Pink Floyd

The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn

The definitive psychedelic album

Review Score:

(10/10)
The sound of innocence careering off the rails, with the most demented guitar sounds ever heard, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is a schizophrenic masterpiece. The album's genius lies in the way it brings together catchy, nursery-rhyme pop songs (The Gnome, Scarecrow) and insanely dissonant jazz-rock (Interstellar Overdrive), without sounding awkward. The best songs, such as Astronomy Domine and Flaming, actually FUSE the two, bringing together seemingly diametrically opposed musical philosophies without sounding at all forced. Such was the genius of Barrett's Floyd. Whilst I am a great fan of late Floyd, nothing has sounded like this before or since.
One caveat, however: Waters's song, Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk, is very slightly out of place, and the tunesmithery does not compare to that of Barrett. Also, his lyrics are much less psychedelic and, even at this stage, betray a down-to-earth cynicism that is at odds with Barrett's approach. But it's worth listening to for the superb band performance in the mid-section.
I also think it's important to mention that Richard Wright gives his defining performance on this album. Never again would he sound quite so... cool. Perhaps it's Barrett bringing the best out in him - faced with the insane sounds of Syd's guitar he seems to push the boat out, something he did less and less with each successive Floyd release, eventually being content to provide a tasteful backdrop for David Gilmour. Not that I dislike late Floyd, it's intelligently written rock music with superb musicianship, and the songs as a whole are probably a bit better written. But there's something about this album that is absolutely unique. If you don't own it, well... you should.

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