A SAUCERFUL OF SECRETS

‘A Saucerful Of Secrets’ was the first album to come out from the now classic Gilmour- Mason-Waters-Wright Pink Floyd line-up. After the departure of Floyd’s creative force, singer/guitarist and front man Syd Barrett, both singer/bassist Roger Waters and keybordists/singer Richard Wright tried their luck as songwriters, Waters offering three songs and Wright offering two for the new album. Addition to that the album contains one last song from Barret and one song from which all of the four members were credited for.

Unfortunately the result was not as good as everyone had hoped it to be. It is quite obvious, considering the circumstances that Pink Floyd was looking for its musical and overall direction at the time and it shows. It seems like the band was not sure if they should follow the psychedelic pop scene or stick with the direction Syd Barrett set or try to find their own different way. As a result ‘A Saucerful Of Secrets’ comes out as a rather confusing, chaotic and incomplete album.

The album kicks off with a tune written by Waters called ‘Let There Be More Light’. The song begins with psychedelic bass/guitar line that lasts a while before the song jumps in to the hypnotic and still psychedelic verse. The ‘hook’ of the song is the hypnotic rhythm pattern in the verse that makes the song somewhat unique and personal. The lyrics in the verse are just playing with words but in the chorus they are more awkward and strange lyrics can be heard. Some might say that the lyrics do not make much sense but personally I think they fit the rest of the song.

Tracks 2 and 6 are the two offerings from the Wright. Both ‘Remember A Day’ and ‘See- Saw’ are breezy and peaceful psychedelic ballads. They are both nothing special but I still like them quite much actually. The atmosphere these two song manage to create is hard to describe verbally but I see them as sad songs that still have this odd happy vibe in them at the same time. The psychedelic side in the music gives the songs extra little something while the lyrics are nicely poetic. The voice of Wright suites the songs more than perfectly.

The third track ‘Set The Controls With The Heart Of The Sun’ is actually the reason why I bought this record in the first place. I think that this song is one best songs Waters has ever written. The hypnotic bass and vocal lines create this remarkable atmosphere which ensures that the listeners go through this dream-like psychedelic trip. The haunting vocals of Waters and strangely fascinating poetic lyrics give the song the one last finishing touch to make a real gem. It is definitely the highlight of the album.

Unfortunately the best track of the album is followed by the worst. ‘Corporal Clegg’ is annoying psychedelic children’s song with a childish and foolish lyrics. The instrumentation of the song is so hilarious and cheery that it makes me want to puke. It is definitely one of the worst offerings from Waters ever.

The title track is an avant-garde instrumental, a real mind-blowing sonic experimentation of some sort and the most original tune on the album. Pink Floyd stretched their limits on this one and started to truly experiment in the studio. The song might be too much for some as it is cacophonic and has a lot of dissonance parts but I am really into that kind of stuff so the song is a real treat for me.

The closing track is the last song the band would complete with Barrett. A real sad psychedelic ballad that would be the ultimate farewell to Pink Floyd’s former mastermind. The lyrics are once again rather bizarre but it is those last two sad and poetic lines that bring the tear in to my eye. ‘And what exactly is a dream? And what exactly is a joke?’

Even though the songs were really nothing special in a sense and the album as a whole failed to conceive me, I found that the one thing that bothered me the most and made it hard to enjoy the album was surprisingly awful mixing and sound quality. I understand that when the sound moves stereophonically from a channel to another it should sound psychedelic and cool and it often does but not on this recording, I am afraid. The worst part was that this real stereophonic experience on ‘Saucerful Of Secrets’ made me first think that my headphones were broken. Later on I of course found out it was the record and I have been annoyed by it ever since.

With mediocre songs and poor mixing ‘Saucerful Of Secrets’ ended up being nothing special to me and I am a die-hard Floyd fan. Sure, the album has its good moments but they still do not save the rest of the album. I can only think ‘Set The Controls To The Heart Of The Sun’ as a good reason to buy this album. Either that or you must be a real hard Pink Floyd fan.

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