Classical Composer Reacts to PINK FLOYD: ECHOES (studio track) | The Daily Doug (Episode 570)

#pinkfloyd #pinkfloydreaction #echoes
In this edition of #thedailydoug, I'm returning to Echoes from Pink Floyd. It's been almost 2 years since I first reacted to this song, hearing the live version by David Gilmour in 2006. This time, I'm returning to this side-long track from Meddle, their sixth album. I made a decision to not re-aquaint myself with the song before filming this reaction, so it was like rediscovering an old favorite. I hope you enjoy!
Reference Video: • Echoes
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[@SirPulga]

Although the Pompeii version is legendary and almost out of this world, it is this studio version that I consider the definitive version of Echoes. It's a unique work in the musical perspective, almost like a grand statement of how big human musical inspirations can go. It's the best 23 minutes anyone could spend introspectively traveling through the universe of the mind. Thanks so much for reacting to this version, Doug. I looked forward to this day.

[@NBrixH]

Have you heard the 26:24 version?

[@alanwhetstone3922]

​My friends The California Guitar Trio cover this song

[@OysteinSvendsen]

@André Gomez: I totally agree! The studio version is THE version to listen to, it's "carved in stone" and nothing compares to it. The Pompeii 71 version is marvelous too in it's own way. There are also some good live versions of Echoes from PF in the 70's (BBC plus other versions) but the Meddle version is truly a piece of art. The 1987 and 2006 live versions are bleak performances, sad echoes from the past..

[@GEORGE_WARD]

As innovative as the Pompeii version was, I think the best live version of Echoes ever was the live at Gdansk. It's in key, it captures all the major sections of Echoes, runs about the same in length, David Gilmour and Richard Wright both play their sections, and the light show during the climax of the rebuild is fantastic. It's truly epic. I think the original is definitive for sure, but if the live one just had those sustaining guitar notes that the Meddle version had it'd be neck and neck. This is the section. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e37RlnafbquSi7M

[@richp5589]

It's almost as if having 3 times as many people in the band, helped recreate the studio version! Pompeii is rare, because it's such good quality and it's just the four members. Yes, the later stuff all benefits from added personnel and that was apparently one of the major disagreements that split the band.

[@R01120]

I remember when this first came out. Ten friends and I got together to listen to this. We had never heard it before. We had some very strong blotter LSD that was very psychedelic. Someone lit a single candle, turned off the lights and put this on the stereo. No one said a word as the sounds oozed out of the speakers. The candle went out at the exact end of the song. Nobody spoke for a couple of minutes after the song ended. It was an unforgettable experience.

[@KeithCollyer]

Never understood why anyone would want to listen to this, or any post-Syd Floyd, under the influence of anything "psychedelic". It's mind-blowing enough in itself. Of course, you wouldn't have known that at the time.

[@R01120]

@@KeithCollyer I guess you had to be there. If I have to explain it, you wouldn't understand. Like trying to explain colors to a blind person or something.

[@usaturnuranus]

Blotter & Floyd. Oh the memories of days gone by... ;)

[@tenacioustuna4753]

I've done it listening to DSOTM....it really it is hard to explain. On the run just...made sense, Time's guitar solo felt like it was ripping through the fabric of time. I guess you don’t understand...Pink Floyd is my n1 band before or after LSD, but on it is just something inexplicable.

[@dullaf4099]

@@KeithCollyer A sober mind or a tripping mind will experience this track completely differently from each other.

[@ppheanix]

Gilmour said he would only play Echoes with Rick Wright. In a press release when David Gilmour announced he would be playing at the Pompeii ruins (after 45 years or so since the "Live at Pompeii" film), many fans were asking and begging him to play 'Echoes' there (as they did in 1972). He declined to. His reasoning was solid. He said that 'Echoes' (musically) was always intended to be a "musical conversation" between himself and Richard Wright. Since Rick had passed from cancer a few years prior, he added "regrettably, that's a conversation that can never happen again."

[@melaniezette886]

Yes R Wright was Cleary one soul of the PF sound

[@paulgillespie542]

Respect

[@begobc]

Es lo más sublime de la música rocksinfonica gracias por este regalo para el espíritu sólo Mozart o Beethoven sería capaz de construir algo tan maravilloso pena que se hallan separado estos genios

[@christopherwhite7347]

The wordless conversation between David and Rick in this is pure artistry.

[@85geoffm]

That's the best part of the whole song and what the song is all about. They're off-kilter until the end where they complement each other perfectly. It's so beautiful.

[@neilforehand1121]

“Strangers passing in the street, by chance, two separate glances meet and I am you and what I see is me and do I take you by the hand and lead you through the land and help me understand the best I can?” First time I heard that just blew me away.

[@adriangoodrich4306]

And still does, buddy.

[@Astro-X]

Roger Waters is a fucking genius poet

[@leonardobarbosa3999]

The drums of this song its completely unique, you don't hear it in anywere else. For me its Nick Mason masterpiece

[@charlesyateschalfant]

To call this a masterpiece (which it is) would be a gross understatement. This is sublime and an extraordinary achievement.

