"Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd is the fourth" compilation album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on November 5, 2001, internationally by EMI and on November 6 in the United States by Capitol Records. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart on November 24, 2001, with sales of 214,650 copies and remained on the chart for 26 weeks. It was certified gold, platinum, and double platinum by the RIAA in the US, reaching triple platinum on January 8, 2002, and quadruple platinum on September 10, 2007.
The compilation spans Pink Floyd's career from their first single "Arnold Layne" in 1967 to "High Hopes," the final track from their 1994 album The Division Bell. Syd Barrett, the band's original frontman, is featured on six tracks, providing lead vocals on five. Notably, four albums—More, Ummagumma, Atom Heart Mother, and Obscured by Clouds—are not included. Each of the 26 tracks is seamlessly faded into the next to recreate the feel of a concept album, a technique executed by longtime producer/engineer James Guthrie. The tracks were newly remastered for this compilation and are not arranged chronologically, opening and closing with tracks from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn: "Astronomy Domine" and "Bike."
David Gilmour commented on the compilation process, indicating that communication was primarily through their engineer, James Guthrie, rather than extensive group discussions. Roger Waters contributed the name of the compilation, changing it from a less favorable title proposed by the band.
The cover art, created by Storm Thorgerson, features recursive windows in an infinite regression, reflecting his previous work on the Ummagumma cover. Various elements representing Pink Floyd's discography are included, such as the man on fire from Wish You Were Here and the cow from Atom Heart Mother. Thorgerson constructed the cover using various walls set in a Sussex landscape, with actors and props arranged to create the desired imagery.
Echoes includes the song "When the Tigers Broke Free," marking the first time this track appeared on an album. It is also the first compilation to feature songs from The Final Cut, A Momentary Lapse of Reason, and The Division Bell, and it uniquely includes "Echoes" from Meddle. The album's first-week sales surpassed their previous record for first-week sales with Pulse. In 2001, Echoes was the 16th best-selling album globally, selling 4.8 million copies. Following the band's reunion at Live 8 in 2005, sales of Echoes surged significantly.
