Reviews (page 4 of 9)
The album is a little weird - not sure I really "like" any of the songs, but it's so cool to hear Pink Floyd's roots - knowing how they would soon after change rock and roll. It's equal parts British Invasion of the 60s and Psychadelic Rock of the 70s. You can hear them inventing something new on this album - something they would eventually perfect.
Wild, "out there" space rock; proof that Pink Floyd have been pushing the boundaries since day one.
Big Pink Floyd fan. I got their first few albums years ago and ... they were different than Dark Side of the Moon, Animals, Meddle, Atom Heart Mother.... it really has taken me a long time to appreciate the earlier Pink Floyd. This was their first. The more I listen to it the more I like it. It is definitely an experience. This one is more enjoyable played LOUD with the headphones on. Stand out songs: Astronomy Domine. Matilda Mother Flaming Pow R. Toc H. Intersteller Overdrive. The Gnome Bike
Syd Barrett take es awayyyyyyy
As usual, I'm going to ignore how massively influential this album is in evaluating it. As I alluded to in my recent review of Dark Side of the Moon, I actually enjoy The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn more, which is not to say that it's a better album. Dark Side of the Moon is near perfect, but I prefer the boundless imagination of Piper. The structures of the songs are constantly surprising and yet tuneful and accessible. I can't think of another pop album this is more true of. Between guitarist Syd Barrett and keyboardist Richard Wright, the instrumental textures are kaleidoscopic, despite the primitive nature of the instruments and effects pedals and studio trickery available at the time. Drummer Nick Mason and bassist Roger Waters give some stability for Barrett's and Wright's flights of fancy. Not everything is successful. There are two outright duds right in the middle of the album, Pow R. Toc. H and Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk, which lack the grace and charm of the other tunes. Interstellar Overdrive squeaks by on the lengthy improvised middle section, despite the limited technical abilities and harmonic knowledge of the musicians, on sheer instinctive musicality. No such reservations need be applied to the album closer, Bike. The idiosyncratic tune gives way to a gorgeous psychedelic instrumental freakout, capped by an ingenious loop of what sounds like Canadian geese. How to rate? Although Barrett and Wright are able to bridge the gap between their technical abilities and their imaginations through sheer instinctive musicality and fearlessness, their limitations in regard to note choices sometimes grate. And two songs are basically a waste of vinyl. But the other songs are often breathtaking in their originality, the lyrics endlessly charming. Despite the technical shortcomings, the atmospherics conjured up by the group are by turns whimsical, ethereal and terrifying. The highs are so high, I'm inclined to cut Pink Floyd some slack.
Death grips samples
Incomprehensible? Often. Wandering and over-produced? Every other minute. A work of brilliance? Oh yeah. Listening to this album let's you listen as a music master goes insane. The twists and turns, the straight fire grooves, the bonkers sfx; it's no wonder Syd Barret remained the muse of Pink Floyd despite leaving after the first album. He's a madman, and I love it.
Absolute classic
Great sign of things to come from this legendary powerhouse
Discovered this album in college - dorm buddy had a copy. Pretty cool - I really like “Astronomy Domine” and the funkyish bass line on “Lucifer Sam”. Rest of he album has its moments , not all good. “Bike” still gets stuck in my head frequently, and I walk around mumbling it to myself at the park - that would probably stop if I was on a bike. Would have been interesting to see where Pink Floyd would have gone if Syd Barrett hadn’t melted his mind on LSD. 3.5 stars. Rounding up!
syd barret
One of best psychedelic records of all time. Great melodies, textures, oniric passages… Syd Barrett at his very best
De excelente qualidade, gostoso de ouvir mas não o suficiente pra eu ouvir de novo, não é meu tipo.
Bueno, no está mal. Le voy a dar un 4 porque son Pink Floyd, aunque no he prestado mucha atención.
I really like Pink Floyd but don’t know much about the early Syd Barrett days. I found myself liking his campy weird tunes like Bike and Gnome more than the others. I feel like this is. 3.5 and I’m torn between rounding down because I didn’t love the music or rounding up because of the weirdness and influence and allowing for more progressive music styles! Fuck it, have a four because I’m biased!
Early Pink Floyd at its psychedelic best. Guess fucking Roger Waters wasn't a stupid millionaire communist supporting third world, human rights violating dictators as he does today. I hate him with my guts. Pink Floyd is a great band, though.
Se ve que les faltaba un pelin aun
This sure was an experience.
First Pink Floyd album, the only one recorded with Syd Barrett. After this album, Barrett sort of went off the rails and was ousted. He tried a couple solo projects and then became pretty reclusive. Pink Floyd went on to write quite a few songs inspired by him - The Wall, Wish You Were Here, Shine On You Crazy Diamond.
I’d still rather listen to Sgt Pepper’s.
Solía escuchar mucho éste disco. Sigue siendo la onda
Great debut album. Pink Floyd amazed from the very beginning and I love it.
This was a lot better than the last pink floyd album
Amazing album, different than their later stuff. Definitely 60s psychedelic jam bad stuff. Cool sounds like. Definitely needs to be listened to in stereo. Only complaint really was some of the effects are over the top. 4.5
This just doesn't sound like the PF that I grew up with at all! It's very Brit rock, a la The Kinks and Beatles. Immediately after the album finished Dark Side of the Moon played - much more what I think of for PF.
Psicodélico, tem tocado, maluco, bom demais!
Experimental, trippy, and weird, but in a delightful sort of way.
Yeah, it was pretty good
Sounded a lot like a Beatles album at first but their sound became more distinct as the album went on. Standout Tracks: Astronomy Dominé, Pow R. Toc H., Interstellar Overdrive, Chapter 24
Very strange compared to the other Floyd sound. Some cool ideas but a bit all over the place for me.
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.
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.
Unique and weird and very 60s. Not my favorite but interesting.
Fantastic production, but for me the music only kicks on in the final song. Weak 3, almost all for the producer.
love other Pink Floyd more
3.3/5 - First time listening to a Pink Floyd album in full. Cultural significance aside, this album was definitely interesting, but fell a bit below my expectations. In sole regards to my enjoyment of the album (as someone who knows jack about psychedelic rock and/or musical history) this album did not impress. I have nothing bad to say regarding the vocals and mood, although some tracks were quite unpleasant to listen to (e.g. "Flaming" and "Pow R. Toc H"). The bizarre mood created by the sometimes jarring and discordant sounds was uniquely interesting, although this failed to lift the album up from more than a three out of five for me. A worthwhile listen? Yes, but not an album I would come back to simply to "appreciate the experimental artistry" - I think once will be enough.
5/10 My first Pink Floyd album and, satisfyingly, it's their debut album, and for me it was very 50/50. I get a kick out of the almost psychedelic/rock vibe I'm getting from a lot of the tracks but some of them (Falming/Pow R. Toc. H) start going way off the rails and start getting borderline annoying. I'm excited to see what they go on to do.
Noticeably more British twang than the other Pink Floyd albums we've heard so far, and kind of more run-of-the-mill in that way. Not that this album wasn't very experimental with extended instrumental/jam sections with some chaotic soundscapes. It just lacks some of the cohesion that im impressed by in their later stuff. The creativity on this makes you think they're going places, but where this particular album stands it's an average 3 for me.
I'm not high enough. Yeah I can dig the playful, boundless mess, but I prefer the more composed, subsequent PF albums
Much prefer the later albums
3.5
some good some bad .... very raw compared to later syd Barret stuff
There were some high points but thank god the sixties ended
Essential for Pink Floyd? Yes, but I don't think it's too amazing besides for being pivotal to a 'space rock' sound and being their starting point. Syd's songs on their second album have a lot more depth than here I think, even though there's far less.
i respect it but it kinda makes me feel like syd barrett himself 7/10 best song - lucifer sam
This was fine but seemed a little unserious and disjointed.
