Pink Floyd

The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn

One of the landmark albums of Psychidelic Rock

Review Score:

(10/10)
This is psychidelia at its best. If you expect to hear the Pink Floyd that did Wish You Were Here and Another Brick in the Wall, you better not even bother. With Syd Barret as singer/guitarist instead of Dave Gilmour they sound like a completely different band. Although Syd only made it through this album (their first) and one song on their next album, he left a lasting impression on the world of rock and future songwriting generations to come. In this album he paints wild abstract pictures of space, fantasy, philosophy, and more general acid madness. The rest of the band performs beautifully as well, Nick Mason playing unlike any other drummer at the time, Richard Wright adding texture with his organ, and Roger Waters doing some really terrific harmonies with Barret (Astronomy Domine, Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk) and solid bass.

Now to the music. The music on this album is great. Astronomy Domine is a great opener and very well arranged - there are a lot of subtle sound effects that really add to the experience. It is probably my favorite Pink Floyd song- there is a truly amazing version on the live album of Ummagumma. Another big big gem in this album is the massive instrumental Interstellar Overdrive, which sits massively right in the center of this album. It (and the entire album in general) incorporates a lot of panning effects, which makes it quite interesting to listen to on headphones. It, along with Roger Waters' first songwriting effort, Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk, are the two amazing jam songs of this album. To tell you the truth, every song on this album is good, my least favorite is probably Flaming, which doesnt sound quite as tight as the rest of the songs. Other than that, there is a great mix of jazz (Pow R. Toc H.), almost midevil sounding music (Scarecrow, Matilda Mother), and a great fun little ditty (The Gnome). Its one of those albums that is just packed with different styles, all maintaining that psychidelic feeling, however.

This album is not only a landmark of Pink Floyd, but it is a landmark of the 60's and of Psychidelic rock.

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