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From the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn

Pink Floyd

1967

Buy At Rough Trade
The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
Album Summary

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is the debut album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 5 August 1967 by EMI Columbia. It is the only Pink Floyd album made under the leadership of founding member Syd Barrett (lead vocals, guitar); he wrote all but three tracks, with additional composition by members Roger Waters (bass, vocals), Nick Mason (drums), and Richard Wright (keyboards, vocals). The album followed the band's early chart success with the 1967 non-album singles "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play", as well as their influential performances at London's UFO Club. The album was recorded at EMI Studios in London's Abbey Road from February to May 1967 and produced by Norman Smith. It blended Pink Floyd's reputation for long-form improvisational pieces with Barrett's short pop songs and whimsical take on psychedelia. The album made unconventional use of recording effects such as reverb and echo through tools like EMT plate reverberation, automatic double tracking (ADT), and Abbey Road's echo chamber. Part-way through the recording sessions, Barrett's growing use of the psychedelic drug LSD saw his mental state become increasingly debilitated, leading to his eventual departure from the group the following year. The album title was derived from chapter seven of Kenneth Grahame's 1908 children's novel The Wind in the Willows, a favorite of Barrett's. In the United States, the album was released as Pink Floyd in October on Tower Records with an altered track listing that omitted three songs and included "See Emily Play". In the UK, no singles were released from the album, but in the US, "Flaming" was offered as a single. Two of its songs, "Astronomy Dominé" and "Interstellar Overdrive", became long-term mainstays of the band's live setlist, while other songs were performed live only a handful of times. In 1973, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn was packaged with the band's second album A Saucerful of Secrets (1968) and released as A Nice Pair, to introduce the band's early work to new fans gained with the success of The Dark Side of the Moon (1973). The album has been hailed as a pivotal psychedelic music recording. Special limited editions of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn were issued to mark its thirtieth, fortieth, and fiftieth anniversaries, with the former two releases containing bonus tracks. In 2012, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn was placed at number 347 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", and number 253 in the 2020 edition.

Wikipedia

Rating

3.12

Votes

10656
Genres
Rock
Psychedelic Rock

Reviews

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Mon Jun 07 2021
1

I am in the minority when I say that I saw barely anything worth admiring in Pink Floyd’s The Wall. I found the concept to be uninspiring, the vocals and instrumentals lacking and most songs flat out boring to listen to. After listening to Pink Floyd’s debut, I find it substantially more boring and annoying. The downplayed instrumentally focused parts on Astronomy Doctrine, the sharp whisper on Matilda Mother, the animal sounds on Pow R., the sharp pronunciation of s’s and t’s on The Gnome, a sharp buzz in my left ear cup during the middle and end of Chapter 24, the awful… awful second part of Bike containing distorted bells and a laughing gnome? (I really cannot believe this is enjoyable to some) and the overall lack of harmonious melodies makes this a torturous listening experience. At times, I was checking my headphones whether they were plugged in correctly, because I found the experience to be that atrocious. The only barely redeemable song on the record is Lucifer Sam, as I sort-of like the sinister groove and bass. All in all, this album is an example for me on how to go in the wrong direction at every turn when trying to create a psychedelic and experimental piece of rock music. A 1/5 is fitting.

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Tue Jan 26 2021
3

Day 13 of 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, and today I’ve got the debut album of one of the best selling bands of all time, Pink Floyd. Now, as a kid I always looked at Pink Floyd as being a drug band. Not a lot of kids my age were dropping acid or magic mushrooms when I was coming up, at least not in my areas, so I couldn’t really relate to this band. As I grew older I learned to appreciate their music a bit more when a couple of my cousins, who were really into The Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd and other similar psychedelic music, turned me on to more of their music. In one way it creeped me out a bit (“Hello… Is there anybody in there?”) but it was so different from what I was used to that it was more welcomed than it was when I was a kid. I’m glad that the first Pink Floyd album I’ve received is their first one. I can really start to dig deeper into this band from the beginning. I got really into The Beatles when I was in my twenties and The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn reminds me of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. It feels very experimental and bound my nobody’s restraints but their own, and even then they seemed to have none. The Beatles, even on Sgt. Peppers, tended to keep their compositions reigned in a little tighter around the choruses, verses and melodies, only allowing the instrumentation and solo’s to go so far. Pink Floyd doesn’t give a shit about a strict song structure, their compositions can get pretty extended on most songs. If I’m being completely honest, which I intend to do on every album, it gets a bit boring for me.. Sure, If I was tripping balls I could see how id get completely lost in the stories that the instruments are playing. No disrespect to Pink Floyd is intended in any way. Its great music and they are pioneers. I’m attracted to choruses, verses and melodies. I didn’t know any songs from this record. The stand outs for me were Lucifer Sam, The Gnome and The Scarecrow. Pink Floyd helped change the game in the 60’s and 70’s for sure. Im particularly looking forward to albums of theirs that I’m more familiar with like The Wall and Dark Side Of The Moon. If you’ve never watched The Wizard Of Oz synced up to Dark Side Of The Moon, it’s a real trip (even if you aren’t on acid). I will leave that topic for when I get to that album though. While I’m not likely to add any songs from this album to any of my playlists any time soon, I am grateful I got to experience it. Please share your thoughts, opinions and memories below!! ✌️

