jackhammer

I am surprised by the lack of posts but I will persevere!

A SAUCERFUL OF SECRETS (1968)


Ahhh. the difficult second album syndrome. Nothing could be more apt for Floyd's follow up to Piper.

Syd Barrett was becoming increasingly more removed from reality due to his copious amount of acid taking. The band had to take the momentous decision of having to bring in a replacement for Barrett. As their chief songwriter, it was a brave; and in terms of their career, fortuitous desicion. Dave Gilmour was drafted in initially to fill in for Barrett live, but his mental state gave them no option to have Gilmour replace him permanently. This gives SAUCERFUL a disjointed feel with Barrett performing on three tracks and Gilmour the remainder. The album has moments of brilliance and utter pap. Let's seperate the wheat from the chaff!

In a rare songwriting spurt, Richard Wright supplies two tracks of which REMEMBER A DAY is undeniably the better. It is a brilliant piece of psychedelic pop with a hypnotic beat replete with Wrights soft soothing vocals.

Another highlight of the album is the beginning of Floyd's link with the term Space Rock (which annoys the hell out of me to be honest) and the Roger Waters penned SET THE CONTROLS FOR THE HEART OF THE SUN. Expansive, hypnotic and trippy, the track was also the first time we heard Waters willingness to become one of the main songwriters in Floyd.

The opening track LET THERE BE MORE LIGHT is probably the best example of what was to come from Gilmour. He contributes vocally and there are some guitar chords and motifs that would become the mainstay of the classic Floyd sound.

The title track is a thoroughly disjointed 12 minute instrumental, and could be classed as avant garde. There are some interesting ideas but it lacks any structure. The Floyd became masters of overcoming this trait.

Corporal Clegg is quite frankly terrible. Badly produced and featuring a kazoo (!) hook, it is a rare filler in their discography.

The album closes fittingly on Barretts JUGBAND BLUES.While musically it is not hugely impressive, the lyrics point to a fractured soul and the beginning of a loss to music in general.

JUGBAND BLUES:

And I'm most obliged to you for making it clear
that I'm not here

And I never knew the moon could be so big
And I never knew the moon could be so blue
And I'm grateful that you threw away my old shoes
and brought me here instead dressed in red

And I'm wondering who could be writing this song
I don't care if the sun don't shine
And I don't care if nothing is mine
And I don't care if I'm nervous with you
I'll do my loving in the winter

And the sea isn't green
And I love the queen
And what exactly is a dream?
And what exactly is a joke?

To sum up-an interesting album with many ideas bouncing around, and while it lacks direction, it's plus points far outweigh it's minuses.

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ElephantSack

I'm a huge fan of this album.. And I definitely feel as though it is one of their darkest ever, if not the darkest, due to Syd's increasing separation and alienation. You can definitely hear it.
I wouldn't necessarily refer to "Corporal Clegg" as filler. True, its not one of their best tunes, but I think that the tone itself, with the strange disjointed musicality and ethereal backing vocals, along with an almost "proto-Punk" theme to the lyrics. Not to mention the quite insane use of sounds throughout.
Nice review, either way.

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OF THE SUN

blankety blank

Whoever posted this song is going to be blessed, and I personally can never thank you enough. You will understand someday how much you helped the cause, and the purpose. Just don't judge me, and, I will never judge anyone's post on this forum for as long as I am here again.

All I ask is that people to stop the judging. This is fantastic, and, yet it is really uneasy to look at if you knew what he saw and heard.

Wow! I see why he kind of whacked out. I've never heard this song, but, this is not a fractured soul. This is unreal in it's clarity, and his soul had a chainsaw rip right through it. Not simply fractured.

He was enlightened to some reality, and, it's freaky scary, and yet he was blessed as well. He was not crazy, he just knew that things looked unpleasant, especially the Words.

I won't post a rant. I know what he did not know. But, I also needed to know what he verified. And, thank you. And, I would bet my bottom dollar that Syd kept in touch, and assisted the band from a lyrical perspective on later albums. Any takers?

I don't need to rant. I need to move on. If anyone wants to hear some Truth, there is a mighty salami around a lot of you know and respect. He's a trustworthy source.

I thank him tremendously as well.



Great post, very great.

peace and blessings

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The passing traveler stops for food and music.