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.
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Reviews
#notallPinkFloyds
I'm very disappointed to report this was rubbish: I love Dark Side Of The Moon and I was expecting great things, but it's an album of out-there psychedelia which has aged badly and now sounds very dated. 'Interstellar Overdrive' dragged on, and I couldn't pick a track I liked.
Pink Floyd is one of my all-time favorites but I still just have never clicked with this one. It’s fine and all, but just not nearly as good as what followed.
I've been a long time fan of Pink Floyd even after been practically traumatized as a child watching The Wall. One of the best concerts I've ever seen was right after I graduated high school, the Division Bell Tour. It was always so bizarre to me that the band had a life before the iconic albums I knew. I have heard those songs here and there and have never sought them out, because what I heard really didn't interest me. I've heard Astronomy Domine and See Emily Play before, and the later I thought was ok, See Emily Play was not in my interest at all, too twee and trying to be sweet- it wasn't my Pink Floyd. Well here I am, finally listening to what I have been avoiding all these years. Domine... oh yes, I know that song. It's Fine. I've come to think of this period now as.. a period.. a growing of the band. If Syd didn't do what Syd did, we wouldn't have the glory of all the albums after. Maybe they would be slightly different, or Gilmour would have had his own band making beautiful music, in any case, Syd wasn't mentally capable for the spotlight. That said, I still am not a fan of this album, but I hear guys working things out, growing into what they will become and for that, I'm thankful for it. 3 loopy guitar tracks out of 5
It's not Pink Floyd bad. But it's not good
No
why is the gnome the best song
Favorite track(s): Astronomy Dominé, Lucifer Sam, Matilda Mother, Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk, Interstellar Overdrive, Chapter 24 Not that the album needs any help but adding See Emily Play and Arnold Layne at the end really brings everything together. Heard before Previous rating: 8/10
Probably more interesting than good, but that’s never a bad thing.
Damn this sucked
I’ve gotta say, Pink Floyd has come a long way since their debut album. It’s pretty amazing how raw this sounds and how polished their future music becomes.
The track "Interstellar Overdrive" is rough to listen to - experimental, spacey noise, nearly 10 minutes long, appropriate for people tripping on LSD. Interesting that it ranks 2nd on the album in number of plays. Similar thing at the end of the last track, "Bike". The rest is more typical psychedelic stuff and is a decent listen.
Every time I thought this would get interesting, Syd Barrett would start in with some High School stoner lyrics that would undermine it. I know Barrett is fairly central to the bands mythology, but do wonder if his departure wasn’t for the best creatively.
Oh no.
This is a cool album, but unlike some of Floyd's other stuff I think it's actually like of bad. I like it, they were figuring stuff out, psychedelic rock was figuring stuff out, there's a song about a gnome!
I'm a fan of Pink Floyd's later output but I don't particularly care for their earlier stuff. Yes I know Syd Barrett was an eccentric genius but I struggle to connect with his work in the same way that I connect with the classic PF lineup. It's an ok album but nowhere near the caliber of what they would later become.
Omg I can't do this. I can't even believe this is Pink Floyd. It's too weird. 2 stars. I'd rather get to my release radar.
Pretty cool that they used some Death Grips samples. But pretty ok Pink Floyd album overall.
this is so so bad i hate pink floyd
Some cool songs but not the strongest album.
Everything is good, it doesn't necessarily wow me like the hype make it sound it should.
Other Pink Floyd wayyy better
Psychotic acid dream. Or is that just Interstellar Overdrive
paranoid scary sgt peppers
Eh, not great. 2/5. Too instrumental and offputting
I have tried many times to like this album but to no avail. Pink Floyd would create some of the world’s best music but this about ain’t it.
Ok. Not my favorite.
Not for me
😴
It is always baffling to me that people willingly listened to that kitsch.
nothing stood out and interstellar overdrive brought it down to a 2
The Gnome is cute
Not everything from Pink Floyd is great..
