Customer Reviews

A Saucerful of Secrets

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Released in 1968, Pink Floyd's second album, "A Saucerful of Secrets," shows the band in a transitional period. Singer/songwriter/guitarist Syd Barrett was ousted from the band due to his LSD use & erratic behavior (though the Floyd still allow him a final appearance at the album's end). Taking Syd's place was singer/guitarist David Gilmour, while bassist Roger Waters picked up the bulk of the songwriting duties, along with a pair of contributions from keyboardist Richard Wright. Some have criticized "Saucerful" as being a mixed bag, but I say that's total nonsense, because I've always loved this album. Roger Waters branches out as a songwriter very well with his trio of trippy psychedelic rock songs, "Let There Be More Light," "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun," and the very amusing "Corporal Clegg" (representing the first of Waters' various war-themed songs, though this particular tune is done with humor, including a solo on kazoo). Richard Wright delivers a fine pair of atmospheric songs, "Remember A Day" and "See-Saw." But the big centerpiece of the album is the 11-minute title track, an avant-garde, three-part instrumental in which the Floyd give the listener the aural equivalent of a war. The first part is the tension build-up, the middle section is the war (with drummer Nick Mason's tribal percussion loop, Gilmour running his guitar up and down a microphone stand, Waters repeatedly smashing a gong, and Wright pounding his piano senseless), and the final part is the release, the calm after the battle. It's an amazing piece, one of Pink Floyd's best, and it points in the musical direction that the Floyd would take on future releases.But it is Syd Barrett who gets the final, haunting word on "Saucerful" with his Pink Floyd swansong, "Jugband Blues," recorded just before his exit from the band, and which the Floyd rightfully saved for release on "Saucerful Of Secrets." The song---featuring some very twisted lyrics and a cameo by a Salvation Army band---may indeed represent Barrett's tragic fall into dementia, but he still sings it with tremendous feeling, and no diehard Floyd fan will ever forget Barrett's final, jarring line, "And what exactly is a joke?". "A Saucerful Of Secrets" is a terrific Pink Floyd album.

Its sad that people who are listening to "Wish You Were Here" don't know who the song is referring to. Being a Syd fanatic, I tend to focus on the first two albums. By the time of Saucerful of Secrets, Syd Barrett was being edged out of the band because of his erratic behavior (such as writing a song called "Have You Got it Yet?" and constantly changing the chords to frustrate the other band members). This was not the end of his career as he did two quite brilliant solo albums and still paints to this day. However, by the time of Saucerful of Secrets, David Gilmour has been enlisted as the singer and Roger Waters took over the creative control. On a song by song basis:
1.Let There Be More Light-dark, somber, very heavy, prog rock starts here.
2.Remember a Day-whimsical ode to childhood, obviously inspired by Barrett
3.Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun-Performed live during the Barrett era but obviously a Roger Waters song-absolute classic
4.Corporal Clegg-"Corporal Clegg earned his medal in a dream"-anti-war without being preachy. Another classic
5.A Saucerful of Secrets-Close to avant-garde classical. Another prog rock inspired masterpiece.
6.See Saw-Too close to Remember A Day to be original
7.Jugband Blues- Syd's last work of genius. The only song he sang on Saucerful but he claims to have guested on guitar on a couple of others-To some a self diagnosis of schizophrenia but lines like "I'm greatful to you for making it clear that I'm not here" are jabs at his by now former bandmates as well.

Anyone who considers themselves a Pink Floyd fan and has not heard this and the first album, "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" is missing out.

