Special introductory paragraph
The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
Stoned Alone
A Saucerful Of Secrets
Rhamadam: Syd Barrett and the Dawn of Pink Floyd
The Sights And Sounds Of Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd
Magnesium Proverbs
The Man And The Journey
Ummagumma
More
The Complete Top Gear Sessions 1967-1969
Relics
Atom Heart Mother
Meddle
Obscured By Clouds
The Dark Side Of The Moo
Live In Japan 1972: Dark Side Of The Rising Sun
The Dark Side Of The Moon
Wish You Were Here
Animals
The Wall
The Wall Rehearsals
The Final Cut
A Momentary Lapse Of Reason
Live: Delicate Sound Of Thunder
The Division Bell
(Amanda Kenyon reviews) Us and Them: The Symphonic Music of Pink Floyd
Pulse
Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81
Building The Wall
(Amanda Kenyon reviews) Echoes
Pink Floyd is a band - not a guy. They started off as a blues-rock combo,
quickly transformed into a psychedelic guitar-rock band, then went through
some artsy phases before settling into their chosen role as hit-making
depressed complainers of 70's radio. They were very talented, very weird, and
quite creative, serving as yet another example to support my opinion that the
best rock bands of the 60's still sound so innovative because, unlike all
these faceless '90s schlock-rock bands, their chief musical influence was NOT
rock! Rock was too new to be a major influence. Listen to the early work of
bands like Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues, Yes (and plenty of others), and you
can tell that they are based on classical, jazz, blues, folk - all sorts of
things that blended together to make the music much more interesting than,
say, Better Than Ezra (or, more appropriately, Better Than Almost
Nobody). Pink Floyd's early stuff is unbelievably bizarre, and their
later stuff, although a bit easier to swallow, is still incredibly
well-conceived and awfully original.
Of course, now they suck. Really really bad. I mean REALLY bad. But let's
look at their history, shall we?
Please buy this album. It's 60's acid rock at its finest. Side two has a
couple of hokey folksy songs, but you'll like them. All good songs - all but
two written by Syd. And, just for the chronicles, I'd like to say that the
ten-minute instrumental "Interstellar Overdrive" is, without a doubt, one of
the greatest songs ever recorded. Insane. Disorienting. Scary. Amazing.
And improvised???? What a band.
Being the ripe age of 21, I simply cannot understand, even given Sid's
obvious love and understanding of LSD, how this album can be a
monumental album for tripping. It's certainly worth a try, but the
scarier moments are most certainly... well... intimidating. Again, it
may be because I wasn't around at this period in time, but I much prefer
Wish You Were Here for LSD. I also like Dark Side of the Moon, but I
avoid it (to avoid having the same trip over and over again :)
My favorite song on this album is 'Lucifer Sam.' I agree, it would blow
away anything around today with more modern recording and producing
techniques, but as it is it already does that (for me). Hopefully if
anyone out there is in a band that is about to record an album they're
confident of, they'll record a cover of "Lucifer Sam", and maybe someday
we'll get to see if it actually would 'set alternative music on its
head.'
Also the singles are worth picking up, altho the BBC sessions and other
rare 67 trax (Scream thy last scream/she was a millionare was an aborted
and unreleased third single) have yet to appear. According to the
Eclipse page however, the BBC sessions are due to come for the Floyd,
including the Syd period.
The later Syd solo albums are much more intense. Acoustic. Rather like
the Gnome, but more terrifying because his psyche was becoming much more
fragmented. A good study on Syd and his music is the 98 book Lost in the
Woods. Crazy Diamond is a much more general overview. Syd no longer
exists. Not dead mind you, but hes retreated from the world. Its
terribly sad if you allow yourself to dwell on it
'Matilda Mother' is a little better, but I think the best of the lot is
'Lucifer Sam' which distinguishes itself in my memory by actually having
a serious and clear riff, plus the way Syd sings that 'that cat's
something I can't explain' refrain is cool.
Now for the 'serious' stuff. 'Astronomy Domine' is certainly shattering
at first listening. But, IMHO, it totally eliminates the necessity for
'Interstellar Overdrive' (both, by the way, are built on the same
descending riff). I hate 'Overdrive' because it's so dang repetitive.
These astral noises begin at about the second minute and they are still
going on at the seventh minute or so! One listen is too much for this
song. 'Chapter 24' is a totally fake attempt at setting the Yijing to
music. It cannot be put to music. Syd had no talent for putting alien
words to music. Finally, we have the first Rogers' composition about a
stethoscope or something which makes me vomit. The guy sure had a long
way to go.
In all, this was truly a groundbreaking and unique album, and 'Astronomy
Domine' surely deserves any thumbs up; so does 'Lucifer Sam', but from
then on - I don't find nothing laudable. At all. I give this album a 5
and relegate most of its songs to the trash of history.
Anyways, this was a superb psychedelic album. I don't think I'd go so
far as stating that it is better then Sgt. Pepper...after all, the
Beatles were seasoned pros by 1967, and PF were still four spaced out
kids.
Every song here is a winner. My favorite definately is Mathilda Mother,
which has a kind of timeless melody that goes along with the lyrics. And
"Astronomy Domine" is definately the best song the Floyd did before
Echoes.
In the chapter "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" of Wind in the Willows,
the little animal characters had an encounter with a benevolent supernatural
force. Their memory of the event was magically erased so they wouldn't be
sad that the momentary bliss had to end, but there was a slight glimmer of
recollection that still nagged at them for a while.
Something similar can happen when a powerful hallucinogen such as LSD
is ingested. Users may feel something approaching religious ecstacy. There
can be an intense feeling of profound connection with a higher plane of being
which is ordinarily undetected by our senses. The memory of that experience
is very fleeting. Just enough remains to give the user the sensation that he
was
temporarily gifted with a deeper understanding which was lost when the effect
of the drug wore off.
Neurologists have found a part of the brain that when stimulated, causes such
an effect. A typical reaction is the feeling of having been filled with the
grace
of God. There is of course an acute longing to recapture that fleeting
experience.
That's what Barrett was making reference to: the feeling of wonderful
anticipation
of ecstatic understanding, mixed with the agony of it always being just out
of reach.
Sbax4090@aol.com wrote:
"A learned clergyman" is one meaning of "domine", but a
bad translation here -- the standard definition is "lord". In the
context of this song title, there's no particular meaning at all. It's
simply a takeoff on a mumbled Latin prayer, a droll joke. The
actual prayer goes, "In nomine Domine..." ("In the name of the
Father..."), the prayer said while gesturing in the sign of the Cross.
This part is said when you're touched in the head, making a bizarre
little coincidence with Barrett's condition. (I thrive on such quirks.)
In addition, though the proper Latin pronunciation is doh'-mee-nay,
in this song title domine nearly rhymes with astronomy -- say it
quickly like a bit of fake Latin mumbling uttered by a waggish
English lad -- "astronomy dah mih nee". If you like. I do know
that the band members have sometimes pronounced it closer
to the Latin way, but doing so wanders wide of what I believe
is logically concluded to be the original joking intent. IMHO.
HELL of a good song by the way, whatever you decide to call it.
Btw:Brian Wilson was also a genius in his time, he
wrote the blueprint for the famous Sgt. Pepper album
of the Beatles.
The music of Syd Barret is both anxious and beautiful
in some way and it is oh so easy to call the music of
Pink Floyd boring after his departure.
Ok, the last albums of P.F are not what they used to
be and maybe they should have stopped after finishing
the Wall, but if an album like Dark side of the moon
is
bought by many people who are born after the release
of it,this should be enough reason to gave them a fair
review then to judge them badly because of the sales
of it.
The material of the group and Syd brings enough stuff
to write about, so I guess that the shadow of Syd upon
the "pop"music is still present in some kind of way.
Haven't heard the rest of the album, but I still have high hopes. Granted,
IO is not a BAD song. I was just expecting it to be a whole lot better
than, oh... maybe Shine on You Crazy Diamond.
(a few months later)
Well well. Well. I'm afraid that when I sent in my "review" of IO alone, I
forgot to mention that I had heard the song in MONO via a RealAudio clip.
So naturally, I may have misjudged the actual song. He's not actually
turning the volume up and down, he is indeed messing with the balance.
I still think IO is not the greatest song ever made, but I will say that it
does contain ruladge, and refuses to be boring despite it's 11 minute span.
The rest of the album makes it clear what those Scooby Doo episodes stole
music from, because most (all) of them sound so damn dated. Really, these
are Scooby Doo theme songs. But, somehow, they're still pretty damn cool.
Lucifer Sam somehow is fast and kicks ass, despite it being a song about a
"scary" cat. Astronomy Domine (or whatever) is sweet as hell. The rest of
the album is naturally a crazy diamond, that shines on you, crazily and
diamondly. Not bad.
Not as good as The Wall though. HAHA FUKRZ.
And then, of course, there's "Interstellar Overdive." One of my favorite
aspects of Pink Floyd is that they can write an incredibly lengthy song with
few or no lyrics, like "Overdrive" or "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," and it
DOESN'T GET BORING. Unlike, say, the Doors, whose instrumental solos just go
on and on and don't actually go anywhere or do anything, it's just people
showing off on musical instruments (I'm one of those traitors to Jim
Morrison's cause who actually likes the radio edit of "Light My Fire" better
than the original version). Thank God for Floyd.
I must say that a lot of the album seems sadly laughable; the whooshing and jingling
"psychedelia" of "Flaming" comes to mind, as does the positively ludicrous "Chapter 24." But
I guess somebody had to be the first to do this "Stonehenge" crap...
Now Syd's got some great chords and guitar playing and melodies and whatnot out there
(like most before me, I give props to "Lucifer Sam"), but jeez louise! Enough with the
hobbitry! I've read some Floyd interviews re:Barrett in which the other members claim not to
have been anywhere even remotely NEAR Syd's level of LSD consumption. And if that is true,
I've got to ask: what on earth made them think this acid-cheese was all a good idea?
So I was just about ready to resign myself to disappointment in this album when "Bike"
came on---then and there, I understood the wasted genius of Syd Barrett (either reading of
"wasted" will do there). My lord! I cannot even find words to describe how much I love
"Bike." I listened to it for like 2 hours straight, eventually attempting to play a
bassline along with it, at which point I realized how TRULY random a sense of metrics Barrett
had going on. On both "Bike" and "Scarecrow," it's pretty clear that the other guys didn't
really know what to do with themselves; I'd wager big money that Syd put down guitar and
vocals and just left the other three to overdub whatever they could.
But whatever it took, it worked on "Bike." I haven't fallen that hard for a song in
YEARS. Just mind-blowing. It's gonna take me some time to repress my gag reflex and actually
evaluate some of these songs on their non-Dungeons-and-Dragons merits. But "Bike" gets a
hale and hearty 10 for (1) ridiculously catchy chords & melodies (2) borderline
Pythonesque lyrics and (3) being only 1:50 long! Eat your heart out, Ween!
'What have we done... to England?'
That is the question.
This album feels like it was made for me. I loved every song instantly. I love the style. I play the guitar seriously, and not once have I been annoyed by anything Syd does. It's my favorite Pink Floyd album, and if Syd's taste is anything like mine he probably enjoyed this album more than Waters or Gilmour ever enjoyed any of theirs.
Syd Barrett was not, as many claim, a genius songwriter. But he was
pretty damn good. He may have had tons of ideas, but only a few of
these really made it to fruition - and as much as I'd like to lionize
the guy, I've got to judge him on his results, not his potential. That
said, for at least this album, Syd really was on a roll. "Astronomy
Domine" is one of my favorite tunes of all time, and "Matilda Mother"
still gives me goosebumps. I also love "Interstellar Overdrive" -
probably one of my earliest influences re: the avant garde rock I came
to love (Henry Cow, Thinking Plague, etc). Judging by the single
"Apples and Oranges" b/w "Paintbox" that followed this album, as well
as the weird shit Syd was writing that never got legitimately released
("Scream Thy Last Scream" and "Vegetable Man"), their second album
would probably have been pretty bitchen... but it was not to be. My
rating:9/10
Yes, "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" is a classic, but it's nowhere near
consistent enough to qualify for a 5-star rating. (Note: I rated it 4 stars
on Amazon. I wanted 4 1/2 stars. It's so close to 5 it hurts, but I can't in
all good conscience give it 5 stars.) It took me a long time to genuinely
love the Syd Barrett-era Floyd, but now I listen to it a lot more than the
Roger Waters-oriented band. This is mostly because I burned out on Pink
Floyd's monster AOR albums in my high school years. Then I went for this era
of the band. Here are this version of the band's pros:
1. Syd Barrett was an extremely talented songwriter and a serious innovator
in soundscaping within popular music. A guitar genius, he was particularly
adept at wringing terrifying, feedback-drenched squelches of
echo-and-distortion-laden noise out of his guitar that created atmospheres
in pop simply never heard before.
