Works.

I've heard people complain about how Works is a weak complation but I personally like it. I picked it up from the store about a week ago souly for the different versions of Brain Damage/ Eclipse ... also, Embryo which is a very interesting song and probably as far in imagination as Waters ever went besides "Daddy died, the world sucks." (Don't take me wrong... Waters is my favourite but it does get kinda irking sometimes)

But my question is something that just confused me more than anything. On the drive back home from an out-of-town trip I popped Works into the CD player so I could listen to it the whole way through and see just how 'weak' it was... and I was scared to death when the first track played. (One of these days) and it was the intro to Speak To Mefrom Dark Side Of The Moon. I thought they had in some freakish accident printed Dark Side on a Works CD and I was like "EBAY GOLDMINE!" But then One Of These Days started up and my heart continued beating. I'm confused since some of the tracks are simply just the same ol' but a few of them are different (One Of These Days, Brain Damage, Eclipse, Fearless, and even See Emily Play sounds a bit different.)

As opposed to what I heard in the past which was Works was just a crap attempt by the record company to cash in on Pink Floyd a bit more... was Works actually intended by Floyd to give us alternate tracks?

The truth is out there.

Good question. Alternate versions are surely covered by bootlegs, though?

--Rhys

From what I remember, the tracks on my vinyl copy aren't that different. Of course, Brain Damage/Eclipse are different mixes because they are condensed versions of the quadraphonic mix. I thought it odd, too, to have part of Speak to Me in the beginning of OOTD, but I suppose that Capitol did that to spice up an otherwise boring intro of rushing wind. Also notice that there are odd bird sounds (being vague here... I haven't listened to my copy of Works in a while) at the end of Embyro. I think Capitol added these, as well, unless someone with a bootleg or copy of the Harvest comp. 'Picnic' want to prove me wrong.
I also noticed that See Emily Play sounded a bit better than on my CDs... more echo on the drums, I thought. But that could just be vinyl for you.

All the tracks on Works (excepting Brain damage and eclipse) are exactly the same mixes that appear on previous regular album releases. Even Embryo is the same one that appears on the Harvest sampler 'Picnic' from, oh, sometime in the 70's, but yes, they are mixed into each other, which is kinda nice. I think that that 'wind' thing that they've got going on on 'Echoes: the best of PF' is so cliched and sucks compared to just a straight mix, y'know?

Anyway, I like Works. Like Oliver Reed, it's got a lot of spirit contained within it.

cheers,

Mark

Has anyone noticed that the synth solo at the end of brain damage is way louder on Works than it is on dark side.

Just picked this one up yesterday... yeah, a lot of the mixes are different. I'm assuming this is because it was compiled in 1983 when the standard remasters hadn't been made available yet. The compiler (one "Thom Trumbo" if the liner notes are to be believed) must have just used whatever masters he had at his disposal and not bothered to get better ones.

The most noticable differences are in the Dark Side tracks (quad mixes); and See Emily Play and Arnold Layne (both in fake stereo). Fearless crossfades into Brain Damage. Emily crossfades into Pict. I didn't hear any birds at the end, though.

I'm quite fond of the whole thing, actually... it's kind of like a mutated bastard son of Relics.

Yea i like Works. It's a strange compilation, but very pleasant to listen to.

Oh yea and on Eclipse from Works from the guy laughing at the end laughs about three times in a row instead of just once.

Yea Shane you're right I just listnened to my LP of 'Works' and there's definetely some bird noises at the end there.

sounded like bits from Several Small Species.

would it be worth me buying it?(I have all the songs on there apart from embryo)

Embryo is a really, really good track. If you feel the need to hear every song ever created by the floyd, go for it.