I am a very BIG Pink Floyd fan and i have to say this is THE greatest album they've ever done (or ever will do)! I have nothing but great things to say about this album, and if i were to write them all down here i'd be here for years! Listening to "Remember" a Day and "See-Saw" really depresses me, because of Rick Wright's waning lyrical contributions in later years. He has the ability to write the most beautiful songs. *sigh* Oh-well. The rest of the album is equally fantastic. Starting with Rogers "Let There Be More Light" with its dark mysticysm. "Set The Controls..." and its menacing undertones. "Corporal Clegg"; (fabulous manic guitar Syd),Waters first scoff at war. "A Saucerful of Secrets"; winding, falling, climax of sound. And finally Syd's "Jugband Blues" a song so hauntingly sad he almost makes you want to cry. I miss you Syd

It's creepy. This is one trippy album. Syd signs off. Literal. Pay attention to the lyrics. I find lyrics to be the least important part of a song. The voice is primarily another instrument. But every now and then a worthwhile piece of lyricism comes about, as in Jugband Blues. Syd knew his role as Kind Floyd was coming to an end. Why not mark the occasion with, hmmmmmm, a salvation army band, and tell them "play whatever you want." Only Syd could pull this off. Brilliant.

As for the rest of the album, See Saw is one of my favorites in the entire Floyd catalog. Great job, Rick, don't be so hard on yorself, both of your songs on here are beautiful. Are those strings I hear? Its a song about doing drugs. Unlike drugs, all of life's problems go away with this. It's heroin for the soul.
oooooh, it sooooooths me... Sweet, Sweet melody.

The title track is one of the strongest musical pieces ever done by PF. Wins award for best song in the categories "best example of how to drive your record's producer bonkers/getting the biggest bang out of only 4 tracks/total exploitation of a sound engineer." Mommy, make it stop! I don't know what it is, but it just SOUNDS right. Melt, mind, melt...

Clegg. A rare bit of humor. The kazoo is great. It works. It is the main charachter of the song. A military march to war, headed by the dumbest musical instrument, the kazoo. Even you can play one. And bombs exploding and air raid sirens. And sub mongoloid lyrics. They can be just as effective as profound lyrics. Even better. Floyd's must fun song. Roger, you may remove the tongue from your cheek.

More Light. Heavy. This is what heavy is. So dark, get it. The incomprehensible heaviness of light... nuts

Remember. Manic depressive at its best. Playfuly melodic in a depressing way. Cool ch-ch's... Syd?

Set Controls. Has a very trance like effect. Always envisioned peering into a fire. The buttons are very bitter and must be chewed. The room must be dark or it is not the same. The vibes are great. So is the vibe you get .

Yeah the production is not the best. I like to see what a band
can do without a budget that exceeds the gross national product of Argentina. Floyd's got it, Syd or no Syd. Even Mr. Negative himself, one R. Waters, agrees.

Saucerful Of Secrets is by far my favourite Pink floyd album mainly due to its Oriental flavour.This is in total contrast to their later albums which was more synth dominated and thus I don't listen to them too often.The album is excellent right from the Psychedelic 'Let there be more Light' to the eccentric 'Jug band blues'.Rick Wright has done a great job on the keyboards. The amazing,bewitching,captivating,enthralling,haunting, song 'Set the controls for the heart of the Sun' sung by Roger Waters is alone worth the entire price of the CD.

