The title of Pink Floyd's debut album is taken from a chapter in Syd Barrett's favorite children's book, The Wind in the Willows, and the lyrical imagery of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is indeed full of colorful, childlike, distinctly British whimsy, albeit filtered through the perceptive lens of LSD. Barrett's catchy, melodic acid pop songs are balanced with longer, more experimental pieces showcasing the group's instrumental freak-outs, often using themes of space travel as metaphors for hallucinogenic experiences -- "Astronomy Domine" is a poppier number in this vein, but tracks like "Interstellar Overdrive" are some of the earliest forays into what has been tagged space rock. But even though Barrett's lyrics and melodies are mostly playful and humorous, the band's music doesn't always bear out those sentiments -- in addition to Rick Wright's eerie organ work, dissonance, chromaticism, weird noises, and vocal sound effects are all employed at various instances, giving the impression of chaos and confusion lurking beneath the bright surface. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn successfully captures both sides of psychedelic experimentation -- the pleasures of expanding one's mind and perception, and an underlying threat of mental disorder and even lunacy; this duality makes Piper all the more compelling in light of Barrett's subsequent breakdown, and ranks it as one of the best psychedelic albums of all time.
As good as some of Pink Floyds later albums were (Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall), I've got to say my favorite Pink Floyd was the earlier Syd Barrett stuff. I mean imagine how amazing they could have been if he had stayed sane and able to be in a band. I was just doing some reading in the rolling stone saying how good his solo albums were too. I haven't gotten to listen to them yet but he is a...
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The recent death of Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright was a sad footnote in the proto-psychedelic/prog-rock group's storied history. And now, thoughts of the band are zapping from synapse to synapse.Although I've got all their albums of note in my library and I've heard their music over and over, one take somehow fell through the cracks. Believe it or not, I received my first earful of Pink...
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now it is past 1967 and we enter into a new phasemog.comMore about this songShare
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let's pay respects to albert hofman for giving us an additive to enhance this extraordinary musicmog.comMore about this songShare
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reading about roger waters appearance at coachella, decided to play some floyd, some of syd's (floyd), roger's (floyd), and david's (floyd); but let's not forget about the others nick mason, and richard wright mog.comMore about this songShare
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It’s been 40 years since Pink Floyd released their debut album The Piper At The Gates of Dawn. In those forty years they have released the longest charting album in history, Dark Side of the Moon, broken up and lost founding member Syd Barrett. On August 28th Emi will release a 3-disc special edition reissue designed by longtime Pink Floyd artist Storm Thorgerson (Among Thorgerson’s album cove
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This is a song from Pink Floyd's early early work, back when Syd Barrett was still with them. Back when they'd be classified more as "psychedelic rock" than "progressive rock". It's from their first album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, and there's something strangely catchy about it. Or maybe that's just because it's psychedelic. At any rate, I hope you like listening to it.
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As good as some of Pink Floyds later albums were (Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall), I've got to say my favorite Pink Floyd was the earlier Syd Barrett stuff. I mean imagine how amazing they could have been if he had stayed sane and able to be in a band. I was just doing some reading in the rolling stone saying how good his solo albums were too. I haven't gotten to listen to them yet but he is a...
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I loved this song when I was 14 and I love it still. What does LSD sound like? It sounds like this.
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Astronomy Domine |
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| 2 Lucifer Sam |
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| 3 Matilda Mother |
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| 4 Flaming |
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| 5 Pow R. Toc H. |
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| 6 Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk |
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| 7 Interstellar Overdrive |
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| 8 The Gnome |
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| 9 Chapter 24 |
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| 10 The Scarecrow |
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| 11 Bike |
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 "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn")