[@rondegroot1508]

art

[@OriginalPuro]

It is pure musical art. Nothing less, nothing more.

[@DaveMcIroy]

That's why I call it Steve. =)

[@qwill8254]

Just pink Floyd no .1

[@carandol22]

That was the first Pink Floyd track I ever heard. My older brother returned from university when I was 13, bringing Meddle with him, and I was fascinated by the idea that here was a track that lasted the *whole side* of an LP, and had to listen to it. It blew my socks off. In fact, I became a little obsessed and even wrote and performed a Gothic play set against the backdrop of the middle of the album, on cassette, which no-one in my family appreciated, so I never dared play it to anyone else. (This is the same parents who later couldn't understand why I would like a song which was just a woman screaming (The Great Gig in the Sky!). Meddle has always been part of the soundtrack of my life (I'm 61 now), watching you reacting to it for the first time takes me back to when I was a 13-year-old, listening to it on my parents' record player, with my brother's headphones, all those years ago... Thanks! :-)

[@aWOKEn1445]

Totally!

[@sledzeppelin]

My first too. Saw the Pompeii version on VHS at my cousin's house, and it transformed me. Of course there was no Spotify back then, and it was a few years before I even knew the name of this song and found the right album. Floyd fanatic ever since.

[@pencilpauli9442]

My brother gave me the album for Christmas 1972, when I was 12. He's already introduced me to YES, Genesis and the Moody Blues so I was already into sound worlds of colour. I'd already heard Close to the Edge so a full side track wasn't new. But all that said, Echoes still blew me away. Coming out of that middle section into the dawn still gives me the shivers What a time to grow up in. 3 day weeks and amazing sounds! lol

[@jochem420]

it would be really cool to see your gothic take on this 😲

[@MrWishud]

Ditto, apart from "See Emily Play" and I didn't know who that was at the time. I heard "Echoes" and Hawkwind's "You Shouldn't Do That" on late night Radio Luxembourg the same day. (I'm 66). Life changed that day. Blown away or what? Floyd are still the masters all these years later. Happy days.

[@Rainez-]

Cried on my first listen, couldn’t help but bawl. This song is truly one of the most beautiful pieces of music to have ever been brought into fruition.

[@johnhouse9983]

i always fill up at the end of sauceful of secrets

[@johnfloyd4166]

Oh nice one mate

[@babylemonade2868]

@@johnhouse9983I love the live version of saucerful from Ummagumma. Would have been amazing to hear that in a small club.

[@carlp3214]

The moment at 19 minutes or so is so emotional and water producing it's crazy.

[@louise_rose]

I first came into contact with this epic when I was like ten years old - my brother had borrowed the album from a friend's parents to record some tracks onto a cassette. I was intrigued by the B side - "Wow! one song filling the entire second side!" and listened to it but got nothing much - it felt too slow and abstract (I was a fan of the Floyd in general though, even this early). A few years later when I had matured, I bought the album myself.

[@rael2099]

This song is the bridge between the first Pink Floyd and the new Pink Floyd. It has both elements of improvisation and perfectly placed notes and aim. I can hear Tangerine Dream's influence. The way the final section builds in phenomenal.

[@penponds]

Middle section a precursor of Animals in a big way…

[@victormendoza2751]

When the Wall album came out I also discovered Tangerine Dream while watching the movie Sorcerer with Roy Schider, talk about trippy music that went perfect with the movie 👍

[@ViniciusNeto34]

Just the best song written in the modern era. Pink Floyd is fantastic.

[@davidmckie7128]

The first time I saw Pink Floyd in concert, after it finished they came back on for an encore and as soon as the plink of the piano was heard the stadium erupted as we all knew they were doing Echoes as an encore - amazing!!!

[@trevertravis8963]

Awesome. What year was that?

[@frankswarbrick7562]

The vocal harmonies between Dave and Rick are just so wonderful. Indescribable, to he honest. No other song like it.

[@Ontariosound]

The Neumann U67 was never more blessed.

[@joannefrancia5940]

This is why David Gilmour has said he won’t perform ”Echoes” again. He said “Not without Rick.”

[@allisonrich5061]

@@joannefrancia5940 Bless him. Their voices are almost indistinguishable.

[@angelkar5132]

They repeated something similar in us and them, another masterpiece

[@ummagumma7826]

Very true. I can't think of any good vocal harmonies with Roger and anyone. Maybe some Wall tracks

[@chrisb.2178]

This masterpiece contains everything that defines the music of Pink Floyd. The keyboard soundscapes of Wright, Gilmour's bluesy guitar, the laid back vocals, the simple but effektive rythmic base of Waters and Mason and the eerie sound effects, resulting in a timeless piece of music.

[@EverydayAvenger]

Shine On is a more quintessential piece imo

[@harrisontownsend910]

It would've been Syd Barrett on this record. Syd was there before Gilmore.

[@chrisb.2178]

@@harrisontownsend910 Syd left Pink Floyd in 1968. This was recorded in 1971

[@harrisontownsend910]

@@chrisb.2178 sorry I thought Syd left right before DSotM.

