Masters of Rock

Masters of Rock
Compilation album by Pink Floyd
Released	1974
Recorded	1967–1968
Genre	Psychedelic rock
Length	29:40
Language	English
Label	Columbia/EMI
Producer	Norman Smith and Joe Boyd
Professional reviews
Allmusic link
Pink Floyd compilations chronology
A Nice Pair (1973) Masters of Rock (1974) A Collection of Great Dance Songs (1981)

Masters of Rock is a compilation album of early Pink Floyd music, concentrating on singles and album tracks from 1967 to 1968. On the back cover it says, "Originally issued as The Best of Pink Floyd", but that album (which is actually titled The Best of the Pink Floyd – emphasis added) and this one each contain tracks that are not on the other.

Masters of Rock was released in 1974 in Germany, Italy, and The Netherlands, to capitalise on the success of The Dark Side of the Moon. It is one of a series of budget EMI compilations with identical titles, each volume for a different artist. Two different sleeve designs were used: one (by Herman Baas) based on the picture from the centre of the album sleeve for Meddle, with Syd Barrett's face superimposed over the original photo of David Gilmour, who had not yet joined the band during most of the period covered by the album; and a later edition with the title filling the front cover. The latter edition is titled Masters of Rock, Volume 1; subsequent volumes of Masters of Rock featured other artists.

This record was notable for containing the first stereo release of "Apples and Oranges", and together with The Best of the Pink Floyd was the only LP source of "It Would Be So Nice" prior to the era of CD re-issues and compilations. The version of "It Would Be So Nice" appearing on this album is the altered version made for airplay, with lyrics mentioning "the Daily Standard" in place of "the Evening Standard". Although this album uses the stereo mix of "Paintbox" which previously appeared on Relics, "Julia Dream" is the original mono mix which is significantly different from, and longer than the Relics stereo mix.

Track list

All songs written and sung by Syd Barrett, and are taken from singles, unless otherwise noted.

Side one

1. "Chapter 24" (from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn) – 3:36
2. "Matilda Mother" (misspelled "Mathilda Mother" on this album; from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn) – 3:03
3. "Arnold Layne" – 2:51
4. "Candy and a Currant Bun" – 2:38
5. "The Scarecrow" – 2:07

Side two

6. "Apples and Oranges" (stereo mix) – 3:01
7. "It Would Be So Nice" (alternative version for radio) (Richard Wright) – 3:39
8. "Paint Box" (stereo mix) (Wright) – 3:27
9. "Julia Dream" (Roger Waters) – 2:28
10. "See Emily Play" – 2:50

Personnel

• Syd Barrett – guitar, vocals
• David Gilmour – guitar, vocals on "Julia Dream" and "It Would Be So Nice" (uncredited)
• Nick Mason – drums, percussion
• Roger Waters – bass guitar, vocals
• Richard Wright – keyboards, piano, organ, vocals (however erroneously credited for playing bass-guitar)