Why 'Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd' Frustrated Fans With Its Weird Sequencing and Missing Syd

The 2001 compilation Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd was meant to be the definitive overview, but fans immediately hated the track ordering. Instead of going chronologically or by popularity, the band (mainly David Gilmour) sequenced the songs to flow like a continuous listening experience, jumping from 1973’s “Money” straight into 1987’s “Learning to Fly,” then back to 1975’s “Shine On You Crazy Diamond.” It felt like someone hit shuffle on a playlist, not a curated best-of.

Even more frustrating was what got left out. The set completely ignored the Syd Barrett era—no “Arnold Layne,” no “See Emily Play,” not even a snippet of “Interstellar Overdrive.” Fans also noticed that several tracks (like “Echoes” itself) were trimmed or faded early to fit the continuous-mix concept. For a band with such a defined arc, the disjointed sequence felt disrespectful to their history, and the Syd omission remains the loudest complaint.