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Thu Jul 07 2022
3

I've always avowed a dislike of Pink Floyd. I love old-school punk, and I've followed the punk orthodoxy that Pink Floyd were the apotheosis of the conceited, flatulent bores that populated prog rock. My attitude since my student days has mellowed slightly, but only slightly. Nowadays I'm not going to act outraged if someone puts Money on the jukebox (though I still think it's cack). But the punk orthodoxy on Pink Floyd carried a qualifier: the enmity towards Pink Floyd should be directed towards the Roger Waters era. It's easy to comprehend why. Roger Waters is clearly one of the most pompous, humourless figures in all of rock. If you said "Knock knock" to Roger Waters, he would glare at you silently for a full minute, his snarl becoming more and more severe as the seconds passed, and then scream in your face that your "Knock knock" statement made you directly responsible for the death of a Palestinian child. But the punks tended to excuse Syd Barrett from the opprobrium. Syd's whimsy and tragic breakdown granted him a pass, to the extent that the Damned asked Syd to produce their second album Music for Pleasure; he couldn't be contacted what with being a recluse, so the Damned asked Pink Floyd's drummer Nick Mason instead (even Pink Floyd's drummer was whiny and melodramatic. The drummer. Chew on that for a while.). The ill-starred album bombed critically and commercially. This was to be expected. Previously, I reviewed Syd Barrett's first solo album, The Madcap Laughs. I gave it one star. It degenerated into studio outtakes by side B, making the whole album seem an ugly exploitation of an unwell man. So logically, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn must represent the full-bloomed talents of Syd. But on listening, I'm obliged to conclude that it doesn't really work. This is not to say PATGOD is bad, per se. Some of the tracks have that pleasing, trippy, rocking playfulness of reputation. But large parts have that most fatal of curses: dullness. The experimentalism of the album just comes across as exercises in cleverness rather than inquisitiveness, of Pink Floyd filling out an IQ test with cribbed answers. More personally, the childlike insinuations to fairy tales and Edward Lear don't appeal to me. The worst trend of our age is the dislodging of serious literature by Harry Potter fans too blinkered to bother with intricate prose, and I am similarly wary over late-60s groups trying to evoke a mythical arcadia where we dance around the meadows as a goat-hoofed pixie plays his flute to summon the fairies and render us all perpetually 12. So, PATGOD manages to be both far too ponderous and far too slight. I can just about recognise why others genuflect towards this, but I still see no reason to revise my antipathy for Pink Floyd. Also, I really don't know what to deduce about the legacy of Syd Barrett. Would his other solo album finally give me my chips? Maybe one day soon I'll listen to it, but not today. As for PATGOD, 2 stars seems a molecule too harsh, but it's one of the most generous threes I've given so far.

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Thu Jun 10 2021
1

This is actually the best advert against taking psychedelics I've ever heard.

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Thu Oct 14 2021
5

One of the best Psychadelic albums I've ever listened to. Sure, later Pink Floyd releases would sound barely anything like this, but that's what makes this so good. What we have here is the perfect blend of whimsical nonsense and tripped out experimentation from the genius mind of Syd Barret. This is an album that only the Syd led era of Pink Floyd could produce, and for what it is I adore it dearly. Favorites: Astronomy Domine, Lucifer Sam, Interstellar Overdrive, Bike