I dunno man.
Was neat to listen to for historical reasons. Foreshadowing of great future albums
2.5 rounded up for the first two tracks
Not my favorite Pink Floyd....has its moments but overall is a little too psychedelic and avant garde for me. Seems to have paved the way for a lot of noisy, out there, unmusical rock music in the decades to come. Also has some goofy, whimsical British vibes. I'll round up because it feels wrong to give Pink Floyd a 2, but I didn't love it.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘋𝘢𝘸𝘯 is at its best when Pink Floyd leave conventional song structures behind and disappear completely into space. 𝗔𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 𝗗𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻é and 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 are the obvious highlights, combining psychedelic atmosphere, strange sounds, and a genuine sense of exploration. These are the moments when the album still feels exciting rather than merely historically interesting. The more whimsical songs are less convincing to me. Syd Barrett’s childlike imagery and playful storytelling certainly give the record its unique personality, but his lyrics can also feel rather naive. What is charming in small doses gradually becomes a little tiresome over the course of the album. There is no shortage of imagination here, and it is fascinating to hear how different this version of Pink Floyd sounds from the band they would later become. Still, I prefer the cosmic experimentation to the nursery-rhyme eccentricity, leaving me with an album I respect more consistently than I enjoy.
No es el mejor disco de pink floyd, pero aqui ya empieza a haber algo. No está mal.
Ok but better PF albums.
The only Floyd album with zero input from David Gilmour and you can really tell. It’s a different band really, with Syd’s more zany songwriting on full display here. Outside of Take Up The Stethoscope (which has a real Set Your Controls… vibe to it) there doesn’t feel like a lot of Waters here either. It’s a real mixed bag with some incredible instrumental pieces mixed in with clip-clop toadstool songs like Gnome. I like this album, but am also relieved Gilmour came in when he did.
if I did not know this was Pink Floyd I imagine it would change my rubric and my bias would inflate the score. Overall, this album sounds like a series of Monty Python sketches at the Renaissance Fair main stage.
Not a huge fan of Barrett era Floyd. In my opinion, he was not revolutionary. His story is just sad.
Un disco inusual para lo que llegó haría Floyd. Prefiero lo que sigue
What a strange, but fascinating chap Syd Barrett was! Too overtly psychedelic for me in places, but some good tracks too.
Still working some stuff out. I’m not even a huge fan of final form Pink Floyd, so this was just ok for me.
Too much piping, not enough dawning.
It opens with an evil version of Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, and goes straight to an evil spy soundtrack intro, love that. From there it goes into some fairly normal 60s psych stuff for a while. Pow R. Toc H. was a nice, unexpected, jazzy addition. Overall like a 3.5.
Horse clomps are percussion too
I got a bike
This is proof that people used to do too much drug in the 60s.
P floyd innan de hitta sin prime, mer experimentellt
A character from "The Wind In The Willows".
Album #205 Pink Floyd: Piper at the Gates of Dawn I’ve never been too big on early Floyd; no disrespect to Syd Barrett, but I can’t help but think that the band got a whole lot better after his departure; whether that is correlation or causation, I’m not sure. Piper at the Gates of Dawn always felt a bit too weird and quirky for me, and despite having some undeniably great space rock/psychedelic epics on it, I felt as though it was held back by Barrett’s ramblings about gingerbread men and scarecrows. I was expecting to come in and give this one a two-star rating, but honestly, I don’t know why, but this just seemed to click more for me this time. The disparity between a prog epic like Interstellar Overdrive and an eccentric ditty like The Gnome no longer felt jarring, but rather refreshing. I still think there are some misses on this, but most of it held up a lot more than I remember. Who knows, maybe in a few more years I’ll prefer this to Animals. Best Songs: Interstellar Overdrive, Astronomy Domine, Bike Worst Song: Pow R. Toc H. Score out of 10: 6.5
I wanna give it a 4 just cause it's PF but it's too early and rough around the edges
Beatles-era Pink Floyd is kind of not my thing.
Some good parts and some really bad ones. The stereo mix was painful at times, but I still have a soft spot for psychedelia
I'm the weirdo who enjoys The Gnome and Bike. Interstellar Overdrive and Astronomy Domine also being highlights. There sure is a lot of fodder on this thing, though, despite being one of the better psychedelic records of it's day.
Liked parts of it. Standout songs: Matilda Mother Interstellar Overdrive
PF is back with another drug fueled adventure. Trippy, exciting and a bit strange.
Really classic Pink Floyd, but not outstanding Pink Floyd, you know?
way better than I thought but it felt like austin powers music or the bono scene in across the universe
Everyone knows Pink Floyd, but most people don’t know this Floyd. This is their most English album, which is fair considering they are English, and part of the later-phase British Invasion. I wouldn’t have picked this Floyd album but I get why it’s here: heavy psychedelic rock foundation; early pioneership in the genre; pretty listenable; and no David Gilmore…yet. Listening to this makes me realize how much I appreciate Gilmore’s contribution. Syd Barrett was a genius in his own right but PF would have never become the monolith it became with him alone. It’s still an interesting album. Interstellar Overdrive on headphones was a trip! And Lucifer Sam felt like surf rock gone stoner. My key track was the opener, Astronomy Domine as it set the tone for their career and album. Good listen but I don’t need this on vinyl.
Random thoughts: * Would this be considered a classic if it wasn’t Pink Floyd’s first album? * Seems this would be a possibly liked but maybe forgotten album if it wasn’t for the subsequent classics that are thankfully on this list. * I like that it features Syd on this one but overall it doesn’t have the timelessness of their later classics. * this is most definitely a 60s album and specifically late 60s in the sound and production. * I listened through a few times but I won’t be purchasing this one on vinyl.
No fav song
Q: What if the Beatles had been a little less talented but quite a bit more trippy? A: Now I know. Shouldn’t Pink Floyd have continued in this direction?
wasn’t expecting this from Pink Floyd bc it’s not what I’m used to. pretty chill.
It feels very of it's time, and the very beginnings of the band, how they sing, and how was the prog of its time. It was good.
Good amount of influence that Barrett used to have in the band. It's an okay psych rock album, but there are better, thankfully Floyd went on to better things. 2.5/5 Might listen again
So trippy, and way back in 1967!
3/5. I personally just vastly prefer prog Pink Floyd to psych Pink Floyd. that being said, Piper is still a fascinating album sound wise. A lot of 60’s psych is super bland but Syd Barrett as a frontman feels like he was built for this style and he gives it the flavor and texture that it often lacks. However in terms of the swings the album takes, it does have a few misses, I’m not the biggest fan of tracks like “gnome” or “Pow R. Toc H.” But when it works, it is very engrossing.
That was definitely an album made in 1967
i can tell this was the start of the career, nothing bad, but not the pink floyd i think of after
It’s a bit over the top but I like the weirdness of it. Never going to listen to it again but just about gets a 3
This is a seminal album. It absolutely deserves to be on this list. Yet it is not an album I can score particularly high because it just isn’t one I reach for with any regularity. It’s so tempting to award it an extra point purely because it’s the gateway to all that came next.
Pink Floyd’s body of work might be the most obvious example of musical evolution. This is such a raw form of the band that we all know. Still psychedelic to its core, but so much less focused. I can’t say there’s many songs on here that caught my ear, but it’s a good listen for sure.