[@robloxcoolboy4724]

​@@harrisontownsend910bruh what

[@patcecil1685]

No matter how many times I have been enveloped by this track, I never fail to be utterly captivated. Sheer musical glory. Wonderful.

[@fredsanford5954]

Not every song has an insane screeching bird solo. It makes me think of being adrift at sea, in a dense fog, and hearing sea birds screeching.

[@johncorlett3699]

misty smokey alien planet......creatures of the night calling........

[@lubos1207]

This is perfection itself! And lest I forget: I especially love Nick Mason in this one! He gives an incredible performance here!

[@jamesdignanmusic2765]

I agree. He keeps the drums interesting while never stealing the attention. A great and inventive balancing act.

[@erikj.2066]

I agree. There's a certain pause/restraint in his drumming that really seems to be his signature through allot of Floyd songs. It doesn't take over, yet you can tell it's Nick there.

[@salvadorcifala9265]

nick loves this album

[@HDitzzDH]

13:12 That’s Gilmour for you, it’s not about “shredding” as much as it is the feeling you bring with your guitar playing, he truly was a master at just that, simple yet beautiful.

[@Thomas-we5cy]

So tasteful. That’s the word I use to describe David’s style.

[@OriginalPuro]

David less-is-(Gil)mour. Yeah, I know it's terribad, but David Gilmour truly makes the best out of every single note. A guitar poet.

[@bruceparker1164]

This transports me back to the late '90s when I had a cockatiel, who would answer the pings with a really quiet chirp. He was totally fascinated by Pink Floyd, and apart from Echoes, would just sit listening to them like no other music I have. This track always brings a little tear to my eyes, thinking back to how cute those little chirps were.

[@AJ_NL_1963]

In the Netherlands we have a yearly Top 2000 election of greatest hits songs in history. Echoes is present in the top part of this list since 2011 and therefore played in total length at national radio station Radio 2. Although it has never been a single, only album track. Each year for myself a highlight in radio year.

[@de_VOC]

Is alleen wel jammer dat ie altijd midden in de nacht voor gedraaid

[@de_VOC]

Maar het is dan wel echt een spirituele trip, zo om 3 uur snachts

[@robbieclark7828]

I can’t imagine how many other Pink Floyd songs are on there then

[@de_VOC]

@@robbieclark7828 12, including echoes. You can just search on google for 'npo radio 2 top 2000'

[@Bobertron199494]

Never heard of this before but that's sick

[@sandygalbraith9491]

I first saw Pink Floyd perform Echoes at a concert in the dining room at Stirling University in Scotland in early 1971, several months before the album Meddle was released. It was still in its developmental stage, yet to be called Echoes, but it was not far from the final version. It was not a large venue, and the ceiling was much lower than in a typical concert hall, so the sound that evening was incredibly intense. The seagulls' wailing was still echoing loudly in my ears as I went to bed that night. I love how you are doing these detailed musical analyses, Doug. In my schoolboy days, music teachers would do this for the music of Beethoven, Bach, Debussy, Smetana, etc. Students back then would never have imagined that 50+ years on, the music we were tuned into would become the classical pieces they are today. Thanks for doing what you are doing. I appreciate it.

[@joshrijvers]

Oh man that's wild, you experienced a piece of history

[@Siletzia]

I saw them perform this as an encore in 1972, of course not too long after the album had been released, but just before Dark Side Of The Moon. I too had it echoing in my head in the best way possible.

[@jakobkleiven7995]

here is a recording of the performance kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHvch3qCe7NrjLs

[@jakobkleiven7995]

i belive echoes starts at around 57 minutes

[@open_water2411]

Incredibly lucky. Not sure many would have seen that.

[@rachels209]

Oh it’s a difficult toss up between this song and ‘Dogs’. Both are truly brilliant compositions that I can just lose myself in immediately, even if i haven’t listened to them for a while. I used to think I was weird back in the late 80’s for thinking this is better than anything on TDSOTM, but one day, a non commercial radio station had a Floyd documentary. The listeners got to vote what was their favourite song. I thought “why bother, coz Time or Money or Brick in the Wall will win.” Oh I have never been so pleased to be so wrong when the vote came in. Echoes won. I was not alone in my opinion. Then the highlight. They played the song in full, uninterrupted. Sydney, Australia got to hear MY favourite masterpiece.

[@Thomas-we5cy]

Just listened to Dogs a half hour ago. Weird I came across your post. Animals is my favorite Floyd album. Haven’t heard Dogs in 10 years. It’s a masterpiece. Timeless.

[@sonnyhenriksen284]

Together with Dogs, and Shine on...my favourite Pink Floyd tracks.

[@genagg5248]

for anyone interested, on the PinkFloyd4K channel is "Pink Floyd - Live at Pompeii - 4K + Quad Mix - Full Concert 1972 film" Describes itself as a "Quadraphonic mix (24bit/96kHz) [...] 4K video edit and upscale, made from a source: DVD." Lots of ropy clips of this film can be found on YT. This is the whole thing, and IMO, looks great. FYI, the original was intended as a cinema presentation of their 1971 stage show, performed in the empty amphitheatre in Pompeii; 7 tracks book-ended by Echo Part 1 and Part 2

[@jyutzler]

The most underrated part of this song is the end of Rick's solo at 20:40 of this video. It's such a simple melody but he plays it with so much feeling, allowing it to stretch out and cross the metrical boundaries Nick sets out.

