Pink Floyd Retrospective: Album 02- A Saucerful of Secrets

 

So what happens when the heart of your band emotionally disintegrates?

Album:  A Saucerful of Secrets

Year Released:    1968

Lineup:

Pink Floyd

• David Gilmour – guitars (all except 2 and 7), kazoo (4), vocals
• Nick Mason – drums (all except 2), percussion (1, 5, 6, 7), lead vocals (4), kazoo (7)
• Roger Waters – bass guitar (all tracks), percussion (3, 5), vocals
• Richard Wright – Farfisa organ (all tracks), piano (1, 2, 5, 6), Hammond organ (1, 4, 5), Mellotron (5, 6), vibraphone (3, 5), celesta (3), xylophone (6), tin whistle (7), vocals
• Syd Barrett – vocals (7), slide guitar (2), acoustic guitar (2, 7), electric guitar (3, 7)

Additional personnel

• Norman Smith – producer, drums (2), backing vocals (2, 6), voice (4)
• The Stanley Myers Orchestra (4)
• The Salvation Army (The International Staff Band) – brass section (7)

Track Listing:

Side one

No. Title                                                                   Length

1. "Let There Be More Light"                                 5:38

2. "Remember a Day"                               4:33

3. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"   5:28

4. "Corproal Clegg"                                               4:12

Side two

No. Title                                                                  Length

5. "A Saucerful of Secrets"                                  11:57

6. "See-Saw"                                      4:36

7. "Jugland Blues"                              3:00

Overall Thoughts:

Hypothetical situation:  The band Queen releases their first album.  There's some good songs- it's a promising group.  You look forward to hearing more music from them.

And then.... Freddy Mercury just vanishes.  *Poof*.  Gone.  No more singing from him, no more songs written by him.

The rest of the band still produces music- but does "Bohemian Rhapsody" exist?  What type of music do they make?  Do they become the hitmaker we think of?  What is the band "Queen" like without their msot charismatic member?

That's pretty much what happened to Pink Floyd.  The first album was dominated by Syd Barrett- he wrote most of the songs, he played the lead guitar, he was the primary singer- he was the core of the band that was signed, and he is the heart and soul of "A Piper at the Gates of Dawn".

And then, a combination of drugs and mental illness made Barrett unresponsive and apathetic.  He stopped playing during concerts and caused several shows to be cancelled.

The rest of the band (Roger Waters, Nick Mason, Richard Wright) brought on David Gilmour to take over guitar duties, with the intention to have Barrett focus on songwriting.  For a short while Pink Floyd was a five person band... but as Barrett's condition worsened, the Band chose not to pick him up for a show, and ousted him.

Barrett's contributions to the second album amounts to one song ("Jugland Blues") that he wrote and sung, and some guitar work.  

And just like that, the core of the Pink Floyd's first album disappeared.  Barrett later had a couple of solo albums before retiring in 1974, shying away from public life.  He passed away in 2006.

As for the album itself-  "A Saucerful of Secrets" is still a psychadelic, progressive album.  But it's more focussed, and the band has levelled up.  Adding Gilmour (an outstanding guitarist) to the band IMMEDIATELY improved the quality of the music, right from the start of the first song, "Let There Be More Light".  Richard Wright's keyboard work is also excellent, especially on "Remember A Day".

The lyrics are less weird than "A Piper At the Gates of Dawn", but also not that memorable.  At this point in their careers, Pink Floyd is more focussed on music than lyrics

"A Piper At the Gates of Dawn" is background music- but you actually listen and pay attention to the music of "A Saucerful of Secrets".  The band has a direction, and focus, and it shows in a clearly better record.

The centerpiece of the album is the title track, which is almost 12 minutes in length.  It hits all of the notes of a long, prog-rock epic... strange title, meanding song, additional sounds besides instruments.  As a bonus, there's even some Orchestral music.  It's not awful, just forgettable.

The album ends with "Jugland Blues", the only song Barrett wrote for the album.  It's disjointed and random.  There's signs of good music, but it only highlights the contrast with the early part of the album.  And confirms why Pink Floyd improved by adding Gilmour.

Ranking of Pink Floyd Albums (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. A Saucerful of Secrets
2. Piper at the Gates of Dawn

Top 10 Pink Floyd Songs (changing as more albums are reviewed):

1. "Let There Be More Light", A Saucerful of Secrets
2. "Set The Controls For the Heart of the Sun", A Saucerful of Secrets
3. "Remember A Day", A Saucerful of Secrets
4. "Flaming", A Piper At the Gates of Dawn
5. "Astronomy Dominé", A Piper At the Gates of Dawn
6. "A Saucerful of Secrets", A Saucerful of Secrets
7. "Matilda Mother", A Piper At the Gates of Dawn
8. "See-Saw", A Saucerful of Secrets
9. "Lucifer Sam", A Piper At the Gates of Dawn
10. "Take up Thy Stethoscope and Walk", A Piper At the Gates of Dawn