By the way, which one's Pink?-Pink Floyd reviewed (lyrics, soundtrack)

jackhammer · 12-16-2007, 01:26 PM

I am going to attempt to review and evaluate the entire Pink floyd catalogue. Considering that they are one of the biggest selling bands of all time, a lot of people just associate them with DARK SIDE OF THE MOON or THE WALL. I would like to introduce people to what has been a highly influential and certainly in their early years; an eclectic sound.

PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN 1967

The Floyd's debut along with Sgt. Peppers shaped British pop music for ever and is a stunningly original debut in it's own right. In a strange twist, this album was being recorded next door to where the Beatles were themselves recording Sgt. Peppers.

Floyd were led by the talents of Syd Barrett; who indeed named them, and gave them their sound and was the main songwriter. Having gotten a reputation as one of the finest live bands around at the time, it was only a matter of time that they were signed to a major. That major was EMI. On the strength of their first single ARNOLD LAYNE, EMI were hoping for more radio friendly hit singles. This was not to be. Their free form experimental side was something the band desperately wanted to harness and so on the 9 minute epic INTERSTELLAR OVERDRIVE, the band produced an undeniable classic in experimentation. Sonically original and produced brilliantly, it features one of the best speaker to speaker phases you will ever hear which is completely disorientating even now. What people thought of it then must have been mind blowing. It is also extremly heavy and could put a lot of metal bands to shame.

This however wasn't just what the Floyd were all about. In Syd Barrett they had a highly original talent whose guitar experimentation coupled with his child like whimsical nature produced some of the albums most astonishing tracks. THE GNOME appears on first listen as a nursery ryhme and almost laughable. Listen again. It is an exercise in beautiful simplicity and lyrically brilliant albeit simple. THE BIKE is in similar vein and features a great time signature change.

The albums opener ASTRONOMY DOMINE is one of the finest opening tracks ever and proclaims that music will never quite sound the same again.

Elsewhere LUCIFER SAM is a great song with a catchy hook but peek beneath the surface and listen to it on headphones. It sounds incredibly multi layered and innovative. POW R TOC H has some great piano work from Richard Wright .

The albums innovative production, Syd Barrett's songwriting and the bands experimentation produced one of the very finest psychedelic albums ever made and should be rightly held as a must have album on any self respecting music fans shelf.

sleepy jack · 12-16-2007, 06:18 PM

Piper at the Gates of Dawn is pme of the few Floyd albums I've really clicked with. I'm glad you started after reading/responding to you in the Bob Dylan thread I was about to go bug you about starting it.

venitronics · 12-16-2007, 07:13 PM

Great review.....

jackhammer · 12-18-2007, 01:52 PM

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.

ElephantSack · 06-18-2009, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackhammer

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

A SAUCERFUL OF SECRETS (1968)

.

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.

blankety blank · 12-30-2011, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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

Urban Hat€monger ? · 12-18-2007, 02:00 PM

I'm indifferent to Saucerful Of Secrets , you could see that Barrett was burnt out at that point.

I probably would have liked it more if Vegetable Man was included on it.

jackhammer · 12-18-2007, 02:12 PM

Unbelievably I have never heard any Syd Barrett solo albums!

If anyone feels that I've missed something in my reviews or have any comments to improve the thread, feel free to let me know. I have never reviewed before, so I am learning all the time.

SgtMeowenstein · 01-05-2012, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jackhammer

Unbelievably I have never heard any Syd Barrett solo albums!

If anyone feels that I've missed something in my reviews or have any comments to improve the thread, feel free to let me know. I have never reviewed before, so I am learning all the time.

Ok. I realize that I'm 5 years late on this, and others have probably addressed this post; but, what? You haven't heard solo Barrett? The album, "Barrett" is worth the price of admission alone for the song, 'Dominoes'. The album, "Opel", which is comprised of acoustic studio outtakes, is definitely my favorite.

Syd Barrett - Dominoes - YouTube

Wined And Dined (Two-track Demo) - Syd Barrett - YouTube

Syd Barrett - "Milky Way" - YouTube

TheCaster · 12-19-2007, 11:52 AM

great review, i amazingly havent heard pink floyds debut album... sad huh?