[@adriangoodrich4306]

Totally agree. RIP Rick. The passion and feeling there has to be one of the very best passages in prog EVER? The tension he builds, for Dave to break with the "daybreak" explosion, has to be as good as it ever gets in all of prog history? Just bloody brilliant!

[@longtallshorty5791]

Underrated? By whom, exactly? You’re that pretentious that you think you know everyone’s thoughts on the matter?

[@colhad9505]

its my favorite 20 seconds in all the PF discography. This little emotional little melody is Pink Floyd ❤

[@berniesanden2575]

Absolutely agree...always grips me, probably my favorite part of the song...beautiful and haunting

[@suzycreamchez123]

My favourite Floyd song. It has everything great about the band in it. Makes me think about the beginning of life on earth.

[@reubenlee6438]

If ever there was a rock masterpiece, this is easily one of them. It is an amazing work of timeless musical art.

[@rkoepke]

Hello Doug, whenever I'm in a bad mood or have a headache, I just have to listen to Pink Floyd for 30 minutes and I'm fine. Echoes is a masterpiece. Greetings from Berlin, Germany

[@SRone45]

Pink Floyd at it's best. Avant-garde jamming, Great Roger lyrics, and David and Rick singing together.

[@jamesr2555]

There is magic in this piece of music. It’s art, poetry, philosophy and rock. Perfection.

[@xr800]

Echoes has been my number 1 track on Spotify for the past 3 years. It lasts just long enough for the drive to work

[@rcpsammy7186]

Nick Mason's amazing band finally included this on the recent tour and stayed very true to this original version... It was absolutely surreal.

[@DerBlutenPat1348]

For real one of the best concerts I saw in 2022 and I went to over 100 last year. Stunning.

[@PavlozKapeliz]

That musical piece changed everything in rock music...forever....

[@lastborn11]

Echos is everything I ever want in a musical performance … if money & time where not the ruling guide …id like to believe we would get these types of musical jams in our daily soundtrack … rather than the 3 min burps of dullness that is called modern popular music… this is an expression of freedom …

[@reca2489]

I absolutely agree with you on Echoes being the best thing ever, but let's also be honest, money & time are also two brilliant pieces by PF 😆

[@yes_head]

I also love the way Rick leans on the 7ths in the closing chords before the slow blues-y fade out, reminding us that these guys started out playing the blues, like all British R&B bands in the early-mid 60's. No matter how far out and abstract they got, they still had that blues foundation coming through a lot of their music.

[@thenyanrobot4565]

Most of their big songs are just long bluesy pieces with god tier audio engineering and effects and creative writing and composing

[@chadwhite4236]

Nothing, and I mean nothing touches the same level of greatness that is Pink Floyd! More than just a band, more than just the music, it literally connects with you on such a level that it seemingly becomes a part of you. That connection will carry on not just until death, but for eternity.

[@HollowGolem]

21:07 No other place in music sounds to me so much like sunlight piercing through cloud cover. After that faded groove, the discordant, meandering soundscape, David's guitar slices through it all to relieve the tension in a way that is just unparalelled. This is not my favorite Pink Floyd song, over all, but that solo is absolutely my favorite segment _of_ a song in their entire discography.

[@adriangoodrich4306]

I agree. Gilmour just blows me away there, after how the tension has built. But the additional notes from Rick just before ALWAYS send a chill down my back. One of the best moments in prog EVER.

[@musicminute2004]

What is your favorite then?

[@HollowGolem]

@@musicminute2004 Dogs

[@sebastianB9739]

Yes this part blows my mind

[@htefragile]

Yes, exactly this. Always makes me cry without fail no matter how often I've heard it. Whole song truly is an experience.

[@ReactorsReactions101]

Echoes in Pompeii is what drew me in. Becoming my favorite band.

[@ZigbertD]

I''ve been playing guitar for 40+ years, and David Gilmour's tone during the funky vamp section of part one on the Pompeii version is still the best, most epic guitar sound I've ever heard.

[@BilliamBillion]

A cool production thing nobody ever mentions is that on the drums, the reverb is reversed so it swells into the hit. Super atmospheric.

[@perry3928]

I was eleven when I first heard this song from my cousin. To me this is their epic as Suppers Ready is to Genesis. It's truly a shame that music these days don't even come close. You must view Echoes live at the Royal Albert Hall . It's amazing. Thanks Doug.

[@joechip1232]

The way the bass hits in the climax is mind-blowing in that version. Love it!

[@tuirnb]

This is my favorite song by them. It never gets old listening to it and still send shivers through my body when that ping starts.

[@beatabeta1703]

Pink Floyd's music is always around me for over 40 years but I'm still surprised how their music isn't getting older like many other musicians pieces. It's always fresh, delightful and moving. Doug, thank you for listening together and your comments. Best regards, Boguslaw from Poland.