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Mon Sep 27 2021
3

Vous qui lisez régulièrement la presse savez que j'ai écouté cet album en début de semaine dans le bus 5011. Je vais vous résumer cet épisode le plus succinctement possible. Il est 14h02 lorsque je monte dans le véhicule précité. J'attrape ma carte d'abonnement et la tends au chauffeur qui m'interpelle alors : "robcrémaillère ?!" Il m'avait reconnu. J'enfile alors ma capuche et mes écouteurs, lance l'album des Pink Floyd, et me dirige vers le fond lorsque j'entends le volume de la radio augmenter brutalement. Je me retourne alors et aperçois dans le rétroviseur central le regard du chauffeur me fixant de ses yeux guimauve. Celui-ci se saisit de ce même rétroviseur et l'abaisse lentement jusqu'à ce qu'y soit reflétée sa bouche. "Qu'est-ce que c'est que cette histoire ?" me dis-je. Je parviens soudain à lire sur ses lèvres le mot suivant : "Portishead". Il s'agissait d'un guet-apens. J'appuie alors de toutes mes forces sur le bouton d'ouverture de la porte arrière, enchaîne une série de coups de pied contre celle-ci mais rien n'y fait, elle est bloquée. Le volume sonore continue d'augmenter alors que les autres passagers restent totalement passifs. Sous mon oreille droite commence à couler un fin filet de sang. Après quelques minutes interminables, le bus s'arrête. La porte arrière ne s'ouvre toujours pas à l'inverse de celle avant, par laquelle un individu masqué monte soudain, un ordinateur à la main. Il se poste au milieu de l'allée et ne manque pas d'ouvrir ce dernier devant mon regard incrédule. Sur son écran, un visage apparaît : celui de mon rival et compagnon d'écoute elgutierrez. Il était donc derrière cette mascarade...

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Wed Sep 29 2021
1

this is one of the 1001 albums i must listen to before i die? fuck me ragged. this is a total piece of overblown shit, self indulgence at it's finest. why does this band have so many fans? it's absolute dogshit. half of them aren't even songs they're just rambling jam sessions. 'the gnome' is like someone asked the kinks to pretend to be late-beatles and 'don't try very hard'. fuck off pink floyd! FUCK OFF

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Wed Dec 08 2021
5

I like psychedelia. I think weird and unorthodox music like psych/prog rock is vastly more interesting than anything that's been on the pop charts for ages. I like nontraditional song structures, with strange chord progressions and time signatures. I really enjoy the 1967-1975ish era when rock musicians were really pushing the boundaries of music, creating cohesive mind-expanding albums instead of cheap radio pop singles. Modern popular music bores me to DEATH; it loses my interest quickly. Maybe that's an ADHD thing, who knows. Even though this album is aged it still comes off as much more inventive than anything I knew growing up in the 21st century. I find it fascinating that music like this ever sold, back in the day. It's the opposite of radio-friendly. I will say that this album is not a great intro to Pink Floyd, imo. Their 70s output is definitely the reason they are beloved far and wide. So I hope this album isn't the FIRST Pink Floyd album anyone hears, otherwise they may get frightened by its quirkiness and immediately dismiss the whole band.

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Fri Jul 23 2021
3

7/10 - Better then I thought it would be. Sydd could write some songs.

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Sat Nov 27 2021
3

3.7 + Not their most accomplished record but certainly distinguished for the time in its sound experimentation and studio mastery. For 1967, they were already well ahead of the pack in exploring psychedelia. “Interestellar Overdrive” drags the middle of the record for me. The second half has some whacky, Syd Barret-y songs with his signature slapdash vocals.

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Thu Apr 29 2021
4

Great debut album. Of course, Pink Floyd changed dramatically after Syd was no longer a part of the band, but this album still stands as a landmark in psychedelic rock. 4 stars.

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Sat Feb 13 2021
4

I've also been into Pink Floyd's more popular releases, so it was very interesting to see where those evolved from. I also didn't know this was the only album with Barrett. He was always a name I heard and just associated with the band. Loved the freaky vibes with beautiful harmonies over them throughout this album. "Flaming" and "Pow R. Toc H." are dripping in LSD. Completely nonsensical. Really loved Astronomy Domine. "Take Up Thy Stethoscope..." is a jam! "Interstellar Overdrive," feels like a very accurate bad acid trip representation. Jamming having a good time, then you fall down a deep dark rabbit hole, and then burst back above the surface feeling...decent. I think the press was fair in saying they made music for LSD users. That's only half the album though, and I'd say I enjoyed the goofy romps like "Gnome" and "Bike," even more. They were always a versatile band on the forefront of experimentation.

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Tue Sep 21 2021
3

I need to listen to this again. With drugs. Lots and lots of drugs.

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Tue Apr 04 2023
2

Wow. I’ve heard this before, just as any Pink Floyd fan will have…but just wow. It’s truly abysmal. I might have a controversial take here, but thank god Syd buggered off. Really hard to listen to, most tracks are skippable and the gibberish is just too much.

