''Relics'' (subtitle: ''A Bizarre Collection of Antiques & Curios'') is a 1971

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

by English rock band

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

. The album was released in the UK on 14 May 1971 and in the US on the following day. Initially released by Starline, the compilation was reissued by Music for Pleasure in the UK, while

Harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

and Capitol distributed the album in the US. A remastered CD was released in 1996 with a different album cover, picturing a three-dimensional model based on the sketch drawn by drummer

Nick Mason Nicholas Berkeley Mason (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He has been the only constant member since the band's formation in 1965, and the only member to appear on every ...

for the album's initial release.

Release

The release of ''Relics'' occurred because the band's record company, EMI, were concerned that they had gone into the studio to record what would become ''

Meddle ''Meddle'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released by Harvest Records on 5 November 1971 in the United Kingdom. The album was produced between the band's touring commitments, from January to August 1971 at a se ...

'' without any songs or ideas, effectively starting from scratch. This, combined with their ever-increasing touring schedule, made EMI realise that no new product would be released for some time, possibly not until well over a year after completing their previous album, '' Atom Heart Mother''. In order to issue some more "product" for fans, they decided to release a budget priced LP on their Starline label, combining early singles, B-sides, album tracks and one unreleased song, "

Biding My Time "Biding My Time" is a composition by Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters. Prior performance and recording Prior to the ''Relics'' compilation album, "Biding My Time" was an unreleased recording, heard only by fans who attended concerts where the band ...

". The compilation contains material from the first three albums: ''

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn ''The Piper at the Gates of Dawn'' is the debut studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 4 August 1967 by EMI Columbia. It is the only Pink Floyd album made under the leadership of founder member Syd Barrett (lead vocals, ...

'', ''

A Saucerful of Secrets ''A Saucerful of Secrets'' is the second studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 28 June 1968 by Columbia Graphophone Company, EMI Columbia in the UK and in the US by Tower Records (record label), Tower Records. The menta ...

'' and '' More''. ''Relics'' has been re-released on numerous occasions, and at times without the proper authority. One such incident involved EMI Australia releasing the album on CD in 1987 without the band's consent. This led to the LP being withdrawn and, as a result, the album became a rarity. ''Relics'' was made readily available again when it was officially issued on CD in 1996. ''Relics'' was reissued again on CD on 17 June 2016, featuring the original sketch artwork cover and containing the same mastering as the 1996 edition.

Mixes

''Relics'' was most noted for its inclusion of the band's first two

Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, guitarist and songwriter who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Until his departure in 1968, he was Pink Floyd's frontman and primary songwriter, ...

-era hit singles, "

Arnold Layne "Arnold Layne" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd. Released on 10 March 1967, it was the band's first single and was written by Syd Barrett. Lyrics The song is about a man whose strange hobby is stealing women's lingerie from washing l ...

" and "

See Emily Play "See Emily Play" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released as their second single on 16 June 1967 on the Columbia label. Written by original frontman Syd Barrett, it was released as a non-album single but appeared as the opening ...

". Due to the lack of available stereo masters, both tracks were reprocessed into

Duophonic Duophonic sound was a trade name for a type of audio signal processing used by Capitol Records on certain releases and re-releases of mono recordings issued during the 1960s and 1970s. In this process monaural recordings were reprocessed into a ...

stereo for the album's original release (the 1996 CD release reverts to the original mono mixes). Also included were the B-sides of the three follow-up singles, with the tracks " Paint Box", " Julia Dream" and "

Careful with That Axe, Eugene "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" is an instrumental piece by the English rock band Pink Floyd. It was recorded in November 1968 and released as the B-side to the single " Point Me at the Sky", and featured on the 1971 compilation album ''Relics ...

" appearing in true stereo. ''Relics'' has the only CD release of "Paint Box" that has the same length (3:33) that the original single version had; on the albums '' The Early Singles'' (1992, part of '' Shine On''), '' 1967: The First Three Singles'' (1997), and the 40th anniversary edition of ''

'' (2007), it fades out about 13 seconds later. The album was not a definitive collection of non-album material, as several single A-sides were omitted ("

Apples and Oranges A comparison of apples and oranges occurs when two items or groups of items are compared that cannot be practically compared, typically because of inherent or fundamental differences between the objects. The idiom, ''comparing apples and oran ...