[@melaniezette886]

Classic great wine

[@TheSkydogsguitar]

My favorite Floyd song simply because, to me, it embodies all that made Floyd such a singular band. "First in Space" indeed... And that Gilmour break coming out of the weird section is sublime.

[@usmcvet6973]

The "ping" at the beginning reminds me of a Sonar ping that I heard many times when I was in the US Navy. Fantastic song but then I love everything Floyd has ever done.

[@roxammon5858]

The "echo" you refer to in the 14th minute is his Fender Strat reverse connected to a standard wah-wah pedal. The resultant screech is controlled using the tone knob on the guitar. He later had a pedal built to mimic this set up but more controllable.

[@JoanneTelling1]

A Dallas-Arbiter Wah Face.

[@garyanning9731]

I've done that myself, plugged the Wah-Wah pedal in the wrong way and got that squealing sound. It was so loud I nearly had to change my Trousers.

[@roxammon5858]

@@garyanning9731 Yes. Me too! You have to turn the volume right down !

[@fabiolignelli7372]

Echoes: a song beyond time and space. Absolutely beautiful, sacred and timeless. And the live version in Pompeii is absolutely holy too. Excellent reaction. By the way, the entire Meddle album is masterful, as well as the entire Live at Pompeii. Meddle was released before the iconic Dark Side of the Moon.

[@nigeljohnston2193]

Obscured By Clouds came after Meddle, which to me seemed a bit of a backward step, but they made up for it with DSOTM.

[@johnnyb6067]

KZbin “2001 a space odessey echoes”. You’ll get to see it in space. It’s mind blowing.

[@ranica47]

ObC is a decent album, unfairly overlooked. Some top PF tunes like Childhood's End, Free Four and Wot's.... Uh The Deal.

[@AlessandroGenTLe]

I wasn't even born when this was released and still, I get shivers all over me everytime I hear it. Amazing piece.

[@patholas]

When you watch the Pompeii version, you'll see how they made a lot of these sounds: David's use of distortion pedal + wah hooked up backwards to make the whale noises, Roger's slide on bass + delay to create the shifting pitch background wash... awesome! :-)

[@strawberry228z]

Finally! I've been waiting a long time for you to do a studio version of this masterpiece!

[@Ninang363]

When they created this they thought you did need the sounds at the end. The clip of Roger playing the Gong at Pompeii is one of my favorite moments of Rock!

[@Heiteinah]

Theres no song in PF catalog that brings me as much joy as this one. Such a great tune!

[@211milkman]

I fortunately did get to see them perform this live in 1975. This was the encore song that also featured a saxophone towards the end of the song. My first time hearing this was this album. I bought it after Dark Side. Unfortunately, my brother decided to throw it out the 4th story window. I went out and bought a second copy which I still have to this day. Thank you Doug for playing this and I'm looking forward to your reaction on the Pompeii version. You're in for a fantastic treat!!!!!!

[@danclark745]

right, I remember a blue stage and 'snow' falling...

[@ChazinFl1]

Meddle has always been my fav Pink Floyd!!

[@thisoldgoat3927]

Same!

[@ulfingvar1]

Agree, and Echoes is their best piece. Nothing comes close.

[@underwoodvoice9077]

Agreed. And Side 1 is my idea of the perfect acid experience. Love the sequencing.

[@NC8ED]

San Tropez is my favorite to drop on a Foxtrot Ballroom dance class or social. Who is that? Never heard that before! Floyd Cramer did you say?

[@RabbiSteve]

Same here. I was a huge Pink Floyd freak back in the day. But Meddle is always my favorite.

[@Schwarzenpooh]

I just love the way these underwater sounds were made: lower ones are played on bass with a slide (or a bar taken from mic stand) and these seagull yells were discovered when David's guitar tech accidentally plugged the wah-wah pedal backwards. It created strange feedback. The they've added a special switch to pedalboard. Also I just LOVE that crescendo part when p.2 starts. Used to play it on piano when depressed. It always helped. And I'm still amazed with the fact that this masterpiece is actually pretty easy to play in its core.

[@ericjanson2961]

Thanks for your reprise of an analysis of one of the most haunting pieces of progressive rock music ever made, Doug. Coming from a classical background with a love of symphonic pop music also I’ve been following you on and off for two years now and really appreciate your take on popular music. Please keep it coming.

[@cliffbetton8893]

The great thing about Floyd is that they always give space in their music. Space to each other to play in and space for the listener to think and wonder. This album was released when I was at university in the UK, and along with Atom Heart Mother was a flexion between songs as recorded and what they played in concert performances on the way to Dark Side. It was a great time to be alive and get music like this appearing out of nowhere. You had no idea what was coming next and the anticipation and excitement was palpable.

[@Dang6712]

I was born in 1975, as a teenager in the 90s i started listening to my fathers vast LP collection, when i first listened to echos i felt a belonging, like i had come home, echos somehow seemed to resonate in my soul, i told my father this and he smiled, he said that when i was a baby i didn't sleep much, they tried everything to no avail, they tried music, the music being echos, my father told me that as soon as he put this on i would settle and drift off to sleep. Essentially i was weaned on pink floyd and 48 years later im still in love with their amazing music.