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Tue Oct 31 2023
1

Why must this website subject me to such torture

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Tue Mar 12 2024
1

Okay - so I have done a deep dive of the Syd era Floyd, and I have listened multiple - AND I MEAN multiple times, and as much as I appreciate what Syd did to bring Richard, Nick, & Roger together, I'm about to type some things that might be sacrilege... There is no doubt that Syd was absolutely brilliant - no doubt whatsoever... However, significant LSD use, combined with schizophrenia is just a bad - bad equation for anyone... Happy that the band took care of him in his later years, and Floyd is pretty fortunate that David Gilmour just happened to be there as a good friend to "fill in" - simply an amazing story... "Piper's" is nothing but psychedelic experimentation - which was pretty good for 1967 - but there is absolutely nothing here more than that... I would have loved to plug in, back in 1967, and play some shit and say - "...Wow - check that out...", but that's not me... I appreciate that that Gilmour and the band played "Astronomy Domine" on the live "Pulse " album - and Gilmour played it on a couple of his live solo albums (i.e. with Richard & Nick by the way...), but the best track on this album is "Interstellar Overdrive" - HANDS DOWN!!! All that said - this album is LIGHT YEARS BEHIND the Pink Floyd that would we all know and love - though there is no doubt that Syd's influence on the band will never be forgotten - as he inspired their best work in "The Dark Side Of The Moon" & "Wish You Were Here"... Channeling my friends - channeling... Though I for some strange reason, I DO have MAD love for "Bike" which closes the album - so there's that... : )

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Fri Feb 26 2021
5

Excelente, mesmo não sendo o melhor deles

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Tue Feb 02 2021
4

Cacophonous and meandering, experimental like a bunch of kids just vibing on pianos. Enjoyed the weird riffs.

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Tue Apr 06 2021
2

Sehr experimentell, Doors-Freejazz-Gitartenpop

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Tue Mar 12 2024
2

This album is interesting to me primarily because you can hear the beginning of the sound of Pink Floyd massive later on in their career, but they had a long way to go at this point. Not enjoyable, but not particularly enthralling or exciting. …

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Wed Dec 08 2021
1

En muchos minutos solo son ruido.

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Wed Sep 27 2023
1

I listened to this while running and thought some of the ludicrous lyrics would distract me. I nearly stopped in frustration at all the instrumental nonsense. How the hell is this touted as a classic?

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Wed Oct 25 2023
1

Sounded like a class of primary school were given an assortment of instruments, told to play for 40 minutes, and someone recorded it.

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Wed Feb 14 2024
1

It really doesnt matter if this was their debut album or not, because this album typifies exactly why I never have, and never will like Pink Floyd. The randomness of instruments which sound as if they're playing different songs all at the same time... is just bonkers and I struggled to listen to this. Take Thy Stethoscope and stick it where the sun don't shine. Not for me... ever!!!!

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Tue Mar 02 2021
5

psychedelic classic. feels like acid. fav track: astronomy domine

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Wed Apr 28 2021
5

La verdad es que me sorprendió de forma grata la cantidad de psicodelia que hay en este disco. Pink Floyd siempre me había parecido una múscia un tanto aburrida, pero me la pasé re bien escuchando este remolino de sonidos. Me gustó bastante Take thy stethoscope and walk. Mood: dónde tienes el LSD?

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Tue Jun 08 2021
5

already listening to it. Really nice

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Mon Jun 14 2021
5

After putting it aside for a dozen years and getting way into modern psych rock during that period, a return to Piper shows that Floyd not only did it all first, they did it better. Interstellar Overdrive is particularly impressive.

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Thu Sep 02 2021
5

No tengo peros con que hayan puesto este disco de Pink Floyd; sí, es un disco que casi se cuece aparte pero que también es en cierto otro modo el preludio del Dark Side of the Moon. Tiene momentos complicados (como Pow R. Toc H.) pero está lleno de joyas como Lucifer San, Bike, The Gnome y Astronomy Domine que me hace explotar la cabeza al pensar que una banda fue capaz de empezar así su primer disco.

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Tue Nov 23 2021
5

Whimsical, strange, trippy this is British psychedelia at its very best. Sadly Syd with never hit the same highs on his two solo albums.

