SHINE ON - SELECTIONS FROM THE BOX

One of the great things about managing a record/CD store was the promos. This one was an in-store play disk to advertise the monsterous "Shine On" box set. The recording quality is fantastic, and the selection list is pretty good, too. I would have liked to gave gotten Echoes on it, and a full version of Shine On You Crazy Diamond (this edited version fades in very clumsily just before the first verse), but I can't really complain.

The packaging is a standard jewel box, with an inner sleeve describing the full set of disks.

It's unnecessary if you have all of the original albums, but a good collection.

'Selections From The Box' - Pink Floyd (Compilation)

Simply put, this is a compilation of some of the more memorable tracks from the massive 'Shine On' boxset of Pink Floyd. For all intents and purposes however, this promotion works best as a best-of compilation for the band's entire career, going from their earlier days with 'See Emily Play' to 1987's 'A Momentary Lapse Of Reason' record, with the song 'One Slip'. Overall, best-of collections are usually fairly useless, except to the more casual listeners, and listeners who are first trying to get into a band's music. Although the 'Shine On' boxset obviously holds quite a bit more value, I must say that in terms of best of compilations, 'Selections From The Box' works fairly well, taking songs from virtually every period in the band's career. From start to finish, one can hear the development of Floyd's sound from psychedelic pop, to space rock, to prog and classic rock, to the bluesier soul direction that David Gilmour took the band in. Nothing original here, but for greens to the band's work, 'Selections From The Box' could be helpful to gain an insight into how they evolved.

An unnecessary but pleasant little curio from the masters of prog and marketing that runs for about an hour. This of course was designed solely to promote the infamous "Shine On" box set and it did so admirably at the time. Nowadays it works as a rather lacklustre compilation with some merit as it features a full blown version of 'Dogs' which is a rare thing and always welcome.

It is always nice to hear the brooding psych of 'Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun' and the glorious dark chill of 'One Of these Days'. As usual the 7/8 sig of 'Money' rears its head along with the paean to Syd, 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond', edited cruelly down to a mere 5:14 and quite useless. From "The Wall" there is the indispensable 'Comfortably Numb' and chart botherer 'Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2)' which I have only heard about a hundred times and can hardly endure these days.

An interesting more recent track appears with 'One Slip' but 'Learning to Fly' would have been better. Nothing from "The Final Cut" notably as it's a load of dingo's kidneys. Enough said, this is only for collectors, without a shadow of a doubt and it's a great collectors vinyl treasure just for the fact it is so rare, as long as you can forgive the bare booty on the cover.