During Pink Floyd‘s three decade long career the progressive rock band released fourteen studio albums, three live albums and eight compilations. So, if I asked you to name a Pink Floyd album, what would you say? Remember, you can’t go wrong with twenty-five records to choose from. And be honest now, don’t just say Relics because I’ve named it in the title!
I’m guessing the majority of you will have named the iconic: The Dark Side of the Moon. Or even Animals, The Wall or Wish You Were Here. Maybe you’d have also said Atom Heart Mother, you know, the one with the cow on the cover. Unless you were a hardcore fan I would have been very surprised if you’d have known Relics.
Relics isn’t one of Pink Floyd‘s most well known records, primarily because it’s only a compilation album and not a standalone studio one. However, it features one or two gems, along with songs taken from the albums: The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, A Saucerful of Secrets, Soundtrack from the Film More and Ummagumma.
Relics particularly highlights the Syd Barrett era, who was the original frontman and one of the founding members of the band. He left in 1968 reportedly after extensive psychedelic drug use, which one could say helped him write such weird and wonderful songs. He was later replaced by the legendary David Gilmour, who today is placed amongst the greatest guitarists of all time.
The album opens with ‘Arnold Layne’, the first single to be released after the band signed with EMI, but surprisingly it didn’t feature on their debut. Bit of an overlooked antique if you ask me. It’s followed by psychedelic, instrumental and nearly 10 minute long track: ‘Interstellar Overdrive’. Very improvisational that apparently, when played live, would often go on for up to 20 minutes. There’s also a bit that genuinely sounds like a squawking chicken. No joke.
‘See Emily Play’ was the quartet’s second single that appeared on the US release of The Piper… but not on the UK one. It’s quite lighthearted, along with some very strange distorted organ sections.
Side One’s penultimate track ‘Remember A Day’ has a slow tempo with this time keyboardist Richard Wright’s vocals. It makes me imagine a room full of hippies slowly dancing, high as a kite on their psychedelic drugs, in their own magical world.
First track on Side Two, ‘Julia Dream’ features a mellotron, which is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard that sounds very ambient and almost string like. Second instrumental track of the record and first to star David Gilmour is ‘Careful with that Axe, Eugene’ taken from 1969 album Ummagumma.
‘A bizarre collection of antiques and curios.’
I love the intricate album artwork, drawn by drummer Nick Mason.
The next two tracks ‘Cirrus Mirror’ and ‘The Nile Song’ were both taken from Soundtrack from the… album. The former contains twittering birds, whilst the latter abandons psychedelia, is a lot heavier and has a vaguely punk vibe. What a huge contrast.
‘Biding My Time’ with its bluesy sultry trombone lines was a previously unreleased track and one that was only ever performed live. It also features a yummy guitar solo. (Yes, I did just type that, “yummy” is not a typo, as Gilmour’s solo is simply scrumptious!)
I feel like ‘Biding My Time’ should have finished the compilation. ‘Bike’ contains very strange eerie lyrics and ends with a compositional technique called musique concrète. The technique basically uses natural sounds as raw material and transforms them electronically. Beginning in the 1940s in became very popular in the 50s and 60s.
The album Relics may be a long forgotten antique of a record, however it is amongst the many albums written by one of the most influential progressive rock bands of the 60s, 70s and 80s and arguably one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Who didn’t they influence? You’d be hard pressed to find a rock band who wouldn’t cite them.
Pink Floyd ‘Arnold Layne’
Released in 1971 on Starline/EMI
Side One – ‘Arnold Layne’, ‘Interstellar Overdrive’, ‘See Emily Play’, ‘Remember A Day’, ‘Paintbox’
Side Two – ‘Julia Dream’, ‘Careful With That Axe, Eugene’, ‘Cirrus Minor’, ‘The Nile Song’, ‘Biding My Time’, ‘Bike’
Forgotten Vinyls 