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Fri Nov 26 2021
5

My first dabble with psychedelia

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Mon Dec 06 2021
5

A must for a Pink Floyd fan and also for the stereophonic-sound-freak 😎 And to read, this is good enough. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Piper_at_the_Gates_of_Dawn

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Wed Mar 16 2022
5

Many Thoughts, I'm Afraid Of Burning Out. AMA LABES.

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Sun Mar 27 2022
5

Syd's influences are obviously most heavy here, but it is crazy to see how deep they affect all the future albums. Incredible psychedelic journey.

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Thu Jun 09 2022
5

Je dirais simplement que c'est un de mes meilleurs albums à vie, de par son originalité radicale, assumée et accomplie dès ce premier album. L'esprit de Barrett, c'est de l'or en barre quand on pense à toutes les musiques dites alternatives qui peuvent revendiquer une filiation avec cet album. Le Pink Floyd qui se développera sans lui est sans doute plus influent, mais avouons-le : malgré son départ prématuré du groupe, Barrett a pu dessiner des balises très claires pour la production ultérieure. Il est en quelque sorte le "5e Pink Floyd" (et le premier). Mieux, j'estime que le groupe, atteignant plus tard des sommets de reconnaissance et de popularité, n'aura exploré que quelques suggestions de son fondateur, avec des bifurcations évidemment. Mais n'est-ce pas une des qualités de ce groupe, la bifurcation, la rupture? Pink Floyd proposait cela dès le départ sous la houlette du "madcap". Chaque chanson est un petit essai, une proposition pour un courant musical. Suis-je assez élogieux? Du génie, tabarnak!

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Sun Aug 21 2022
5

My favourite Pink Floyd album and a glorious dose of madness. Interstellar Overdrive on repeat with the volume loud = heaven

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Wed Aug 24 2022
5

While this album isn't nearly as easily a 5.0 star album as The Dark Side Of The Moon, The Wall or Wish You Were Here would be, but it's still a solid 4.5 that I'll be rounding up. As most psychedelic rock albums, it does have its unpleasant moments. Interstellar Overdrive in particular was a bit challenging at times. But the combination of psychedelia and instrumental mastery is what pushes this one over the top for me.

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Wed Sep 28 2022
5

Classic. And so entirely different from the Pink Floyd most people recognize

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Mon Oct 17 2022
5

One of the best and trippiest psychedelic albums out there

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Thu Oct 20 2022
5

Already one of my favourites. Best played with alcohol and incense. Would have loved to have been there........ This is 60's psychedelia at it's best and not to be confused with 70's Floyd which was incredible but not this. This is superb.

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Fri Nov 04 2022
5

Un esordio molto distante da quello che saranno i Pink Floyd successivi, frutto del genio di Syd Barrett, ma non per questo meno valido... Anzi. Cinque stelle anche solo per Astronomy Domine e Interstellar Overdrive.

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Fri Nov 11 2022
5

Excelente audição de psicodelia

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Wed Dec 07 2022
5

Pink Floyd. I don't like them. All my life everyone told me, "Ok Fine, but did you hear Pink Floyd with Syd Barret? It's probably more up your street". Suffice to say I hadn't until now. And this album is actually awesome. Can't believe I can say this about a Floyd album - but here they have some edge, they're fun and playful in the Kinks' vein, way better than when they started to take themselves too seriously and got 'Water-ed' down (ha ha ha). They still have the virtuosity, and the psychedelia - but here it feels genuine. Great album.

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Tue Dec 27 2022
5

This is honestly up there with "Wish You Were Here" and "Animals" for me. I absolutely love the stupid goblin music aesthetic (you know exactly what I'm talking about) and this album gives me so much joy. I like how the songs are blatantly and unashamedly about stupid shit. "Lucifer Sam" is about Syd's cat. People in the 60s thought it was a metaphor for cheating or something, but then Syd literally just said "No, it's about how cool my cat is". "The Gnome" is about a gnome and how cool it is to be a gnome. "Scarecrow" is about a scarecrow and how cool it is to be a scarecrow. "Bike" is about a bike and how cool it is to ride a bike and about a mice named Gerald. Don't look into the lyrics because every "analysis" of this album is wrong. This album is about Syd Barrett writing about things he finds cool. There's no deep message about the plights of humanity and the gnome is not a metaphor for Jesus. Just enjoy the man's lovely voice and the psychedelic effects. Also I can't not mention "Interstellar Overdrive". What a song. Listen to it with headphones - that finale is probably how it would feel to have an eargasm if ears could have orgasms. Roger Waters looks like a horse.