Okay, if Pink Floyd were to be covered across a few records in the 1001 Albums books, it makes sense to include one from the Syd Barrett era of the band. For those not aware, Pink Floyd was more psychedelic rock than progressive rock in the beginning and was fronted by established singer-songwriter Syd Barrett. Of course, the other notable aspect of the band's early days was that Syd partook in a lot of LSD, and that drug is very much reflected in the writing for The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. This is a very trippy record, with a lot of twisting compositions, dissonant keyboard playing from Richard Wright, and heavy use of echo and reverb. It's weird because I can hear remnants of the sound that the band would transition to through the likes of the space rock voyage of "Astronomy Domine", the storytelling in the yearning for childhood on "Matilda Mother," and the sprawling, nine-minute instrumental improvisation of "Interstellar Overdrive." Yet at the same time, there's also some bizarre novelty tracks with very simple, whimsical topics like Syd talking about one of his Siamese cats, "Lucifer Sam", or the plodding tall tales about gnomes and scarecrows that have this ear-grating click-clacking percussion, or even Syd's admittedly cringeworthy attempts to pick up a girl on "Bike". I can't even say that Syd owned all the weird shit in the lyrical writing, as Roger Waters proved to be just as kooky on the rambling "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk". It does seem that the band went for broke with all their experimenting, which is why there is such a wide range of tone throughout this album. That said, not every experiment landed well for me personally. I also can't help but feel that I've heard better, not just with respect to Pink Floyd's catalog, but even for psychedelic and experimental rock in 1967. The Velvet Underground & Nico's debut, The Doors' debut, The Electric Prunes' debut, Disraeli Gears from Cream, Safe as Milk from Captain Beefheart, and both Are You Experienced and Axis: Bold as Love from the Jimi Hendrix Experience were all structurally better than this. Hell, this album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios at the same time as the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's, and while both albums can be considered influential in psychedelic music, I would argue Sgt. Pepper's made the bigger splash, with more consistent quality track by track. At the end of the day, this may not be close to what I consider the best that Pink Floyd had to offer. But I can recognize and appreciate the importance The Piper at the Gates of Dawn had on psychedelic rock music, and just how unique Syd Barrett was as a songwriter. At the very least, there are some good tracks found in this LSD trip of a record that I can cherry-pick from.
Spaced out early experimentation of Pink Floyd. This is back when Crazy Diamond Syd Barrett was the lead singer. There are some cool sides to this, and you can see how the band was starting to coalesce into what it would eventually become. But Floyd is still very rough around the edges here. The unified drug mind hadn't quite solidified. There are some good tracks, but the album isn't a perfect flow like they hit eventually with Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, The Wall.
THE COVER - not my favorite but is unique for me. also not a fan of psychodelia ____________________________________________________________________________ ASTRONOMY DOMINE - pink floyd starting as pink floyd. as an experience. i like that little dissonant chord there. sure its cool until now. Its different what i use to listen now. LUCIFER SAM - nothing special lol. just a compressed guitar riff MATILDA MOTHER - strings are cool. those wispers are kinda... not that good. really harmonical. Sus chords are on top. FLAMING - unicorn. calming POW R. TOC H. - i am feeling im the sacrifice of a tribe. that is a cool pianos. the end its just confusing INTERESTELLAR OVERDRIVE - yeah its kinda cool. distortion is good. Dissonant part, not that good. just avante garde. but i got the feel that it is supposed to be bizarre GNOME - cozy for me. like the guitars and the sweet instrument. (vibraphone) CHAPTER 24 - oooo tubular bells. feels like im rising man. THE SCARECROW - percussion is good. its just chill BIKE - burst on!!!!! good song to swing your head side to side. great intro and great outro. Great job! ______________________________________________________________________________ OVERALL NOTE - 6/10 I understand why it is important, but it is not made for me (majorly). Maybe if i dive in psychodelic music or in progressive i would rate it higher ______________________________________________________________________________ Parameters: • (5,6) - middle • (7,8) - good • (9 - 10) - gem alert • * - honorable mention
I liked the majority of this debut, but it admittedly lacks both the consistency and the highlights of their later albums. For what it's worth, there are some phenomenal tracks like Astronomy Dominé that really sound ahead of their time. Syd Barrett definitely led the band in some interesting directions while he was around. Favourite track: Interstellar Overdrive
Забавные звуки
Good
2026.06.19-21.
Soooo many drugs. Sort of like Blur. Nothing like the actual latter day Pink Floyd.
The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn is definitely one of the trippiest albums i have ever heard. This is the only Pink Floyd album that Syd Barrett and after listening to his solo album, it shows. Nearly every song here had at least one weird aspect to them. If you look past all the weirdness though, you can definitely see the building blocks that made Pink Floyd into what they are today but with this album, you can still tell that this is their first effort and they still were trying to figure out what kind of band they wanted to be so they just ended up throwing whatever they could at the wall and seeing what would stick. Its not a bad album but Pink Floyd would go on to do much better. Best Song: Lucifer Sam Worst Song: Interstellar Overdrive Side note: All Pink Floyd albums are done, you know what that means: 1. The Dark Side Of The Moon 2. Wish You Were Here 3. The Wall 4. The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
Hard to imagine this band would go on to write masterpieces like Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall. You can definitely tell Syd Barrett was pretty nuts listening to this.
3,6/5
Pink Floyd's debut. Very late 60s psychedelic sound. Their later albums are very much an improvement.
It’s super chaotic, psychedelic and weird - which I like. I have to giggle at the laughably British prog rock moments (the gnome and his Scarlett tunic).
Liked the later half a decent bit but over all didn't love it
Weird vibe
3.5
Peter Piper picked a peck...
For me this is not very interesting. I am glad they figured things out later. 3 stars or C.
I consider myself a legitimate, if not obsessive, Pink Floyd fan (Meddle, WYWH, and DSOTM are 3 of my favorite albums). But I tried probably 10 times to get through this, and pretty much every time I would hit Interstellar Overdrive and have to tap out. I understand it was a different time and they were experimenting and trying new things, but in the year of our Lord 2026, I have neither the time nor the energy to put up with this much wankering. 3/5 Highlights: - Lucifer Sam - Flaming - Chapter 24
Reminiscent of the beatles Sgt peppers and magical mystery tour, which came out the same year. While this album is a fun psychedelic trip, it doesn't reach the iconic quality of those. An interesting view at the roots of pink floyd
I’ve never listened to a Pink Floyd album start to finish. I don’t own Dark Side Of The Moon. Yet I’ve seen them twice. This album might be a bit too trippy for my taste. It was fine. I’m sure it was groundbreaking, but hard to say since it was 1967.
The long instrumental numbers are interesting and mostly presage where PF would go after much experimentation and the addition of David Gilmour, whereas the shorter songs live completely in the goofy fairy-boy aesthetic of Syd Barrett, having no real relationship to their future, mature sound. The Barrett songs aren't necessarily bad, they just feel dated- like a willfully bizarre and tripped out version of typical 60's flower power (which also basically describes the cover art). Ultimately, the record sounds great but feels a shallow- exploration without emotion.
Refreshing to listen to Pink Floyds other material besides The Wall and DOTM. More psychedelic, creative, but perhaps misses out on those banger tunes.
The music is like the piper heralding a spacey, quirky age.
Not a huge pink Floyd fan only really knows their big hitters so I enjoyed a deeper dive. Helps me appreciate why they're admired so much.
not bad but not for me- I got more excited with led zep started autoplaying after lol
Pink Floyd, especially the earlier Barrett stuff, is a bit of a blind spot for me, so other than Astronomy Domine (which I know the Voivod version of better), most of this was new. Also, I've done some acid in my day, so it resonated pretty well.
pretty out there. cool to hear their origins but much prefer their later albums
I enjoyed the first two thirds of this album much more than The Wall, which I had a few weeks ago. However, the last four songs, from The Gnome onwards are close to a parody of psychedelia and spoil things somewhat. As a result, I can only give this a three.
wollts jetz schon 5x aufmerksam hören und schaffs iwie nie. i weiß, is pink floyd und man muss es gut finden i guess aber idk. also warn paar gute dabei aber oft check is auch einf nit oder es passiert mir zu viel - wie zb dass es einf klingt als würdn alle instrumente irgendwas machen so mäßig es klingt einf falsch, also es is keine „musik“ mehr sondern nur noch overstimulating geräusche. all in all weiß ich nicht. wrsl 2/5 wenn i ehrlich bin. aber ein zwei songs waren gut und i habs ja auch mehrmals ghört und so. i geb ihm 3/5 weil.. weiß auch nicht atp
Lowkey mad this made the list and Animals didnt. Not bad at all just nothing compared to what they released later on.