[@richardkeeler2347]

Echoes is a journey that goes to wherever the listener wants and comes back again

[@zuruck1]

Had the absolute privilege to see Nick Mason's SOS tour in Denver and they closed out the main set with this. Never got to see Pink Floyd live, this was the next closest thing. It was truly amazing.

[@carlosmiguel-ld4rz]

I saw the same concert in Lisbon. I am so grateful to have seen this live

[@badrobot3159]

I'm planning to take my 18 year old daughter to the Brisbane show in September this year.

[@johnb2427]

I saw him in Detroit. I was less than 10 feet from the stage. One of the best shows I've ever seen

[@vicprovost2561]

Whether Solo Waters, Gilmour or Mason, they still bring that Floyd pedigree and musical quality to their own amazing shows. Having seen them in the band and or solo 10 times, their is no other experience quite like any of those shows, all a bit different from each other but all amazing. Forever music.

[@johnb2427]

@@vicprovost2561 I'm at 12. To me, Roger puts on the best show.

[@speedoflight9005]

This masterpiece was my first experience with Pink Floyd. Was 1972 and I never forget that moment. From the "regular" R&R, blues, etc. to a cosmic jump that was "a K.O."and a unique experience for my mind and soul never repeated. The rest was a long way following Pink Floyd forever. Those guys were connected to a different dimension, an those sounds/music were not from here.

[@kirktheweatherman1622]

Echoes is one of the most important masterpieces that saved the band and made them go into a direction.

[@BeeBumper]

I saw them live, it is surreal to hear 40 000 fans all go nuts and the roar of the crowd from a single "PING!". I think the consensus among the band is Echoes was the bridging of their old with the new. It was their first successful, in their minds, serious attempt at song writing or better stated their first real success without Syd. We fans could argue that, but it seems to be the line between old and new, Man I never noticed this until now, and were talking countless listens, but in the first part Ricks vocals seem more in front than David's voice. It is blended but Richard seems in front is how I can best explain it. In the second half it is David in front, Richard in back, still blended but wow mind blown

[@lolasuder8724]

That's because in the first verse, Rick sings the highs and in the second verse David sings the highs

[@Jay-iq5zu]

The pinging when it comes out of the chaotic section always made me think of a lighthouse at sea. Then the buildup from Gilmour's strumming leading to his solo around 20:00 was such an amazing release/climax

[@frederickhamilton2648]

Dim the lights, ingest your favorite mind-altering substance, crank it up and settle in for a wild ride. A haunting and unforgettable intro that instantly hooks you, timeless guitar and keyboard work from Gilmour and Wright, and an ever so painstakingly slow buildup to an incredible climax that is worth every second of the long wait. One of Floyd's earliest masterpieces, a step up from Atom Heart Mother in composition and coherency, and a prelude of the band's direction towards Dark Side.

[@dannypacini9820]

Weed + LSD 🔥

[@hank35682]

It’s easily their greatest masterpiece and I love AHM, Dark Side, Animals, the wall, all of it, but no echoes is their definitive masterpiece that will never be recreated again

[@sonnyhenriksen284]

I've always thought exactly that : a prelude to DSOTM.

[@bobbybishop368]

You don't need any of that mind altering poison. Do you realize impressionable teenagers might be reading this ? You don't need drugs to enjoy Pink Floyd.

[@dannypacini9820]

@@bobbybishop368 yea you tell that to the multiple backed researched studies of their benefits. Id be more worried about kids watching porn than them reading a post from a Pink Floyd vid .

[@marlachristensen2076]

This is my first listen of "Echos". Thank you for providing your reaction. It really pushed me along to gain a deeper understanding with less listening time. I like your observation regarding the chorus having different lyrics, a way of moving forward. I cannot remember the term you used though I have never heard it before. Something to the effect of "Time frame time steps". I will come back to this reaction video again to be sure.

[@MegaForrestgump]

My absolute favorite song of all time. It is an epic journey.

[@daviddevora8105]

my favorite song of all time. I remember when I first got a spotify subscription in like 2015 and this blew my pre teen mind. It was really the jumping off point of how I engaged with art. I had never gotten LOST in a song before.

[@fatjonseatingadventures5429]

Pink Floyd said this was a defining moment for them in where they wanted to go musically. to me, it's peak Floyd, its the best.

[@FuzzyJohn]

All this and no computers... just pure talent.

[@melaniezette886]

With talent you can make wonders whatever you use

[@maddad6949]

FYI if no one mentioned it yet the effect Dave used to get the screeching echoing effect during the interlude was a happy accident. They accidentally hooked up the wawa pedal backwards/reversed. Using the tone and volume controls on his guitar caused the sound. In concert that was played on the quadraphonic sound system that was loud enough to vibrate the wax out of your ears. I was there. Philly Spectrum, DSOTM tour, early 70's. Im 70 now and find it amazing that the younger generation can enjoy the classics!

