How 'A Foot in the Door' Fixed the Best-Of Problem That 'Echoes' Created

The 2011 compilation “A Foot in the Door: The Best of Pink Floyd” was designed as the opposite of 2001’s “Echoes”. After that earlier set buried casual listeners in a 26-track non-chronological meld, the band finally released a single disc that runs in straight calendar order—from “See Emily Play” (1967) to “High Hopes” (1994). No crossfades, no obscure B-sides, no provocation.

Compare that to “Relics” (1971), which was a scattershot of early singles and album cuts, heavy on Syd Barrett leftovers and organized by what fit on one side of vinyl. “Echoes” famously sequenced songs into a