The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

Syd Barrett - guitar, vocals
Nick Mason - drums
Roger Waters - bass, vocals
Rick Wright - keyboards, vocals

Following the footsteps of the groundbreaking Beatles album, Sgt Peppers, Pink Floyd released their debut album as a continuation of studio trickery and experimentation. This pscyhedelic masterpiece dives into the experimental/avante-garde genre which pushed the boundary of what rock should be. Syd Barrett was the main inspiration of Piper, often using bizarre, surrealistic imagery in his lyrics with a manic style of guitar playing. Many of Barrett's songs were very childish and fairy-tale like with cats, scarecrows, witches, mice, bikes, and gnomes making appearances within the lyrics. The other tracks were mainly collaborations with the remaining members of Pink Floyd which were jazzy/psychedelic instrumental pieces.

The opening track, Astronomy Domine, is introduced with a megaphone and a Barrett riff that sets the tone for the rest of the album. This spacey track is indeed one of the strongest on the album. Astonomy Domine was a concert staple for quite a few years after the album was released, and it was even resurrected during the 1994 Division Bell tour. PowR TocH was an instrumental track consisting of weird vocal noises that makes the listener think of a strange jungle in a distant land. The members of Pink Floyd were experimenting with all sorts of different sounds, as you can witness in the jazzy instrumental piece. Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk is a rather underappreciated track which showcases how great of musicians the Pink Floyd are. Syd Barrett's acid-laden guitar chords are prominent in this track. The strongest tune on this album is a psychedelic jam on a riff that Syd took straight from Love's "My Little Red Book". The producer, Norman Smith, wanted to try to capture the intensity and passion of the live incarnations of this instrumental piece, and he pulled it off rather well. The piece is full of feedback, fuzz, weird tunings, and stereo panning, sprawling over 9 minutes of pure psychedelia.

The greatest moment on the album has to be the coda, much like their inspiration, Sgt Peppers. After Syd finishes singing about giving away his possessions to a woman he loves in Bike, there are multitudes of tape loops and sound effects ranging from clockwork pieces to reverbed laughter. Indeed a great way to end out such a weird album. Other good tunes on Piper include: Flaming, The Gnome, Chapter 24, and Scarecrow.

The album was a hit in the UK, which paired with the success of Syd's previous 2 singles, was a catalyst in the downfall of Syd Barrett. The pressures of the music business and his acid-freak friends ultimately turned him from a genius musician and artist into a paranoid, catatonic being. The pressures made him take more acid, and when it was paired with his manic depressive state, he could never get back to reality. Fans and critics often wonder what kind of success Pink Floyd would be if Syd never lost his mind, his creativity. Syd was still the main inspiration of most of the albums to follow Piper.
Syd Barrett took the title straight from chapter 7 of the book, Wind in the Willows, one of his favourite childhood books.