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CIARAN52It goes without saying that 1967 was a very big year for music.England 1967,in particular where a renowned psychedelic underground band was in the centre of it all.Pink Floyd,with its charismatic frontman,Syd Barrett.
A year later,he would be kicked out of the band due to his desent into madness,Dave Glimour would be recruited as the bands new guitarist,and the rest of course,is history.
Stories of Syd doing crazy shit, like running bells,cigarette lighters along the guitar fretboard made sure this band were not like the rest.Boy did he like his L.S.D. And boy did he like his acid drenched pop songs.
Lucifer Sam"sounds like the batman tune on steroids and lyrics about Syds cat dominate throughout.Its a supreme song,unbelieveably catchy and a song littered with headphone tricks."Scarecrow" and "The Gnome" are massively enjoyable pop ditties as well,all sung by Barrett.His voice is not great,but it suits the style of music to a tee.Thats not the only thing Barrett did though.ON NO.
Barrett played around with studio tricks,sound movement,guitar feedback and distortion,and sound movement,and had a guitar playing style that was in a stark contrast to Glimours.And Syd coud write hooks too!"Astronomy Domine" is one of the greatest opening tracks of all time.Opening with a mesmorising guitar riff,before a guitar bit can be heard in one ear,one speaker,while another guitar plays in the other ear,perfectly suited to the spacey lyrics.DUDE.this album was recorded in 1967.Interstellar Overdrive was recorded in 1967 for christs sake.What a song.I MEAN WHAT A SONG.Featuring the best opening 20 seconds of ANY Floyd song,it eventually spills out into a perfect guitar line and bass line.It sounds both a mess AND perfectly structured,both TERRIFYING and unbelieveably catchy,how was this recorded in 1967? The last two minutes are the best things that Floyd ever did.
The guitar suddenly build up and crashes down and starts SWAYING from one headphone to the other.My fucking god,its orgasmic,its incredible,it freezes me to the spot everytime I hear it.My favourite Floyd song ever.
"Chapter 24" is unfairly ridiculed in my opinion.Sure it sounds a bit dated,but the chorus,when the keyboards rise and Syd sings "SUNRISEEEEE!!! SUNNNSSSEETT!!"...that bit is probably the most beautiful on the record. Pow R. Toc H. is a lovely instrumental that allows Rick Wright to shine with a lovely piano line.And what about Roger?
He DID write 1 song here(Syd worte the rest.co-wrote Pow.R and Interstellar Overdrive)and its universally hated.Why people? ITS FUN.Easily the weakest song,but goddamnit,its just fun.It happens to be such a badly dated song,that i find it infectious fun to listen to:
Doctor doctor! I'm in bed Achin' head Gold is lead"
You dont think thats funny?
I'd say it took him two minutes to write those lyrics,and he wasnt thinking about music at the time....
What makes a great debut into an all time musical classic though,is a sort of dark undertone and terror that inhabit all these songs."Bike"sums the album up perfectly,at first a superb psychedelic song, before warping into a twisted sound college that involves machines and duck noises. It not like Syd turned mad overnight,and a sense that everything is going to fall apart at the flick of a switch inhabits this album.The Beatles NEVER went this far down the line(The Beatles even admitting that Piper was a big influence on Sgt Pepper,both albums were recorded in the same studio)....and the major influence that this album has had throughout the years.Syd was a genius,I stand by this,and like many geniuses,he was quick to cross that line that divided brilliance and madness.Thank god he was around for one album,an album that is not only for me the greatest debut in music,but an album that should be considered a major turning point in all of music,never mind British psychedelic music.
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