12-16-2007, 01:26 PM	#1 (permalink)
jackhammer Ba and Be. Join Date: May 2007 Location: This Is England Posts: 17,331	By the way, which one's Pink?-Pink Floyd reviewed I am going to attempt to review and evaluate the entire Pink floyd catalogue. Considering that they are one of the biggest selling bands of all time, a lot of people just associate them with DARK SIDE OF THE MOON or THE WALL. I would like to introduce people to what has been a highly influential and certainly in their early years; an eclectic sound. PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN 1967 The Floyd's debut along with Sgt. Peppers shaped British pop music for ever and is a stunningly original debut in it's own right. In a strange twist, this album was being recorded next door to where the Beatles were themselves recording Sgt. Peppers. Floyd were led by the talents of Syd Barrett; who indeed named them, and gave them their sound and was the main songwriter. Having gotten a reputation as one of the finest live bands around at the time, it was only a matter of time that they were signed to a major. That major was EMI. On the strength of their first single ARNOLD LAYNE, EMI were hoping for more radio friendly hit singles. This was not to be. Their free form experimental side was something the band desperately wanted to harness and so on the 9 minute epic INTERSTELLAR OVERDRIVE, the band produced an undeniable classic in experimentation. Sonically original and produced brilliantly, it features one of the best speaker to speaker phases you will ever hear which is completely disorientating even now. What people thought of it then must have been mind blowing. It is also extremly heavy and could put a lot of metal bands to shame. This however wasn't just what the Floyd were all about. In Syd Barrett they had a highly original talent whose guitar experimentation coupled with his child like whimsical nature produced some of the albums most astonishing tracks. THE GNOME appears on first listen as a nursery ryhme and almost laughable. Listen again. It is an exercise in beautiful simplicity and lyrically brilliant albeit simple. THE BIKE is in similar vein and features a great time signature change. The albums opener ASTRONOMY DOMINE is one of the finest opening tracks ever and proclaims that music will never quite sound the same again. Elsewhere LUCIFER SAM is a great song with a catchy hook but peek beneath the surface and listen to it on headphones. It sounds incredibly multi layered and innovative. POW R TOC H has some great piano work from Richard Wright . The albums innovative production, Syd Barrett's songwriting and the bands experimentation produced one of the very finest psychedelic albums ever made and should be rightly held as a must have album on any self respecting music fans shelf. __________________ It be my music and film collection. “A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.”

12-16-2007, 07:13 PM	#3 (permalink)
venitronics Groupie Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 19	Great review..... __________________ iPod Classic 160GB Outstanding music player Holds 35,000 songs from my Collection I'm I dreaming?

12-18-2007, 01:52 PM	#4 (permalink)
jackhammer Ba and Be. Join Date: May 2007 Location: This Is England Posts: 17,331	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. __________________ It be my music and film collection. “A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.”

12-18-2007, 02:00 PM	#7 (permalink)
Urban Hat€monger ? The Sexual Intellectual Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Somewhere cooler than you Posts: 18,605	I'm indifferent to Saucerful Of Secrets , you could see that Barrett was burnt out at that point. I probably would have liked it more if Vegetable Man was included on it. __________________ Urb's RYM Stuff Most people sell their soul to the devil, but the devil sells his soul to Nick Cave.

12-18-2007, 02:12 PM	#8 (permalink)
jackhammer Ba and Be. Join Date: May 2007 Location: This Is England Posts: 17,331	Unbelievably I have never heard any Syd Barrett solo albums! If anyone feels that I've missed something in my reviews or have any comments to improve the thread, feel free to let me know. I have never reviewed before, so I am learning all the time. __________________ It be my music and film collection. “A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.”

12-19-2007, 11:52 AM	#10 (permalink)
TheCaster Music Rapist Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Somewhere in the U.S Posts: 400	great review, i amazingly havent heard pink floyds debut album... sad huh? __________________ A soul in tension thats learning to fly Condition grounded but determined to try Cant keep my eyes from the circling skies Tongue-tied and twisted just an earth-bound misfit