Never liked pf albums. Too experimental. This is no exception. Some decent singles
This is terrible I’m sorry
Thankfully it's not a double album, I've got to do more LSD before I can get this album.
I appreciate the achievement and what it opened up, but I think I’d need some of those drugs to really be on board with this one.
This is definitely not the same band that made Wish You Were Here.This sounds like Herman's Hermits dropped a bunch of acid.
Even though I haven't consumed anything stronger than caffeine and nicotine this Sunday morning, I'd much rather listen to this than Pink Floyd's later albums.
Like I need another reason to hate Pink Floyd
Favourite Songs: Astronomy Domine
Unpolished, but def early experimental psych-rock from Floyd. I think I prefer the later stuff.
Bunch of silly lads
Like experimental music and appreciate what might have been trying to do on this album has influenced whole genres of modern guitar music, but so much of it just sounds like drugged up jamming in a studio and doesn't really hit the mark.
I mean it's fine?
Lyrically this is absolutely wild, not surprising when you consider what happened to Syd a short while later
Sheer spaced out bad tripped psychedelia done the right way. After all these years, I still get the chills when listening to Interstellar Overdrive.
5/10
This is ass. Can't believe such a great band came from this.
Luojan kiitos Syd lähti bändistä. Vaikka Pink Floyd fani olen henkeen ja vereen sen voi puolestella tätä albumia. Jokseenkin kuunneltavaa musiikkia mutta jos tämä olisi ollut ensimmänen albumi mitä kuulen artistilta olisin luultavasti estänyt jokaisen joka eddes mainitsee artistin nimen. Albumille sopivampi nimi olis take shit ton of phsycelelics and make music. Lisätköön että todellakin on yksi niistä albumeista minkä jokainen tulee kuulla ainakin kerran mutta myös korkeintaan kerran. Oli elämys jota en halua kokea uudelleen.
Dette var eit gjenhøyr etter mange år. Triveleg var det og, både skeivt og fjernt. Men, det når ikkje høgdene det nådde då eg var yngre. Det vert 3 stjerner, men hadde nok nådd 4 med hasj.
Som med så mye annen psykedelisk rock er følelsen av "you had to be there" veldig sterk. Jeg synes denne typen psykedelia er kult i nokså små mengder, men over et helt album faller jeg av innimellom om ikke albumet er veldig bra. Dette albumet har noen knallsterke topper. Det har noen feilskjær også, men det ligger liksom litt til sjangeren. 7/10
Eddie! Kom tilbake! Unnskuld! “Dark side of the moon du liksom? Har du høyrt dei med Syd Barrett eller? Hæ? Må høyra på Syd Barrett-platene! E kje alle som forstår det sjølsagt, men det er faktisk heilt genialt!” Næ, hopp og drit. Ikkje likar eg Roger Waters-versjonen noko særleg og dette her synst eg er verre. Respekt til Fleetwood mac som klarte kunsten å ver eit like godt nisjeband som stadionband. eg diggar The Incredible Sting Band si The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion frå same år. To ganske ulike band sjølsagt, men eg kom til å tenka på dei medan det stod på her. Syrete det òg, frå ein annan planet og med noko av den same naive grunntonen som Syd Barrett i melodiføringa. I utgangspunktet ligg kanskje noko til rette for at eg skal synast PInk Floyd-plata er både kul og forfriskande, men så synst eg likevel ikkje dei får det til. Eg kan ikkje anna enn å skulda på dei involverte.
Det kostet meg fint lite å kaste lave poeng etter Van Halen i går, men The Piper at the Gates of Dawn er en plate jeg har lyst til å like. Dessverre er historien bedre enn plata. I teorien er jeg entusiastisk tilhenger av alle eksperimentene, tøyset og tullballet som foregår her. Dessverre er det sjelden idéene utvikler seg til gode nok låter. «Lucifer Sam» er kanskje den som mest følger en tradisjonell oppskrift, og står også igjen som et høydepunkt. For å si det sånn, det hadde vel heller ikke skadet å inkludere «Arnold Layne» og «See Emily Play». De kan hvis de vil, altså. Som det er nå blir det hele i overkant ubestemmelig. Omtrent som Beefhearts Trout Mask Replica. Imponerende på sett og vis, men ikke noe jeg orker å forholde meg til særlig ofte.
