THE EARLY SINGLES

"The Early Singles" is a compilation of Pink Floyd and was released in 1992. It features the band's first three singles, the Syd Barrett's singles, which were written mostly by their band leader, Sid Barrett and the two first post-Syd singles.

"Arnold Layne" was the first Pink Floyd's single and was released on 11 March 1967, "See Emily Play" was the second Pink Floyd's single and was released on 16 June 1967, "Apples And Oranges" was the third Pink Floyd's single and was released on 18 November 1967, "It Would Be So Nice" was the fourth Pink Floyd's single and was released in 12 April 1968 and "Point Me At The Sky" was the fifth Pink Floyd's single and was released in 17 December 1968.

"The Early Singles" has ten tracks. The first track "Arnold Layne" was the A side of the first Pink Floyd's single. It was a non-album's song. It was written by Syd Barrett and was released on "Relics". This is a song featured on numerous others Pink Floyd's compilations. It hasn't any sort of prog rock sound but it's nice to hear. It's a good introduction to the music of Pink Floyd in Barrett's era. The second track "Candy And A Currant Bun" was the B side of the debut Pink Floyd's single "Arnold Layne". It was also a non-album's song. It was also written by Sid Barrett and it's also a song featured on numerous others Pink Floyd's compilations. This is a good song with some controversial letters, a classic song of their earlier psychedelic phase. The third track "See Emily Play" was the A side of the second Pink Floyd's single. It was also released as a non-album's song. Still, the song appeared on the American edition of "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn". It was also another song written by Sid Barrett. It also appears on "Relics" and on many other Pink Floyd's compilations. This is a song with an uplifting tune. I really love that psychedelic vibe. The fourth track "Scarecrow" was the B side of their second single "See Emily Play". "The Scarecrow" was also released on the original edition of Pink Floyd's debut "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn". This was also written by Sid Barrett. It also appears on many other Pink Floyd's compilations. It's a short song with an interesting and strange sound. It's a psychedelic song with a kind of a medieval sound with nice keyboards and interesting percussion. The fifth track "Apples And Oranges" was the A side of the third single of Pink Floyd. It's another non-album's song. It was also written by Syd Barrett. It's his final song written for Pink Floyd. It was also released on other Pink Floyd's compilations. It's meandering. Barrett's guitar playing is great with an interesting metallic tone. The sixth track "Paint Box" was the B side of their third single. It's another non-album's song. This is a song written by Richard Wright. It was also released on "Relics" despite be included on many other Pink Floyd's compilations. It's a quality piece of pop-psychedelic music. It points more towards to the spacier direction the band would take without Barrett. The seventh track "It Would Be So Nice" was the A side of the fourth single of Pink Floyd. It's one more non- album's song. It was a song written by Richard Wright and it was also released on other Pink Floyd's compilations. It's a decent psychedelic song with some different sections. Some parts are cool. Overall it's a decent song. The eighth track "Julia Dream" was the B side of their single "It Would Be So Nice". It's another non-album's song. It was written by Roger Waters and it also appears on "Relics". It also appears on numerous other Pink Floyd's compilations. It's a psychedelic folk song that oddly reminds me of The Moody Blues. It's pretty decent. The ninth track "Point Me At The Sky" was the A side of their fifth single. It's another non-album's song. It was a song with collaboration between Roger Waters and David Gilmour. It was also included on other Pink Floyd's compilations. It's a good psychedelic song that alternates between quiet and loud sections. The loud sections are actually pretty good. The tenth track "Careful With That Axe, Eugene" was the B side of their single "Point Me At The Sky". It's another non-album's song. It's an instrumental written by all band's members. It also appears on "Relics". It's an early classic of Pink Floyd, a great instrumental, very dynamic. Each musician contributes very well, from Water's bass riff, Wright's great organ playing, Gilmour's textural guitar and Mason's drumming, controlling the dynamic well.

Conclusion: "The Early Singles" is a compilation album of Pink Floyd that provides in an only single album, the first five Pink Floyd's singles that were released in UK. This wasn't absolutely true for the U.S. market. In the U.S. market, the third single of Pink Floyd was "Flaming" with "The Gnome" as the B side and the fourth single was "Let There Be More Light" with "Remember A Day" as the B side. So, "The Early Singles" has many common points with "1967: The First Three Singles" and is also very similar to many other Pink Floyd's compilations like "The Best Of Pink Floyd" and "Masters Of Rock Vol. 1". About the tracks on "The Early Singles", all are great with the exception of "Apples And Oranges" which is, in my humble opinion, a very disjointed song that shows unfortunately, but perfectly well, the state of dementia of Syd Barrett's mind. So, we may say that "The Early Singles" is a good and important compilation for all hard Pink Floyd's fans that can have all the first five singles on a chronological order and all only on a single album.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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