Pink Floyd – Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Some things are deserving of greatness, whilst other things aren’t. Ergo, Pink Floyd’s Piper at the Gates of Dawn deserves every plaudit it inevitably gets, whereas their The Wall doesn’t. Some may not agree with that. Possibly every man that has ever caught wind of the fragrant odour universally recognised as progressive rock, will now be tutting and shaking their head in a display of passive disapproval at this carefree dismissal of The Wall, what some consider to be beyond reproach because of who recorded it, but the truth is there for all to see. I may well be dancing about architecture, but at the same time The Wall is aggrandised over nothing.
The Emperor’s new clothes are revealed and what is the mighty Floyd’s last album (at least as far as listenability goes) is shown up for what it is. Nevertheless, would you take the word of an unproven critic, yet time and again proven eejut, on this? Of course not. To do so would be foolish. So acquire a copy of Pink Floyd’s The Wall and experience the big fuss about nothing for yourself. Draw your own conclusions. On a pomposity scale it’s up there with Yes’s Tales From Topographical Oceans, yet lacks the charm of ELP’s ‘Karn Evil 9′.
The more astute of you may have reached this far, in what will inevitably be another piss-poor excuse for a review, and realised that The Wall is not the Pink Floyd album referenced at the head of the page. In fact, thus far The Wall mentions = six; Piper at the Gates of Dawn mentions = two. That is, of course, counting those mentions when totting up the mentions. Nevertheless, 3:1 is a pretty poor ratio against.
Anybody with a modicum of internet nous will point out that none of the above makes for good web copy. Four paragraphs in and absolutely nothing on the album you’re reviewing, aside from two fleeting mentions of its title. Everyone knows that nobody reads anything anymore, only scanning web pages for the info they want. The majority will already be looking elsewhere. So take me to one side and shoot me in the face, I’ll consider it an education.
All that aside, if you listen to Pink Floyd’s Piper at the Gates of Dawn and The Wall and none of what came in between, it’s hard to comprehend both are by what was essentially the same band, give or take a member or two. All within the timeframe of 12 years.
Which brings us to the conclusion (for want of a better word) that Piper at the Gates of Dawn is well and truly Syd Barrett’s album. The then lead guitarist and vocalist wrote the lion’s share of the songs on this 1967 debut, and as such it crackles with a psychedelic energy that is lacking from subsequent releases (A Saucerful of Secrets aside). There is also the childlike innocence of splintered genius evident throughout; on ‘Matilda Mother’, ‘Lucifer Sam’ and ‘The Scarecrow’, to name but three, tempered with the hardcore acid explosion of undeniably the album standout ‘Interstellar Overdrive’.
The world probably doesn’t need another review of Piper at the Gates of Dawn, and therefore I won’t bless it with one.
All that needs saying is if you’ve not already got it, go out and buy it. It’s bob on!
Piper at the Gates of Dawn by Pink Floyd is available from Amazon.co.uk
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What do you think of “Animals”?
Hi Thomas,
Not too bad, particularly like the Mary Whitehouse baiting, but I don’t think it’s a patch on ‘Wish You Were Here’ or the band’s early, psychedelic stuff.
Well, yes. I’m surprised the argument needs to be made: The Wall is dreary and boring, Piper is fun and exciting. This is because Roger Waters is dreary and boring, and Syd was fun and exciting. At least until he was replaced by a pod person.
A harsh, but fair, summation of Floyd history, Burt.