[@kevin_g1164]

Echoes is still my favorite PF song, dark room, lay back and take the ride. To me this song defined the transition from the older Syd dominated PF to the modern DSOTM PF. For more than 50 years it is such a amazing experience and journey song. One of the many great albums of the early 70's.

[@leddygee1896]

I've never heard of, or remember any comments in the past by the members of the Beatles in regards to this record. but I would have to believe they all dug it... How could you not? This is an emotional experience recording, a true musical journey. Masterpiece Level.

[@jamesdignanmusic2765]

I'd like to think so. In a way, this track is probably everything that The Beatles wanted "Tomorrow Never Knows" to be. The McCartney-led "Carnival of Light" likely had similarities to this sound, too.

[@johna8858]

Well, maybe they were just too polite to mention the fact that the main melody is almost the same as Across the Universe and the lyric 'inviting and inciting' is common to both songs. Unlikely to be coincidence, I think. They couldn't really complain, what with the song being called Echoes and if you are determined (or imaginative) enough you might wonder if the Albatross overhead is a reference to another tune of the time and whether the similarity of one of the bass riffs to Hendrix's Angel is also a deliberate 'echo'. I noticed these things when I bought the album in 1972 and I'm surprised they haven't been mentioned more often over the years.

[@malabeans5676]

The squealing sound in the middle dark section is achieved by running Gilmour's Stratocaster in to the output of a Wah pedal and then from the input of the pedal to the amplifier. When you turn the tone knob it then starts to change the pitch of the squeal. It's quite fun to do.

[@moecrosby7587]

Head-music is always best in the studio. I love the version on Pompeii, but the album version is the way it was meant to be heard.

[@mystlord3881]

I can't agree more

[@Siletzia]

Absolutely. This cannot be replicated in the wild.

[@simono.sniper3214]

53 years ago I grew up listening to this masterpiece. Thank you, Floyd.

[@klausgeltl5654]

When I was still at school I spent the summer holidays once taking about 200 slide pictures with my pocket camera and showed them, carefully put in certain orders, to this track, first to a few school mates, then to the family, including grandma. They all enjoyed the show! 😁

[@d4mdcykey]

Over several decades, this song has taken me to places countless times that no words could ever hope to describe. Thank you, Pink Floyd.

[@spiritof6663]

Out of all of their classics, "Echoes" is perhaps the song that best reflects the band's origins as architecture students--this is truly one of the greatest examples of sonic architecture ever committed to tape! Hands down my #1 favorite Floyd song, and one of the greatest songs ever. "Meddle" overall is every bit as good as the four albums which came after it, to me this is the start of their classic era.

[@jamesdignanmusic2765]

Some of the bizarre guitar sounds in the "wind/ghost/space" section were reputedly created when Gilmour accidentally plugged his guitar into the output side of a wah-wah pedal. If there was ever a piece of music created to be listened to in a sense-deprivation chamber, it's this one. Not surprised that you lit up part way through!

[@ulrichbehnke9656]

The spooky middle part with the wailing seagulls … I presume everyone has his own imagination with this stuff. But for me it was clear - in the connection with the sonar pings in the beginning of the song and the later musical description of a storm on sea - I think it’s a scenery about the uboat-war. When merchant were sunk the sailors were drifting on the open waters. In lifeboats or life jackets. The convoys never stopped to rescue them, they had ordered to get away from the uboats. They were alone on the vast ocean, drifting there for weeks. When they was found it was often too late - they were dead and mummified, seagulls picking on the skulls. In the 1970th the horror of the war was still very vivid in the minds.

[@denniswaske]

saw this live. they did it in as i remember in 5 channel surround sound. the music swirled around you in circles. it overpowered a large venue. didn't need anything artificial, it was a mind altering experience. an early classic. still play it every once in a while. thanks for your input

[@vicprovost2561]

Me too, they always had by far the best sound system I ever heard, all 4 times I saw them. Also the best light show and special effects, just the best, period!

[@grahamhowes6904]

Yes I’m pretty sure they introduced live surround sound with this one it was used at the sneaky preview I was at. They even had a little voice saying “Light the bomb Cedric.’ And we heard Cedric run around the auditorium to the other side and BOOM!

[@frankshailes3205]

@@grahamhowes6904 They had their "Azimuth Coordinator" to make sounds move all around the auditorium a little before this I think, might even have been used for The Man and The Journey stuff from 1969.

[@hank35682]

Only ever saw Britt Floyd (Tribute Band) play it and it was absolutely amazing, it wasn’t just my first and only time hearing it, but I hadn’t ever heard the studio version before that point, it was completely brand new, it was the greatest thing I ever witnessed

[@renepeterse1884]

One of the all time classics❤

[@primateinterfacetechnologi6220]

As a general rule, I only subscribe to science and journalism channels... I had to draw the line somewhere. However I do have an exception and that is you, Mr. Helvering. You are the only music person I am subscribed to. I am a musician: music is my passion... but I wanted to keep my feed lean. Certainly, you understand. Peace and love.