2. Syd Barrett was also a uniquely brilliant lyricist. His rhymes and
stories inside his lyrics could sound either carefree, with a childish
wonder of the world, or strangely menacing, with a strong undercurrent of
violent insanity running like a vein underneath the seemingly cheery
surface.
3. Rick Wright's organ work is simply bizarre, and very eerie much of the
time. Instead of the surf and especially garage rock sounds associated with
the Farfisa organ (remember "96 Tears?"), Wright used the instrument in a
very weird, jazz-influenced way that almost always gave the early band's
proceedings a slyly unresolved, exotic, and sometimes horrifyingly dissonant
flavor that was bound to stir emotions.
4. Roger Waters' bass is something usually looked down on by fans of the
Floyd, who wrongly believe that future guitarist David Gilmour played most
of the band's basslines on record - Gilmour said in one interview that he
played them all and in another one that he only played half - a mite
inconsistent at best. While it's true that Gilmour played the bass on a
couple of the later albums, like "Animals" (he's the bass on "Pigs"), and
most of "The Wall," he wasn't really playing bass on any of the early
albums. Well, back to Waters and his involvement on this album, where Dave
wasn't involved (don't get me wrong, I like Gilmour, it's just the whole
bass-playing thing was something I wanted to work out). To me, Waters's
free-association work in jams like "Interstellar Overdrive" make the noise
and shrieking around him that much more powerful: with Waters, the band had
a limited, but occasionally very strong bassist who could be called upon to
improvise freely without losing a sense of melody. He also always gave the
music an impressively aggressive edge even in children's lullabies like "The
Scarecrow" (where his bold bowed flourishes achieve a palpable sense of
release).
Now for the cons:
1. The band's penchant for freaking out was kind of an excuse for them to
play whatever the hell they felt like, in order to cover up the fact that
they barely knew how to play their instruments. Syd and Roger were probably
the most technically advanced of the group, and they were far from being
virtuosos. In all probability, Syd might have only known about eight or so
guitar chords, which means Waters was the most advanced technically. Does
anyone else find that ironic, since of all the Gilmour claims to playing the
bass on record? Rick Wright seemed to have trouble holding down chords
occasionally, and Nick...well, he was so inexperienced that he comes next.
2. Nick Mason's drumming is almost laughably amateurish. Never anything more
than solid even in the Floyd's best moments (on his greatest drum
performance, "Pigs (Three Different Ones)," his minimalist funk drumming
comes across like a near-revelation), here he sounds like a stoned
fifteen-year-old bashing at his father's kit at worst, and barely competent
at best. Still, his drumming on "Astronomy Domine" is quite imaginative, and
he doesn't ever get in the way too obtrusively. It says something, though,
that Mason's best performance on the album is on the song where he's
restricted to an assembly of woodblocks ("The Scarecrow," where, all
complaints aside, he plays fantastically).
3. Some of these songs are lame excuses for "psychedelic jams" that are
extremely put-on and have about as much melody as farts in a hot tub. I
realize that this is pretty much a restatement of earlier complaints, but
the fact remains that "Pow R. Toc H." and "Take Thy Stethoscope And Walk"
haven't done anything other than make fey 1967 Swinging Londoners toke up,
say "far out" and then get forgotten about. The only thing that really
interests me about the songs is Syd's wacky guitar abuse. What these songs
only do is show how inexperienced the band actually was and how minimal
their expertise at their instruments actually was - which makes the
brilliant performances that much more astounding.
4. A couple of performances are sloppy and rushed, and sometimes vocal sound
effects, or more simply "stupid mouth noises," pop up in a couple songs and
sound embarrassing today. "Matilda Mother" is a great song, but the band
could have done a far better job on its performance: it speeds up, slows
down, has whispered "pop-sshh-powwwww" noises crop up, and isn't really done
much justice to. Rick Wright's organ solo is utterly brilliant, though. The
last complaint is that the production was obviously done on the cheap. But
it was cheap in a way that was really cool - I used to dislike the fact that
a lot of "Lucifer Sam" is in the right speaker, but now I like it cause I
can hear Rick's druggy organ in the left.
But the songs are so great! Except for "Pow R. Toc H.," and "Take Thy
Stethoscope...," all are, in my view, nearly unassailable classics. And, as
I said, "Matilda Mother" is a great song. My playlist for "Piper" would have
been:
1 Astronomy Domine (one of the hardest rocking songs Floyd ever played,
great organ)
That would have been a really brilliant, astounding, absolute five-star,
stone-cold classic psychedelic rock album right there.
And the songs I left out:
Flaming - A song that's so strange and drug-choked that I have a hard time
listening. It sounds like one of Syd's fairytale happy songs, except
everything's wrong with it. Hell, when it starts on a bassy, evil, vibrating
organ note and then has whistling and clanking bells overlaid onto it, you
know you're in trouble. It just sounds so drugged out and...well, crazy,
that it really scares me if I'm not in the right mood, when I can enjoy
Syd's beautiful acoustic 12-string guitar and Rick's strangely regal and
oh-so-incredibly-British jangle piano solo.
Pow R. Toc H. - Cool guitar noise, a fair enough jazzy piano solo, some nice
swinging bass, and hilariously dumb tom-toms, but overall not that much.
Maybe it's the dumb "mouth noises like your 9 year old brother used to make
just to piss you off" (from CapnMarvel), and maybe it's just that there
ain't really anything there compositionally.
Take Thy Stethoscope And Walk - Probably written in two minutes while taking
a piss, but the jam is fun enough. Again, though, not much, and the song
itself is a pile of crap. Fun fact: the jam in the middle originally lasted
for something like 20 minutes and they had to cut it down and edit it later.
Syd's guitar hacking does resemble "Velvet Underground And Nico"-type stuff
a little (again, thanks CapnMarvel), but overall it's just kinda blah.
Which, again, is ironically hilarious, because of Waters taking over the
band and writing songs like "Money," "Sheep," and "Brain Damage."
So, in essence, the version of "Piper" we have is amazing, but comes with a
couple clinkers. Apparently, the mono mix of the album is significantly
different, and closer to what the band was aiming for, since that's the
version that charted at #6 in the UK. The stereo mix, which is what we have
on CD, is seemingly more "gimmicky" (Wikipedia). Maybe that's we have all
the whooshes and bells ringing? I don't know, since I have not heard the
mono mix of the album, though I'd love to hear it. There are a couple
different versions of "Piper" kicking around; the original US LP version was
different than the UK version, which is the one on CD. Here's the US
Version's tracklist:
1 See Emily Play
Weird, huh? Well, anyway, the songs and performances are what will last. Syd
Barrett was an inspired genius, and the band would never rock out and jam
this weirdly ever again. Treasure this album.
Perhaps having never done mind altering drugs myself doesn't allow me to appreciate Piper, but it sure does allow me to clearly see the superior quality of those 4 big post-Barrett releases.
He won't be forgotten, of course. I bet that the next issue of your favourite classic rock magazine will have his face plastered on the cover and one of his greatest hits CDs or boxsets will have shot up the charts in no time. I really liked Syd-era Floyd though, the early singles and this album, and the world will be a strange place without the possibility of an original Pink Floyd lineup reunion tour.
Did you listen to the 17 minutes version in Peter Whitehead’s documentary “London 66-67”? It’s ten times better!
His name was David Gilmour, and his guitar style came to define the Pink Floyd
sound as we know it. Slow, calculated, planning each note in advance, he was
the antithesis of crazy man Syd, but no less enjoyable for it. In fact, he
was the perfect addition to the ailing band; with his help, they left
psychedelic guitar pop behind for a darker, colder (though no less
experimental and bizarre) mood that the first album only touched on in its
best moments ("Interstellar Overdrive" and "Astronomy Domine"). They also
brought in more acoustic folky numbers, oddly enough, but that was later.
This album is split between songs with Syd and songs with Dave, but I'll be
hog-tied if I can tell you for sure which are which. I'd wager that "Remember
A Day" and "Corporal Clegg" feature Syd, just cuz the guitarwork is so
dissonant, but that sure sounds like Dave singing lead on "Corporal Clegg," so
I don't really know. I know for a dang fact that Dave plays on the title
track, which is probably the best one on here; a brilliant four-part
exploratory number, it starts off completely tuneless with keyboardist Rick
Wright holding down the fort with some beautiful chords played in no
particular order, then this cool drum line kicks in and Dave interjects little
bursts of weird noise, and finally a pretty keyboard-driven melody shows up
about five minutes later. It's a neat one - and, according to bassist Roger
Waters, the first song they did without Syd that they thought was any good.
So that's definitely Dave on there. And he's on "Let There Be more
Light," whose actual melody isn't anywhere near as kickbutt as the
introductory bass line. And I know that's Syd on "Jugband Blues," which is a
terribly sad song in spite of its joviality. But I don't know who plays on
"Set the Controls For The Heart Of The Sun" or "See Saw." Who cares? They're
great songs! Although not a kick to your musical shin like Piper, this
is a well-conceived introduction to the new Pink Floyd, full of neat ideas,
dark (and occasionally funny, though not intentionally) moods, and two very
pretty songs written by Rick Wright, who deserves a ton of credit for the
brilliance and majesty of the band, even if Roger Waters didn't think so.
Read on for details!
And read Details for that wacky broad that always writes about screwin'!
I
especially love the two Rick Wright compositions, if only this guy had more
input into their music!!
I don't care too much about "Corporal Clegg" and "Let there be more
light" (the band apparently hate being called "space-rockers") these
throwaway tracks show that Waters still hadn't developed his songwriting
skills yet.
The title-track and "Set the controls..." always sounded better
live (re:Ummagumma and Live at Pompeii) yet "Jugband blues" is a
wonderfully haunting end to the album, although only one song, it seems to
effectively darken the mood of the whole record, as if it was Syd's way of
making it impossible for the rest of the band to forget him (and they
didn't!!) (5 out of 10.)
By his own admission, Syd isn't on Corporal Clegg. According to Gilmour
hes on Set the Controls briefly, with his guitar. Rogers song was a
Piper outtake; rather different from Syds more lyrical flights. Can't
imagine how it would have fitted into THAT album!
A great album, with Barrett's "Jugband Blues" as a chilling coda. As
Syds band went on without him, him the generative spark. 8/10. An
extraordinary album by the group, and it must have been trying, losing
Syd and having to replace him with one of his closest friends. Weird
band isn't it? Whos heard of Syd now, and you never hear about how
wonderful his slide playing is, and his lyrics. More about what a
lunatic he was purported to be. Well, at least hes alive!
Piper - 9
As for Roger's and Dave's songs, "Corporal Clegg" and "Let There Be More Light" are awesome songs, the former really sounding like something Syd might write if he didn't sadly succumb to his mental illness. And of course, Syd's own "Jugband Blues" is a brilliant track, combining both poigniancy and jovality all in the same shot. Too bad there weren't more Syd songs, or more songs from any of the other band members for that matter. Even though not a total work of brilliance like Piper, this is still a hell of a great record concidering how the band supposedly couldn't write any good songs without Syd, as they tend to claim.
Now, "Let There Be More Light" is fine enough. The two Wright songs are quite pretty, though I haven't listened to "See Saw" in a long time. Don't know why. "Set the Controls" is alright, and the title track, I've always thought, is stupid. Have you seen the Pompeii version? Shit, they're just banging on stuff! The drum line that "kicks in" is really cool, though, and near the end, when the song actually becomes a SONG (key word there), that's pretty cool, too. Nice and melodic...sort of. That's the Pompeii version, at least; I haven't even listened to the studio version in a loooong time. Longer than "See Saw". I've always liked "Jugband Blues", and "Corporal Clegg" I do love. It's just so crazy!!! It reminds me slightly of something off of, say, Sgt. Pepper, perhaps? Good album. Probably 8/10.
Most people upon first listening to Rhamadam find themselves complaining, "Where the hell is 'No Reply At All'? That doesn't sound like Mike Rutherford!" But reading is hard. In fact, reading correctly is almost impossible. Oh! Did I mention that Syd Barrett was born the exact same year as my father? Furthermore, they were close friends growing up! This in spite of the fact that they never met nor communicated in any way. In fact, I'm not even sure my father has ever heard of Syd Barrett. And it's this loose definition of 'close friends' that has allowed me the illusion of a caring support network since early high school.
Some people think I joke around too much -- that I'm more concerned with one-liners than talking about the actual album. Well, let me tell you something right now. I may appear to be all laughter and clowns on the inside, but when it comes to rock and roll, I'm as serious as a heart attack.
A FUNNY heart attack, that is! WHEEE!!!! (*hilarious Pez dispenser lodges in middle of artery*)
No but serioubly, this crappy bootleg features terrible muddy sound and early cut-offs in nearly every track. The very, VERY low 7 grade I'm giving it is onacounta (anaconda) the music itself, which rules because Syd Barrett was a God-esque songwriter. Herein, we have 8 solo Syd songs (mostly alternate versions of album tracks), 6 Pink Floyd tracks (mostly "Interstellar Overdrive" over and over again), a single by David Gilmour's (terrible) first band The Joker's Wild, 1 Kevin Ayers song with Syd guesting, 2 interviews and 1 TV guy running off at the mouth like a dick.
