Pink Floyd, the legendary rock band, became renowned for their ability to craft musical pieces that boldly subverted traditional songwriting norms. Their approach was far from ordinary; their music was a testament to their daring experiments, pushing the boundaries of what was considered standard. Such audacious experimentation resulted in the birth of masterpieces, with a standout track that the band’s David Gilmour referred to as a “masterwork.”
The track in question is the riveting 23-minute epic, ‘Echoes’, which debuted on the band’s album, Meddle. The band transcended the standard definition of a song with ‘Echoes,’ creating an immersive auditory experience more akin to theatre. This could only have been accomplished by a band as uniquely visionary as Pink Floyd. Meddle marked the first time the band discovered their distinctive sonic identity, creating a blueprint for their future musical explorations. The pivotal role of ‘Echoes’ in this musical evolution cannot be overstated.
Pink Floyd had already earned their status as one of the UK’s biggest bands by this point. However, their departure from the psychedelic sounds that characterized their earlier albums, Ummagumma and Atom Heart Mother, hinted at an eagerness to venture into unexplored territories. It was with Meddle that Pink Floyd truly realized their potential, with ‘Echoes’ emerging as the album’s cornerstone.
Even post-production, ‘Echoes’ remained a critical point of reference for the band, informing the creation of the album’s opening track, ‘One Of These Days.’ Without ‘Echoes,’ Meddle would likely have lacked its coherent structure. Gilmour viewed this track as a critical component in Pink Floyd’s evolution into the band they had the potential to become. Reflecting on the impact of ‘Echoes’ during a 1993 interview with Guitar World, Gilmour shared, “I believe ‘Echoes’ is the album’s masterwork. It was the point at which we all began to understand the essence of Pink Floyd. ‘One Of These Days’ is a subsidiary piece that emerged from the work on ‘Echoes’.”
Gilmour held ‘Echoes’ in high regard, considering it an essential track that helped to define Pink Floyd’s direction. He noted its significance in the band’s catalogue, remarking that it paved the way for the creation of their magnum opus, The Dark Side Of The Moon. “Tracks like ‘A Saucerful of Secrets,’ ‘Atom Heart Mother,’ and ‘Echoes’ were instrumental, each guiding us towards the creation of Dark Side of the Moon,” Gilmour noted.
Furthermore, ‘Echoes’ holds a special place in Gilmour’s heart as his favourite Pink Floyd song to perform live. However, since the unfortunate passing of band member Rick Wright, Gilmour has refrained from performing it. At an event in 2020, he revealed, “‘Echoes’ was tremendous fun to perform, especially during my last solo tour and the 2006 solo tour with Rick Wright. But with Rick’s passing, it simply feels wrong to perform it again.”
