THE PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN

Pink Floyd is the band that got me into this whole musical heaven that is the world of progressive rock music. I should be thankful of them for that. It all started with these four notes in Shine On You Crazy Diamond... But wait, we're not there yet. It didn't take me long to listen to their whole discography and know almost every song of them by heart. It even was the first time I genuinely loved a band and could distinct its members! Let's dig all the way down to Piper. The holy album of psychedelic amateurs, Syd Barrett fans, and even 4chan's /mu/ board.

It's with Floyd's first two albums that you realize they do not really have a specific sound. Every album is just so different, yet every single one of them is good. Piper, although the most different, is no exception. From the first bass notes of "Astronomy Domine", to the cynical, devilish baby-laugh track at the end of "Bike", it's a psychedelic masterpiece. I said it! Masterpiece! Then why does this have three starts? Well, because I said psychedelic, not progressive. Technically I'm not playing fair with Piper, but let's dig down each track of the album.

Astronomy Domine is probably the song you'll dig first, not because it's the first song of the UK release but because it's the lightest one you can digest in there. Cool four-minutes single, perhaps? Definitively something revolutionary for its time: 1967.

Lucifer Sam starts off very catchy. It talks about a cat, that has something I can't explain. You see, Syd Barrett (Founder of Floyd and member in the first two albums before he went into mental breakdown and had to leave) wrote 97% of the album by himself, and he probably was on acid the whole time. You can see the psychedelic influences here more than in any album of the time. Piper definitively surpasses albums like Sgt. Pepper's in terms of craziness. It's usually good craziness in our case.

We continue with Mathilda Mother, and I'll mention here that Piper has a lot of catchy melodies formed into pure psych, so it's a weird mix between the two. Especially here ; it's a mix of the worst drugs you can have, and a sweet album like, once again, Sgt. Pepper's. BUT...! We get to have an awesome organ solo here by the great Richard Wright, and it adds a lot to the prog scene. All of this before cutting to the main chorus in unusual ways. Oh, mother! Tell me more...

So far so good, right? Now there's Flaming, which contains a short psychedelic intro, but it's a bit nonsense. I love the lyrics, but what do they mean, really? Having something original is great, but if it's nonsense, it's not great. So I have mixed feelings about it. I won't deny the diversity of instruments and effects is impressive here.

Pow R. Toc H........ Yeah. They clearly were on drugs. I'll stop here with the drugs and psychs, because it's crystal clear obvious that it's what you get in this album. This instrumental has to be the most crazy track in there ; it blends chill tambourine / organ sounds with awful vocal effects. It's enjoyable, but also not enjoyable at the same time.

Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk is the only one here not written by Syd ; Instead, it's written by Roger Waters. My regards goes pretty much the same as for Flaming.

The second side starts with Insterstellar Overdrive ; This should be the one that's more prog. And you're right, it is the proggiest one of the bunch, but I have a hard time liking the five-minute (or so) middle section that contains pretty much the same theme, rythm and tedious tambourines. The intro is great though, as well as the crazy part where your headphones (or speakers) jump from one side to another.

The Gnome is a sweet short story about, well a gnome. I like the general mood of this one.

I can say the same thing for Chapter 24. These two songs are the bizarre stories I wish Syd did more, instead of talking nonsense like in Flaming (Not that it's bad).

The Scarecrow is a little disappointing, really. The acoustic guitar at the end is great, and I know you gotta consider how ahead of its time this is, but how boring this is for a song. I hate the term but I'll call this a filler.

Finally, you have the craziest one (Forget Pow R....) at the end. Bike is a psychedelic masterpiece written by the genius of Syd on LSD, but again, is it really progressive? Or just adding effects to compel with your outrageous personality?

As I'm finishing this review, I think I'll stop analysing every song as it gets not only long and boring, but a lot of things have already been said. So let's skip right to my general review of Piper. It's good. But is it essential? No. This is a psychedelic masterpiece. Unless you dig it, you won't fall in love with this album. That is how I justify my three stars. But don't worry! The best is yet to come...

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