Highlights include a ridiculously fast-paced version of "Love You," a funky uptempo instrumental Piper outtake called "Sunshine," and an alternate version of "Candy And A Currant Bun" with different lyrics than the officially released version that most people haven't heard anyway. Of interest (though also of lesser quality) are the bongo solo "Rhamadam," "Long Gone" without the guest musicians, and a semi-bluesy/semi-catatonic instrumental supposedly from Syd's final 1975 session. Of no use whatsoever, but worth hearing because, hell somebody thought to put them on here are both sides of The Joker's Wild "Don't Ask Me"/"Why Do Fools Fall In Love" single (apparently from '66, though their squeaky-clean r'n'b/doowop style is straight out of '62) and a wonderfully hokey boogie rocker from Kevin Ayers that sounds like an old Coke commercial with a Syd Barrett solo in the middle.
If you're a completist who must have everything "Dysco Syd" ever laid his body on, you'd might as well sit through 20 minutes of live "Interstellar Overdrive" racket (or 31 minutes if you count the snippets underneath the interviews). But don't be tricked into spending a whole lot of money on this, because it's not worth it!
Also not worth it is turning 33 years old, which I did today. One year closer to death, theoretically. I thought it would be silly not to do it though, and forfeit all those great presents like Killer Nun, Man From Deep River, Scenes From A Convent, Thriller: A Cruel Picture, Sex Clinic, Cannibal Apocalypse, Lust For Freedom, SS Hell Camp, Don't Go Near The Park and the double-feature Scream of the Butterfly/Day of the Nightmare.
Say! Want to hear something hilarious? The other day I thought to myself, "Gee, I wonder how many movies I own that I haven't watched yet." So I counted them.
Are you ready for this?
241.
As any clear-thinking person would do, I next decided to look through all the movies to see if there were any I could just skip because they didn't look very good.
1.
Namely an Italian Exorcist ripoff called The Tempter. But the rest? Christ! Come on, you expect me NOT to watch Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers!? Or Can You Keep It Up For A Week!?
Or perhaps you think I should skip Sorority House Massacre, Class Reunion Massacre or The Sinful Dwarf. SHOWS YOU WHAT YOU KNOW!!!
Why yes, those ARE five different Jess Franco DVDs. Why do you ask?
Why yes, those ARE six different entries in the Black Emanuelle series. Did you have a question?
Why yes, that stack is indeed a bunch of gross hirsute '70s porn movies with titles like Three Ripening Cherries and Sex Rink. Did you have a question?
In conclusion, it's too bad that Syd Barrett and I never became buddies because I'm almost certain that The Naughty Stewardesses would have had him back to normal and fronting Pink Floyd 2K within minutes.
Also, I'm assuming SS Hell Camp is some kind of sequel to SS Experiment/Death Camp? That film is still unreleased here, because it got banned during the Video Nasty panic. Similarly, thanks to Mary "Shit" Whitehouse, many films are still partly censored in Britain (like Maniac and I Spit On Your Grave) while going uncut overseas!
It's awesome to be drunk at work. BUUUUUURP!!! BRAAAAAAP!!! I've written two gas noises!
What you're likely to find of worthwhileness on this 25-track bootleg is/are the following items of noteworthy interestingitude:
- An 'introduction' by Paul McCartney that discusses psychedelic music in general but doesn't mention the words "Pink Floyd" even once -- he could be talking about The Toodly-Doo Band for all we know!
- Very good dubs of "Vegetable Man" and "Scream Thy Last Scream," two of Syd's last (and SICKEST!) Pink Floyd tracks
- The Syd Barrett Peel Sessions EP in its entirety. Actually that's kinda the highlight of the CD. So if you already own that disc, don't buy this one.
- A stodgy old prick TV announcer who introduces the band by calling them boring, loud and unmusical (!)
- A haunting, morbid acoustic/bass duet performance of "Dominoes" apparently recorded on a tape machine buried out in the yard
- Me doing this (*takes a shit on your Mom's tits*)
I don't know why I write things like that. I'm depressed. Depressed or tired. The days just keep flying by, and I have high cholesterol that's gonna kill me and everything just feels sad and overbusy. Busy all the time, so busy. Busy with listing and fulfilling ebay auctions and work and writing reviews and walking dog and TKD and eating and listening to music for review. Easy life, but so busy! Days just flying by, like time through the hourglass of our lives. I went on an 8-day vacation a couple weeks ago and it lasted for 1 second. I just turned 33 and I'm as old as Paul Simon used to be. Things that people take for granted I take for walks in the park, usually my dog, so stop taking him for granted asshole. Wouldn't that suck? To have a granted asshole? That smelled like somebody else's poop because it was still kind of soaked into the sides of the hole? Here's some interesting information about New York City, for all you "New York City Heads" out there. Wall Street used to be a wall - the Dutch built it in the 1600s to keep the Indians from invading. The Bronx is an area formerly owned by a man named Bronck. Pearl Street used to border the East River, and got its name from the pearls washed up on the shore. The Dutch settlers were good at landscaping so they somehow made the island bigger. Broadway used to be an Indian warpath. Indians settled their tribal lands east-to-west, so any north-south routes were called 'warpaths' because you'd be cutting through other Indian lands and they'd kick your ass. Politically 'PC' Correct thought tells us that the evil White Man took advantage of the peaceful Indian, killed him and took his land, which is of course true, but the Indians were pricks too. They used to massacre people left, right and center, including other Indians. Luckily they all died and built casinos, and today's White People are flawless angel saviours sent from God, particularly celebrities (eg Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt). Peter Stuyvesant? Peg-legged bigot prick. Harlem? Used to be 'New Haarlem,' named after the original 'Haarlem' in Holland, which was the same distance from Amsterdam as 'New Haarlem' was from 'New Amsterdam' (Manhattan's name back when New York City was known as 'New Holland'). Nobody can remember who came up with the name 'Manhattan' or why. Hudson River is named after Henry Hudson, the first settler to cruise down it or something like that. The Empire State Building is actually pronounced "The Umpire Steaks Builders," and you're supposed to whip your dick out and wiggle it around like a building whenever you talk about it.
I don't know why I write things like that.
No wait! I DO!
It's because Funky Winkerbean sucked all the comedy out of the world.
Anyway, I recently obtained the original versions of "Apples and
Oranges", "Vegetable Man", "Scream Thy Last Scream", "Lucy Leave",
"Stoned Alone", "Point Me at the Sky", and "Careful with That Axe,
Eugene". Man, I'm the shit now. I tell you, that is all some prime
stuff. All great. Except for maybe "Stoned Alone", which is just a
bunch of noise and jamming for 2 minutes.
R.I.P. Syd Barret, a genius in his own right.
The highlights of Magnesium Proverbs (aside from those I just named, if you don't already own them) are two very early studio recordings of The Pink Floyd when they were still an r'n'b/blues outfit. These tunes - Slim Harpo's "King Bee" and Syd Barpo's "Lucy Leave" - aren't anywhere near as bad as you'd expect. In fact, "Lucy Leave" is a downright great r'n'b original, with an exuberant vocal line, two groovy chords and an energetic full-band performance. "King Bee" is a bit more repetitive, but its 'bw-WOOP!' upward bass swoops provide a nice dark mood - at least until the stinging, terrible guitar solos come in. A further 'highlight' (in that it's very rare, if not all that good) is a long, live two-chord musical freakout called "Stoned Alone." The rest of the PF tunes are BS filled with BO.
God, wouldn't that be awesome if you could literally open up a log of bullshit and fill it with body odor? Where are today's top scientific minds when I need them to make something smelly for me to throw at them, the pricks?
As for the Syd Barrett solo material, three of the tracks are from a lo-fi, muffled tape of Mr. Crazypants' only 1970 solo performance -- a mere 36 years before he would tragically pass away in an untimely diabetes accident. They're terrible, unfortunately - mainly because it doesn't seem like the bass player bothered to learn any of the songs before hitting the stage. Fuckin' bass player. I think it was David Gilmour of Pink Floyd.
The other Syd tracks are from radio performances, and thus were not greatly influenced by Eliot Spitzer's investigations into corruption among the nation's top insurance brokerages. Although a few legislative eyebrows were raised upon discovering that he had simultaneously sat on the boards of both Marsh and Aon in the early '90s, Syd mostly managed to avoid the worst of the controversies. When questions ultimately arose regarding apparent stock options backdating and executive overcompensation, he cleverly disguised himself as a 400-pound bald man and acted 'all crazy' for over three decades. Although his 2006 death was officially linked to complications of a long-term disease, some industry insiders maintain that Maurice R. "Hank" Greenberg's fingerprints were found on his diabetes.
Best,
BUT I WAS TO BE BAMBOOZLED! "Daybreak" is "Grantchester Meadows" (makes sense -- gentle morning song with which to greet the day), "Afternoon" is
"Biding My Time" (neat to hear live, by the way! Jazz-o-good!), "Doing It" is a psychedelic drum solo, alluding, of course, to the way that couples tend to play psychedelic drum
solos while FUCKING, "Sleep" is a bunch of dicking around "scary" noises, unless that track was deleted and this is in fact "Nightmare." That might be the case, because the only
other song that appears in the "Man" suite is a five-million-year version of "Cymbaline," which is either "Nightmare" or "Daybreak (part two)" on the extra-song-title-featuring
track list. This seems like a stretch to me, though -- "Cymbaline" is neither scary enough to be a nightmare nor anywhere near peaceful enough to be a daybreak. What are your
thoughts on "Cymbaline"? It's kind of an unnerving little song, even with its almost-happy chorus. So much din and drone and darkness. But the lyrics aren't a nightmare! That's
like saying that a Billy Joel concert is a nightmare just because I would sooner burn myself to death than attend one. On to the second half of the consumer manipulation - "The
Journey": "The Beginning" is "Green Is The Colour," featuring a ghastly off-tone vocal performance by David Gilmour (of "Raise My Rent" fame), "Beset By Creatures Of The
Deep" is yet another title for "Careful With That Axe, Eugene," "The Narrow Way" is one of the few pieces of honesty included on this track listing and includes another
eyeball-tic-inducing poor vocal performance by David Gilmour (of "All Lovers Are Deranged" fame), "The Pink Jungle" is "Pow R Toc H" (the shittiest Syd-era song they could
possibly have chosen to include), "Labyrinth Of Auximenes" is just more dicking around like the Sun City Girls, "Behold The Temple Of Light" is a nice, actually INTERESTING
piece of guitar chording around and finally "Celestial Voices" is exactly what you know it as - the beautiful, sorrow-laden conclusion to "A Saucerful Of Secrets." This was all
recorded live in Amsterdam in 1969, before they created what has become known as their masterpiece, Atom Heart Mother. So if you like the murky druggy sluggish
directionless of More, you'll LOVE this bootleg that you probably won't be able to find anywhere anyway! So in my dream last night, I was about to marry this woman I
can't stand (she exists in real life, so I won't print her name here). And I was really upset about it and ended up screaming "NO WAY!" to her in the church, but the important part
that I wanted to tell you about was that there were certain celebration ritual thingies that took place the day of the wedding. I can't remember most of them, but one was absolutely
classic -- I (the groom) was allowed to poop anywhere and anytime I wanted, as long as I did it through my father's tennis racket. Go ahead - analyze THAT, Billy Crystal.
Is your bootleg missing the "Work" track that goes in
between Daybreak and Afternoon? It's a pretty odd, purely
percussive piece with xylophone-like banging and all kinds
of sounds like sawing and ratcheting. If you don't have it,
I could point you to a site that does, or forward it to you
over the net (if you'd be so inclined).
If you listen REALLY REALLY hard, you can catch some of
Wright's trombone solo over Gilmour's solo.
Part I: The Man
"Intro" – 0:57
"Daybreak, Pt. I" ("Grantchester Meadows", from Ummagumma) – 8:09
"Work" (Percussion and xylophone with musical sawing & hammering) – 3:50
"Teatime" (Pink Floyd were served tea on stage at this point)
"Afternoon" ("Biding My Time", from Relics) – 5:15
"Doing It!" ("The Grand Vizier's Garden Party (Entertainment)", from Ummagumma) – 3:49
"Sleep" ("Quicksilver", from More) - 4:40
"Nightmare" ("Cymbaline", from More) – 8:57
"Daybreak, Pt. II" ("Grantchester Meadows" instrumental reprise) – 1:13
Part II: The Journey
"The Beginning" ("Green Is the Colour", from More) – 4:49
"Beset By Creatures of the Deep" (" Careful with That Axe, Eugene") – 6:18
"The Narrow Way" (" The Narrow Way Pt. 3", from Ummagumma) – 5:09
"The Pink Jungle" ("Pow R. Toc H.", from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn) – 4:49
"The Labyrinths of Auximines" (Part of "Interstellar Overdrive ", from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn) – 5:28
"Behold the Temple of Light" – 6:14
"The End of the Beginning" (" A Saucerful of Secrets, Pt. IV - Celestial Voices", from A Saucerful of Secrets) – 6:34
now then, im gonna take a guess that a whole bunch of floyd fans have heard a lot of these songs already
and what songs they are!