It's a real shame that this album is unkown by so many Pink Floyd fans especially since its overshadowed by "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn"(which truthfully is better) There are some classic songs on here though which deserve more attention then they get.
"Let There be More Light"-This song already shows Roger emerging as a talented lyric writer. The lyrics seem to be science fiction based. The song starts off with a repeating bass line, and ends with an trully amzing guitar solo by gilmour.This happens to be the 1st song the band did without Syd. 10/10
"Remember a Day"- Rick Wright deems his 2 contibutions to the album as worthless, yet this is an extremely good song by him. originally to be put on Piper, it was considerd to downbeat, but added for this album. Syd plays beautful slide guitar here10/10
"Set the Controlls for the Heart of the Sun"- Trully something that stands out in the Floyd catalog, like let there be more light, the same bass line can be heard for a while, while Nick adds a delicate wash of symbols,Syd and Dave share guitar roles and Rick adds his soft organ. The whole song is very softly done as Roger whispers his lyrics,(which he admited were ripped off an old chinnese poem) into the microphone 9/10
"Corporal Clegg"-Roger's first lyrical attempt to inderectly deal with the guilt he felt about his fathers death in WW2. This is the last Floyd song to feature any contribution from Syd Barrett as he plays some guitar. This would be an excellent song, if it wasnt for the kazoo solos in it, which while funny, can get annoying. 7/10
"A Saucerfull of Secrets"-A long musicall song, which simpily is just amazing collage of music. Anybody who likes "Atom Heart Mother" should also like this song. 9/10
"See-Saw"-The band has called Rick's 2nd song on the album as 'the most boring song i've ever heard bar two', and they are right. This is a boring song, with no real highlights, and even lyrics that aint really good, i think(and hope) it was just put on as a filler track last minute 6/10
"Jugband Blues" Syd's final song writing contibution to the band. A trully amazing way to go out, the song starts with the whole band in the begining, the salvation army brass section playing in the middle, followed by the brass section just playing randomly, ending the album with Syd alone with his accoustic singing "and the sea isnt green, and i love the queen, and what exactly is a dream? and what exactly is a joke?all done in exactly 3min.One of Syd's best songs. 10/10

Pink Floyd's second album, A Saucerful Of Secrets, suffers for the absence of the band's founder, Syd Barrett. Because of his abuse of psychedelic drugs and his decent into madness, Mr. Barrett appears on only one song, the album's closer "Jugband Blues". In his absence, Roger Waters assumed control of the band and David Gilmour was added to take over the guitar duties. The album shows flashes of brilliance like the cosmic "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The sun", but Mr. Waters was still learning to master his sound and vision. Whereas Mr. Barrett could write a short and concise song like "See Emily Play", Mr. Waters is too expansive with the songs. This album is more of a learning experience for the group without their leader and as they would show on later efforts, they graduated to great things.

Early 1968 was a bad time for the Pink Floyd, the darlings of the London underground. Coming off a whirlwind of Britain with the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Amen Corner, and a host of other bands, the Floyd were tired- and more than a little concerned about their guitarist and visionary leader, Roger "Syd" Barrett. He had become erratic, to say the least- playing tunes on stage that differed than what the band played; sometimes he didn't play at all and the band laboured on..Syd was a concern...

David Gilmour of the Joker's Wild, a childhood friend of Barrett's was approached to join the band in late '67; he did in early '68..the band decided that Barrett could write tunes (the resident Brian Wilson) while Gilmour played with them live...it was an uneasy situation; one that led to Barrett's unceremonious ousting.

Amidst this inner turmoil came the Floyd's sophomore effort, "A Saucerful of Secrets." This lp is a difficult one to guage due to the monumental changes occurring in the band. Unlike their amazingly groundbreaking debut lp "Piper at the Gates of Dawn," where he wrote all but 1 song, Barrett offered only 1 contribution to Saucerful..Roger Waters and Rick Wright penned the rest of the tunes...at moments the songs are weak and showed the 2 newcomers to the writing game as the novices they were..but a few were amazing, too.

Waters' contributions range from the silly, inane "Corporal Clegg" (foreshadowing Waters' later obsessions with war, his fathers' death and the like)to absolute gems like "Let There Be More Light," and the most astoundingly spaced out track on the lp: "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun," arguably among Waters' greatest achievements ever, and among the small handful of Waters' tunes I care for

Wright, who later proved that his songwriting skills were always subpar, showcases his psychedelic silliness penchant with the loopy "Remember a Day," a throwaway from the "Piper" sessions, and features Barrett, in a rare appearance, playing his signature glissando guitar style. "See-Saw," Wright's other credit, can also be dismissed as a product of the times.

The lp's title track is based on experimentation revolving around a Nick Mason drum loop, climaxing into a beautiful Wright organ coda that would be the basis of another freak out lp- Tangerine Dream's orgasmic debut lp "Electronic Meditation.". The coda, which showcased church-like vocal stylings by Gilmour, Waters, and Wright, is a highlight of the lp.

