics is probably even better than the Piper at the Gates of Dawn. It's not perfect because of the song "Bike" but besides that one, you have a mighty fine collection of late 60's psychedelic gems.
Summary:A Good Way to Introduce Yourself to Early Pink Floyd Overall Rating: Comment:Relics is really a great way to introduce yourself to early Pink Floyd. Most people become fans of Pink Floyd thanks to albums like Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, and Wish You Were Here. As soon as they start exploring the rest of the catalog they get turned off by a lot of the pre-Dark Side stuff perhaps because they choose the wrong albums, perhaps because they don't give it enough of a chance, or perhaps because admittedly the pre-Dark Side Pink Floyd is basically a "completely different" group.
This is where Relics and can be a great album to introduce yourself to early Pink Floyd. These two albums showcase the Syd Barrett led Pink Floyd, which was more psychedelic, a little strange, but really every bit as talented as the popular Pink Floyd of the later 1970's.
Relics is an early Pink Floyd compilation in that it puts forth some of the great tracks from their first few albums while throwing in some B-Sides on non-album singles. The beauty of it is that the previously released tracks show the highlights of the albums Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Saucerful of Secrets, and More, the latter two which are generally inconsistent albums that can be tough to listen to if you've never experienced early Pink Floyd. The other beauty of Relics is that it provides those non-album singles like Arnold Layne and See Emily Play, which are great songs that predated Piper at the Gates of Dawn and really complement the collection (they probably should have been on Piper). And furthering the discussion the tracks from Piper at the Gates of Dawn: Interstellar Overdrive (one of my favorites) and Bike are really fantastic. Of course, once Relics grows on you, I think you'll find that The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is a fantastic album too, but that is for another review.
Summary:As a Gift, HE LOVED IT!!! Overall Rating: Comment:I bought this CD for my boyfriend as his 28th birthday gift, he's the world biggest Pink Floyd fan, and he was CRAZY abt it! His listened to it the MOMENT we got home & his little sister (14) even took it for a bit & listened to it herself! =) A great cd, any true fan will LOVE IT!
Summary:Floyd's overview to their 1960s era Overall Rating: Comment:Pink Floyd's sixth album entitled Relics was released in July of 1971 in the US.
The album was a collection of early singles, B-sides, album tracks and one previously unreleased track.
The album featured the A sides of Pink Floyd's first two singles "Arnold Layne" (which was the band's first single release in 1967 and a UK Top 30 hit and was banned by the BBC because of the lyrical content) which is classic Syd Barrett and "See Emily Play" (which was the band's second single and reached the UK Top 10 in 1967 and first track produced by Norman Smith) arguably Syd's finest track.
Two songs from the band's debut The Piper at the Gates of Dawn appear (those are "Interstellar Overdrive" and "Bike").
The later three singles' B-sides (which are "Paint Box", "Julia Dream" (David Gilmour's vocal debut) and "Careful With That Axe Eugene") all appear here in stereo versions (the mono mixes of these tracks were first issued on CD on the band's 1992 box set Shine On).
One track from 1968's A Saucerful of Secrets is represented by "Remember a Day", one of Rick Wright's best songs.
Two tracks from 1969's More ("Cirrus Minor" and "The Nile Song") appear.
The major reason to buy Relics is for the song "Biding My Time" which was a part of Floyd's The Man and The Journey suite performance from 1969 and a studio version was never released until Relics. The track featured Rick Wright on trombone and Gilmour's soaring guitar solos.
Relics hit #152 on Billboard in 1971 but the album is now regarded as a cult classic and a good taster of the Syd Barrett era Floyd.
The album was only available on cassette, 8-track and LP for many years and not on CD (I first got this album on cassette in December of 1987).
It wasn't until August of 1996 that the album was finally released on CD officially here in the US and was remastered by long time Floyd producer/engineer/friend James Guthrie and long time Floyd mastering engineer Doug Sax. The album is a good summary of Floyd in the 1960s.
Highly recommended!
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