#253 Pink Floyd, 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn' (1967)
Previously #347
Controversial! I can see all the Pink Floyd fans up in arms that this album has leapfrogged over ‘Wish You Were Here’ in this version of the list. This is the album that started it all, Pink Floyd’s debut record. And it sounds nothing like Pink Floyd. For a start, majority of the vocals are handled by Syd Barrett. Roger Waters only sings on one song, ‘Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk,’ and his vocals are unrecognisable from the Roger Waters we later came to love (and/or hate). This album was recorded before David Gilmour joined the band. It’s very psychedelic and very of the time. Pink Floyd were known in the papers as the band that made music for LSD users. Ironically, Syd Barrett was the only LSD user in the band. Architecture students, Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Richard Wright had been performing with art student, Barrett since 1962. They were eventually signed in 1967 and recorded this album with producer, Norman Smith, who cut his teeth as the engineer on The Beatles’ first 6 records (including the album that broke new ground in recording, ‘Rubber Soul’).
The album opens with ‘Astronomy Domine,’ the band’s first foray into ‘Space Rock,’ along with the instrumental ‘Interstellar Overdrive.’) The space race was on at the time and a lot of musicians, and people in general were interested in space (another example being Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’). I’ve always loved the second song, ‘Lucifer Sam,’ a song about Barrett’s cat with references to his girlfriend at the time, Jenny Spires (AKA Jennifer Gentle). The guitar riff has a sinister sound and could be the soundtrack to a ’60s spy film. ‘Matilda Mother,’ a song given an interesting dimension due to the back and forth vocals between Rick Wright and Barrett. ‘Pow R. Toc H.’ is an instrumental psychedelic Jazz-influenced jam really brought to life by Nick Mason’s drumming. The album ends with the quirky ‘Bike.’ “I've got a bike, you can ride it if you like./It's got a basket, a bell that rings/And things to make it look good./I'd give it to you if I could, but I borrowed it.” It’s a far cry from the Pink Floyd that we would come to know in years to come, but it’s a great ‘60s pop song and so interesting to see where it all started for one of the biggest bands of all time.
#rs500albums