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Rating:
Excellent debut by that group that emerged from Norman Smith's sound experiments in the infamous Abbey Studios. Their promising career would begin shortly thereafter, highlighting the deterrent significance of Barrett's latent mental stability. Even here, as with the Doors, it is difficult for me to judge whether Barrett's absence, which was well replaced by Gilmour, was a good or bad thing.
The opening track is the beginning of what would become Pink Floyd's trademark, namely the best execution of psychedelia (a step above King Crimson and Grateful Dead), where Syd's schizophrenic genius is evident right from the start of the masterful "Astronomy Domine" (later revisited in "Ummagumma") with experimentation of interesting sound effects and particular vocal metrics. The influence of the aforementioned Smith, sound engineer for the Beatles during "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver", who would "leave" them during the "Sgt. Pepper's" sessions, is evident.
Even with excellent results, one can notice that in "Matilda Mother", featuring an oriental-esque solo that serves as a great balance point, the ending of "I Want to Tell You" is reminiscent, while "Flaming" gives way to the ending of "I'm Only Sleeping". In "Take Up the Stethoscope and Walk", one can recognize a touch of Zappa's absurd style already present in "Freak Out!"
Nothing to disparage, far from me, in fact it seems that Pink Floyd sense which is the right path that will lead them to worldwide success and they bet everything (at least in the debut) on "Interstellar Overdrive", where their distinct mark is clearly recognized. The metallic whirlpools represented in this performance provide the opportunity for turgid minds to sink into a plastic effect of estrangement that gives the impression of a slow flow, almost gently with surreal metrics. Indeed, it is an impression. The daring flight of screeching brakes in the innermost nodes of cerebral circuits takes hold, assuming a fierce dominance over the English group's unmatchable orchestrations.
It would seem to say to them: "Psychedelia is our stuff, gentlemen, step aside!". In my view, they have every right to claim it, even though the ancestral influences (in chronological order Bob Dylan, Donovan, Byrds, Holy Modal Rounders, 13th Floor Elevators, Kinks, Beatles) and their contemporary ones (Frank Zappa, Jefferson Airplane, Soft Machine, Moody Blues, Velvet Underground, Grateful Dead) cannot be denied.
Pink Floyd are Pink Floyd, and flirtatious glances can be granted (always in my opinion) only to King Crimson (The Court of the Crimson King, In the Wake of Poseidon, Red) and Grateful Dead (Anthem of Sun). The rest is copy.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Astronomy Domine (04:12)
Lime and limpid green, a second scene
A fight between the blue you once knew.
Floating down, the sound resounds
Around the icy waters underground.
Jupiter and Saturn, Oberon, Miranda
And Titania, Neptune, Titan.
Stars can frighten.
Blinding signs flap,
Flicker, flicker, flicker blam. Pow, pow.
Stairway scare Dan Dare who's there?
Lime and limpid green
The sounds surrounds the icy waters underground
Lime and limpid green
The sounds surrounds the icy waters underground.
02 Lucifer Sam (03:07)
Lucifer Sam, siam cat.
Always sitting by your side
Always by your side.
That cat's something I can't explain.
Jennifer Gentle, you're a witch.
You're the left side
He's the right side.
Oh, no!
That cat's something I can't explain.
Lucifer go to sea.
Be a hip cat
Be a ship's cat.
Somewhere, anywhere.
That cat's something I can't explain.
At night prowling sifting sand.
Hiding around on the ground.
He'll be found when you're around.
That cat's something I can't explain.
04 Flaming (02:46)
Alone in the clouds all blue
Lying on an eiderdown.
Yippee! You can't see me
But I can you.
Lazing in the foggy dew
Sitting on a unicorn.
No fair, you can't hear me
But I can you.
Watching buttercups cup the light
Sleeping on a dandelion.
Too much, I won't touch you
But then I might.
Screaming through the starlit sky
Traveling by telephone.
Hey ho, here we go
Ever so high.