Y (as the Mexicans say) the studio album is splendidly curious. Richard
Wright's piano/organ assaults are just plain frigged-up! What was influencing
this guy? Is this classical music? It's scary! Then Roger Waters pumps out
a seven-minute folk song that turns into a bunch of goofy voices making noise
for five minutes (under the name "Several Species Of Small Furry Animals
Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict"). Dave contributes a
twelve-minute guitar explosion full of as many insane six-string noises as a
Syd Barrett replacement can make, and finally, drummer Nick Mason brings us a
"psychedelic" drum solo. My, it's queer. Like Bob Dole, for example.
This is a record every bit as eccentric as its title. If you've ever wondered
who it was that made Pink Floyd so weird, just listen to this album; it was
ALL of them! How did four people with such bizarre musical taste (five, if
you count Syd) end up in the same band? Just luck, I suppose.
Ummagumma is totally fun, extremely original, and what a great album
cover!
As for the studio half-- 'Sysiphus' is atmospheric but again, boring,
like a parody of overblown bombastic classical stuff. Sounds cool
enough, kinda scary even, just not very human, and too abstract. Neither
is a lot of the stuff there, and I think that's the problem with the
album. A lot of it's just atmosphere and experimentation without much
emotion or form. 'The Narrow Way' and 'Granchester Meadows' are
allright, but underdeveloped to the point that they're mediocre. The
drum solo sucks, and the random mellotron stuff it turns into is
tuneless. And I bet you know what I think of 'Several Species . . .'
(actually, you might not have guessed that I like Roger's Pict voice,
but that's it). This stuff isn't a nine! Most of the live disk is
jamming without anything interesting happenning. Most of the studio
album is filler. I give it a four. How can you give it the same grade as
Dark Side of the Moon?
Now then, 'Set The Controls' is just OK, not great, but listenable.
'Saucerful Of Secrets', on the other hand, rules - the way it goes
through all of these sections is fun. And the studio stuff is cool, too.
'The Narrow Way' is a bore (Dave! Dave! Stay away from songwriting, will
ya?), but Rick Wright's 'classical/Eastern' piece is a treat; Waters
successfully rips off Simon & Garfunkel on 'Grantchester meadows' and
comes up with jolly noises on the super-long-title song; and the
'psychedelic drum solo' is at least original. In all, this is real good,
a fine prog-rock album. Not overblown, not pretentious, and quite
diverse. I agree with the 9. It's the best Floyd album I've heard.
Ummagumma: quite simply one of the most inexplicably
indispensable records of all time (apart from the live
half - that's indispensible because it's bloody
magnificent and remains the best Floyd live album by a
long chalk). Most of the studio album is barely even
music, but it's so compelling... a glorious flook, I
guess. Grantchester Meadows though is a beautiful
English pastoral song - you can just SEE the dust
scintillating in the sunbeams. And The Grand Vizier's
Garden Party is plenty listenable if you ask me - a
lot more imaginative than Movy Dick or The Mule.
So probably an eight overall - Ummagumma is most
definitely not without flaws. But my dear how that
cover evokes.
The studio disc is more fun than a tupperware container full of jello.
Rick's bit is amazing, and so is Roger's. Dave's is OK, but Nick's is
pretty tedious. Better than Peter Criss's solo album though! This is
the band in their most experimental phase (read: searching for a
direction) with their most experimental album. Don't miss it! 9/10
Criminy on a shoestring! This is the same band that did "Learning To Fly?"
This silly noisy "psychedelic" guitar/keyboard racket with that fruity British
guy singing about scary cats and mice that don't have houses? Well...no.
This is not the same band that did "Learning To Fly." That was the
late-period David Gilmour-led atrocity; this was the original Syd Barrett
vehicle. Syd was a special songwriter. He enjoyed childlike pop ditties but,
darn it, he liked LSD a lot, too, so his childlike ditties are a little - ummm
- nightmarish, to say the least. These sonnggs are full of weird noises,
feedback, electric guitar smashing, stereophonic experiments, loose
experimental jams, and insane keyboard breaks. Strange but incredibly
exciting. Like Bob Dole, for example. Just listen to the way he played the
guitar! What the hey is up with that? He just smacked the thing like he
didn't care what noises were gonna come out! Sadly, he probably
didn't; he was on his way to a drug-fueled breakdown.
This is a monumental album in the history of rock music. I don't mean
to discredit the Beatles, but this record makes the one that was
recorded DOWN THE HALL AT ABBEY ROAD AT THE SAME TIME (duhhh... Sgt.
Pepper?) sound so normal and unexciting. "Lucifer Sam", with more
modern production, could turn current "Alternative" radio on its head.
I'd have to say that good ol' Syd is the father of heavy electric guitar
feedback (although Harrison deserves a nod or two for "Taxman" et al the
previous year and Jimi, concurrent with Syd, cannot be overlooked). And
he played slide with a ZIPPO! Unbelievable. Too bad so many people who
claim to like the Floyd haven't even heard of this one. Maybe all the
fruity shirts in the cover photo put 'em off. This record is testimony
to the fact that the '66-67 Swinging London was tons trippier than
Frisco at the same time.
Anyone who has ever taken LSD needs to hear this. Nothing ever made
captures the aural side of acid as good as this one, kids.
Is it really necessary to take LSD to listen to the first Pink Floyd album?
I don't think so. The entire album is worth an acid trip. I usually say
that if you want to understand what psychedelia is about, listen to this
album and Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow. The latter is to
know what "hippie" meant, the former to acknowledge that the word
"psychedelia" means "manifestations of mind".
I recently finished listening to The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn.
Wow, what a strange album! It is much better than A Saucerful Of
Secrets. Syd Barrett had a very strange musical composition sense,
didn't he? This is undeniably "psychedelic!" 'Matilda Mother' and
'Chapter 24' are fantastic. The rest of the album is very good,
'Lucifer Sam,' however is a little too strange for my tastes!
OK, I'll give this album a 9/10 for strangeness personified!!!!
Regarding the beatles album at the same time, I might remind the person
who mentioned it that the Beatles were a very popular band, however
original, and except for specific moments never strike me as 'abnormal'
in this respect. I would use the word 'extraordinary' more readily.
"Lucifer Sam" was a cool song about a hip cat but I really liked "Matilda
Mother", "Flaming", and "Bike". Piper was a great album of the 60's.
It has that
60's sound. Who doesn't like Syd's guitar rock? This is an album they should
play on the radio.
Interesting title. Really original cover art . . like I've never seen a
band use a group photo for an album cover before. Ok, enough of that, the
music on this album is harsh, but I like it. "Astronomie Domine"? That has
to be my favorite acid rock song ever. This album is freakin noisy, and I
think it's great!
Piper IS an extraordinary album. Just think - 1967. This came out then.
It sounds extraordinary. The mono version that came out on the albums
30th anniversary is far superior. It has a keyboard intro on
Interstellar that isn't on the stereo. The stereo is also very good,
however the mono version is much more powerful and intense. Pow R Toc H
is tottally diifferent for instance.
why the hell don't they play the piper at the gates of dawn on the radio.
btw, you really should check out syd barrett's solo album the madcap
laughs. it's hilarious and depressing as hell. a perfect ten.
I didn't know Bob Dole played the guitar....
Back in February, when I was getting more and more into the band, it came
to my attention that a friend of mine had Piper. I had read your original
commentary on it and my curiousity was piqued. I borrowed it for a few
listens and was absolutely enthralled. This album has not ceased to amaze
me yet. About two weeks later, I found out that through some horrible
cosmic mistake, my friend didn't
This album is divided into two nearly equal parts: dark astral
psychedelia and spooky (or not spooky) child lullabies and nursery
rhymes. The second type songs are nearly all rotten to the core. I like
the way 'Bike' starts, but as soon as it flows into the refrain the
melody is in some way left overboard. 'Gnome' and 'Scarecrow' are
absolutely forgettable. Insipid; the lyrics are fun, but the melodies
are barely existent.
I have to set Mr. Starostin straight on a few things. The riff for
Interstellar Overdrive and Astronomy Domine (pronounced doe-me-nay, it means a
learned clergyman) are not the same. Interstellar is B A G F#. Astronomy is E
Eb G A. The mono version of this album is much better than the stereo, seek
it out. The Waters song is a simple riff/jam/riff song. The middle jam part is
a "freak out". That was a fad during this time. Yeah, it doesn't hold up to
time but the lyrics are meant to be secondary, even tertiary. It's just for
shouting. The freak out jam is the song. Back to the mono version.
Interstellar in mono is very different and much better than the stereo. The
Floyd actively participated in that mix but not the stereo.
Syd Barrett was one of rock's greatest
geniuses. He could take some of the most ridiculous kiddie lyrics and yet
make them sound absolutely wonderful. Musically, he also created some
of the coolest psychedelic pop songs of that period. It's too bad he got
into LSD that much, because Pink Floyd might have been a more interesting
band with him. Certainly would have been more fun to listen to. Anyway,
a 9.
This is Floyd at their best. Syd, while well on his way to an asylum was at
his best. The riffs are classic and how bout the producing...the last 30
seconds of Interstellar Overdrive sends my head spinning. You just don't get
stereo affects like that today. If you're not swept away by Piper then you're
just not listening. It's a must for any real Floyd fan.
well, Piper isn't really for any Pink Floyd fan. Most of the ones I know
either love the first one and think the others( besides part of
Saucer) are
boring, or vice versa. Piper was one of the albums that blew my young mind.
Without it I may have had to lead a normal life. Thanks Syd! Also Can's
Monster Movie, The Stooges Funhouse, V.U. & Nico, Syd's solo records and
anything by Nick Drake.
Great review! I agree with it completely, but I think that you have a
tendency to pass your little dots way too freely. I'd give it an eight
at best.
Man, I still can't believe this! This is my favorite all-time Floyd record
right behind DSOTM. Atronomie Domine rocks! Lucifer Sam is psychotic fun!
Oh God all of the songs on this album are farouttahere! The middle kind of
sags after Flaming but as soon as you hit Interstellar Overdrive, it's
beautiful early psychedelia as its best from then on! Scarecrow and Bike
are two of my favorites from this one two. It's a real drag that Syd had to
go scitzo-he can make one helluva psychedelic/children's/horror/pop song!
Pink Floyd starts off their career on an incredibly high note with the only
album they ever recorded with original vocalist Syd Barrett, and it's simply
excellent. I find the whole thing very amusing and fun but at the same time
menacing and frightening. "Bike" is definitely my favorite -- I love the
lyrics and the melody plus the overall bizarreness to it. "Lucifer Sam"
comes close behind with an awesome riff and chorus. I also really enjoy the
child-like qualities to "Matilda Mother", "The Gnome" and "Scarecrow", a few
of my other favorites. Another song I find particularly intriguing is "Take
Thy Stethoscope And Walk" -- the lyrics are so dumb it's hilarious... and
great! "I'm in bed, aching head, gold is lead"??? This is the same
songwriter who gave us towering classics like "Wish You Were Here", "Dogs"
and "Comfortably Numb"? Hard to believe... I'd give this one a 9 because I
really don't care for the aimless jams on this album, especially most of
"Interstellar Overdrive" and portions of "Pow R. Toc H." Excellent work
though. And a lot better than that Sgt. Pepper album too.
1 of my favorite Floyd tracks is "Flaming." Obviously about drugs, but
it's got such a sweet storybook innocence all around it. Everything's so
bright & sweet & clear, U just know Syd's trippin'. Great,
grade-school-level lyrics, neat sound effects, wonderful bouncy strummy
guitar, cute vocals, & a terrific finish. Coulda been a hit. Could U
imagine hearing this coming outta yr radio in 1968...?
The title was an inspired choice, in my opinion. It makes a connection
between the childrens' story and 1960s subculture that Barrett was uniquely
suited to make. His genius was to synthesize English whimsy and pyschedelia
like nobody else.
> Astronomy Domine (pronounced doe-me-nay,
> it means a learned clergyman)
In my opinion about feedback is that Jeff Beck from
the Yardbirds was one of the first who was using this
kind of techniques.