", " It Would Be So Nice" and " Point Me at the Sky"), as well as one B-side (" Candy and a Currant Bun"). Until this was rectified with the release of ''The Early Singles'' (1992), it was left to the 1970 compilation '' The Best of the Pink Floyd'' (also known as ''Masters of Rock'') and bootlegs such as '' The Dark Side of the Moo'' to plug the gap on LP.

"Biding My Time"

The album also includes a previously unreleased studio recording of a

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...

song, "

". The song, originally titled "Afternoon”, had been heard by live audiences as part of the ''Man and the Journey'' concert sequence. Following the sessions for '' Ummagumma'', it was reworked as "Biding My Time", before being held over for two years until the release of ''Relics''. Unusually, Richard Wright plays trombone on this track.

Cover and machine

The album cover was designed by drummer Nick Mason, and was inspired by his time studying architecture at the

Regent Street Polytechnic The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...

. In 2008, Mason sold a limited edition of 195 signed prints of this cover. In addition to variations on the original design, the album was released in several countries with different artwork. The four-eyed face on the original US album cover was an antique bottle opener. When the album was released on CD, former

Hipgnosis Hipgnosis were an English art design group, based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, Def Leppard, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black S ...

partner

Storm Thorgerson Storm Elvin Thorgerson (28 February 1944 – 18 April 2013) was an English art director and music video director. He is best known for closely working with the group Pink Floyd through most of their career, and also created album or other art f ...

had a real-life version of the contraption on the cover made and presented it to Mason. It is still in Mason's office. Both Thorgerson and his assistant, Peter Curzon, came up with the idea after viewing the head sculpture which appeared on the album sleeve of '' The Division Bell'', constructed by John Robertson. While the 2016 CD reissue by Pink Floyd Records reverted to the original sketch cover, it also contains photographs of the three-dimensional object inside the booklet. In May 2019, for the 48th anniversary of the album's release, Nick Mason's official Twitter account, as well as the official Pink Floyd Facebook page, posted a fan made animation of the original cover art. This animated tribute was made by Scandinavian artist Alex Teglbjærg, Artist on the border. The animation was used by Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets for the Echoes tour of 2022. It was used as the backdrop for the performance of the final song Bike.

Track listing

The Capitol reissue of the cassette (4N-16234) is in original order.

Personnel

Pink Floyd *

– lead and

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

(1–5, 11), lead vocals (1, 3, 11), backing vocals *

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who is a member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined in 1967, shortly before the departure of the founder member Syd Barrett. By the early 1980s, Pink F ...

– lead and rhythm guitar (6–10), lead vocals (6, 8, 9), vocalizations (7), backing vocals *

– drums (1–3, 5–7, 9–11),

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

, original cover design *

– bass guitar (all tracks), lead vocals (10), vocalizations (7), backing vocals * Rick Wright – Farfisa organ (1–4, 8),

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

(6–8, 10), piano (3–5, 10, 11), lead vocals (4, 5), backing vocals; tack piano (3, 5, 11), electric harpsichord (3),

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

(6),

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

(7), trombone (10),

harmonium The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal strips mounted in a frame. Types include the pressure-based harmonium, the suction reed organ (which employs a va ...

(11),

celesta The celesta () or celeste (), also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music ...

(11), violin (11) Additional personnel * James Guthrie – remastering supervision * Norman Smith – drums and backing vocals (4), drum roll (2) *

Doug Sax Doug Sax (April 26, 1936 – April 2, 2015) was an American mastering engineer from Los Angeles, California. He mastered three The Doors' albums, including their 1967 debut; six Pink Floyd's albums, including '' The Wall''; Ray Charles' multiple ...

– remastering

Charts and certifications

Charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Relics (Album) Albums produced by David Gilmour Albums produced by Joe Boyd Albums produced by Nick Mason Albums produced by Norman Smith (record producer) Albums produced by Richard Wright (musician) Albums produced by Roger Waters Albums with cover art by Hipgnosis Albums with cover art by Storm Thorgerson Pink Floyd compilation albums 1971 compilation albums Capitol Records compilation albums EMI Records compilation albums Harvest Records compilation albums B-side compilation albums