THE PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN

Very mixed reviews over this album : For some, "it sounds terrible" or "noisy", for me though, this LP is sheer genius! I don't think this can be qualified as a genuine prog album because it is too shambolic and the playing--especially Barrett--is on and off, out of tunes and offbeat!

To be honest, the first time I listened to it, I absolutely hated it! Only "Astronomy Domine" and the first 2 minutes of "Interstellar" were able to retain my attention. But finally, I started to grab the childish, magical atmosphere of the record, oddly backed up by a proto- punk music!

Unlike many reviewers, this album was my introduction to the band! And it may explain why I am not a Floyd-head (my interest for them drops with "Dark Side" and all subsequent albums>>>actually, whenever I want to listen to a good straight pop/rock album, I play "the White Album" and no "Dark Side")

Finally, the album sounds dated, but who cares...not me anyway! This album is likeable even if you are completely indifferent to the other Floyds recordings (with the exception of pre-commercial albums like "Saucerful" or "Atom")...anyway, it happened for me!