Uh, sorry to break this to you Prindler, but knowing what I know on guitar
(almost nothing), if I went into a studio right now on acid or qualuuds or
something and messed around for 11 solid minutes, I could make a better song
than Interstellar Overdrive. I mean, come on. He's not even playing. I
could do better, and without a damn slide ruler. HE'S NOT PLAYING ANY
NOTES. And near the end, where he turns the volume up and down? I did that
once, when I was 12. It's not a real awesome effect. Listening to it being
done by a grown man is kinda sad. Maybe if he came OFF the acid first, and
then recorded the song, it would be mucho strangiato. But it just sounds
like me fucking around in a studio with a guitar and a $20 casio keyboard.
I was just scanning the above articles and couldn't help but add my
own thoughts. I tried listening to the first Pink floyd album. I could not get past
the songs that start out with a hint of melody and rapidly disolve into a
swirling cacophany of bullshit only to find itself back at square-oneat
the end. (listen to Pink Floyd live in London 66-67 for the maximum amount
of noise in a song) These songs I find to be very frustrating.
Nice album, although it seems to have inexplicably disappeared from my
tape collection. Dammit. Thus, the following are my opinions as of, like,
a year ago. "Lucifer Sam" is one of their best early songs, "Astronomy
Domine" is good although the live version on Ummagumma is infinitely
better. The two instrumentals are also pleasantly wacky, and "Bike"
has got to be one of the most hilarious things I've ever heard. It's not
the easiest stuff in the world to listen to, and in my mind it doesn't
hold a candle to their '70s stuff, but it's still enjoyable. 8.
I wish they had left this the way it was on the record, with See Emily
Play instead of Astronomy Domine [I love "Astronomy", but "Emily" fits
better with the rest of the album, and besides, "Astronomy" is on
Ummagumma], and "Interstellar Overdrive" as the last song rather than
in the middle.
Oh my lord. It took a little while for this one to grow on me, but now it's in
my top ten list. It's just so different, and so silly and serious at the same
time. My favorite track is "Scarecrow" - I love the quirky rhythm and the
alternating time signatures, and the lyrics manage to be very sad even though
it's so short. The only one I tend to skip over is "Take Up Thy Stethoscope
and Walk" - the title is great, but the song itself drives me straight up the
nearest wall.
Hey Amanda! Logger pride! But that's not got anything to do with Pink Floyd. So here we
go: on the advice of all those here who gave the album rave reviews (and a bit of
fascination with the mystique of Syd Barrett), I picked the thing up; it's the 1994 digital
remaster (ie the stereo version), so I may be missing out on some stuff.
Can I ask something? Why is Syd Barrett a 'fruity
British guy' while the members of AC/DC are 'Scots'?
Pink Floyd were Englishmen making decidedly English
music - the adjective 'British' is a military/imperial
non-entity which has nothing to do with music, or
culture in general. I appreciate this is confusing for
most American people but I thought I'd point it out
anyway.
Crazy, hypnotic, sad, catchy, genial, etc. A wonderful mix of nightmarish sounds
reminisant of a bad trip, and wonderful melodys reminisant of children playing in a field or
something. Everyone else was pretty much on the mark so i couldnt really say anything
innovative about this great album. But i love Syd's songs and could easily call this my personal
favorite Pink Floyd album. Definate 9.
i won't syd barrett wasn't great but your comment on
that he used feedback first is wrong cause John Lennon
used it first on the song Ticket to Ride that came out
before Interstellar Overdrive the feedback came in the
beginnen of ticket to ride lennon only used it cause
he made a mistake and hit the strings on his guitar
right before he put it down in front of an amp and he
heard the feedback i bet barrett heard that and used it
Imagine what it must have been like for a
fruitily-shirted Floyd fan back in swirly '68 - you've
just spent twenty minutes weeping through side one of
A Saucerful of Secrets, mourning Syd's departure and
despairing at songs like Corporal Clegg... then you
flip the record over... the title track... like a
phoenix rising from the ashes. Forget Interstellar
Overdrive - A Saucerful of Secrets is the daddy of all
Floyd's epic masterpieces, and whoo is it powerful.
Sheer musical architecture (though of course improved
on Ummagumma). The rest... is the rest, really. I
quite enjoy it, even if the sound quality is 1920
vintage and they clearly didn't have a clue where they
were heading as a band. Let There Be More Light is
good because it mentions awesome English folk hero
Hereward the Wake, even if it does rip off the
Chemical Brothers' 'Block Rockin' Beats'. Jugband
Blues, though - naah. Just because it's Syd's swan
song doesn't make it good. Although you do get a
remarkable visual impression of him disappearing into
a black hole forever. Poor kid. Six point six six six
six six out of ten.
I recently read somewhere that Syd was trying to learn how to play "My Little Red Book" (Love's version) when he stumbled upon "Interstellar Overdrive." Makes sense to me!
guess you cant give this the prindle ten because it is kind of a different band,. well, i say it is the ten. nothing on here sounds like anything ive ever heard from anybody else. even the acosticy bits are sort of fractured fairy tales at best. this is the guitar part of the melodic pop groove, and throw in electronic experimentation and freakouts and this is the best album of 67, if you ask me. the bit at 1:32 in scarecrow is incredible, and astromony domine has one of the best intros in the history of guitar rock. likewise, lucifer has one of the best riffs in the history of guitar rock, and likewise pow r. toc h. and interstellar are some of the strangest freakouts in the history of rock, and.. well, this is just my favorite album of 67,that should say enough. I stand on this end of the piano line, screw having the six strings for fx, give that job to the 88 as well. i like me riffs played by a bloppy untalented four stringer.
Unbelievable. Cute. Hypnotizing. Sad. Happy. Mother fucking evil. Yes, while I was stoned listening to this album, the "Gnome" had given me chills. This guy was fucking evil man. I swear it. Just listen to it. How subversive was that when he had this ominous voice singing "Look at the sky, Look at the River, Isn't it Good......" Hell yeah. Besides that damn man. Incredible pyschedelia and priceless song writing all in one. Forget "Interstellar Overdrive" recorded here do ur best finding live versions (one is like 20 miutes) that is heaven.
Wow this is the most fucked up, psychedelic album ive ever heard, man dig that Syd Barrett guitar tone its so scary but kool at the same time. All 10 songs rule except for “take up thy gay stethoscope and wank” which sux coz Roger Waters wrote it, but all of Syds songs and lyrics are great and r so much fun 2 listen “Blinding signs flap, flicker, flicker, flicker blam. Pow, pow. Stairway scare Dan dare who’s there?” most of the lyrics make as much sense as Ozzy Osborne trying 2 put together a sentence, but who cares coz Syd Barrett wrote it and it sounds so cool. After Syd completely lost it, so did Floyd and Roger Waters took over and completely sucked the fun out of this band, 70s floyd sux, neways im givin this album a 10.
This album makes me want to meet some homeless guy down an alleyway so I can get my own slice of "Interstellar Overdrive".
Whew. What an album – like the Beatles except drenched in even more acid and layer upon layer of guitar fuzz. I love Barrett’s work here (he’s an absolute machine here, ploughing out excellent song after excellent song). The spacey fuzz attacks never fail to excite (Astronomy Domine, Interstellar Overdrive), the whimsical nursery rhymes are a joy (Gnome, Bike, etc.), and I don’t know how to categorise the others – but they’re all excellent (Matilda Mother, Lucifer Sam, Flaming are some of my favourites). Funnily enough, the only songs I don’t care for here are the two Waters penned numbers (Pow R. Toc H. and Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk). Just goes to show that even one of the most highly vaunted lyricists had humble beginnings. The eclecticism within individual songs is astounding on here…and Syd’s violent guitar playing and soft, charming English accent are a perfect juxtaposition. 9/10
First off, Bob Dole totally kicks it outta the park on this one! First rate stuff. Dole's mystery vocals during "The Gnome" are pedestrian at best , but his guitar solo on "The Scarecrow " is unforgivable. 10/10. EVERY song kicks ass, even Waters' weird tune. Top 5 material.
I didn't know what to expect when I got this album. I used to be a big Pink Floyd fan, but grew out of it a while ago, and haven't really listened to them since. Buy this was spur of the moment, and easily the best thoughtless album purchase I've ever made.
I borryed this album from a friend, and I laughed heartily at how cute Syd's rampant English accent is. It's great! All the above comments have pretty much summed up the whole record, but I think I'll add a little of my own. "Astronomy" is nice enough; neat kick-off. "Lucifer" is pretty dang good, and it has that irresistibly catchy chorus. "Matilda Mother" is rather sweet, but it (and "Flaming") refuse to stick in my head. Aforementioned "Flaming" is pretty okay; I remember most that it starts sounding really happy and whimsical ("Yippee! You can't see me...") but quickly turns pissed off ("...but IIIII caaaaan youuuuu......."). Kinda like the bipolarness of someone tripping. "Pow R. Toc H." is simply hilarious, and it's got some neat jamming. And then "Take Up Thy Steth." is STUUUUUPIIIIIIID. Roger certainly DID have a long way to go, George. Pth. "Interstellar" was a bit of a disappointment for me, but it's got some enjoyable and humorous bits. Example: the 'ping' noise that Syd's guitar makes for a while in the beginning...of...the middle...yeah. The last minute or so is truly awesome, though. "The Gnome" is absolutely ADORABLE. Man, do I love that song. Cutest thing you'll hear outside of Disney. "Chapter 24" is a little boring, but with a nice vocal melody, and "Scarecrow" has such complicated timing I won't even try to discuss it. "Bike" closes the album on an absolutely comical (and frightening) note, but no less enjoyable. The album on a whole is truly good, but some of it, I feel, let me down a little. Not too bad, though. 8/10.
I'm not ashamed to admit it. Pink Floyd was, has been, and is one of
my favorite bands of all time. (Disregard last statement if you
include in your definition of Pink Floyd "anything after The Final
Cut"). Every one of their albums (and whatever bootlegs I can find)
has been in regular rotation for me for as long as I can remember.
"The Wall" was my first R-rated movie! My dad took me. Scared the
living shit out of me!
Okay, let's just dispense with all that genius gone goofy, mis-understood brilliant artist bologna. Now that's done, what does this record have left? A few decent songs, some inventive production, and a LOT of weird guitar noises. Syd Barrett was without a doubt an intriguing songwriter, and he did have an approach that was unique to him. He also had a voice that was competent at best, and just horrid at worst. Now, just for the record, it is not my intention to sit here and rip on Syd Barrett for no good reason (or in order to piss people off). He did have a good deal of originality, which is a rare thing. However, because something is original or different does not automatically qualify it as genius. I spent fifteen years as a working musician, and while I am not under the illusion that that makes me an oracle of rock and roll, it does mean I have a certain insight when it comes to how guitar sounds ar
Well, well, well: an album I've been listening to a LOT right around now,
since Syd is one of my favorite guitarists. Mostly this post is going to be
copied from an earlier review that I wrote on Amazon.com and from comments I
wrote on CapnMarvel's site. Strap yourself in, cause this is going to be
long:
2 Lucifer Sam (which pretty much created '90's Britpop - dig the vibrating
guitars)
3 Arnold Layne (a startlingly brilliant single about transvestism, just
brilliantly catchy)
4 Candy and a Currant Bun (the pop-fluff-meets-avant-noise B-side of "Arnold
Layne")
5 See Emily Play (still one of Floyd's greatest songs and singles, with a
twisted double-time harpsichord break and more brilliant echoed fuzz guitar)
6 Interstellar Overdrive (totally disorienting as Barrett smashes the hell
out of his guitar, Wright plays as if he has flippers for hands, and Waters
wanders around the main riff like a museum curator studying how the chord
progression works)
7 The Gnome (a soft and sweet children's ditty with gorgeous ringing celeste
and fantastic bass)
8 Matilda Mother (one foreboding child's song, I'd say, good rhythm guitar
and eerie organ)
9 Chapter 24 (Wright's ambient organs are beautiful, and Syd's vocal is
really nice)
10 The Scarecrow (distinctly baroque and beautifully melodic, and Nick
Mason's percussion really elevates the song by calling up a horse's hooves
clopping)
11 Bike (Barrett's childhood obsessions and bizarro freak-out tendencies go
head to head and split the song in half)
2 Pow R. Toc H.
3 Take Thy Stethoscope And Walk
4 Lucifer Sam
5 Matilda Mother
6 The Scarecrow
7 The Gnome
8 Chapter 24
9 Interstellar Overdrive
To any of you who insist that this album is a must for any "real" Floyd fan - ludicrous at best is your statement. My 14 year old son got this on cd not too long ago and forced me to sit through it. My initial thoughts were, how could this mess have been the embryo musically for "DSOTM", "Animals" or "WYWH"? "Bike" is certainly an amusing sort of novelty song, but by implying that "Piper" is on any level near those 3 or The Wall, let alone ABOVE them, is simply labeling oneself as ignorant.
SYD BARRETT IS DEAD. He died on July 7th. The end of an era (though some would say that era ended over 20 years ago).