Alone in the clouds all blue
Lying on an eiderdown.
Yippee! You can't see me
But I can you.
08 The Gnome (02:13)
I want to tell you a story
About a little man
If I can.
A gnome named Grimble Grumble.
And little gnomes stay in their homes.
Eating, sleeping, drinking their wine.
He wore a scarlet tunic,
A blue green hood,
It looked quite good.
He had a big adventure
Amidst the grass
Fresh air at last.
Wining, dining, biding his time.
And then one day - hooray!
Another way for gnomes to say
Oooooooooomray.
Look at the sky, look at the river
Isn't it good?
Look at the sky, look at the river
Isn't it good?
Winding, finding places to go.
And then one day - hooray!
Another way for gnomes to say
Oooooooooomray.
Ooooooooooooooomray.
09 Chapter 24 (03:42)
A movement is accomplished in six stages
And the seventh brings return.
The seven is the number of the young light
It forms when darkness is increased by one.
Change returns success
Going and coming without error.
Action brings good fortune.
Sunset.
The time is with the month of winter solstice
When the change is due to come.
Thunder in the other course of heaven.
Things cannot be destroyed once and for all.
Change returns success
Going and coming without error.
Action brings good fortune.
Sunset, sunrise.
A movement is accomplished in six stages
And the seventh brings return.
The seven is the number of the young light
It forms when darkness is increased by one.
Change returns success
Going and coming without error.
Action brings good fortune.
Sunset, sunrise.
10 The Scarecrow (02:11)
The black and green scarecrow as ev'ryone knows
Stood with a bird on his hat and straw everywhere
He didn't care...
He stood in a field where barley grows
His head did no thinking his arms didn't move
Except when the wind cut up rough
And mice ran around on the ground
He stood in a field where barley grows
The black and green scarecrow is sadder than me
But now he's resigned to his fate
'Cause life's not unkind
He doesn't mind
He stood in a field where barley grows
11 Bike (03:21)
I've got a bike
You can ride it if you like
It's got a basket
A bell that rings
And things to make it look good
I'd give it to you if I could
But I borrowed it
You're the kind of girl that fits in with my world
I'll give you anything
Everything if you want things
I've got a cloak
It's a bit of a joke
There's a tear up the front
It's red and black
I've had it for months
If you think it could look good
Then I guess it should
You're the kind of girl that fits in with my world
I'll give you anything
Everything if you want things
I know a mouse
And he hasn't got a house
I don't know why
I call him Gerald
He's getting rather old
But he's a good mouse
You're the kind of girl that fits in with my world
I'll give you anything
Everything if you want things
I've got a clan of gingerbread men
Here a man
There a man
Lots of gingerbread men
Take a couple if you wish
They're on the dish
You're the kind of girl that fits in with my world
I'll give you anything
Everything if you want things
I know a room full of musical tunes
Some rhyme
Some ching
Most of them are clockwork
Let's go into the other room and make them work
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Other reviews
By charles
From the very first record, you can tell what they would do in the future, which is create a sound all their own.
Excellent record, which deviates a bit from the typical Pink Floyd sound but is still a colossus in the history of music.
By zaireeka
Written at the tip of LSD.
One of those clocks, orphaned by the irreversible madness of Syd Barrett, was preserved by his old companions and made to chime once again at the start of Time.
By Moro1
Only Barrett can explain the masterpiece he composed and wrote, and he does it through the stories of a king told in a mother’s fairy tale.
He sang it almost 40 years ago and it is still the most beautiful of all.
By anthon
"From these first seconds, the listener is transported into an otherworldly dimension, a dimension that characterizes much of the album."
"Interstellar Overdrive represents the true innovation, in terms of harmonic-melodic physiognomy, of the album."
By AJAX
The early Pink Floyd managed to synthesize into a unique and inimitable vision the impulses from West Coast acid rock, ... and the love for genuinely English fairy-tale elements.
'The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn' captures both sides of the coin, marking a year when pop and the avant-garde went hand in hand.
