The second release from Pink Floyd is in many ways a new
\nbeginning. Founding member Syd Barrett had succumbed to the ravages
\nof LSD and mental illness, and was replaced by David Gilmour. Along
\nwith Barrett went the nonsense-pop songs that peppered their early
\nwork, replaced with a harder-edged sound and further ventures into
\nspace-rock and other psychedelic freak-outs that would form the
\nkernel of the band’s identity in the future. This was certainly
\nnatural, as Barrett’s clever little pop ditties had got them radio
\nexposure, but it was their experimental live shows that had made
\nthe strongest impression on their fan base.<\/p>\n
\nSaucerful<\/i> suffers a bit from a lack of cohesion. From its
\nearliest days many have complained that it sounded thrown together.
\nThere may be some validity to this claim, but you have to keep in
\nmind that this is a band regrouping from a major catastrophe.
\nBarrett didn’t just leave the band, he slowly imploded in a
\npsychedelic vortex and took his time doing it, with the band trying
\nto cope with this very damaged person who was a long time friend
\nand companion, and agonizing over the decision to replace him. This
\nis on the tail of a fairly successful debut album, a couple of
\nwell-charting singles and a fan base in London clamoring for live
\nshows. I can imagine that after getting Gilmour on board they were
\nhot to get some tracks laid down. In the music business, absence
\nrarely makes the heart grow fonder, so it was critical that they
\nhave a new recording to keep them in the public eye.<\/p>\n
There are still arguments going on to this day regarding the
\ndeparture of Barrett and the subsequent replacement by Gilmour.
\nWhether good or bad, the new Floyd took a more mature direction,
\nand an even more experimental one than the original lineup. Gilmour
\nproved to be an excellent fit. His mercurial guitar style and smoky
\nvoice would add new depth and flexibility to the band’s sound.<\/p>\n
\nSaucerful<\/i> has its share of hits and misses, but it largely
\nstands out for its experimental nature, and for eschewing the pop
\nsongs of Floyd’s early days. At a time when music was in an
\nexperimental growth spurt of mammoth proportions, it stands as one
\nof the most important albums of the era. Their space-rock leanings
\nare shoved to the forefront from the opening track “Let There Be
\nMore Light” and the now classic “Set The Controls For The Heart Of
\nThe Sun,” continuing the experimental psychedelic trips that were
\nthe highlight of their debut album. Going a few notches up the
\nfreak-out scale is the instrumental title track, 12 minutes of
\ndisjointed chaos. Interesting for a listen or two, but lacking any
\ntruly memorable moments.<\/p>\n
Keyboardist Richard Wright pens two tracks, “Remember A Day” and
\n“See-Saw,” both of which are a little too melancholy and laid back
\nto stand out in this set. Roger Waters makes the first of his many
\nanti-war statements with “Corporal Clegg,” a tongue-in-cheek track
\nabout a war veteran that may or may not have gotten a medal from
\nthe Queen, and his doting mother.<\/p>\n
The closing track pays respect to their lost member. Barrett’s
\nfinal Floyd composition “Jugband Blues” is typical of his penchant
\nfor pop-nonsense. Other than being a nice farewell to Syd, this
\nsong adds nothing to the album as a whole.<\/p>\n
\nSaucerful<\/i> is a bit uneven to be sure, but it’s hard to
\ndismiss the importance of this album on the growth of one of the
\nmost successful bands ever, and the band’s subsequent impact on the
\nburgeoning progressive rock movement. It may not be Floyd’s
\nartistic high point, but it’s a benchmark of how much they
\ninfluenced the world of music on the whole, and laid the foundation
\nfor their later work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":27091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[5677],"rating":[5612],"class_list":["post-38423","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-pink-floyd","rating-rating-b-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38423"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}