Pink Floyd - Piper at the Gates of Dawn Eg er ingen stor fan av verken denne eller neste versjon av bandet, men det største mysteriet handlar for meg først og fremst om den vanvittige kommersielle suksessen dette bandet hadde og har. Det raraste i denne verda er for meg kvifor 50 millionar heilt «vanlege» folk har The Dark Side of the Moon ståande i hylla. Men uansett, dette handlar om Syd Barrett og debuten til Pink Floyd. Den er temmeleg syrete på sitt drøyaste («Interstellar Overdrive»), men enkelte ting her kunne jo nesten vore tidleg Animals eller Love, eller kanskje til og med David Bowie før han fann seg sjølv. Eg likar «Lucifer Sam» og «Flaming» og fleire av dei sprø greiene mot slutten her («Bike»!), og er ikkje bekymra over at dei handlar om gnomar, fugleskremsel eller det å sveve gjennom verdsrommet. Det beste med denne plata er at det kjennest som dette skjer no – at låta omtrent blir til mens den blir spelt inn. Og dette er jo i ekstrem kontrast til det gjennomstuderte Pink Floyd med David Gilmour, der kvar minste tone var hogd i stein lenge før dei kom i studio. Det går opp og ned, skal seiast. På det fjernaste er eg heilt ute av stand til å hekte meg på denne musikken, mens til tider er det ei fascinerande og psykedelisk (og overraskande tøysete) lita reise. 6/10
Le tengo cariño a este disco y a los Pink Floyd de Syd Barret. Me guardo: Astronomy Domine, Matilda mother, The scarecrow y por supesto Bike y la enorme Interestellar overdrive!!!
Eh, not for me. I confess to liking the gnome song, though.
tremendo debut, siempre me gusto mucho esta etapa inicial y experimental de pink floyd
Some of these are really cool, I can tell they were having fun lol
Never reallt got pink Floyd and this isnt one of their better albums, either.
No reason to be on the list. Garbage. 1/5.
Favorite band Not so favorite album
Pink Floyd with Syd Barrett was an entirely different band. I knew this album and I have a high tolerance towards psychedelic rock, so I expected to enjoy re-listening to this album. It was a tough listen. Some songs drone on too long and the regular length songs were often just.. weird. Not necessary in a good way.
A descent psychedelic overture but too far out and not enough substance
Groundbreaking album in the genre of psychedelia when it debuted, I don't really enjoy it. Frankly, for this list, I would only include DSOTM, THE WALL, and THE DIVSION BELL as essential Pink Floyd albums that shaped the genres of psychedelia and progressive rock.
Like a weird rubbish Beatles. 2 stars
... I disliked this so much that having to listen to the whole thing made me slightly angry. I'm so glad Pink Floyd exists for the listeners who love them, but dear lord I am not one of those listeners. "Interstellar Overdrive" in particular was an assault on my nervous system. Rating: 1
I get that this is a formative album, both for the band and for psychedelic rock as a whole. I can appreciate that and still not enjoy listening to most of it. :)
fuck roger waters
Jag tyckte detta album var helt okej. Men de är nog också det sämsta pink Floyd albumet jag har hört. Känner att detta album är mer Beatles fast med ett Texturepack. Vissa låtar ser man spår i att bandet kommer utvecklas och bli något helt annat. Men detta just nu va inte it. Inte dåligt, inte bra heller. Liten rolig fun fact, jag lyssna igenom albumet och när de va klart så börjades ”fat old sun” spelas, och jag då blev jag hyped för de lät så mycket bättre än allt annat. Men men, jag Grabbensomintekollarpåexplosioner ger detta album en 4/10
Sounded much more like classic pop/The Beatles or something than I expected from Pink Floyd, but not bad
It's an abstract album. I'm more into Concept albums so maybe it just didn't sit right with me. The hyper panned vocals and instrumentals were a bit irritating. But it's was not all bad. 3 out of 5.
