Pink Floyd Pink Floyd Collection

For those who spent the whole of the 1970s actually living on the dark side of the moon rather than listening to it, A Collection of Great Dance Songs offers an opportunity to hear some of the most timeless, thoughtful, and influential rock music ever made by rich, bitter Englishmen. The album's title certainly seems less deceptive now, considering just how much of the Floyd's instrumental ambience eventually seeped into the techno and dance scenes of the '90s. Initially released during one of those yawning epochs between studio albums (namely, The Wall and The Final Cut) this best-of collection cherry picks from Pink Floyd's 1970s material–the era when the band (and they were a band in those days) bestrode the stadiums of the world like light-show leviathans and sold records by the tons–and is only undermined by the omission of sprawling masterpieces such as "Echoes" and "Atom Heart Mother" (such were the time limitations of the old vinyl format). Never mind the dance floor, this a great portable Pink Floyd collection for long car journeys.

Anyone who knew anything about Pink Floyd knew that a dance band they were not, so this compilation, courtesy of Columbia Records, was intended ironically…

Pink Floyd were an English rock band formed in London in 1965. They achieved international acclaim with their progressive and psychedelic music. Distinguished by their use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, extended compositions, and elaborate live shows, they are one of the most commercially successful and influential groups in popular music history…

A Collection of Great Dance Songs is a compilation album by English rock band Pink Floyd. It was released on 23 November 1981 in the United Kingdom by Harvest Records and in the United States by Columbia Records…

For those who spent the whole of the 1970s actually living on the dark side of the moon rather than listening to it, A Collection of Great Dance Songs offers an opportunity to hear some of the most timeless, thoughtful, and influential rock music ever made by rich, bitter Englishmen. The album's title certainly seems less deceptive now, considering just how much of the Floyd's instrumental ambience eventually seeped into the techno and dance scenes of the '90s. Initially released during one of those yawning epochs between studio albums (namely, The Wall and The Final Cut) this best-of collection cherry picks from Pink Floyd's 1970s material–the era when the band (and they were a band in those days) bestrode the stadiums of the world like light-show leviathans and sold records by the tons–and is only undermined by the omission of sprawling masterpieces such as "Echoes" and "Atom Heart Mother" (such were the time limitations of the old vinyl format). Never mind the dance floor, this a great portable Pink Floyd collection for long car journeys.

Roger Waters was Pink Floyd's grand conceptualist, the driving force behind such albums as Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall. In the wake of Syd Barrett's departure, Waters emerged as a formidable songwriter, but it's this stretch of '70s albums – each one nearly symphonic in its reach – that established him as a distinctive, idiosyncratic voice within rock and, following his departure from Floyd in 1985, he continued to create new works in this vein (notably, 1992's Amused to Death) and capitalized on the enduring popularity of his old band by staging live revivals of Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall in their entireties…