Pink Floyd
A Saucerful of Secrets

1968-2018 Ladies and gentlemen... fifty years of "A Saucerful Of Secrets". The second album by Pink Floyd, an extremely important album not only for its content but also for everything that happened to the band after the incredible debut of "The Piper", and especially to Syd Barrett.

Against all odds after the release of "The Piper", the Floyd were subjected to a real tour de force from one city to another. Concerts that at times were spectacular and other times disastrous, this because Syd's psychic balance was deteriorating day by day and the first "signals" of this mental disturbance were certainly not new, as even during "The Piper", Syd showed signs of obvious imbalance. There are numerous accounts that speak of unbelievable and grotesque episodes. That Syd Barrett who stands at the center of the stage, with a guitar in hand in complete silence, without playing a single note... and the rest of the band there not knowing what to do. Or that Syd Barrett who goes on stage with greasy hair of who knows what and a face covered with that strange mess dripping from his hair. Again that Syd Barrett who howled like a wolf at night, who locks a girl in a wardrobe throwing her some cookies from time to time. This was the Syd Barrett of '68, a year in which the Floyd were experiencing a period of full crisis. Gilmour's intervention, at least according to what has been said and written over these 50 long years should have simply been to "help out" and to "give a hand" to the band, to prevent their dream from collapsing along with Syd. Most probably though, at a subconscious level, the idea of removing Barrett from the band and replacing him with Gilmour was already concrete. This is an epic moment in the band's history, a sad and desperate decision that would lead the entire band in the future (particularly Roger Waters) to terrible guilt and great frustration. Perhaps Syd could have been helped, perhaps the band shouldn't have abandoned him, perhaps the band members should have stopped when they noticed that Syd was following them through the streets of Cambridge like a dog that has been abandoned by its owner. Perhaps everything should have gone another way... but it went like this.

A bass riff announces the start of the album, it's the first track, "Let there be more light", a track that already brings back the atmospheres of the first album, highly psychedelic, danced by people high on acid (there are even videos on YouTube) and with a clear and evident homage to the Beatles, in fact, the lyrics of the song reference the famous "Lucy in the sky with diamond". The first track, in conclusion, is, in my opinion, fantastic, a wild and fast trip, it won't become a classic in live performances, but the track is truly mad and extraordinary. "Remember a day" is the second track, entirely written by Rick Wright, while remaining always in an "acid and hallucinated atmosphere", the sweet Rick creates a sad, melancholic song, his voice manages to make us live a little lost fairy tale. David Gilmour will play this song live for the first time in a show right after Wright's passing in 2008. And now it's the turn of "Set the controls for the heart of the sun" and here we arrive to talk about the first masterpiece contained in this record. Roger Waters sings softly, while the seagulls fly and sing to give a gentle welcome to the new day. A classic that will be present in practically all their concerts in a time span ranging from '68 to '73, and the live executions of this track are moments of ecstasy. "Our music can give you the worst nightmares or catapult you into total ecstasy" said Waters on the subject. "Corporal Clegg," on the other hand, is a completely forgettable track, perhaps together with "See Saw," it is one of the "weakest" moments of the album. There is also a video shot for this track where the Floyd throw food and champagne at each other. But the supreme masterpiece comes after the fun, in fact, after "Corporal Clegg" comes the title track and here the Floyd touch the sky with a finger. An instrumental track that has rightfully entered the history of rock, crazy, hallucinatory, genius. It starts with a sound that manages excellently to give the listener the sensation that a sort of earthquake is rising and its powerful vibrations are about to shake even the air we breathe, Mason's drums become fiery, Gilmour sits on the ground and produces sinister and "alien" sounds, Waters demonically beats against additional cymbals, Wright punches the piano, elbows the Farfisa... it's the apocalypse represented in a musical delirium, slowly this nightmare seems to want to fade, we hear a still unsettling noise but it is soon "softened" by Wright's organ, it's now time to fly, the tune played by Wright certainly makes one think of death, but not of an "eternally dark" death, in fact, heavenly voices come from the sky, the great secret that hides beyond the skies, and beyond space comes to get us, gently embraces us and takes us with it inside a chest of secrets. This miracle is reported masterfully and magically in music. The track "A Saucerful Of Secrets" is an immortal piece, one of the highest moments of music written by the band. After this tragic, dramatic and at the same time paradisiacal and wonderful experience, we can relax with "See Saw," another track written by Rick, very forgettable, even Rick himself didn't like it!

Last track. Not the most beautiful, but the one to which attention now needs to be paid... here Syd returns to sing. A track that if fully understood brings tears to one's eyes. "It’s awfully considerate of you to think of me here, and I’m much obliged to you for making it clear that I’m not here"...these are the first lines sung by Syd in the piece "Jugband Blues," and what does it mean? Is it perhaps a reproach to the band from Syd? Is it maybe a moment of "clarity"? Is it perhaps a way to say "goodbye" not only to the band but to the rest of the world and especially to himself? The truth, I believe, we will never know, incredibly this album closes in mystery. Syd flies away from the Floyd, and for the Floyd, Syd becomes a ghost who will never stop "haunting them".

Making a parallel with the first album, the first thing a listener notices is the fairytale element that so characterized Syd's songs; in this second album, it tends to fade to make room for, in my opinion, more "mystical" dreamlike atmospheres filled with spirituality. I believe that these elements already lead to a drastic difference between the first and second albums of the band. The presence of David Gilmour is not yet felt as in the later works, this is because Syd was still "present" within the band, and also because, I believe that finding oneself in such an environment, around crazies high on acid... well... it's natural that it takes a little to "fit in".

That said, with "A Saucerful Of Secrets" it is undeniable that we are still in a psychedelic domain, but it is also undeniable that everything is decidedly more mature... some have defined this album as "a bad acid trip", I have never understood if this statement was a negative or positive critique, but I have always liked it. Although lacking the brilliance of the great Barrett, despite being deemed a "transitional" record, this second album represents the apex of the Floyd's psychedelic period. Subsequently, the now legendary experimentations of "Ummagumma", the madness of "Atom Heart Mother", the masterpiece contained in "Meddle" which is "Echoes" will follow... we agree... but the apex of the English band's psychedelic period ends with "A Saucerful Of Secrets"... the album where the "crazy diamond" gets lost... going beyond the boundaries of rationality and exploring the darkness of a point of no return.

VinnySparrow