Pink Floyd – A Saucerful of Secrets (1968)

It's sometimes easy to forget that one of the most successful bands in the world, Pink Floyd, was once a super non-commercial alternative band. Although, not in a sense that they wouldn't have been successful even back then. They were the pioneers of 60's art rock and psychedelia scene. Where The Beatles just spiced their songs with slight psychedelia sounds, Pink Floyd really made music out of that psychedelia. This second album still had a visionary songwriter Syd Barrett who was forced to leave the band in the middle of recording this album because of extensive drug use. Pink Floyd hired a new guitar player because of this and so David Gilmour joined the band. This is the only album where they both played. I would say that this album is the least commercial of all the Pink Floyd albums, but I personally like it a lot.



I only have this album on a jewel case CD, which is a bit of a shame, because the album cover is so spectacular. This was the second time and outside artist was permitted to design an album cover for EMI. First time this had been permitted for The Beatles. Pink Floyd's album covers are legendary and this abstract mess is perfect for the music on this album.

I was a more conservative music listener when I was younger. I wanted my music to have clear and quite simple melodies and I didn't enjoy noise that much. As I've grown older and I have broadened my musical horizons, I have begun to appreciate noise and unconventional melody lines more. Especially psychedelic rock is one of my favourite genres in music these days. Saucerful of Secrets is an amazing pioneer album for this musical genre. It's way more radical than almost anything that was made back at the time. The sounds are very modern and very apt for the space exploration era they came out in. Although the real reason for these sounds must have been drug use.

The album kicks off with an amazing bass line in Let There Be More Light that seems to predict the appearance of Krautrock a few years later. The organ solos are all over the place in a good way. The band has also played with stereo recording. Remember a Day is pure genius art rock piece that depicts the musical scene of the late 60's perfectly. Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun is a shamanistic hypnosis of a song with amazing use of different sounds. This must've been very popular with the LSD users of the day. Corporal Clegg sounds more poppy with it's clear and simpler melodies. The marching band scenes with kazoos remind me of some of the craziest Kinks songs. The second half starts with the most ambitious and the weirdest song on the album, which is also the title track. This twelve minute epic is one of a kind with it's elaborate drumming and clanking and blinking sounds. See-Saw tones the mood down a bit with some beautiful ballad atmosphere. The sounds in this song pave the way for progressive rock scene that followed a couple of years later. The album ends in the strange circus-style song, Jugband Blues, which remarkably sounds quite a lot like Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band that was released in the same year.

Today, I think I appreciate these early Pink Floyd albums at least as much as I do the later mega hit albums. Sad Barrett was a genius who was amazingly supported by this band, and when he went on to his solo career, he was never as good anymore. And I feel like world lost many interesting albums with this parting of ways even if it got some great albums in exchange by the existing Pink Floyd. This album really requires a proper stereo and good concentration to get the best out of it.

Listen to the album on Spotify.