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Youngstown OhioA Saucerful of Secrets
Published: 25 October, 1990
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Youngstown Ohio "The Pink Floyd" dissolves and "Pink Floyd" is instated forevermore

Pink Floyd's second album was created during an intense transitional period for the band. Although musical styles are inherently eclectic, the songs nonetheless tend to fit within two distinct territories: those on which Syd Barrett was present and those which housed an embryo of the band's future sound without Syd. The troubled visionary plays on only three of the album's seven tracks and is credited for writing only one, being the unsettling schizophrenia billboard by the name of "Jugband Blues". Still, while critics either praised the album for its varied presentation or pummeled it for an apparent lack of true direction, both sides tend to agree that A Saucerful of Secrets was essentially a threshold piece for (The) Pink Floyd. On one side was the band's early incarnation of psych-pop, and on the other a path to self actualization.



Youngstown Ohio It's hard to accurately place this album

As is fairly well known, this album was at the center of the Syd Barrett to David Gilmour transition the band was undergoing. In this same vein, the loss of Barrett led many skeptics to believe that this band would ultimately fade away. As such, the band obviously had many pressures and conflicts that may have affected this album.

The album opens with Let There Be More Light, which is actually a very good psychadelic song much along the lines of the band's debut album, Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Rick Wright's Remember a Day is arguably the best of his songs.

Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun is my personal favorite on the album, it is the first song that really showcases Waters's lyrical talent. Corporal Clegg is a classic Waters song, though undisciplined both musically and lyrically. It's not worth much, except for the kazoo solo (although that is worth a lot).

A Saucerful of Secrets (the song) is interesting, for sure, but it never really grabs hold of you, and that's a real drawback for a 10 minute + song. As for See Saw, well I will just get it out right now, it is one of the few truly "bad" songs of Pink Floyd. There are some that I don't like, but this one is just bad. It has nothing to draw you in, doesn't sound particularily good, etc.

Jugband Blues is the only true Barrett song on the CD. While it is one of my favorite of his songs, it doesn't seem to fit soundwise on the album (except for the reappearence of the kazoos).

All in all, this album is unstructured, and not everything sounds like it belongs. But hey, we can forgive the band for one less than stellar outing, especially given the circumstances they were operating under at the time.

I advise that you buy this album only if you like Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Just be warned, it's not like later Pink Floyd, from Meddle onwards, where you really need to listen to the album all the way through, or else you will miss something. I imagine you will probably end up listening mostly to the first three tracks and the last track.



Youngstown Ohio Hints Of Great Things To Come

When the late Syd Barrett left Floyd before the release of this album, the band were understandably at a crossroads, not just musically, as Syd had been the main songwriter, but also could they survive as a unit without him? Well the rest as they say, is history. ASOS, if a little uneven turned out to be a very fine album overall, despite the band's problems. Musically ASOS certainly sounds like a step forward from their first album, if not quite as creative.

The first 3 tracks on the album are nothing less than brilliant. On 'Let There Be More Light', Roger Waters takes over the reins of songwriting quite seamlessly after Syd's departure. This is a superb trippy number. Dave Gilmour fits into the band perfectly, and the ending of this track as it slowly fades away has a very haunting and doom laden atmosphere. Classic psychedelic Floyd.

'Remember A Day' is much lighter and more melodic. A nostalgic song, written by Rick Wright it has a beauty of its own. To top it off, Syd Barratt plays some excellent high note slide guitar licks on it. He hadn't completely disappeared yet.

The third track 'Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun' although written by Waters, was already being performed by Floyd while Barrett was still in the band. This track again has great atmosphere, and Richard Wright plays some nice jazzy notes on vibes in the background. The lyrics too are quite remarkable. Did Roger Waters really write this by himself?

'Corporal Clegg' at first seems rather out of place on this album. It certainly sounds nothing like any of the other tracks. It's basically a dig at the military, the issues of war and brass band music by Roger Waters. I suspect Roger really included this, as the Vietnam war was in full rage at the time of the album's release. It was getting a lot of press coverage here, and Roger saw this as his personal opportunity to criticise war. The use of a kazoo (by Roger I presume) adds to the mocking feel of the song. CC also acted as a closing track to the first half of the LP, so in that context it fits in much better as a track on the LP rather than one on a CD. When listening to ASOS it's worth bearing in mind that this album was originally released as an LP.

ASOS, the title track is the longest on the album. It's certainly psychedelic, but not as free form as 'Interstellar Overdrive' was. It's more structured, but still has a very spacy feel to it. It's the centrepiece track of the album as you would expect. My only niggle here is the sudden ending of it. They could have thought that out a little better.

Am I the only one that likes 'Seesaw'? This is an innocuous, yet rather quirky Rick Wright number, with some humorous short and sudden changes in tempo, before settling down again in 3/3 time. It is a deliberately weird song, but certainly listenable. It also sets up the mood well for Syd Barratt's Floyd swansong.

'Jugband Blues' features the man himself on vocals. It's his last composition on a Floyd album, and with his passing it seems an even more poignant track now than it ever was. This is pure wonderful, idiosyncratic Barratt. In a way it's a self-pitying song; "It's awfully considerate of you to think of me here, and I must oblige to you for making it clear that I'm not here"...yet it's as freaky as say 'Bike', complete with the Sally Bash army band in the background, together with Rick Wright's strange swirling organ. Oh, and that wonderful kazoo pops up yet again.

A sad but fitting end to a very interesting and enjoyable album.

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