When some one says 'Pink Floyd' I would imagine that there are very few, if any, people who first think of this record. It's so different to what the band became when Syd Barrett left. And they got so much better after this record. I know that this is the first Pink Floyd album and the first album is rarely the best or even representative of what a longstanding band becomes, but this one is really different. It has some interesting things going on but it isn't really anything the write home about. There were a lot of psychedelia records that sounded like this. Once Syd Barrett left, Pink Floyd really developed into a better and much more unique band. This album is interesting to listen to mostly because of how the band changed so much afterwards. 2.75/7
Some liberal quality control here could have made this into something really great 3.5*
Interstellar overdrive me mareó. Yo entiendo que Pink Floyd es uno de los grupos más importantes de la historia y su influencia en la música, pero definitivamente no es para mi, y no es malo, pero es algo que puedo poner de fondo y ya sin disfrutarlo de más. Seguramente alguien drogado lo disfrutará más
some psychedelic shit
Have only heard dark side of the moon from Pink Floyd up to this point. High hopes for this one because I loved that album. Looks like this is their debut album too which gives me even higher hopes. Very Pink Floyd opening with the beeps and the random talking. Very psychedelic song but I like it. Lucifer Sam has goofy lyrics but really good production. Matilda mother is more of the same. Pretty cool song but lyrically not much to it. Very trippy production. I like that. Even better in flaming. Really cool organ. Hate the beginning of pow r toc h. Piano part is cool though. I don’t usually enjoy songs without lyrics but they got it with this one. Keyboard on stethoscope is so sick. Guitars a little choppy but it works. Lyrics a lttle goofy here too but they aren’t over powering so it’s fine. The music shines through. Best guitar so far on interstellar overdrive. Just keeps on chugging along. What a song. Fun song writing on the gnome. This is a very nice change of pace. Chapter 24 is fine. The production is really good but not a fan of the vocals. Scarcrow is fine. I like the bag pipes? Not too long so I can live with it. Bike is fine. A little underwhelming to close things out. Really cool production again tho, and I like what they do for the last minute. This is more what I was expecting for the closing song. Overall it’s a good not great album. For an introductory album it’s pretty cool as there’s really not much like it from what I’ve heard. 3.4/5 stars
There are little glimmers of classic Floyd here, though I'd argue that the Barrett years have even more glimmers of Robyn Hitchcock. I guess that is important enough for this one. But the soft focus epics of latter day Floyd are traded for more conventional psychedelics. I'm definitely more for the later school, but I appreciate the absurdity of a lot of this. The lunatic is on the grass, indeed. 3*
It was aright, I liked the weird ones most.
like its pink floyd. i cant complain
No es el Pink Floyd clasic que conozco. Is not bad, but not great.
I really like what they are doing here with the psychedelic soundscapes and really unique instrumentation. It feels like they are just scratching the surface of how far they can push the envelope. I wonder if they are ever going to expand on that….
J’ai l’impression qu’on max trop les early pink floyd, c’est pas si bien. 2.5+/5
I used to listen to this album when I was 14 and thought it was weird and cool. Now I realize there isn’t an actual “song” I would put on again.
very non-harmonic sound.
Pink Floyd does Beatles :/
There's something to it Will I listen to again: 50%
I honestly probably preferred this over The Wall
Not for me,
I like this LP. I'm not a big Floyd fan, I couldn't tell even you which one is Pink, :P, but i do like a lotof their stuff.
Wow I consider myself a PF fan but I have not heard most of this album before, or if I did I forgot it. It was certainly interesting to me but I would say it's a 3 star album on it's own.
I mean it's alright but nothing crazy as far as psychedelic goes. Bop to some strawberry alarm clocks instead
From Wikipedia: “ Part-way through the recording sessions, Barrett's growing use of the psychedelic drug LSD accompanied his increasingly debilitated mental state” Yeah that tracks.
long time since ive listened. a few high points, very experimental which hits or misses for me
I had this on CD back in the day when I was in full “classic rock is the only music that matters” mode as a young teenager. I don’t think I’ve listened to it since then. I think it's an important one to listen to and also that it's just alright. Psych rock was still in its infancy and I’d almost just call this “experimental rock” before psych if we’re choosing words. It’s more rough and tumble than what I’d associate with their later, definitely psychedelic work. It has a lot in common with its pop contemporaries and there are definitely hooks in here (“Lucifer Sam” is a good example). There’s still the use of noise and non-musical instruments, which I feel becomes more focused and purposeful as their career continues.
escucho el lsd salir a través de los parlantes... un poco muy psicodélico para mi gusto aunque tampoco está mal
This is quite different to the more well known Pink Floyd tracks, and with it comes a healthy dose of psychedelia. I'm not that fond of it, not because the often whimsical nature of the music is not to my taste, but because it doesn't really seem to have a hook at any point.
3.5/5 - Huge psychodelic stuff here
Heard it before. I like Syd era Pink Floyd, you don't have to deal with Waters' bullshit here 3/5
Trae un par de buenos tracks, pero esta etapa de Pink Floyd me cuesta un poco, aunque la disfruto. Pero creo que estaban dentro de su momento más experimental y psicodélico, lo cual por supuesto tiene su onda. Eso sí, pondría algún otro de sus discos antes que este.
This is arguably my least favorite Floyd album. It's not bad by any means, I just enjoy what they eventually became more than this.
It really makes sense how pink Floyd ended up making some incredible albums after listening to this early in their run album. It’s so totally not my thing at all but you can really tell this band had something special going on.
It's an interesting choice by the list makers, but it is honestly one of the better psychedelic rock albums on this list. If I could replace this Pink Floyd spot, I'd choose Meddle or Animals, but this shows the bands fundementals well.
Not my thing. Interesting for its time though.
Mixed feelings. Musically it was fine, little bit boring, but tuneful and reasonably pleasant. Lyrically it's just weird, and since I'm tired and not on LSD, I didn't get any particular enjoyment out of trying to find meaning in any of the nonsense. Parts of it are just ridiculously pretentious, "Interstellar Overdrive" being the worst offender. Lots of stereo gimmicky nonsense. Going to go with a 3, but only really to differentiate between this and The Wall, which I really didn't enjoy. Still very much not a Pink Floyd fan and still have absolutely no idea why they're such a huge name based on the listens so far. I know they were very experimental but they're also just a bit shit.
Oh sure, let’s just throw every Pink Floyd album in the list.
When I say I love Pink Floyd, I don’t mean this era. There are some gems here and it’s probably better than a majority of the psych of the time.
Fun lil thing this album, way more experimental and physically focused then I thought. Like only the last 3 songs have words and it sounds jaunty and kinda of the time, they almost like Beatles songs. Hmm interesting,3.5
Mi aspettavo meglio dai Pink Floyd.
Uneven. Astronomy Domine and Interstellar Overdrive are great, but the rest of the songs aren’t for me. Too much singy-songy-singy-songy elf journal entries.
Some stuff here I really like mixed with stuff I really don’t. I enjoy Syd’s solo stuff but this weirdly seems to be even more esoteric than those bizarre solo songs.
Aaaaah, les débuts psychédéliques de Pink Floyd ! C'est un peu léger par rapport à ce que fera le groupe par la suite, surtout si on compare à A Saucerful of Secrets qui est dans la même veine, mais ça reste un album de rock psychédélique très cool et fun à écouter.
