A NICE PAIR

This compilation consists of Pink Floyds two first albums, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and A Saucerful of Secrets, put together as a double-LP. It was released shortly after "Dark Side of the Moon" to ride on that albums success.

Since I haven't heard Piper... nor Saucerful... before, this is essentially a review of three albums.

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn This the only Barret-era album in principle. It starts with his composition (Most songs are written by him.) "Astronomy Domine. Like most of the songs of the album it's rather Psychedelic Rock than Prog Rock but still quite good/charming. Providing a bit strangeness on the first side is "Pow R Toc H", another highlight. The jam-like (But as I understands it really a compsition.) "Interstellar Overdrive" kicks of the second side and is probably the closest to Prog this album reaches. An ambul of the Psychedelic era and well-fitted for a proto-Prog classification.

A Saucerful of Secrets then... It starts with "Let there be more Light", a fitting name for a first track and musically some progression compared to Piper... Other more Space Rocking titles (And highlights.) incudes "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" and the title track, the albums answer to "Interstellar..." and an even longer composition-sounding-like-a-jam. The album represents a step towards Pink Floyds Space Rock of later albums. Better that it's predecessor but not much compared to what they achieved at the time this compilation was released.

I don't know if these two albums had became hard-to-finds during the halfdecade between the original releases and this compilation but I don't really see a necessity for a re-release otherwise. Compilations can be interesting as historical documents when for example record labels compile their 25 years old output but releases sush as this are less meaningful. It's a nice gatefold cover though, with many pictures of the band among other things. I especially like the picture of a Prog fans room where you can spot albums sush as Pink Floyds own Dark Side of the Moon and Renaissances Ashes Are Burning.