THE PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN

Even though I am a great Floyd fan, I never quite understood the fuzz around this album. I very well realize it was a very significant output in the time it was released, although by no means comparable to other 1967 classic albuns, such as Sgt. Pepper's, Days of Future Passed and Are You Experienced?. Nowadays, though, it has much more historical and sentimental value, being the only Floyd album made completely under Syd Barret's dominance. Syd was clearly a great talent, but still kind of rough, and unfortunately we can only guess how it would be when he matured artistically.

The main problem with this album, in my opinion, are the poor lyrics, and the tendency to repeat itself in some tracks. The highlights are the instrumental tracks - Interstellar Overdrive and Pow R. Toc H. - which have a fantastic psychedelic feel; Lucifer Sam, with an excelent rythm section and, obviously, Astronomine Domine and its great guitar work. Chapter 24 has very good lyrics based on I Ching. Quite clever, but an exception for that matter, unfortunately (Astronomy Domine has nice lyrics too). The rest of the album, though, are not that inspired, repetitive and boring. The greatest letdown for me is Bike, one of the worst - if not the worst - Floyd song, with its repetitive martial rythm and childish lyrics.

It deserves 3 stars for its (few) great moments.