Pink Floyd: Relics [PINK FLOYD RECORDS]

Why you'll love it

This 180g reissue was remastered from the original analogue tapes by James Guthrie, Joel Plante and Bernie Grundman, with "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play" in mono. It gathers the Syd Barrett singles and the band's early B-sides in one place.

This edition

• 180g vinyl
• Remastered from the original analogue tapes
• Mono and stereo mixes

About the album

EMI put Relics together in 1971 to fill the gap between Atom Heart Mother and Meddle, and issued it on its budget Starline label. What could have been a stopgap turned into one of the handiest guides to the Floyd's early years, from Syd Barrett's pop singles to the first stirrings of the space rock to come.

Barrett's "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play" are pure, wonky 1960s London, "Interstellar Overdrive" (produced by Joe Boyd) heads straight for orbit, and "Bike" ends the set in a typically curious way. Rick Wright's "Paintbox" and "Remember a Day" show his gentle side, "Julia Dream" and "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" were B-sides worth the flip, "Cirrus Minor" drifts, and "The Nile Song" roars. "Biding My Time" was a 1969 studio recording of a piece the band had played live as "Afternoon" and hadn't put out before.

The cover is a drawing by Nick Mason, a former architecture student, of an elaborate imaginary contraption. For the 1996 CD, Storm Thorgerson had it built for real, which is a level of commitment to a drummer's doodle most of us reserve for the fridge door.

Also at Kops: more Pink Floyd on vinyl · browse Rock

Tracklist

Listen

On Pink Floyd Records (cat# 88875184341), a reissue of the 1971 compilation.