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Mon Jan 02 2023
5

Such a cool album that portends nicely to what was to come for Pink Floyd. Enjoyed listening to this piece of history a lot. Favorite track: Matilda Mother

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Wed Jan 11 2023
5

An incredibly fun collection of strange pop pieces, characterized by whimsical lyrics, lazy vocal delivery, a spacey chamber presence (filled up echoes and drawn-out instrumentation), surf rock riffs, and a wide variety of creative and standout instrumentation styles and studio techniques that evokes a ton of wild imagery, pulling from all sorts of genres and in general random sounds you'd encounter in life. They're all memorable, full of rich and colorful melodies. Some exciting but mostly mesmerizing. Every track contributes something unique for a full experience, and never a minute feels wasted. In a lot of ways sounds like Sgt Pepper, from the Beatlesesque harmonious vocals to the experimental stereo mixing, and even that weird tape outro just like A Day in the Life. Favorites: Astronomy Domine, Lucifer Sam, Flaming, Interstellar Overdrive, Gnome, Bike

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Sat Jan 14 2023
5

In my mind the best band EVER and this album while way out there is great.

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Sun Jan 29 2023
5

ONE OF MY FAVORITE ALBUMS OF ALL TIME Oh to have been in Abbey Road Studios when they were recording this and the Beatles were there recording Sgt. Peppers at the same damn time. Fucking hell 67’ is my favorite year for music. LUCIFER SAM, SIAM CAT!! YIPPEE! YOU CAN’T SEE ME BUT I CAN YOU LOOK AT THE SKY, LOOK AT THE RIVER ISN’T IT GOOD? A MOVEMENT IS ACCOMPLISHED IN SIX STAGES AND THE SEVENTH BRINGS RETURN I’LL GIVE YOU ANYTHING, EVERYTHING IF YOU WANT THINGS

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Tue Feb 14 2023
5

This album is a psychedelic masterpiece crazy for what they were capable of doing back then. Definitely worth trying LSD

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Wed Feb 15 2023
5

A classic psych rock album. A trend setter and a precursor of things to come. RIP Syd.

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Wed Mar 08 2023
5

(not first listen) HLs off the top of my head: “Lucifer Sam”, “Bike”, “Flaming” HLs apart from those: "Astronomy Domine", "Chapter 24", and sure "Interstellar Overdrive" in all its excess Love this album, though it has had time to grow on me in the decade or so since I became aware of it (& the Syd Barrett days of Pink). This listen, I reflected on how rough & grungy(? there has to be a better word for that) the album sounds, yet the manic beauty of Syd's songwriting shines through

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Tue Mar 14 2023
5

There was a time in the mid-80’s when Scratches Records in Newtown would always have a colourful handbill on the wall, hand-delivered by a very long-haired teenager named Hugh. They advertised the upcoming happening organised by The Syd Barrett Appreciation Society. Really, up to that point, all I knew of Syd were the 2 fantastic Floyd singles that preceded this debut album - See Emily Play & Arnold Layne. For me, Floyd started with Dark Side Of The Moon. But pretty soon I was becoming all too familiar with Syd’s solo output as well as the early Floyd albums, including this masterpiece. It reeks of late- sixties London. The mixture of Barrett’s whacky, childish songs with the experimental work of the rest of the band works so well. The opening track, Astronomy Domine, has those two strands colliding in a totally unique way. And Side 1 just takes off from there - Lucifer Sam, Matilda Mother, the jazzy Pow R Toc H. Side 2 opens with the ten-minute instrumental, Interstellar Overdrive - a psychedelic landmark & then moves between Syd craziness & more experimentation by the rest of the band. The album, recorded at Abbey Road at the same time that the Fab 4 were recording Sgt Peppers, even concludes with a track of repetitive noises, not unlike the way The Beatles concluded their album. This album sounds better to me now than when I first heard it. A keeper.

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Thu Mar 16 2023
5

It is a classic and we all know why. PF was more psychedelic at this point but you can already see why they would become one of the big five of the prog rock genre.

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Fri Mar 17 2023
5

Hell of a debut album, and the best of the Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd. While Floyd has always been regarded as a 'psychedelic rock' band, the group's latter and more popular work tended more towards the 'rock' side of things, whereas this album has the psychedelia on full display. The results are something else - utterly bizarre at times, brilliantly melodic at others, but always worth a listen. With Syd Barrett departing the band shortly after, it would be four years (1971's 'Meddle') before the band would start releasing albums that came close to this level of quality.