Okay, folks let's clear something up. Merely weird is not a mark of brilliance, nor is every bad record neccesarily the work of a misunderstood genius. This is not a bad record, but it is most definately overrated. Barrett is, at least by most folk's admission, a very good lyricist. I'll give him that one. But, come on, to consider this man a guitar genius is a little of the mark. As any guitar player knows, the very easiest thing to do is to set around and make cute little noises and run assorted things you find in your pockets up and down the strings. (By the way, that trick with the Zippo is by no means original, and was probably tried first by the first guitar player to be left in a room with both a guitar and a Zippo. He was probably sitting next to the guy that tried out the beer bottle slide first). The simple truth is,as history actually did point out, that without the addition of Guilmour Pink Floyd would have more than likely faded into the annuls of music history with the likes of Moby Grape, Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen, and a score of other so called phsycedelic geniuses.
Well I finally got Piper on Mono LP. Its quite a trip I must say as
the most changes seem to come in the "Jam" section of the record - from Pow
R. Toc H. through to Interstellar Overdrive. You can hear all the
instruments more clearly, yet there is more fuzz and echo - making the
songs more creepy than in stereo. Water's bass and Wright's organ are
higher up in the mix. At least that is what I hear. Even "Take up thy
stethescope and walk" sounds better. The main vocal tracks are not as
different, but still have that fuzzier more echo like feel to them. I do
recommend that anyone who loves this record try to hear the mono. It is an
improvement.
You wrote:
"I'd like to say that the ten-minute instrumental "Interstellar Overdrive" is, without a doubt, one of the greatest songs ever recorded."
This album is universally hailed by critics as being so great and everything. That's because it is great. I've never heard a record as good as this one in my life so far.The only one that even comes close is probably the wild, the innocent , and the e street shuffle by the boss.But this album is definately never been surpassed by anyone.
Well, this is one I missed the first time around. Probably bought Disraeli Gears instead, funds being limited. Couple years later picked up Ummagumma so had some of the better songs (I'm thinking Astronomy Domine here), albeit live recordings with Gilmour instead of Syd, but never really felt the need to backfill the collection, which was a mistake. Much later picked up Echoes and got some of the oddities from this one, and was content until...
I see a new 3-CD set of this -- 40th Anniversary Edition -- and figure, why not? Press Mark's link and here it is in my CD player. No regrets, the sucker is great. This album has aged well, at least for us ancients; it's pretty much perfect early psychedelic rock.
Included are discs of the mono and stereo mixes, plus an extra disc of the singles of the era + edits of various songs. The packaging is done well -- you get the 3 CD's in an impeccable bookish enclosure, early pictures of the band, and a nice little reproduction of one of Syd's notebooks, which is probably worth the price of admission since it gives a non-subtle hint of where HE was heading. If you are like me and didn't already own this in one of its many incarnations, provided you still have any interest in this music, now you have reason.
Basically, in the long run, at the end of the day, all things considered, arguably, when the rubber meets the road (have I missed any trite cliches here?) this is one Pink Floyd album you would not want to be without, and this new edition just rocks...I didn't know what I'd been missing for 40 years.
Definitely my favorite Pink Floyd Album. Mainly because I love the style. It is more crazy and indepent. I love the crazy psychedelic instrumental breaks (Matilda Mother, Flaming), some jazzy piano improvisations (Pow R. Toc H.), and have you heard how they jam on "Take up thy Stethiscope"? That organ is crazy! Easily Pink floyds best album and one of the best in 1967.
Yo, the only good pink floyd be the syd barrett floyd, enough said.
An interesting bootleg! 8 might be a bit high
for a CD with the sound quality of a an old poop, but it's got some REALLY
rare live stuff ("Stoned Alone," "Rust In A Million," "Scream Thy Last Scream"), as
well as a 14-minute alternate studio version of "Interstellar Overdrive" and
about 20 minutes of Syd-era and post-Syd interviews. Muddy as all hell, but
hey it was the 60s!
id like to put in a good word for stoned alone (or reaction in g), because it is the earliest sheer noise rocker in existence... that is some crazy feedback, and sometimes the guitar and organ just meld together--they are indistinguishable at times and he uses slide with echo and distortion--nobody did that at all back then. drumming is fun and the basslines are simple and riffy and never fall apart. ive only heard that song and scream thy last scream, but the latter is pretty awful, since it has chipmunked vocals... the hell? but its jam section is kind of cool... jsut dont buy it.
Syd was on his way out, and, instead of finding a new lead figure (which
probably would have infuriated their fans), they chose a guitar player that
they felt would be able to contribute to a new democratic band-oriented Pink
Floyd, where everyone would chip in and make the songs the best they could be.
That man had a good bluesy guitar style, cool hair, and a voice that was about
sixty million times more pleasant (in the traditional "accessible" sense of
the word) than Syd Barrett's. Unfortunately, about twenty years later, he
would transform the band into a dreadful parody of its former self, but never
mind that for now.
Syd definitely plays on "Day"- it's a Piper outtake. I think Gilmour
may have dubbed to the Piper track later.
As far as I know, Syd adds the manic single note riffing to "Clegg", but
I'm not sure. Sounds like Gilmour vocals to me too.
A Saucerful Of Secrets has two really great songs, 'Remember A Day'
and 'Set Your Controls For The Heart Of The Sun.' However, I am not
super crazy about 'Corporal Clegg,' or 'Jugband Blues.' I would give
this digitally remastered cd a 7/10!
It must have been hell making this album. Saucerful of Secrets is a pretty
cool mystical album. "Let There Be More Light" is I think David Gilmour's
first song. It starts off with a cool bass solo then Roger and Rick sing.
Rick Wright does the now, now, now parts then Roger does the Carters Father
parts. "Remember A Day" is a song you don't have to really care about, it has
good mellow into it but the lyrics are ok, "Set the Controls for the Heart
of the Sun" is a title saying my title bigger than yours kind of thing you
know like "Several Species of Small Furry Animals gathered into a Cave and
Grooving with a Pict" released on Ummagumma, "Set the Controls" is a calm
relaxing song that kind of makes you fall asleep but it hardly ever
happens, "Corporal Clegg" is my favorite song about a man who goes into war
amd loses his leg and he imagines that he gets a metal, I like the horn
part with the another drop of gin part, the title track is a very scary and
long instrumental song, it starts off with Strange Sounds with the
instruments then comes Rick's horrifying organ. The song was cool though.
"See Saw" was a slow song it was also kind of boring sang by David, the music
was nice though. Enclosing the album was "Jugband Blues" a Barett song, it
kind of sounded like polish music. Oh yeah and Barrett plays on "Remember A
Day", "Set the Controls", I think "Corporal Clegg", and "Jugband Blues". The
artwork is cool with the band. It has them in 60's outfits, them by an
airplane, and a pyramid. The cover rules and the back cover rules. I give
this album a 9.
Saucerful of secrets is an incredibly patchy second album which clearly
defines the transitional stage the band was going through, what with poor
Syd Barrett half in, half out of the picture (the fact that he was
schizophrenic had a lot to do with his breakdown - not just LSD!!)
Yet there are enough redeeming features here, despite its inconsistency
and wretched sound quality (I don't have the remastered version, and who
wants it?!! have you seen how tacky the packaging is??)
Syd plays the cool guitar on Remember a Day. His solo stuff ("wined and
dined") also has this intensity. It wasn't so much playing tons of notes
as putting across a feeling.
Don't know, really, but I can't see why Saucerful should be worse than
Piper (can't see how it could be better as well, though). Of course,
there's quite a bunch of clumsy, erratic and unmemorable cosmic rockers
on here - but they needn't be worse than Syd's children's stuff. In
fact, 'Corporal Clegg' could quite as well be written by Syd. And as for
the primary stuff, 'Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun' IS cool
(although not as breathtaking as 'Astronomy Domine'), and the title
track sounds much more attractive than 'Interstellar Overdrive' to me.
Of course, it's an artsy groove, but it has a plot (as far as I know, it
depicts a battle and its consequences) and some diversity. The rest of
the tracks are hogwash. I may be wrong, but I always tend to write off
Barrett's songs as crazy unstructured and unmelodical crap. At least -
most of them. And Waters was still learning... By the way, did you know
that the working title of 'See-Saw' was something like 'The Most Boring
Song I've Ever Heard Bar Two'. Question is: what are the other two? Ha
ha!
Another great album. Simply put, every song here is good. Corporal Clegg
is a good rocker, and Jugband Blues is simply amazing, a 3 minute
masterpiece...the bouncy verses, and then the instrumental break, the
weird sound effects. Then Barret softly singing the haunting final lines
"And what exactly is a dream..." A perfect closer for a good album.
I agree that this is an extremely patchy album, as it is mostly Piper
outtakes with some Dave guitar overdubs (I would be surprised if Syd
didn't play on the first track; the guitar lines highest in the mix are
definitely Daves, but upon listening with headphones, you hear some wierd
ass guitar tones in the background that could only belong to Syd) along
with the title track. I would say that I don't like this album much if it
weren't for the fact that I _do_ like this album quite a bit. Remember a
Day is beautiful, Corporal Clegg sets the blueprint for all of Water's
anti-war songs to come later, and of course the title track rules (tho I
prefer the Ummagumma version). And Jugband blues is a perfect closer. A
good 8.
Enh. I wish they had built all of "Let there Be More Light" around
that opening bass groove--man, that thing cooked! After that it's all
downhill, though I enjoy "Remember a Day" and "Corporal Clegg"--what a
fabulously silly song. The others are okay, for the most part, but it's just
kinda boring at the same time. And I don't get why everyone loves "Jugband
Blues" so much. Whatever floats your boat, I guess. Syd never really
did it for me. Anyway, Saucerful is a low 7 in my book.
Dark! Druggy! Murky! Depressing! And what a fabulous
introductory bass line! What's not to like? Well,
okay, "Corporal Clegg." I really can't stand that one.
I don't like the strident, whiny lyrics or the
over-the-top kazoo thing. It's just irritating. But
"Let There Be More Light"! "See Saw"! "Set the
Controls For the Heart of the Sun"! And most
especially "Jugband Blues," which is my favorite Floyd
song besides "Wish You Were Here." "It's awfully
considerate of you to think of me here, and I'm most
obliged to you for making it clear that I'm not here."
So sad and bitter and heartbreaking. Who else but
Syd's Floyd could put together a drugged-up jugband? I
ask you. I give the album an 8.
Listen closer, Tobasco...that's David Gilmour singing the chourus on "Let There Be More Light."
we--eelll this one has its moments, but it isnt all that good. starting with let ther be more light, you start to believe this is oing to be incredible until the bass stops and this weird other melody comes in thats not too good. it has a chorus that almost takes you somewhere but not quite. then there is wrights two weirdo pop songs (what a frigged up relationship hes got with his sister, you know? those lyrics are STRANGE), they have good atmosphere and melodic ideas, but they're too uncomfortable to succeed. set the controls jsut doesnt leap out like it should, its just over-simplified and not as hypnotic as it shold be. corporal clegg is great (all gilmie on guitar, by the way) because of its weird riff (with the hendrix chord, haha musicians, hendrix chord!) and its unpleasant "hi im from another song that didnt make it" chorus and then the weird kazoo stuff. strangE! but fun. saucerful features the whale-guitar soon to be found on echoes, but goes nowhere for a long time (except in terms of pure unstructured jam, which can be fun if yer in the mood) the last chording about is wright in a good bit of songwriting, and jugband blues is like a madcap outtake. pretty good, but disjointed and more fascinating than melodically and catchily sound. but darned if it isnt from his "have you got it yet?" days where he loved to play tricks on his bandmates by changing melodies at random... thats great! ok, thats all, i say 8/10 is more than fair.
Saucerful of Secrets is by far the best Floyd Album ever, it is far out, space music at its' finest.
Saucerful of Secrets is my favorite early Floyd album.
True it's a bit patchy, but pretty good for a band
that's trying to keep it together while the leader has
some obvious demons he's fighting and can only
contribute one song. I enjoy Mr. Barrett's
contribution (Jugband Blues) just fine. The rest of
the album sounds like a band finding themselves and
hints at what would come. Standouts include the title
track, Set the Controls and Let there Be Light. 9/10
Saucer - 9
Atom - 8
Meddle - 8
DSofM - 10
WyWW - 8
Animals - 10
The Wall - 8
Final Cut - 8
MLoR - 6
Division Bell - 6
Well, the loss of Syd obviously screwed up PF completely - SOS is a difficult transition record, but it still has a certain charm about it (even though the overall Syd feeling has completely vanished since Piper). You can see that they had to scrape together material for this one (the original working title of See Saw was ‘the worst song I’ve ever heard bar one’, or something derogatory along those lines), and the record is a tad short (39 minutes). Let There Be More Light, Remember A Day, Jugband Blues, Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun and the title track are all good in my book, and Corporal Clegg has a soupcon of Syd influence. 8/10
I really like this album. I believe Syd is only on "Remember A Day", "Set The Controls..." (supposedly), and "Jugband Blues", as far as i know, but it sure does sound like him on "Corporal Clegg". All the songs on this album are great, though i'm not that big a fan of the title track. I think maybe it'd fit better on any of their next few albums, but i far prefer the psychadelic Syd influence on the rest of the record. I'm really happy that you mentioned how Rick Wright earns a lot of credit too, because i couldn't agree more. Seems like people think his early songs were crap (including himself, as well as the rest of the band most likely), but i think he was writing the best stuff after Syd, or at the least, certainly up there with Roger Waters's material of this era. "Remember A Day" and "See Saw" are both beautiful songs from this record by him, and his other songs of this period like "Paintbox" and "It Would Be So Nice" i'm a huge fan of. I wish he contributed more materal. Seems like his huge potential just went to waste for some reason.