Как введение в психоделию - норм, не более, 2.5
Always interesting hearing the debuts of the big rock bands. The sound and overall vibe is usually totally different from their more commercial works that eventually follow. This is definitely "out there" and I don't need to take LSD to tell you that either. There is an air of playfulness and whimsy all throughout, eschewing any sort of traditional rock song structure. This album certainly stands out from the pack of psychedelic rock acts as a result. Hard to really pick a highlight here to be honest, as everything is almost equally weird. Maybe the extended "Interstellar Overdrive" for its overall spaciness.
Not my favorite Pink Floyd album. I listened with headphones and Interstellar Overdrive has some crazy left right effects. I almost got dizzy!!
Not there yet but can see the shine coming through at the edges
Me the entire time: is this Pink Floyd???
Astronomy domine - 3 Lucifer sam - 3 Matilda mother - 3 Flaming - 3 Pow r. toc h. - 2 Take up thy stethoscope and walk - 3 Interstellar overdrive - 3 The gnome - 3 Chapter 24 - 3 The scarecrow - 3 Bike - 4
Música bem produzida que não chega a lugar nenhum
Primarily I’m more a fan of Floyd’s “popular” era from Dark Side onwards, and I haven’t listened to the earlier albums in quite a while. The opening track Astronomy Divine is a great intro into the psychedelic minds of early Floyd and Syd Barrett. There’s a real atmosphere they can create (which is usually the case), lots of crashes and eerie melodies. Pow R. Toc H has a slow build throughout with the textbook mad laughter – makes you feel like you’re in the mind of a madman (which isn’t too far off the mark when you consider Syd Barrett’s history). A lot of tracks aren’t “traditional” and can make for some strange listening. After listening again for the first time in years – I’ve deduced that I’m not overly keen on Barrett’s vocals. By the end of the album I was getting a bit weary of them. I know he’s an integral part of Floyd’s history, but having also heard his solo album recently on this challenge – I’m not a huge fan. And as much of a Floyd fan I am, some of their earlier albums are harder to listen to – though if tripping hard they’re probably great, next trip I may try it lol. Lots of Floyd albums I’d give 5/5 (and have done on this challenge) however this for me is 3/5.
That was sufficiently trippy.
not that far off from david bowie's debut album
I refuse to give Pink Floyd anything less than three stars, but their early stuff just isn’t my favorite. You can hear the creativity and the experimentation, but it feels way more chaotic than the later albums I love. I’m usually a fan of what a little LSD can do for a musician, just look at Pet Sounds or Sgt. Pepper’s. But here, it feels like Syd might’ve been going a little overboard. Some of it is playful and inventive, and some of it just sounds unhinged.
Yeah fine. I did get pretty bored. Undeniably good but nothing grabbed me.
Not bad, not but not my style of band/music. ★★★
OK
Is it really Pink Floyd if it isn't a little menacing?? This one's for Sal. Goat. It's always "the pipers at the gates of dawn" and "is there anybody out there" and never "why tf is the piper at the gates of dawn" or "what tf are the gates of dawn." He is really is piping that shit tho. What is this lad on about. They're really just playing whatever what is going on here team. What are you talking about. What is this. What are we doing. Where are the other 23 chapters. Favourite: Astronomy Domine Least favourite: Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk
My rating 2.6 Psychedelic. Sure. But also total nonsense. Once I realized that Syd Barrett was behind every song it all clicked. Having listened to his solo album from this list before this album you see the influence. I was not impressed with either.
The gates of dawn are a shonky mess
I love Pink Floyd, but this is a choice.
First deep dive with Syd Barrett-era Floyd, and let's just say I admire it more than I actually enjoy it. Kind of amazing they went from this to writing a stone cold rock classic (that everyone on earth likes) within six years.
123/1001 Probably my least favourite, least played Floyd album. Psychedelic music mostly sounds silly to me but I can get into this on occasion. 6/10
I’m glad I listened, as this album reminds me how very different Pink Floyd was when led by Syd Barrett. This is experimental, prolific, fecund, and rank. Nothing like the spare, efficient, clean, and sardonically cynical sound of Floyd’s second incarnation. The Piper features talent and creativity, which I appreciate, but it’s not music I want to listen to on repeat. It’s a 3.
Waters' meandering bass is usually the glue and the driving energy i.e. on 'Lucifer Sam' (sounds like a 60s detective show) or the 'Matilda Mother', a circuitous but of psychedelia. The band dresses up Barret's flights of fancy, giving is structure that is lacking on 'The Madcap Laughs'. Overall it's a jolly old mess. This Pink Floyd is to 70s Pink Floyd as Peter Green is to 70s Fleetwood Mac. Given it is better than Madcap Laughs, and it has some spellbinding moments, and a couple of earworm Barret melodies, it gets to three.
I had to take a step back on this one and truly think, if the nameplate was off, and I heard this blindly, I could pick up some hints that it's Pink Floyd, but overall, I probably would've been quicker to remember some of the other psychedelic rock albums I've had to listen to throughout this project. Maybe another day I would've rated differently, but the name can't save it from a lower rating then I expected going in.
The Syd Barrett days were odd, as was Syd. Still, interesting to hear the influences and evolution of the band. This is more of a museum piece than an actual listenable album. 2.5
The cutting edge, experimental, psychedelic production is there but the songs are not yet miles ahead of their contemporaries. Rivals Villiage Green for most British album yet. File it under, something great in the making.
Not the Pink Floyd I’m used to - not necessarily in a bad way though. Just would have been much more fun with headphones on and maybe a lil high. Good experimental, psychedelic set of songs
some foundational tracks but idk if it works as a unit for me
It isn't your typical AM radio release album but I can't say that I recognized the brilliance that Pink Floyd would become.
They break ground here with songs like Bike. Trippy & wild. Shape of things to come for them!
First Album is way better than I thought it would be. No songs saved to my library tho, solid 3.
Parts of this groove nicely, but then a lot of it is very much a bad trip. Often shifts within the same song. There's no way a Barrett-led Floyd is commercially successful past 1968.
It's apparently psychedelic week for me. This one was fine, just put it on as background noise while I worked on spreadsheets.
The contrast between this album and their later album is astounding. There are some great moments scattered throughout the album. Truthfully, I've never quite known what to do with this album. I prefer the Gilmour led material
It's a fucking mess, but what a mess it is!
I'm not really into psychedelic music. And I'm not into Pink Floyd either (please don't kill me!). But I recognize this can really be the start of a music movement so, despite the lack of melodic drive, a 3 is what it gets.
I'm not a huge fan of the first album, though I still listen to it from time to time.
nice if somewhat dated experimental album
I’m not a huge fan of Pink Floyd, but this was cool.
It's insane how good their later albums are compared to this debut. Shows a lot of promise, but I don't see myself choosing this over other albums in their discography.
I'm not really a fan of Pink Floyd. But I much prefer this Syd Barrett era of them.
I wouldn’t have known this was Pink Floyd. Psychedelic lyrics
This was not the first Pink Floyd album I listened to in full, and honestly, if it had been, I genuinely do not know if I would have enjoyed it a ton. It's fun, it's weird, but it's not always what I want to listen to.
The Gnome will send you to Interstellar Overdrive.
This was fun but as I grow older, I have less patience for the more whimsical bits of psychedelia - I'm more aware these days of how much of it is just privileged white boys pissing about. This is a better example of it though, I like Syd Barrett.
This was probably very experimental and cutting edge at the time, but I can't appreciate it so much. Might have to revisit and read some backstory
I liked the song Bike
Definitively not the greatest album. They have so much great stuff put there but not all has to be in the top 1,000. Its a good album just not their best
I love Pink Floyd but this album is Beatles-lite to me
*Interesting psychedelic rock *I understand the significance but it's not enough to hook me into re-listening a lot
Aus dem gleichen Jahr wie sgt. pepper and it shows...
