Pink Floyd's first album ever, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, is probably one of the last albums you'd choose if you wanted an album to exemplify the group. This is the only album not to contain David Gilmour (you might almost ask what's the point) and it also contains the least amount of Roger Waters' writing before their 80s reemergence (I would say that's part of it). Instead of what we might expect from the Floyd though, we get what's considered by some the greatest psychadelic album of all time. Is that true? Let's have a listen.
The album begins with what is considered one of Syd Barrett's masterpieces; Astronomy Domine. This song includes a guitar/keyboard syncopation, along with crashing drums which somehow fit very well, the vocal harmonies of Syd Barrett and Richard Wright, and in the background a voice reading planets into a megaphone. All this to a fantastical psychadelic lyric about planets (not that you'd be able to understand them). So why don't I like this song? I don't know I just never have, despite every one else calling it the greatest opener ever. Still, it doesn't leave a bad taste in my mouth for the rest of the album, which has to be worth something.
In the next track, Lucifer Sam, the guitars and keyboard move over and make way for the bass, and it all comes together for a rather progressive surf rock song. Each of the instruments comes together to sound a bit like the subject of the song, and it even has a nice keyboard solo towards the end. Sure the lyrics make sense, but since when did people listen to the Floyd for their lyrics?
The third song on the album is Matilda Mother which is probably even harder to describe than the last two songs. Once again, the lyrics are almost deliberately written to not make sense, although the instruments work together in a sort of symbiosis, and put together a magnificent show, especially with one of Syd's trademark slide guitar solos later on. Not one of their greatest works, but it's nothing to cry about.
Flaming, the fourth track, is perhaps one of the more psychadelic songs ever. Unlike the other songs, the instruments take turns as to what controls where the song is heading. The lyrics are very funny, at least from our perspective, and the music fits this, I suppose. It feels like it's missing something when you aren't smoking anything though.
Following this we have the first instrumental, Pow R. Toc H. I know I'm somewhat outspoken here, but this is one of their better songs, in their entire repertoir. It features some of Nick Mason's better drumming, a great organ solo, a nice bass/guitar syncopation, some of the strangest vocals you'll ever hear, and a great overall bar scene feel. I don't know why people never consider this song too much, they're missing out on a lot.
And for track six we have the only Roger Waters song on this album. It starts with some random rhyming and a heavy drum beat. This emigrates to random noises flying everywhere with little meaning at all, eventually rounding up into one final verse. Strangely, this is one of the more cohesive songs on the album at least lyrically. Of course, this was also the start of Roger Waters' awful songwriting career, and it sounds an annoying amount like any of his work in later albums.
Then we move to the second instrumental, which is also by far the longest song on the album. It starts of well enough with a good guitar riff. However it quickly degenerates into the same thing over and over again for a minute, and then proceeds to degenerate into random noises, which only has the effect of annoying the listener. It never really regains any appeal either, through it's long 10 minute run. This song is probably what influenced King Crimson a couple of years down the line, and that isn't a good thing. The best part of this song, really, is the end, where we finally get some relief, and the album picks up the original pace it had.
The second song on the second side is a characteristically short piece called the gnome. The painfulness of Interstellar Overdrive has been replaced by a fun strumming pattern and odd percussion (and later more psychadelic keyboard goodness). The lyrics loosely follow the works of J.R.R. Tolkien; I'm not sure whether that would be a good thing or a bad thing, although it probably doesn't matter.
The next song is also loosely based off an older text, this time the I-Ching. This time it is more keyboard and less guitar based, and also goes on for a bit longer, unfortunately to its detriment.
The second last song completes the trilogy of book inspired songs. The scarecrow is inspired by the Wizard of Oz. As for the song itself, it doesn't quite have the energy of the earlier songs on the album. The lyrics are often compared to the life of Syd Barrett if that's worth anything.
And we finish this album with perhaps the greatest song on it (or even the greatest song they ever created). The instrumentation on this is quite tight, especially on the part of the keyboard which has short solo pieces throughout. This is rounded out quite well with the drums, and Syd Barrett's great voice. Sure maybe it isn't structured well, and maybe the end sound effects are annoying, but if you haven't heard it you wouldn't understand how great it is. A perfect end to an imperfect album.
It really was a great album though, even if the scores don't quite represent it, as only one song really marred the overall album (although that was quite a long song). One thing you have to remember is that I try to write these reviews for a general audience. As such the reviews might not describe how this would sound to the intended audience (obviously a lot better). So the final verdict? It's one to listen to if you enjoy the sounds of the psychadelic, and one to forget about otherwise. More reviews