The lp closes with Syd Barrett's lone contribution, the intensely personal and scizophrenic "Jugband Blues," which had been written several months earlier. Whether Barrett knew and sang about his psychological demise on this track is a matter of conjecture, but the track is eerily powerful, with Barrett's musings of "what exactly is a dream, and what exactly is a joke?" an ironic ending to his tenure with the band he created. An uncannily direct probe by a disturbed young man.

This lp will stir debate among the 2 Floyd camps. The Barrett camp (to which I belong) will argue that the lack of Syd weakened the lp and highlighted just how lost the band was without his leadership. The rest of the Floydians dismiss the lp as psychedelic lunacy. After all, "Dark Side of the Moon" is when Floyd started for most of their fans.

Both camps are wrong.

This lp was an important first step for the post-Syd band to make- it led directly to Ummagumma, (the last purely experimental work that they did, and for me, the last Floyd lp worth listening to) Atom Heart Mother, and down that slippery slope that ended with dark Side of the Moon and the increasingly insipid lps that made after that. Saucerful is important listening for the majority of Floyd fans who feel that Dark Side is the end all be all.

To say that the lp was weakened by a lack of Barrett, while in some ways very true, is also an unfair statement to make. Syd couldn't have added to the amazing beauty of "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun." It is a perfect track as is. And what Barrett did add to the lp (other that Jugband Blues) wasn't earth shattering, and even clutters it some.

"Saucerful of Secrets" needs to be listened to on its own merits. "Set the Controls" is by far the best track on the lp, and "Let There Be More Light" is also excellent. The rest of the lp wavers some, but the roots of what the Floyd became, for better or worse, show on this lp..

Highly recommended..get "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" first, but keep "Saucerful of secrets" in mind..it really IS better than given credit for.

Bereft of their principle songwriter, Syd Barrett, whose declining drug-induced mental state caused the band to bring in guitarist David Gilmour, Pink Floyd created the album that would set the standard for their early sound. 1968's "A Saucerful of Secrets" was the band's second album, recorded and released at a time when the band's future was uncertain, but the product was amazingly vivid.
With "A Saucerful of Secrets," the songwriting abilities of two members in particular would begin to see the light; bassist Roger Waters (who, in ten years would be the dominating creative songwriter of the group) and keyboardist Richard Wright, whose sound echoed the childlike fantasy of their previous leader Barrett.
Waters' "Let There Be More Light" is a stirring opening track, using characters of science fiction novels and a perfected psychedelic imagery that would blanket the entire album. The cycnical war parody "Corporal Clegg" foreshadows Waters' fixation with the themes of war and death, while "Set the Controls For the Heart of the Sun," another Waters composition, became a favorite live piece, and a classic in the Pink Floyd catologue. Taking lyrics from Chinese poetry, the song possesses a power that brings the listener to a state of utopia.
"Remember a Day" and "See-saw," the two Wright compositions, are peaceful and complex, yet unappreciated (even by the songwriter himself). You can almost feel the sunshine when these tracks touch your senses.

The album's centerpiece, the twelve minute instrumental "A Saucerful of Secrets" is vivid and real, bringing many emotions and senses out of the listeners. Set around a battle or war, the four-part opus is more exciting performed live, but defines some of the band's best music.
The closing track of the album is Syd Barrett's final composition with the band, the haunting "Jugband Blues." With its complicated lyrics and music, we see how Syd Barrett has transformed from a genius of fantasy to a troubled soul lost in the woods.
"A Saucerful of Secrets" is full of spacey imagery and startling bravery with its complex sounds and arrangements. This album paved the way for Pink Floyd's captivating imagination on stage and in the recording studio. An absolute necessity.

If poetry were to be the judge of things 'Saucerful of Secrets' is a vastly superior work to that overrated disco-theatre called 'The Wall,' and also 'Animals.' This stuff was written in 1967/68 and it's at once, the most mellow, the most intense, the most comprehensive and the most psychedelic rock ever attempted. Buy it or suffer a permanent lack.