I never would have expected a pink floyd album to be so fucking shit
Bien.
It was okay
First listen. I like some of the whimsy that Syd Barrett brings. I don’t love this album. I don’t hate it, it’s kinda meh. I think the hard and fast panning made me nauseous.
1.5/5 Too experimental for my liking. I was really enjoying the last song "bike" then halfway through it just turned on its head. Like most of the album, it has some good ideas but too much mucking about.
I wanted to like this, but honestly it was just kinda terrible. Amateurish, annoying, and just shitty sounding. Sorry, I just didn't like it. Compare it to Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, Wish You Were Here or Animals and it's just night and day -- no comparison. One star.
Hate to give Pink Floyd such a low score, but I'm just not a fan of much of their 60s music
Lower tier Pink Floyd is better than most other bands.
i haven't heard any song from this album before. i enjoyed listening to it.
Album is better than I recall. Bike specifically has some interesting things happening.
Very strange compared to the other Floyd sound. Some cool ideas but a bit all over the place for me.
Piper makes me think of college when I briefly convinced myself that Syd Barrett Floyd was superior. I was wrong, obviously, but this is a great album.
Syd Barrett's incomprehensible The Madcap Laughs was released eight months after this. The lesson, as always: don't fry your brain on too much acid. 3.5.
Signs of genius evident from the beginning.
álbum engraçadíssimo porque marca um tempo diferente do que o público em geral conhece do pink floyd mas é bom lembrar que o catálogo inicial deles tinha uma lúcifer sam
not their best! a little too flowery for me. would give this a 2.5 if I could
Es ist ein bunter Strauß aus Beatles‑Psychedelia, Doors‑Dunkelheit und proto‑punkiger Unruhe – ein schillernder Schmelztiegel, aus dem Syd Barrett ein wunderschweres, traumverzerrtes Debüt formt. Schrullig, verspielt, manchmal wirr, aber voller Magie.
I went through a Pink Floyd phase in my teens, as one does, but this album wasn't really in the rotation, interested to listen to their first studio album as an adult. First impression is that it is pretty wild for the time. Feels more reliant on the drug experience than their later work, which is saying something. Far from my favorite. Interesting time capsule, but it mostly hurts my head. They really changed it up in the next few years. I would not have been able to ID this as Pink Floyd. Kind of generic, if bold, psychadelic rock. Probably a valid historical entry on the list with some cool flourishes, but I didn't like listening to it - 2 stars Pink Floyd in contention for my biggest rating spread.
Ik vind het altijd moeilijk om albums te reviewen die ik al door en door ken. En waarom zou ik het ook doen eigenlijk, gewoon 5 sterren dit.
It's so odd to see the drippy fantasy folk of this album morph into what comes after it. Though I don't care for the genre the album was more engaging than others I've contended with on this list. Not too shabby.
He may have influcenced Pink Floyd’s sound but as a PF fan i am very glad Syd Barrett was only involved in one album. If he had stayed, Shine on you crazy Diamond may never have been written and that would have been a great loss.
Unique and weird and very 60s. Not my favorite but interesting.
Never expected Pink Floyd to make this much of a stinker, even if it is their debut. There's just no identity, it's the same as every other forgettable early prog act
Fantastic production, but for me the music only kicks on in the final song. Weak 3, almost all for the producer.
Ugh, too 70's for me
Horrible, mindless hippy drivel. If you need to be on a shitload of drugs to enjoy something, that thing sucks.
niente di che
I think it was best for everyone that Syd Barrett lost his mind