Patchy, but enjoyable in a couple of places. "Let There Be More Light"
starts off the proceedings, and it's obvious poor old Roger was trying to
fill in for poor old Syd by writing a "mystical" rocker - unfortunately,
most of it sucks, especially the lyrics. But - and this is one BIG but - if
Rog had chosen to stick with the intro, developed a song out of it, and
retained Dave's kickass solo at the end, I think we woulda had a Floyd
Classic! God, the intro is so good. "Remember A Day" follows and I can
guarantee Syd played on that track - it's a Rick Wright-written Piper
outtake that was recycled for this album. I think, though, that Gilmour is
the one on acoustic, not Syd - even though the lead was overdubbed, so Syd
could easily have played both parts. Rick sings very well here. "Set The
Controls" is an early Floyd classic, with Roger's attempt at working Chinese
poetry into a tight musical setting functioning far better than Syd's
previous washout, the worthless "Chapter 24" (which is one of the few truly
awful tracks on Piper). Syd also plays on "Set The Controls". "Corporal
Clegg" follows and that features Syd as well. See, Floyd was briefly a
five-piece, so Dave and Syd played together on a few tracks on "Saucerful".
This is one of those songs. Musically, "Corporal Clegg" features the same
problem as "Let There Be More Light" - Waters keeps on trying to think up
gimmicks to enhance the riffs, and it usually just detracts from them
instead. "Corporal Clegg" has a fantastic riff, especially the
mind-bendingly beautiful, jangly dissonance of Syd's lead line, but it goes
to hell in the middle with the damn kazoos - the vocal harmony bridge is
also amazing. It could have been great, I say. "A Saucerful of Secrets" is
good in its' studio version, but doesn't hold a candle to the "Ummagumma"
version (and I gotta say, Mark, the live half of "Ummagumma" is the only
part worth having - the studio half is some of the most tedious, amelodic,
ass-holy pretentious fart-noise wankery ever recorded - except for some
prime King Crimson bullshit). "See-Saw" is the other Rick Wright
composition. The working title of this one was - and I'm pretty sure this is
exact - "The Most Boring Song I've Ever Heard In My Life Bar Track Two" -
but it isn't that bad (I also heard the track was called "The Worst Fucking
Song I've Ever...you get the idea). "Jugband Blues" closes the record. The
sole Syd contribution, the band placed it very deliberately at the end. It
is a terribly sad and beautiful song, with Salvation Army band horns. So,
there's this strange, but fascinating, Floyd record.
What could Pink Floyd possibly do, after losing perhaps the most bizarre, talented acid songwriter of the psychedelic era??? Bring in David Gilmour and release a shit album full of pointless dull jams and awful songs of course. The only song here really worth listening to is “Jugband Blues” despite the fact it’s sad as hell listening to Syd admit his tragic schizophrenic condition to an upbeat/haunting melody….great song though.
Okay, to clarify once and for all: All five members play on "Set the Controls". Syd's on "Jugband Blues" for definite sure definite. I'd wager with ya, Mark, that "Remember a Day" and "Corporal Clegg" have Syd playing on them -- I always thought that sounded like Syd singing on "Clegg". I'm sure it's just Roger screaming, a la "Stethoscope".
I love the entirety of this album, but I'll focus my comment on its
most important track, the "Saucerful of Secrets" title track. This
song helped provide the direction and focus the band stuck with all the
way through "Wish You Were Here" - extended concept tracks that focus
on a cinematic feel. The version here is pretty tentative, but the
piece grew and grew, and by the time of Ummagumma, it had evolved into
a pretty intense set-piece. And then there was Live at Pompeii and
HOLY CHRIST!
The nation mourned this week as Roger Keith "Sid Vicious" Barrett passed away of diabetes-related complications. He was a very talented man with very talented ideas, so it's always sad to see somebody like that go crazy, not do anything for 35 years, then die. Hopefully Capitol Records will do some digging in his mother's closet and find 30 previously unreleased albums he privately recorded over the years (I'm particularly interested in his take on mid-80s thrash, perhaps entitled The Madcap Shreds). In the meantime we'll have to make do with The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, his two FAN-GODDAMNED-TASTIC solo albums The Madcap Laughs and Barrett (if you don't own them, BUY THEM! They're really, really great! Some say I should have reviewed them by now!), and piles of leftover shbeep like Opel and this bootleg.
Don't Go Near The Park is terrible. So terrible, in fact, that you might like it. Especially when it tries to be all dramatic and scary (I guess, unless it's some kind of camp parody). I would go into detail but you might not appreciate me spoiling it, although you're hardly missing much.
I forgot to bring the track listing to work with me, but it's probably pretty good. I mean pssh it's Syd "Rona" Barrett, how bad is it gonna be. Fuckin' Syd "Grin And" Barrett wrote a song with his dick and it ruled because he's a genis and so is his penis. Asspipin' Syd "Eat A Carrot" Barrett ain't no joob. When an album includes 4 talky bits, 11 early Pink Floyd songs and 10 solo Syd songs, that album's gonna rule even if most people already have all the songs on it. Like my notes here say that two of these are pulled butt-directly off of Relics and another was ballsac-ripped right off of Saucerful Of Sucrets and a few others are fulla bulla too. So pssh on that but pssh on you psshy. You phkn psshy.
Funny shit, man, funny shit. But if you want a [non]comic strip that
sucks all the comedy out of the world, look a little further up the
page at The Family Circus.
The problem with these old Syd Barrett-era bootlegs is that they all pretty much have the same songs on them, with just a few special exclusives every once in a while. For example, most of them have the Paul McCartney talking bit, the majority feature 'alternate mixes' of "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play" that sound exactly like the officially released versions, most have at least one or two live lo-fi versions of "Interstellar Overdrive," more than a few feature the same exact interview snippets and 30-seconds worth of "Reaction In G," and 8,000 of them contain Syd's final Pink Floyd recordings "Scream Thy Last Scream" and "Vegetable Man." So if you plan to buy multiple Syd-era bootlegs, compare the track listings closely and make sure you're not paying $20 for something you already own 85% of. This is fine if you're purchasing a hooker because the differentiating 15% is what you're after, but it's kind of a rip CD-wise.
Steve Tits
Editor-In-Chief
National Underwriter - Pink Floyd Rules Edition
Why would anyone let this moronic writing stand as representative of this music. True, much may be recordings of Barrett's artistic death-throes, but come on. Let's pretend that some day, who knows, reasonably mature adults could read this for information. Instead of a presentation of what's enclosed, we have a moronic child-ass pretending to know more than he does. Why do it?
I was earmarked for a suckering! It appeared - APPEARED - to be two long unreleased Pink Floyd concert-only gems: "The Man" suite and "The Journey" suite. With such
entrancing song title offerings as "Doing It," "Beset By Creatures Of The Deep" and "Labyrinth of Auximenes," I thought I was in for an experience unlike any other that I had ever
known.
I remember reading about this in Saucerful of Secrets,
that really fabulous biography I found on ebay for $3.
I adore ebay. Anyhow, this was something they
developed in the way early days, if I'm remembering
correctly, right around the time Syd was thrown out.
It was sort of a theme concert, The Man being along
the lines of Days of Future Passed (I don't know if it
was a conscious emulation on either band's part) and
The Journey being along the lines of...well, a
journey, I guess. The author of the book was careful
to point out that neither of these suites were "lost
Floyd classics," just rearrangements of the songs we
already know. See what happens when you don't do your
research, Mark? :)
I remember this! i got the mp3s expecting something really weird and cool and unreleased(but then why didn't they release it, stupid?), but it was not to be. the big important part of this is not "labyrinths of auxicrappy" or anything like that,but behold the temple of light. that song is fucking great, and its a tiny short chord sequence repeated with drums and organ runs. it has NO REASON WHATSOEVER to be good, but it is. its hypnotic goodness somehow just never gets boring. thats what sets floyd apart. and will even after they go in this pop music direction and follow it into the dust. i like the pink ungle too, just for that opening organ sound with the tinkling drums... it sounds like a creepy jungle adventurer movie!
Gilmour has said, referring to the post Syd, pre Atom Heart Mother era, that they were very good live, and their biggest problem at that time was capturing the magic of those moments on record, which in my opinion, was never captured, until Pompeii. The Man and the Journey, most notably the Amsterdam recording, is an exellent example of what the Floyd were all about during those post Syd/pre Darkside days. The soundscapes, the interplay between Wright's delayed Farfisa organ and Gilmour's delayed slide guitar sound effects. The BEST parts of the suite in my opinion ARE "Labyrinths of Auximines" and "Nightmare". This has also got to be the best version of "Cymbaline" out there, lots better than the studio recording on More. "Beset by the Creatures of the Deep" is one of the spookiest versions on "Careful w/ that Axe, Eugene", and of course "Daybreak" is the best version of "Granchester Meadows" out there in my opinion, better than the stale version on Ummagumma... It's much more multi-layered, with both Roger and Dave on guitars, and Wright doing some classically-influenced organ solos on it. The first double set-long suite ever performed by the floyd, they should have at least recorded and released a live album of it. But, Gilmour's vocals are a bit bad in places. Also, in addition to the musical aspects of the suite, there was a great deal of theatre involved as well, which included the band doing construction work on stage, and a man running through the audience dressed up in a dragon outfit.
I'm gonna have to go it alone and stand up for The Pink
Jungle here. I agree that Pow R. Toc H., on its own, isn't
that impressive, but this is one of the times where a song
in the Suite has been drastically altered - the song is
faster, louder, the tone is FAR darker, and the thing gets
off to a galloping jam that in my opinion totally blows the
original away. I mean, not that it's hard to do, but this is
probably one of my favorite tracks off of the bootleg (along
with Afternoon and Behold the Temple of the Light,
probably).
Luckily, I already knew about these "new" suites before I got this
bootleg, so I didn't have to endure any disappointment or anything.
It's the early More/Ummagumma era Floyd, live! It's absolutely
fantabulous! They hadn't quite hit their peak yet, but they were
close. I'm not sure what the lyrics to "Green is the Colour" have to
do with a "Journey", but hey, I'm willing to suspend disbelief for the
sake of a pretty tune that segues nicely into "Careful With that Axl,
Eugene". And my copy is one of the better sounding bootlegs I own -
it's only slightly marred (sorry Johnny) by some Dutch Radio guy
interjecting every 15 minutes or so. My copy also cuts off before the
"Celestial Voices" section of "The Journey" ends. Very annoying!
"the nightmare" is, in fact, "Cymbeline." I don't get
the connection either, but I've got an excellent boot
from 1970 called "Interstellar Encore" where Waters
introduces "Cymbeline" by saying it's about a
nightmare. It's also got a great version of "Atom
Heart Mother" without the horns and chorus, and it
actually sounds good and not boring. I recommend
tracking it down.
hey i think that people should read the wikipedia page on this bootleg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_and_the_Journey)
the tracks are as thus follows:
sure rogers and daves voice cracks sometimes and its not perfect, but i would wager to say it is the best bootleg ever, in terms of sound quality and performance.
i don't see why people nitpick over it not being perfect - its live for christs sakes! what the hell do expect, this was like 4 people or some shit
teatime and sleep arent exactly the most engaging pieces so i go with a solid 8/10
A peculiar hodgepodge of musical bits and pieces. A double-album it is, with
one black circle (Hey! Pearl Jam!) spinning out some live in-concert
recordings, the other boasting four sections highlighting each individual
member (so much for the new band-oriented Pink Floyd). The live stuff
is better than a tasty salad. Four long jams it are, but not them boring
wanky Allman Bros. jams, no sir; these are truly odd modal things that just
continue and continue and grow noisier and noisier until suddenly a melody
pops out (or not!). Nicely done. Might seem monotonous, but it's seething
with innovation just below the surface; just listen close and you'll see
(listen and you'll see - that's the crazy thing about senses!)
that they're actually playing very interesting parts! Promise! And one of
'em's called "Careful With That Axe, Eugene!" How can that be beat?