[@BigBri550]

The spooky part in the middle has always been my favorite Pink Floyd moment. I found out later they achieved these sounds organically. The "moaning" is several tracks of bass guitar being "bowed," in a sense (by David Glimour?), with a steel guitar bar and run through the Binson Echorec. The cawing guitars were multi-tracked by Gilmour running his Strat through a wah pedal plugging the inputs/outputs opposite of the right way. This plus adjusting the tone knob back & forth through the Binson created those spine-tingling screams. The rest of the effects were achieved by Rick Wright with his Hammond C3 overdriven through a Leslie rotating cabinet (and added studio reverb).

[@IllumeEltanin]

Picture it… Miami 1981 at the Pink Floyd Laser Light Midnight Show at the then Miami Museum of Science Space Transit Planetarium (home of Jack Horkheimer of Star Hustler for those who remember that), stoned out of my 21-year old mind. The show was amazing, but I was personally disappointed as the lights started coming up with no Echoes having been played. So much so that I stayed in my seat as others stood and started gathering their things as I let out a plaintiff wail of “Echoes!” Several folks stopped in their tracks, and then a hearty basso voice picked up my cry with a hearty cry of “Echoes!” Others picked up the call while sitting back down. The ushers shuffled around, unsure of what to do. As they finally started to approach the rows to encourage audience members to leave, the planetarium lights dimmed through their sunset sequence and we heard over the speakers… “Ping!”

[@canman87]

My favorite Pink Floyd track of all time. The range of sonic landscapes you get to experience is just fantastic 🤌

[@freddymo3339]

The reprise is similar to a coming dawn. As droplets of light (piano key)hints to the the salvation (rescue from those damn CROWS cawing for my soul) of the listener. Beautiful!🤗

[@leonardobarbosa3999]

Thank you Doug, that came in a very good moment, really appreciate it! Hugs from Brazil!

[@MrTherocket127]

First listened to this on a rainy day, on a car ride when my dad told me "you're gonna like this." Such a good song, one that I keep going back to and I still love it every time I do. Pink Floyd is something else

[@FLASHAHOLIC_TV]

My favourite song, hands down.

[@charbelel-hani5199]

Doug, I think the abrupt transition from the instrumental extended jam to the third block of lyrics is an amazing example of how they build and build and build tension and then release it into the beauty of the two singing voices. Any time they reach the lyrics again I exhale a deep breath after filling the tension building up. I hear this since I was 14 and still gets me to the same effect. At least on me it is very effective!

[@charbelel-hani5199]

btw, I am 55 now. So, more than 40 years of such effectiveness

[@vsmicer]

The sound at the end is called a 'Shepherd tone', a double-recorded rising tone of harmonised vocals set at a slight delay from each other that creates the auditory illusion of a constantly rising tone. 'Echoes' is the linking piece between what post-Barrett Pink Floyd was, and what it was about to become.

[@axandio]

Very cool... I always loved this LP. Pink Floyd seemed to finally get their legs and the direction for their music with Gilmour getting his "voice" both on guitar and vocals. They really went deep psychedelic on Echoes but it still has the famous flavor of sound they are developing as they move to DSOTM and beyond.

[@corvidae5125]

Echoes is probably my all-time favorite PF track and one of my top 10 of all time. Glad to see you getting to it. :)

[@sixbladeknife44]

This was the first Pink Floyd song I heard when I was a kid (aside from Another Brick which was a radio hit about a year earlier), it was on late night FM radio. It completely blew my mind, I ran out and got Meddle on vinyl the next day. Huge fan ever since, I was 13 then and about to to be 55.

[@johnnyb6067]

I got home late one night and Echoes came on the radio. I couldn’t believe it. So I sat there for the entire song almost falling asleep but soaking in the only time I’ll ever hear it played publicly.

[@TsunamiBeefPies]

I bought this album in 1972, when I was 18, to congratulate myself on getting my first job after high school. (The other album I bought that day was Close to the Edge--a pretty good record-buying day, I think.) I remember the first time I put it on. Side 1 of this album couldn't be much more different than Side 2, so after I flipped over the record, I had no idea what this side-long track had in store for me. Needless to say, it was a revelation to me! Two years later, I saw them perform it live (the second half of the concert was Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety, but I digress), and was captivated by how they pulled it off in concert. During the amorphous middle section, the stage was almost completely obscured by dry ice smoke. I agree with you that maybe the most outstanding aspect of Pink Floyd's music is their unbelievable patience, giving musical ideas room to breathe and develop. I disagree with you about the ascending voices at the end of the song. To me, they feel like voices "call[ing] to you across the sky."

[@davidkalisch7168]

I've always felt, when I closed my eyes, that I was under the sea hearing the whales and the movement of the ocean with the seagulls flying above it.

[@benhinds2971]

Studio and Live version you really get to see what makes Nick Mason unique. From subtle to thunderous.

[@constellationshots3893]

Ik that a lot of people’s favorite pf album is dark side, but mine is easily meddle, it has touched me to my core and makes my stomach drop every single time I listen to echoes. It is the one song that I could not imagine my life without.