Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn - 1967
Songs: Astronomy Domine, Lucifer Sam, Mathilda Mother, Flaming, Pow R. Toc H., Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk, Interstellar Overdrive, The Gnome, Chapter 24, Scarecrow, Bike.
Music: Psychedelic Pop Rock
Comments:
Well, this is the Debut Album of Syd Barrett & the Monsters of Deep Space, a.k.a. Pink Floyd at the time this record was released. Everybody knows the story of Syd I suppose. He took too much Acid and went into obscurity eventually, leaving his band for Roger Waters to take care. Syd died in 2006.
But on The Piper our Crazy Diamond still Shines! I read Syd Barrett as follows: Actually he was a writer of short to the point Pop Songs like their debut single Arnold Llayne.
This album contains a lot of this type of Song. Some of them could have easily been given to artists like David Bowie or Donovan or even Dave Berry. Some of them are quite good (Lucifer Sam, Mathilda Mother, Flaming). Some are not (Chapter 24, Bike).
But then what happened. Syd found some pills and, like people did back in 1967, he took one and one more and one more…….and suddenly the world became a Strawberry Field Forever.
It was at such a moment that Syd created Interstellar Overdrive and Astronomy Domine, the key songs on this album that were inspired by Jimi Hendrix and, in turn, inspired the psychedelic world for some years to come. The songs are actually quite good.
Roger Waters tried a pill as well but it was probably a pain killer as the result Take up thy Stethoscope and Walk is no match for Syd´s space adventures.
On this album the Floyd experimented for the first time with sound effects and other gimmicks that, in later years, would become an all important ingredient of their music. A good example is POW. R TOC. H, a jazzy song with Richard seemingly playing his piano in the Jungle.
All in All the Album is somewhat inconsistent. But no one can deny its importance for Psychedelic Rock.
Rating: ******** (8 out of 10)
Black = Good Songs
Green = Great Songs
Red = Could Be Better
Who should buy this Record: If you like your Psychedelic Music quite poppy, this one´s for you. Also for those who appreciate early David Bowie.
It´s an interesting but not easy start of your Pink Floyd Collection.