Ummagumma is as far out as early Floyd ever ventured, and that means we
are in deep space orbit indeed. The live album is 100% wholesome
goodness, with what most of us consider to be THE definitive version of
"Astronomy Domine", a standout from Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. And
it's really hard to top a song called "Careful With That Axe, Eugene!,"
now, isn't it? As for the studio album, Rick Wright's solo pieces are the
best, with some very Stockhausen-like piano, and Water's "Several
Species Of Small..." is a trip at any speed. If you have the vinyl
edition of this album, you can slow the record down, and those "furry
animal" noises resolve themselves into Waters and Gilmour saying things
like "GIVE ME BACK MY GUITAR!" and "That was pretty avant-garde, wasn't
it?" Indeed! The album is certainly their weirdest, but no true Floyd
fan is without it, especially now that it has been reissued in such a
nice package.
Hey!
Screw you for saying Allman Brothers jams are boring...
They were the KINGS of the jazz-rock jam...
ever hear the song "Mountain Jam"?
it's 30 minutes of pure, unadulterated, AMAZING JAMMING...
dammit
compared to the Allmans, Pink Floyd jams sound like hokey, dated acid rock..
which of course they are....
Or how about the jam at the end of the 20 minute "Whipping Post"?
What were you thinking?
Another awesome album performed by Floyd. Ummagumma is a separate live and
studio album. The live album was recorded at Manchester College. "Astronomy
Domine" is awesome live and long. "Careful With the Axe Eugene" is an
excellent instrumental song and it's so horrifying. "Set the Controls" had a
few errors there but it was still ok. "Saucerful of Secrets" live is not as
good as the original but it had its moments. "Sysyphus" is a nice and scary
song, "part 2" is nice and "part 4" is scary with the hammond organ and
keyboards, "Granchester Meadows" is a nature song and birds are chirping and
there's a peacock sound into it. It was good too. "Several" YOU KNOW WHAT I
MEAN that song is so COOL I LISTEN TO IT OVER AND OVER and never get tired
of it. "The Narrow Way" I hardly listen to that song I can't give a review to
it and same with the last one. So far I give it a 10 if I give a good
review it can go higher.
I loved your review for Ummagumma - for me, this record totally changed
my outlook on music in general.
The band themselves are apparently none too proud of it though, silly
fools!! what's wrong with a bit of self-indulgent experimentation???
The live album certainly polished up any mistakes that were present on the
original recordings of "Set the controls..."(the slower tempo sounds so
much better) and "A saucerful of secrets" (except for Gilmour's stupid vocal
harmonies at the end.)
The second disc sounds like four art-school drop-outs making as much noise
as they can, and well...that's what it is!!!
I even heard Gilmour admit in one interview that he can't even read or
write music, that everything he plays is learned by ear!!!
This record clearly shows that (back then at least) these guys never
pretended to be musical intellects, they were just trying to see how far
they could push the boundries of their influences
(classical,blues,country,etc.)
The "furry animals..." song is mind-blowing, though I also love "The narrow
way" - I still can't believe Gilmour wrote a song as cool as this!!! I love
the tension as the second part abruptly begins, which itself is just one
huge, filthy guitar riff being repeated to the point that it's been
"electronically molested" if you like.
"Sysyphus" certainly brings out Rick Wright's classical influence more than
anything else he wrote for the Floyd, and is all the better for it!!
I've got mixed feelings about Nick Mason's closing piece, the middle part
only becomes a "solo" as such, towards the end - the rest of it is just
electronic doodling, and what a sad, sad little melody he's chucked in
there too, I wonder if him or Rick played that?
Every Floyd fan must have this album!!!! ( 8 out of 10.)
The first time I heard "Be Careful With That Axe Eugene" I almost had a
heart attack: keyboards, humm, humm, bass, noodle, noodle, cymbals
softly clashing, the whisper, and AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!! How
do they get that noise?
U nailed it -- "Astronome Domine" is a 4-star classic; gorgeous, spacey,
spooky, cold (as it should B --they're talkin' about flying past the outer
planets & satellites, ya know) -- even if all Syd ever wrote was this 1, it
woulda been worth it. Actually, "Astronome" was the inspiration 4 my 1st
published piece of fiction, so I've always had a warm spot in my heart 4
it. ... & the other stuff sure is bizarre, just like U said. A weird 1, but
a helluva lot more fun then summa their later material, eh? No "life is so
depressing" crapola here....
Jeez, Mark. Pink Floyd's Ummagumma doesn't deserve a 9. I like
'Astronomy Domine' and the end of 'A Saucerful of Secrets' a lot, but
most of the live album is unlistenably boring. Half of it's worth
keeping. The rest just drones on till next week. Don't tell me you can't
hear the group getting bored on 'Careful with that Axe, Eugene'. And of
course they'd be bored-- they just played the same thing for like eight
minutes! I don't see anything experimental or interesting about playing
something over and over for that long.
Wow, I have to confess I pretty much enjoy this album. Apparently, the
Floyders were not quite sure what to do at the moment, so they decided
to do EVERYTHING - and this results in a really diverse and entertaining
experience. It is not hundred percent psychedelia/cosmic rock, nor is it
similar to the later depressed DSOTM pattern. It's just... fun. The live
stuff is especially good. I've always liked 'Astronomy Domine', and it's
fascinating to hear it reproduced live and not losing any of its charm.
'Eugene' is a true masterpiece - the way they handle the mounting of
tension and the lengthy fade-out is just unbelievable! The melody is
next to none, of course, but the effect is nevertheless fascinating, and
when that scream comes in... wow! Interesting note: The Nice had a song
called 'Cry Of Eugene' on the Emerlist Davjack LP. Anybody knows if
there's any relation? I've heard it, but it seems quite uncomparable...
Anyway, accusing the band of 'getting bored' is plain ridiculous: were
they bored, they wouldn't have put it on record.
In 1968 Pink Floyd released a flop single "point Me At The Sky"/"Careful
With That Axe, Eugene". But this version of "Careful..." was very mild
stuff with absolutely no contrast between the
bass-guitar-going-doo-doo-very-slowly section and the
rock-out-AAAAUUUUGGGHHHHHHHHHHH section. Anyway, one of the lines in
Point Me At The Sky goes something like "Hey Eugene/It's Henry
McLean/And I've perfected my little flying machine". I'd love to hear
the song but unfortunately I don't have the necessary $180 lying around
to buy the box set. Anyhow, that's how they came up with the name
"Careful With That, Axe, Eugene."
Might seem monotonous (says mark). it does (i say). i admit i may be a
bit biased by the fact that my older sister used to listen to it like
eight or nine times in a row. everyday. for about two and a half years.
no, it was not everyday. now i remeber clearly. there were some days she
would listen to the cow album (more, was it?) in between. and some other
days she would stick to careful with that axe. oh gene! it did show me
how hard life can be. and also she didn't have a lot of records. and i
guess i still like the dog. so, my verdict would be: pink floyd wouldn't
have damaged the world so much if they'd only done this, uh, thing; and
one should also have mercy on my sister. it was the circumstances.
Damn right this is a 9. I LOVE the live version of Saucerful, and
everything else on the live album is terrific. And, I like most of the
studio album. Wright's stuff rules. I don't care what he's ripping off or
whatever; the third movement is a bit tedious, but the rest is wonderful.
Water's stuff is great, and, get this, I love the Narrow Way. Part 3 is a
bit dull, but those first two parts get stuck in my head all the time.
Mason's stuff ... ehn, good enough; not great. but not horrible.
All in all, a couple weak spots, but overall, a splendid listening
experience.
Well, I have the TAPE version of this album, which consists of
"Astronomy Domine," "The Narrow Way," "Grandchester Meadows," "Several
Species...", "Sisyphus," and the last one whose name I forget--I think it was about
someone's garden party or something. No other live tracks, no double
album, big ripoff. Thus I do not have this album anymore. But
anyway, "Astronomy" clearly rules, and I actually like "The Narrow Way,"
although Part I is a little annoying. "Several Species" was amusing the first
time I listened to it, and phenomenally boring all subsequent times. Not
the Floyd's best effort, if you ask me, although I do wish I had heard
more of the live stuff. Anyway, whatever you do, don't get the tape version.
Love the live album. Love the live version of
"Astronomy Domine" (though not as much as the
original), love "Careful With That Axe, Eugene"
(coolest title ever, and what a scary song!), love it
love it love it. But *ahem* I've owned this album for
nearly a year now and still have not managed to sit
down and listen to the studio album, so I have no idea
if I like it or not. I'll get back to you on that one.
Just look at that cover... whiling away the summer of
'69 in some sun-kissed country house in deepest rural
Cambridgeshire, doing whatever you liked... couldn't
happen today. Sigh.
It really is unbelievable how cool the studio track titles are. It is also unbelievable how generally disappointing they are. I am one of the most subjective people on the planet, therefore I sat in my listenin' chair white knuckled trying to imbue these things with worth and listening value by the pure unvanquishable force of my will. About two minutes into Rick Wright's final thing wher ehe just bangs away ont he piano and hits random organ notes I gave up. I clawed at every note for meaning and special weirdness, and the best I can come up with for the very wild experimentation on this album is that Pink Floyd sucks like no band else sucks, has ever sucked, or shall ever suck. That by itself is pretty dang cool, but that doesn't mean you'll listen to this a lot. Listen to Mark about the live stuff, it's pretty good. There is a much cooler live Astronomy Domine out there with Syd involved (in some capacity, it doesn't sound like him playing guitar or singing, but he says "good morning"! Oh boy does he ever. And di I look for some subtle Barrett genius nuance in that good morning with my innocent little heart? well, yeah, sort of but mind your own business. it was doubtless a secret message about his crappy paintings) that has a great opening organ thingy. Studio stuff, Grantchester is alright, but Waters just CANT sing at all, he tries much too hard but is paradoxically timid at the same time on this track and doesn't even stretch his voice, he just sings very softly and lowly, which isn't that hard to do. Try it. Try singing grantchester and I bet you can. ok, now try singing along to all parts of narrow way part 3. Aaa-aah!? Not so easy! Grantchester blows that one away though in terms of songwriting craft. Gilmour's little bit is neat if you play guitar, but not much for melody and the chorus for part 3 is very very uninteresting--the verses have your standard descending minor riff (Babe im gonna leave you/I am the walrus/10538 overture (which is a huge I am the walrus ripoff in other ways)/green day song i cant remember/some others) but still sound a little interesting. Mason's stuff is various drums hit (and some detuned!) rather boringly but weirdly enough to suck like nothing else I've heard. Cool flute! If you listen to that furry animals one more than twice or mention it alot around me I'll probably smile insincerely at you. SO WATCH IT. I give this a 6, and that's probably more than it deserves. I give it a 6 but I would really suggest you buy it. Ah the mystery of life.
Well, what can I say? Great live album (probably the best PF put out), terrible studio side (absolutely useless idea to make the band create songs by themselves - and Waters of all people came up with it). Then again, the live album is far too short, so you’re better off just buying a live bootleg from this era if you’re that adamant to hear live Floyd circa 1969. 6/10
The Floyd were still searching for a clear direction at this point;
indeed, it wasn't until Meddle that they actually made a full,
legitimate, band album. But what they encountered during their search
is the most amazing stuff they ever recorded. And Ummagumma is one of
the finest specimens of that period. The live LP is a special treat -
superior version of 4 of their best songs to that point. One time in
college my roommate and I had a couple of girls over to "visit" - we
all hit the hay after a night of drinkin', and I put this CD on (pretty
loudly, I recall) - anyway, one of the girls literally shit her pants
when that scream in "Eugene" came up! What an ass I was - I'd
forgotten about that part, and I certainly didn't want to cause any
pant-soilings. We'd all passed out... but she spent the rest of the
night doing laundry.
A soundtrack for a French film that's probably really pretentious. Being a
soundtrack, it contains a lot more atmospheric filler than their previous
releases, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. If there were ever a band
that was made to play atmospheric filler, it was this one. This stuff is
dark, distant, slow - alternating between pretty and creepy. A couple of
"rockers" make it clear that the post-Syd Floyd is about as adept at hard
rockin' as, say, the Moody Blues (which is to say - not at all), but when they
stick to the draggy druggy stuff, they tear up the vinyl like they're whippin'
a horse with a belt! They are rock and rollers! They are my best friend!
"Main Theme," "Cirrus Minor," and "Green Is The Color" are the stand-outs, but
the other stuff is nice, too. Not dazzling like their others, but still
deserving of praise. Understated (except for the lousy rockers), peaceful,
relaxing, and disturbing - like a good artsy soundtrack should be.
The movie More is a weird, late '60s heroin movie. The overall theme is
that pot is good, acid is good, and heroin is bad. It's easier to watch
when you're stoned, but hard to keep up with unless you're sober because
everyone talks with accents.
This soundtrack is strangely enough my fave Floyd album ever!!! I honestly
can't think of any other record that can take me away to another world like
this album can, if you want to escape from reality, this album is perfect.
I haven't seen the film - and I don't want to, the music stands alone and
is full of lush, tripped-out mood pieces, especially the second half of
the record, the fact that they record