Pink Floyd 1967

Some albums deserve more praise than they get, and others are seriously over lauded. "The piper at the gates of dawn" does I think, fall into the former category.

But, just as Beatles fans can be a little embarrassed about "Please, Please Me" or Blur fans may wince at the possible suggestion that "Leisure" is really good , Pink Floyd's debut has been treated the same.

But as a debut it has as much in common (quality wise) with 1967's other baptism of fire - In January The Doors released their eponymous titled debut. Like Floyd's debut, it is a great album- a statement of intent and an engrossing musical experience.

For some "Piper" may be a difficult album to stick with. But if you get past the first few tracks you're in there and the album will probably remain a favourite. It's hard to reconcile the psychedelic wall of sound with later mellow, prog rock Floyd- but if that puts you off, you're missing out.

So I argue that "The piper at the gates of dawn" is not just one of the all time greatest psychedelia albums, but also one of the all time great British albums. At this point in a review of "Piper.." it's normally traditional to give The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" a good slagging off. I'm not going to do that, although I do consider Floyd's offering the better album by a musical mile. "Pepper" is more whimsical, more accessible, playing on our nostalgia, like a summer of love equivalent of "The good old days". In comparison, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" is pure London 1967. No coincidence that Floyd were recording at Abbey road, near to were the Fab four where. Someone was eavesdropping I think....And it wasn't Pink Floyd.

It was all Syd Barrett's fault of course. This is his moment. Then, it was his band and no mistake. And what a moment, although sadly a very short one. In the wonderland of pop culture in '67 the music here may have been as British as afternoon tea, but the sugar cubes were soaked in LSD and the cafe menu said "Eat me". Sadly, some ate too freely. Gluttony is never a good thing and Syd probably fed his head too much- there was never a madder Hatter. He left the band after this album, leaving the control to Roger Waters.

Listening to this album now it sounds very much of it's time, and older readers may actually have memories (unlikely I know) of halcyon days at the 'UFO' club watching Floyd perform "Interstellar overdrive". "See Emily Play" remains one of the defining singles of 1967- an acid soaked ode to a child's innocence. How apt for the Summer of love.

Perhaps it's because there was revolution and change in the air and that pop culture had real creative power. Maybe it's because Syd Barrett was a misunderstood genius. Maybe it's because it's so different to the band that recorded "Dark side of the moon". Maybe it reminds us that they probably don't make them like this anymore. And actually, they don't...

Maybe it's for all of these reasons and maybe it's for none of them, but for whatever reasons this is one of the truly great albums by a rock band. It's up there with "Strange days" and "River deep, mountain high" as one of the great 'neglected' albums of the '60s.

Forget the reasons, just take my word for it. It's one fantastic album.