A NICE PAIR

A Nice Pair is a compilation album released in 1973 by UK progressive/ psychadelic rock act Pink Floyd. The compilation features Pink Floyd´s first two albums The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967) and A Saucerful of Secrets (1968). The compilation was released after the huge commercial success of The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) earlier that year and was meant to introduce newcommers to the Pink Floyd´s early psychadelic period. The original release was a double LP set where the whole The Piper at the Gates of Dawn album filled the first LP and the second LP featured the full A Saucerful of Secrets album. The US version of A Nice Pair differs slightly from the UK version. The biggest difference between the two is that Astronomy Domine appears in the live version from Ummagumma (1969) on the US version instead of the original version which appears on the UK version.

While some might see the release of A Nice Pair as a cashing in on the commercial success of The Dark Side of the Moon, it does serve a purpose IMO. For me personally this was my way of getting the first two releases by Pink Floyd at a reasonable prize and I greatly value my LP copy of A Nice Pair. Since I gave both The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and A Saucerful of Secrets 4 star ratings I can´t see why A Nice Pair shouldn´t deserve just as many. So a deserved 4 star rating it is.