Zu wenig LSD dafür genommen.
decent debut, i see the vision of their future releases here. lots of silly/wonky stereo mixing work
3.36/5 Stars Top Songs: Lucifer Sam, Matilda Mother, The Gnome
My goodness.
Good music. Just a little slow
Not my favourite era but creative and worthy of 3 stars.
Dói um pouco gerar esse álbum e o avaliar. Sou fã de Pink Floyd, isso desde a infância. Lembro que quando era mais novo eu até superestimava esse disco, considerava ele um dos meus favoritos da banda. Mas de uns anos pra cá minha opinião virou até que drasticamente. Entendo quem o estima altamente. Entendo o apelo que Syd Barrett traz na hora de avaliar o álbum. Mas eu enxergo para além disso, e vejo uma obra confusa e esporádica. Algumas das faixas que antes eu achava charmosas, hoje me causam apenas irritação, como The Gnome ou Bike. O disco têm seus momentos de destaque, como a introdução Astronomy Domine, e canções como Lucifer Sam e Interstellar Overdrive. Mas é inegável que para cada momento agradável do disco, ele joga 3 momentos irritantes em cima de você. Acaba ficando desequilibrado. Se você gosta desse lado mais “experimental” que Barrett trazia ao grupo, ótimo, você está no seu direito. Fale mal do lado mais polido de Gilmour, mas sua adoção à banda melhorou o sua produção em milhares de vezes, ao meu gosto. 3.5/5
not as good as dsotm but still has the same vibe
This is a perfect example of an album I agree you should hear before you die, but I really don't love it. I'm mainly a Meddle>>>Animals PF fan, but I dig ummagumma and some of the jammier stuff here is in that vein. Astronomy Domine and Interstellar Overdrive primarily. Some of Syd’s poppier oddities are solid, like Lucifer Sam. It's definitely one of the more batshit albums of the mainstream, and I admire that
There were distinct glimmers of the Pink Floyd to come sandwiched between tired reworks of Beatles-esque 60s britpop. I’m glad they figured it out eventually.
some parts i liked but mostly didnt
tbh had higher expectations for this one- it was good, just not my fav of theirs. They realllly took advantage of the play between ears though haha
Quirky and very strange in places, like a lot of this list! Decent but I do prefer their later stuff
Finishes stronger than it starts. Definitely 60's psychedelia, sometimes sounds like Beatles.
I am not a stranger to this album. I feel it gives you an idea of what it would be like to trip acid with four of the most intensely British men you have ever met. In the end I find it doesn’t excite as much as their deeper, more emotional/literate work (even versus stuff from the early period from relics like biding my time and paintbox).
meh pink floyd hasn’t done much for me in this experience
Not a huge Floyd fan but kinda enjoyed this one. 3.5 stars
Pink Floyd’s first album is a bit of a blueprint of what was yet to come. A couple of outright nonsense tracks bring the score down a tad. 3.5/5
Schrijf ik net over Fever Ray, dat ik er onder andere Pink Floyd in hoor. Krijg ik die ter toetsing gelijk de volgende dag op mijn bord. Eerder al wat albums van de band afgeserveerd wegens ontoegankelijkheid, maar ook een 5 aan hen uitgedeeld. Met name de meer toegankelijke rustige donkere klanken deden het voor me. Dus wat krijgen we deze keer van hen? Het blijkt wat meer toegankelijk, met soms een onaangename onderbreking a la de afgeserveerde albums. De bijzondere kenmerkende sfeer hoor ik deze keer maar weinig terug. Zonder het stukjes ontoegankelijk geklooi, zou het vaak net zo goed een andere band kunnen zijn. De zang op bijvoorbeeld Lucifer Sam zou net zo goed van tijdgenoten kunnen zijn. Dus tja, we hebben weer een overbodige 3 te pakken.
3+ Stars (9/15)
syd barrett era lo mejor del pink floyd temprano y en verdad te hace preguntarte qué habría sido de ellos si el sid no se hubiera perdido en las drogas
So different from what was to come. A psychedelic rock tour de force. Favorite track: Astronomy Domine
Good, but sometimes a bit crazy.
Crazy atmospheres to fall into, but not necessarily something to dance to. Partly reminds me of St. Peppers.
It’s always cool to the start of something legendary. I can hear them trying to figure out their identity. It’s crazy they went from this to what they did in the 70s. It started off cool for me then once they started getting deep into their experimental noises they lost me. Good effort just inconsistent.
Sure, it's essential. However it is not a 5 star album.
I love Pink Floyd and I appreciate Syd Barrett but it’s not my favorite Pink Floyd era.
I'll probably lose some credibility as a "true" Pink Floyd fan, but I have never truly enjoyed the early works with Barrett at the same level as Gilmourean Floyd. Like I get that these early records were, on the whole, more experimental and genre defining, but they sound so much more a mess. This album in particular basically has two great songs -- Astronomy Domine and Interstellar Overdrive -- and a bunch of filler that have a mixed success rate. Among the better of the rest are Flaming (featuring some great psychedelic mixing), Lucifer Sam (which finds its greatest success in its looseness), and Take Up Thy Stethoscope (love the docta docta and jam session in the middle). And if I'm being completely honest, Bike has always been a goofy fun one that holds a special place in my heart. This is a tough one to land a rating for. As a whole album I feel like its messiness and spottiness drag it downward, but the space rock aesthetic of Astronomy Domine and Interstellar Overdrive are such powerful entries and the otherwise songs noted above are wonderful capsule entries in the psychedelic rock cannon. At some level I feel like a 4 is right, but more objectively I feel like this falls closer to a high 3 for me.
I have never even heard of this album, makes sense that it's a debut. Not my closest listen, but not exactly what I would expect out of Pink Floyd. Maybe that's why I haven't heard of the album. Definitely a bit more random/noisy in a way. All in all, not my fav, but there wasn't much wrong with it.
I have a bit of an aversion to psychedelic music, but I was hoping Pink Floyd being cool could win me round. Unfortunately they're much better at being prog nerds than at doing this.
This was a slog of a listen. Maybe psychedelic rock is best experienced on psychedelics. And The Gnome and The Scarecrow sound like they belonged on a music for primary schoolers album which tracks with the origins of the record name.
Didn't like it as much as some of the other Pink Floyd records on the list.
okay
Probably a 3, nothing too exciting
This managed to be both weird and boring at the same time. Weird, I can accept - boring, I can’t. Favorite: Lucifer Sam 3.5
Groovy, sounds too much like Spinal Tap for me to not to be able to hear the parodies while listening.
I enjoyed this debut album from Pink Floyd! Surprisingly this is a Pink Floyd album that I’ve never listened to before. It felt different than their other more intricate concept albums but I was still digging the psychedelic/space rock vibes that were prevalent and popular at the time. Overall, this isn’t my favorite Pink Floyd album but I would still give it a thumbs up and another listen in the future!
An early entry from Pink Floyd. Wnjoyable, but certainly before they hones in on their signature sound. Some good songs, a lot of interesting instrumental solos, and a lot of silliness sprinkled in.
Pink Floyd is ok but this album is stretching it as a must-listen.
