A NICE PAIR

"A Nice Pair" is a compilation album by UK progressive/psychadelic rock act Pink Floyd. The compilation was released through Harvest Records in December 1973. "A Nice Pair" features all tracks from Pink Floyd´s first two albums "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)" and "A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)". The compilation was released as a result of the huge commercial success of "The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)" earlier that year and was meant to introduce new fans to Pink Floyd´s early psychadelic period. The original release was a double LP set where the first LP featured "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967)" and the second LP featured the full "A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)" album. The US version of "A Nice Pair" differs slightly from the UK version. The most notable difference between the two is that "Astronomy Domine" appears in the live version from "Ummagumma (1969)" on the US version instead of the original version which appears on the UK version.

While some might perceive the release of "A Nice Pair" as a cashing in on the commercial success of "The Dark Side of the Moon (1973)" (and to some extent I agree with such an opinion), it does serve it´s intented purpose. For me personally this was a way of getting hold of the first two releases by Pink Floyd at a reasonable price and I greatly value my vinyl copy of "A Nice Pair". Add to that the fact that both albums featured on the compilation are great genre defining works of psychadelic rock, and "A Nice Pair" becomes an even more interesting release. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.