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Fri Mar 17 2023
5

Rolling Stones went to art school and tried acid while they were still poor

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Sat Mar 25 2023
5

first album of the list i already listened to. for a long time i hated this album and barret's era of floyd. but something about this listening expirience, everything just connected together. the quirky, pshycadelic and weird and random sound of this album is so special. the cool producing expiriments throught the album. although they are probably just riffin on the instruments it sounds so trippy and damn the accent of syd. i still prefer roger waters floyd era but its so cool to see how they developed to be the greatest band we know as PINK FLOYD. man they must have had so much fun in the studio, and drugs. fun and drugs "this is the best part of the trip, this is the trip, the best part i really like" - jim morrison - the soft parade

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Fri Apr 14 2023
5

Meni su ovo najbolji floydi oduvik

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Thu Apr 27 2023
5

No surprise that their first album is generic British psychedelic pop of the era. Trippy!

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Mon May 15 2023
5

One of my favourite Pink Floyd albums, if not my favourite. There's so many creative ideas, this lineup before the members started leaving was their strongest era in my opinion.

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Sat Jul 22 2023
5

The king of Psychedelic albums right here.

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Fri Aug 25 2023
5

Day 119 Pink Floyd made a few good albums, but this is the real shit in my opinion.

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Thu Sep 21 2023
5

Brilliant debut. A landmark for psychedelic music. Madness intertwined with childlike lyrics.

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Thu Sep 28 2023
5

few other albums discuss the character of Grimble Crumble

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Fri Sep 29 2023
5

Very very different from their work I'm more familiar with but flawless none the less

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Thu Oct 12 2023
5

Syd Floyd is my Floyd. I only have time for bits and pieces of the later stuff. This is the epitome of 60s psych, I love it, it's masterful in places, daft in others. Full of understated poppiness as in Flaming, riffage on Lucifer Sam and the towering monster of Interstellar Overdrive. He's getting rather old but he's a good mouse.

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Thu Oct 12 2023
5

MEU DEUS OOOOOOH MOTHER TELL ME MORE WHY DID YOU HAVE TO LEAVE ME THERE WAITIIIIIIIIIIING I WONT TOUCHC YOU BUT THEN I MIGTH IM IN BED ACHIN HEAD AND THEN ONE DAY HOORAY ANOTHER WAY OF GNOMES TO SAY HOOOOOOOOOO RAY SUUUUUUUUUUNSEEEEEEEEET IVE GOT A BIKE YOU CAN RIDE IF YOU LIKE. 5/5

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Mon Oct 16 2023
5

This Pink Floyd album made a big impression 30-35 years ago and listened to it lot. Expected to be disappointed but no: still a great album in every aspect, and objectively one of the best debut albums ever.

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Sat Oct 21 2023
5

Syd Barret era Floyd is an absolute psychedelic masterpiece of a discography. Too bad is not too commercial especially when compared to their prog-era, or even when compared to its other psychrock peers.

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Mon Oct 23 2023
5

Second time listening to this and I did it on decent speakers. The psychedelic rock scene isn’t my favourite it I could really see this one was special.

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Wed Nov 22 2023
5

Sou suspeita, por mim a discografia inteira do Pink Floyd deveria ser apreciada por todo ser humano vivo.

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Wed Nov 29 2023
5

pink floyd is the best thing ever! It‘s the band I listen to the most! At least 3000mins a year. I cannot decide which album is the best or which song. Got me through good times and bad times. the songs keep me always accompanied! Just need to drop one name: SYD BARRETT .

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Wed Nov 29 2023
5

Weniger bekanntes Album meiner Lieblingsband. Für die damalige Zeit leistet dieses Album und the ''Early Pink Floyd'' einen wesentlichen Schritt für die Rockkultur, die wir heute kennen. Auch deswegen, weil Pink Floyd, oder ''The Pink Floyd'', wie es aus früheren Zeiten noch bekannt ist, sich immer getraut hat neue Wege zu gehen. Das Album kann nicht jedermann musikalisch genießen, da es aus einer ganz anderen Zeit noch stammt, doch aufgrund der Tatsache dass dieses Album der Grundstein für jegliche Musikentwicklung dieser Band war, muss man sich damit auseinandersetzen. Ich habe das Album und dessen Flair im Allgemeinen sehr genossen, auch wenn ich mich auf das Genie oder doch eher Wahnsinns des jungen Syd Barrets konzentrierte. Er war wesentlich daran beteiligt dieses wichtige Album, sowohl musikalisch als auch lyrisch zu gestalten. Habe keine favorisierten Songs, mir gefiel es ins Londoner Underground der 60er Jahre einzutauchen! 4.5