This could be the most psychedelic album ever. Syd Barrett Pink Floyd is a different beast to the 70's prog outfit that most of us are familiar with. I'm tempted to get this, but have always been put off in the past, primarily because I don't know when I would play it. However, if 'Arnold Lane' and 'See Emily Play' we're on the track listing, rather than separate singles, this would be purchase material. Heard before ✅️ Listened this time ✅️ Revisit ✅️ Nearly ★★★☆☆ (6/10)
6/10 I can’t help but get a vibe of the performative ‘look at me, aren’t I weird’ about Syd Barrett, like a man playing the Blue Peter theme tune on two recorders up his nostrils as some kind of busking ‘performance art’ in a provincial town centre. He was obviously a troubled man, but I feel like he definitely leans into it and tries to be kooky. Perhaps his real troubles started when he leaned further into being the real life version of the character we hear on this album. Who knows? Anyway, on to the album. It’s a bit of a mixed bag. There were rarely moments that I hated, but there were certainly moments where it did step a little too far over the line into self indulgent farting around. There were a load of really great ideas spread across the album and when I felt the thread of a song managed to maintain itself while they played around with sound it worked really well. Some of the vocal harmonisation and sound design were of particular note and a lot of the studio work they obviously did on this brought great results across the whole album. It did, on occasion, feel a bit like they were trying loads of ideas to see what stuck, and at times that lead to some odd decisions, such as the strange panning choices and some vocal takes that clipped the levels in quite an unpleasant way. But as the album went on, I kind of felt myself drifting into the zone of the album and it started to get its hooks into me just a bit more, although never quite enough for the more jarring elements to throw a spanner in the works every now and then. This was certainly an interesting one to hear, particularly as it’s so far away from what Pink Floyd would become, but I doubt I’ll be hurrying back to it very often. Astronomy Dominé - This is quite meandering. It’s one of those tracks that has lots of build up, but never really reaches a destination. There’s a collection of somewhat decent ideas and moments in there, but they’re stitched together in a fairly incoherent way. Lucifer Sam - This has got a good bit of drive to it and actually lands on some decent hooks here and there. Although it does stray quite close to sounding like the soundtrack from a 60s spy tv show in places. The mix is all over the place, with some sections being incredibly unbalanced to the right channel, which is odd. There are some really cool bits of effects use here and there that add a bit of extra depth and range to the sound, which I appreciated. Matilda Mother - This is more of a folksy number. There are some nice vocal harmonies in there and some interesting rhythmic approaches. While things do wander off in slightly odd directions, there is a general thread that holds things more or less together, which helps with overall coherence. Flaming - This has another little edge of folk about it. I mean it’s also twee and kooky, but it feels performatively so. It’s too coherent to be completely mental, but they try and stray off the rails and do get a bit too self indulgent in the middle where it drifts away into almost random tinkling. At least they wrap it back together again at the end. Pow R. Toc H - Another oddly right balanced mix to start off. This is a drifting, meandering piece, that seems to be all about the vibe. I actually quite enjoyed this one and there felt like a bit more purpose to the psychedelic soundscapes and effects they were using. It was hardly a conventional song, but it was a pretty good experience nonetheless. Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk - This feels like it straddles a sound somewhere between The Kinks and The Doors. It does wander off into little avenues, but it’s quite an enjoyable journey and it does feel like there’s a central thread that holds it all together and it doesn’t ever get too thin and erratic. Interstellar Overdrive - There are parts of this that are really great. When they get the pace up and build a swathe of sound, it can be satisfyingly yet almost terrifyingly all encompassing, but they do collapse into fragmented moments that are a tad wanky and self indulgent. It’s a fine line to tread and at times they have a foot either side of it, but overall, as an audio experience it’s pretty good. Some of the effects work and sound design is just fantastic and I can imagine something like this sounding remarkable in 1967, whereas it may sound less otherworldly and strange to modern ears. The Gnome - This is another performatively mad song. I mean, it’s very silly, but some of the progressions are actually very nice. The production of the creepy whispering bit is very cool too. I ended up enjoying this more than I expected to. Chapter 24 - There are some really nice moments to this, particularly some of the harmonies, but it does drift off into a bit of a meandering wash at various points. It also clips really badly late on. Bit of a swing and a miss for me, this one. The Scarecrow - Another slightly meandering effort. I quite like the slightly unexpected pacing and flow of Barrett’s vocal, but as a whole, it just feels a little too twee and aimless apart from that. Bike - A suitably ‘listen to me being weird’ end to the album. But it’s also a pretty good song that blends nicely across different ideas and threads, which could easily be lost under the silliness of the vocal, but is actually well structured and pretty accomplished from a musical and atmospheric point of view. It does end with a fairly deranged sound collage, but in this instance, I quite like it as the closing act.
Not my favorite Pink Floyd album.
It was a little slow to start, but I could see this album being good for slightly active background music.
Likely a spicy take, but Syd wasn’t doing them any favors. This was rough to get through. It got REALLY British at times.
Maybe it will get better if you listen to it over and over, or maybe it's better when you are high? I find that I just really don't enjoy psychedelic rock at all, and while this adds a bunch of strange noises to switch it up it's just not enough Standouts Astronomy Domine Lucifer Sam The Scarecrow 3/5
Relics.
Although it seems inevitable that we'd get Pink Floyd's debut album (since debit albums are clearly a dominant theme of this collection), I'm bummed that we got Syd Barrett's far-less-interesting turn than another later Pink Floyd album like "Ummagumma", "Animals" or even the much later (but not nearly as good) "Division Bell". But I've never heard any of the tunes on this album, so I guess I'm appreciative of the chance to hear what Pink Floyd sounded like under Syd Barrett's sadly-deteriorating direction. I'm not sure any of the tracks really stood out for me, but it was interesting to have improv-heavy instrumentals next to clearly-structured songs. It's kind fun to hear too how much they embodied the psychedelic rock sound of the late 60s, and the production quality is definitely higher than many contemporary albums. Also pretty cool to read that they recorded this album next door to the Beatles as they record "Sgt. Pepper's".
While I was excited to hear Pink Floyd's first album, I wasn't all that excited by the music which didn't portend the great albums in their future. Still, happy to have heard it even if I doubt I'll listen again.
Okay
Havent listened to this album before. Track one and i thought this album was going to be a bit too psychedelic twee for me but track 2 is a banger. Dont get me wrong, i do like me some Syd Barrett but there is only so much trippy music i can ingest without having ingested a trip. Thats probably a bit unfair as i get more into the album. There is a fair bit of fuzzy garage rock feel to this as well (Barrett’s guitar sound on Interstellar Overdrive wouldnt be out of place on a Mudhoney album). I’m a bit confused by it but i like it. Think i will need to give this a repeat lesson or two. Actually i got to The Gnome and started to lose interest. This is only one of two tracks i know on this album and i dont hate it but i was enjoying the meandering bass lines, with straightforward drum beats where the rythm section are not exactly ‘in the pocket’ but still manage to drive songs on and then harsh guitar chord rhthms (almost percussive in parts) that dive in and oit of the beat , was enjoying all of this so much i was a bit disappointed at the gear change. Cut this album to tracks 2 to 7 and i’d almost give it 5 stars. Thinking about it, this would have been on vunil so perhaps up to 7 is side A? The bike is the other track i know and one of my favorite Syd Barrett tracks so enjoyed but again 2-7 stand out for me. I thought maybe it was non-Syd tracks i liked but he wrote all but 3 tracks and guided the recording by and large. I think its the chaotic clash of Barrett’s guitar against the freewheeling organ but kept rocking along by Roger Waters beautiful bass lines. I guess this is a debut album that showcases well what they would have been like live (long improvised instrumental pieces), some at the time technical innovation and Barrrett’s genius/madness knife’s edge. The track Matilda Mother is almost Spinal Tap/Rush like. At least PF had LSD as an excuse. A reluctant 3 stars as half the album not as captivating for me.
Such a strange album. Very obviously inspired by the doors and Beatles and definitely not hitting the same highs as the music that inspires it. There is a looming sense of things to come from them throughout the album, but especially at the end of bike, as if to hint towards what they become. I truly didn’t know this existed, or any of the albums that come before dark side. I guess I just assumed they appeared with that but I guess they had a seven album run before it. I want to see the transition towards what is inarguably one of the best pieces of art ever but I do not have the time today. Hitting this with a 3, enjoyed the history lesson but didn’t love the songs.
