Pink Floyd has a complicated history with compilations. There’s six main compilations in the band’s discography, and a handful of samplers and other releases which I wouldn’t consider part of the main group (sorry to all five Picnic – A Breath of Fresh Air fans). Relics is, by far, the most acclaimed for its look at the late ‘60s era of the band. Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd and The Best of Pink Floyd: A Foot In The Door are two “modern” releases that give a pretty good overview of the band’s entire career with a coherent soundscape. The rest are mixed. While The Best of Pink Floyd (reissued as Masters of Rock) is a relatively bogstandard collection of ‘60s singles, it’s kind of the exception. A Collection of Great Dance Songs and Works are very strange in their song selection and sequencing, partially due to the rights of the material at the time. Many of these albums never really capture the full mystique of Pink Floyd and, while they might introduce some new fans, I’d argue that listening to the actual albums gives a far better impression of the material. Personally, I find it hard to beat Echoes as a guidestone if we’re talking about the compilations as it contains representation for just about everything. We don’t really need an update, but I guess we’re getting it. Sony recently announced 8-Tracks, an eight song compilation focusing on 1971 through 1979. It makes sense to focus on their strongest decade.
Of course I have some thoughts on this one. I’m mixed, personally. 8-Tracks doesn’t really intrigue me as a diehard Floyd fanatic and there’s not much here that I think is substantial enough to purchase. That’s not to say there aren’t elements I like but this doesn’t appeal to me.
Eight tracks is tiny given this period, and there’s going to be very massive and hard to reconcile cuts. I like every song on this but it’s a weird limitation that seems to be kind of arbitrary (we’ll get to that). It starts with “One of These Days” which is a fantastic opener. This is the second time it has opened a compilation as a (pretty horrendous) edit of the track appeared on A Collection of Great Dance Songs back in 1981. Hopefully this isn’t an edit. This is shockingly followed by “Wots… Uh the Deal” from Obscured By Clouds. This isn’t a hit by any means but it is a fan favorite from that album, and certainly one of my favorite Floyd tunes. I have no clue why it's here, which is something I could say a lot of Floyd compilations. For example, why is “Several Species of Small Furry Animals…” on Works? Wild shit. We get into the predictable with “Money” and “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2).” The second side continues the expected track listing with “Wish You Were Here,” “Time,” and “Comfortably Numb.”
The big highlight is its one selling unique feature: the 8-track mix of “Pigs on the Wing.” They named the album after it from what I can tell, and that seems to be the reason for the arbitrary eight track limit. For those unaware, this mix is a combination of both parts with a fantastic guitar solo from Snowy White bridging the two together. It’s an amazing version that, unfortunately, has not been widely available. Some fans have pointed out that it was released on the ‘90s Snowy White compilation Goldtop (Groups & Sessions). This is sometimes paired with a declaration that Sony has lied, and I guess on some level that’s true, but it's kind of ridiculous to act like this is some widely accessible release and not a small label compilation only intended for the U.K. which has been out of print for a little over thirty years. The cheapest copy of this thing on Discogs currently is around $35 USD, and that does not include shipping (which, given its in Germany, might tack on a non-insignificant shipping cost). The real kicker is that this CD doesn’t even have the original 8-track mix. Note the double tracked guitar towards the end of the solo, something which isn’t present on the Snowy White mix as far as I can tell. I’m curious to know what version makes it onto the 8-Tracks compilation but that’s besides the point. This is a song that people have been asking for so it's cool to see it here.
On a smaller scale, another highlight is the sequencing by Steven Wilson. This is the third release now with his involvement and I’m still happy he’s here. From what’s been said he got the original multitracks and separated the sound effects to make transitions between tracks. I’m interested to see what this entails and how isolated these sound effects are. That element of the band has never really been explored and I’ve always wanted to hear them more closely. Maybe I’ll have an oppourtunity here.
Reaction to the album has been mixed. Some are really uncritical of the entire thing while diehard fans seem to be pretty firmly against it, and have gone as far as to call it a cash grab due to its inclusion of the 8-track “Pigs on the Wing” mix. As a diehard myself, I can understand that, but I do think there’s a level of hyperbole here. Best of compilations have included new, unreleased, or inaccessible material to sell copies for decades. Pink Floyd is no exception. Relics featured “Biding My Time”, Works had “Embryo”, and Echoes featured “When the Tigers Broke Free.” 8-Tracks is just another example of a Pink Floyd compilation taking the opportunity to release a song which didn’t really fit elsewhere. The counter argument to that would be that the track could have fit somewhere within the 2018 Animals remix, but given that the song wasn’t remixed and that the whole release was focused on said new mix and not Animals as a whole, I’d argue it wouldn’t fit what they were going for. I think the larger implication of it coming now is that Pink Floyd had some reservations about releasing it, something which Sony clearly doesn’t hold. I felt the same way about them using Mike Millard’s 1975 bootleg. It’s been interesting to see Sony’s stance on the music and, while in some ways I find myself bored with what they’re up to, other moves like releasing sought-after tracks like this demonstrates that they’re willing to do more than Pink Floyd could (or, arguably, more than Pink Floyd could realistically do given infighting). I do find it kind of funny that Pink Floyd fans have asked for “Pigs on the Wing” for years, but now that we’re getting it, it’s seen as a cash grab. I think there’s a level of constant dissatisfaction with some diehard Pink Floyd fans.
I guess the larger question is whether 8-Tracks is going to be successful. I personally wouldn’t hold my breath. We live in a streaming-dominated world where nobody has to purchase an album to get its exclusives. Even box sets, something which at least a decade ago were defined by their exclusivity, are now widely available on major platforms. The audience for this is kind of slim when you think about it. It’s newcomers to Floyd, who already have other compilations to choose, and diehards who will buy anything with Floyd on it. I don’t think “Pigs on the Wing” is the bombshell-level track needed to make this album essential for a wider audience. The arrangement by Steven Wilson, while interesting, also isn’t that much of a draw. My prediction is that we’ll probably forget about this one soon after its release date. It’s why I’m not particularly concerned about some Sony cash grab here. There just isn’t enough here and I think a wide majority of people aren’t going to gravitate towards this as a major release. It will make money, don’t get me wrong, I just don’t think it’ll be on a scale that’s worthy of much thought.