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Fri Dec 01 2023
5

"Pipers at the Gates of Dawn" is the debut studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd. It was the only album under the leadership of guitarist and lead vocalist Syd Barrett who wrote eight of the 11 songs. Pyschedelic rock, acid pop, experimental rock and space rock. An apt description is "blended long-form improvisational pieces with Barrett's short songs and whimsical take on pyschedelia. Recordered at London's Abbey Road Studio, the music used reverb, echo and automatic double tracking. Other band members included Roger Waters ( bass, vocals), Richard Wright (piano, organ) and Nick Mason (drums). It was met with critical acclaim and commercially hit #6 on the UK charts. "Astronomy Domine" begins with Peter Jenner reading out names of stars and planets. A pounding bass, bass drums, echo vocals, a strumming pyschedelic guitar and eerie keyboards. A space-themed song and quite a start. A James Bond-esque guitar starts "Lucifer Sam." It's a song about Syd's cat and we get an organ jam. The album's lone single "Flaming" uses all sorts of various noises: whistles, a motor running, running feet and bells. There's a lot of various weird noises throughout this album and why wouldn't there be; it's 1967. An organ leads the way as Syd describes a childlike game with fantasy imagery. Side two opens with the instrumental "Interstellar Overdrive." Drving guitar, bass and drums. The song then goes into a improvisational phase for at least seven minutes. Remember the various weird noises comment. They effectively accomplish getting across the space theme. A great headphone song with stereo echoes at the end. Sometimes, it's good to be put into a pyschedelic haze. The latter half of this side really takes us back to 60's sounding pop songs. In "Chapter 24," Syd was inspired by the ancient Chinese tome "I Ching." Minimalist music with just an organ and this reminded me of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." Syd compares himself to a scarecrow resigned to his fate in "Scarecrow." The album closer "Bike" is more bouncey. Syd meets a girl who fits in his world showing her his bike, clock, a mouse and a gingerbread man. Lest you forget what you've been listening to, we get to hear all the noises of what's in his world for the last two minutes. I really have no interest in visiting Syd's world again for some time. Yeah, this is one heck of a pyschedelic ride. I forgot how much of this album is instrumental. It balances itself out with short fantasy-based pop songs. Given their music in the 70's, it's hard to say this is the same band. Then again without Syd, maybe it's not. Anyway, this ranks high on my Pink Floyd album list and is a must listen to if just for a visit to pyschedelia.

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Fri Dec 08 2023
5

Pink Floyd just does weird and unexpected so well - and I love it. I’ve always found prog rock and psychedelic music interesting, so an album like this hits the mark for me. I’d never heard Pink Floyd’s debut album before and I’m not sure I would have if it weren’t for this project!! This album brought me some joy this morning for sure - I enjoyed its unique sound and experimentation. Plus it was cool to hear how such an iconic and influential band started out.

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Mon Dec 11 2023
5

This album is unsettling, experimental, and psychadelic in the truest sense. Inspired largely from Syd Barrett's foray into LSD use, 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,' Pink Floyd's debut album, is a meandering album that carefully builds both musically and lyrically. The seeds of their later work are present, but this album is uniquely the vision of Syd Barrett before he retreated from the public eye.

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Tue Dec 19 2023
5

A one-off with a long lifespan and a tantalizing glimpse into what was and what could have been, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn may very well be Pink Floyd's most uniquely singular album in that the creative flourishes of Syd Barrett, the band's tragically imbalanced front man, are on full display. The psychedelic age was given a good dose of darkness that ranged from goofy and lighthearted to ominous and foreboding, for there was little knowing (knowing what we do now) of what was to come not only for Syd but for the band in general. Overall, a bittersweet sign of things to come.

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Sun Dec 24 2023
5

When this album hits, it hits really hard and even with the psychedelic music that came after, which this album either inspired or predicted, all of that pales in comparison. The juxtaposition of Barrett’s fairytale lyrics with dark and often chaotic jams still sounds really vibrant and creative to my ears now.

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Tue Jan 02 2024
5

I've got a bike, you can ride it if you like It's got a basket, a bell that rings And things to make it look good I'd give it to you if I could, but I borrowed it You're the kind of girl that fits in with my world I'll give you anything, everything if you want things I've got a cloak it's a bit of a joke There's a tear up the front It's red and black, I've had it for months If you think it could look good, then I guess it should Syd Barrett Pink Floyd is the best Pink Floyd. 5/5

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Fri Jan 12 2024
5

Wasn’t sure I liked this but then gnome

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