The version of Pink Floyd has never quite hit the mark for me. I did enjoy this album more than I remember though. For 1967, this had to be mindblowing. It's super experimental, and I respect how they really went for it. For me, this is a band that improves with every album leading up to Dark Side, and this is just the beginning of that journey.
Nothing stood out enough for this to be a 4-5 like other Floyd albums.
I thought they were ripping off the Moody Blues, but it was the other way round, to go by the release dates. Half the bands in England were doing this faux-medieval naffing around until something better came along; some of it was even good. Some of this is good. But we’re all grateful they moved on.
Some fun flashes of brilliance with a lot of filler and silliness.
DOY DOY
This was fine, but not memorable enough to really have much to.say about it
I really like Pink Floyd but idk this isn’t what I want from them. It’s very much Pink Floyd but psychedelic instead of proggy but I feel as though neither their playing nor their writing were as good here as they would later become. The prog sound suits them far more than the psych sound. I really liked “Lucifer Sam” a lot though
Enjoyed the druggy psych jams, less so the children's circus music
Never actually listened to this album before. Can say I definitely prefer The Wall or Dark Side to this, but this isn't bad either. Just not as good as the others. But hey its their debut album.
trippy 60's psychedelic rock
Ooof. I understand the value of it, but No. The capital s Songs with their whimsical fairytale pop psychedelia aren't my shit and the aimless noodlings of Let's See What Weird Stuff We Can Do With Our Instruments aren't either. Or not yet, as presented here, in their infancy. I guess the childlike whimsy of this debut is a quality for some, but I'd much rather skip forward to when Pink Floyd had let that all simmer into "Saucerful of Secrets", "More" or one of my all-time favourite songs "Careful With That Axe, Eugene" (or the "Come in Number 51, Your Time Is Up" version). This here brought me no joy.
Short and wacky. My first of the Syd Barrett albums and fitting it was their debut. A sign of things to come, not my favourite and it felt very whimsical compared to later outputs. Sounded quite close to The Kinks. Any album with songs about Gnomes and little mice gets bonus points
Hm. Seemed like they were already out innovating DSOTM long before it came out. Some's a bit much, the panning on the interstellar one almost hurts the soul with good headphones. Still cool stuff, some goes pretty hard.
As a Pink Floyd album this kind of sucks, but as a psychedelic rock album by a new up and coming band it's fine. You can hear the sound that they're eventually going to figure out (especially in songs like "Interstellar Overdrive" and the end of "Bike") but a lot of the songs just sound like standard, kind of goofy psychedelic rock of the era. Why did Bowie and Pink Floyd both release weird gnome songs in 1967?
Loaded with goofy shit that doesn’t exactly rock, but this album undeniably kicked open some psychedelic doors that allowed other artists to explore. You can spot clear elements of influence straight out of this record over the following decades, even much more contemporary and heavier groups such as The Mars Volta wouldn’t exist without it. Overall, this album definitely isn’t going into my rotation, but I still respect it.
I've never listened to this album. I've listened to "Dark Side of the Moon" a thousand times, "The Wall" a hundred, and their other albums barely at all. I see this is their first album, that's exciting. "Astronomy Domine" is great. It's got so much classic Pink Floyd in it already. The chanted vocals are still a core of their sound 10 years later. "Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk" has sweet instrumentals. I'm not sure if I'm hearing a guitar or a synth but its jamming. The muffled talking underneath crazy instrumental is a funny thing to have as a signature sound. I might've thought they just did this on Dark Side, but it seems like they loved it the entire time. They're a little more Beatles sounding on the end of this song. I am not really loving the experimental noise taking up most of "Interstellar Overdrive". I'm surprised this song has some of the most plays on the record. "The Gnome" could not sound more like it's on Sgt. Peppers. You could put it on the album and nobody would blink. It's a great song. This was an interesting album. It was like a mix of Beatles style rock, and classic Pink Floyd. I liked it, but didn't love most of it. 6/10
soo many ideas
Better than I remember it being, but they definitely got better.
Fine
3 stars
6/10 Contains the worst elements of prog (daft, childish lyrics, aimless widdling) that now makes it sound self-parodying. However, at times you can hear the weight of invention that was to have so much influence on rock music
I'll never have enough drugs in my system for this. 2.5.
When it’s good (Astronomy, Lucifer, Stethoscope, Interstellar), it’s really good. When it’s not, it still offers a decent glimpse into the psychedelic sound of the late 1960s. There are more consistently good albums from that era (and especially that same year) which capture the essence of psychedelic rock, but the highlights here are among the best in that genre. After Syd left, Pink Floyd wouldn’t sound this good again until Meddle.
Second Pink Floyd album in a row (yesterday was Wish You Were Here) and I still dont get it. It's fine, inoffensive.
Totally get why it's here. That being said I fucking hated every minute. 3 stars is me being generous.
Portions of this are the sort of off-putting psychedelic silliness that might seem deep or fun if you're very into drugs, which I'm not. I'm thinking here of "Chapter 24" and especially "The Gnome" and "Bike." On those tracks I went from bored to genuinely irritated. Some of it, though, it's absolutely transcendent even if sober. "Interstellar Overdrive" is an all-time kickass jam that echoes throughout rock history. It's so far ahead of it's time it's almost difficult to conceive of it being released in 1967 were it not for, say, the Beatles experimenting similarly. "Astronomy Domine," "Lucifer Sam," "Matilda Mother," all whip. It's a bizzaro funhouse mirror of an album. It's tedious and trite at times, but overall I don't think I had properly appreciated it before. It's almost (pardon the play on another title) apples-and-oranges to the Waters-era concept run (Wish You Were Here, Animals, Dark Side, Wall), which I love, but this is great too. Curious what would've happened if Syd hadn't lost his mind. I'm skeptical it would've remained great, but who the hell knows.
Sounds good. It just sounds kinda abstract
Comme si les Beatles avaient écrit une version très longue de Lucy in the sky with diamonds. Finalement pas une écoute désagréable. Expérience peut-être altérée par la pluie battante sur le pare-brise.
As a young millennial who likes Pink Floyd, this was fine. I think I appreciate it more than I like it. For its time it was new and special.
Nowhere near my fav pink Floyd. Ok but so many better albums by them.
While it is an important album, and Syd was very important at the beginning of Pink Floyd, that doesn't mean that I have to like it.
Listened this about 4 times through. Couldn't get into it as much as other Pink Floyd albums.
This is some odd bridge between the pop of the early and mid sixties and the psychedelic stuff of the late sixties. It got a little out there, but not so far and rambling that this straight, sober bloke can’t follow. Mostly. There are the progressive roots in there, but Syd Barrett era/pre-Gilmore Pink Floyd was a decidedly different band. All in all, I enjoyed it more than most other psychedelic rock that gets too far out. Favorite track is easily Astronomy Domine.
Really interesting as an artifact of psychedelic rock and remarkable considering the albums that came out around it. But while it’s great it feels more like a curiosity than a classic, or a classic example of a specific sub genre within a time. Three stars overall. Four stars if you’re a Pink Floyd fan. Maybe five within the world of psychedelic rock.
not a huge pink floyd fan but i was holding out hope that maybe this one would land better for me because i am a huge 60s psych guy. unfortunately, this album didn't really land for me. the pure psych stuff here didn't really excite me (i would've much preferred a lot of stuff along the lines of 'see emily play' than most of the stuff on here) and it had a lot of whimsical gobbledygook that i now know to expect from british psych music (gnomes and such). unfortunately not really for me.
3.5/5 great mixing but really juvenile for pf
was impressive for its time, but nothing like their more well known albums (dsotm, wywh, the wall) which are way better imo.
Bon...