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I first heard Pink Floyd in college in 1971. At the time their newest albums found the band in an experimental phase, trying to discover their sound. A few years later they found mainstream success, though I tend to prefer the albums before that happened. As time went on, I went on to other kinds of music.
This album was not among my favorites at the time. It seemed primitive, a bit far out for my understanding. I heard it a few times but spent more time with Relics, Ummagumma, Meddle, Atom Heart Mother.
But now as I revisit all of Pink Floyd's albums, this one stands out as a classic, and definitely one of their best, while being nothing at all like what followed. With three of the four members of the later, commercially successful group, this one differed because of the band leader of the time, Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett, who wrote the songs and gave the band its unique sound.
This album, along with the first five tracks on a CD known as "The Early Singles" that came in the box set (and are also on the 2007 3-CD edition reissue of this album), and one track on Saucerful of Secrets, is all we have of Barrett's Pink Floyd. Barrett gradually withdrew from the band, but in the transitional, experimental phase that followed (before "Dark Side), he left a lingering influence.
Barrett was experimenting heavily with LSD during the time this music was made. He was going down a road of psychedelic music that had not been traveled much before, making it up as he went along, and (mis)using ordinary instruments to get the sounds he wanted, since there were not a lot of special effects at that time. The band was performing in London in 1966, perhaps influencing John Lennon, who is seen at a video of one of their performances. Sadly, he also seemed to be ever more disconnected with reality as he developed some kind of mental illness.
Art can be very interesting when produced by people who are a bit unbalanced, and this album is an excellent example of that. The music is complex in its chords, rhythms, and changes. The subject matter is unusual to say the least, and certainly it was for the time.
As I listen to it again now, nearly 50 years after it was recorded, it sounds very fresh and clear. Some is no doubt because of the excellent new remastering, but a lot of it is the music itself.
This is a unique album, anything but a cliche, and it deserves a serious listen from any serious listener of 60s or psychedelic music. It bears little resemblance to what Pink Floyd later became, and yet you can hear their roots in this recording.
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