Piper at the Gates of Your Mom

Overall Album Score: 8.8 out of 10

Well, I do have this to say: WHAT????

Many people in the world only heard two albums by Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall. If any of those people dared listen to this, they'd probably think they accidentally entered into a parallel universe where Pink Floyd wasn't that band that made that cold, calculated music. Rather, Pink Floyd was a band that comprised of insane hippies who just seemed to record any random idea that happened to come to their mind.

But, nope. This is Pink Floyd in the universe that (I think) we've been in our whole lives ... but with its original frontman, Syd Barrett. Syd would only record this album with the rest of the band, though. If you listened to the album without having read the history of it, you might have guessed what happened to Syd Barrett: he became even more mentally unstable and had to leave the band.

Well, given the history, and given that this isn't exactly a great album based on musical merit, it is one of the most interesting albums in rock-and-roll. You can try listening to Cream, Jimi Hendrix, or The Doors all you like, but you probably won't run across an album that's as so effectively spaced out as this. ... Geez!! ... For example, "Interstellar Overdrive" is an overblown instrumental, but for nearly ten minutes, it puts the listener right into outer space as the song's title promised. ... It's not the easiest song to listen to, but ... it's worth hearing just for the experience of it.

The first two songs are probably the album's best. They give you the feeling that you ate a weird mushroom ... and you enjoyed it. Some of the other songs, while still giving you the "weird mushroom" effect, add in the hint of a headache, or are a bit too juvenile. The album closer "Bike," however, is pretty good!

This is an album that every rock music eclectic must own ... and the average person should approach with caution. This is more accessible than some of Frank Zappa's early albums, but ... it's even more out of this world.

Overall Album Score: 8.8 out of 10 (Maybe if Syd Barrett wasn't such an unrestrained nutcase, this rather ingenious album would have been, um, better. In a way, this is the polar opposite of Pink Floyd's more well-known album, Dark Side of the Moon.)

Average Song Score: 8.4 (A lot of weird songs ... Some of them are better than others. They're all interesting in theory and most of them are interesting to listen to.)

Album Tilt: 9.0 (The most effectively drugged up album I've ever heard. I'm not a true expert on the matter, but that statement has got to mean something.)

Artist Rating: 9.0 (Totally weird, and I like to celebrate weirdness. It was influential and extreeeeemly creative.)

Track Reviews

Astronomy Domine 10/10

GAHHH! THERE'S PSYCHEDELIC MONKEYS INVADING MY BRAIN!!! ... Oh, man. I'm going to have to try reviewing this song again when I'm not so ... um ... groggy.

...MORSE CODE!! Does anybody know what the Morse Code is saying? I'm fairly certain that it has something to do with psychedelic monkeys, but don't quote me on that. In fact, don't quote me on anything. I don't like to be quoted.

"I don't like to be quoted," Don Ignacio said. "Don't quote me on anything."

...AAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!

This is a job for ... um ... oh crap, the song's over, and I didn't even talk about it yet, except for the thing about Morse Code (which starts the song). Oddly enough, there's really not much melody in this thing ... unless you count that dreary thing sung by people who just woke up from a depressing dream. It is, as sure as heckfur, interesting! And immersing! ... The song manages to remain interesting the whole time, be it the Morse, the guitar, the weird talking ... Dudes, this song is a psychedelic masterpiece!

Lucifer Sam 10/10

Still pretty weird ... and it still sounds like somebody was doing some acid ... but this song is slightly more accessible than the last one. The guitar thing they do throughout the song is catchy ... the weird psychedelic songs are well-done, and I like the melody. Um ... This totally should have been the television theme of Star Trek ... or maybe not.

Matilda Mother 8.5/10

Oh, mother ... I had this really strange dream last night. Oh wait! THAT WASN'T A DREAM! THAT WAS AN EARLY PINK FLOYD SONG!!! Well, the wild and wonderful weirdness is at an end, and ... it's still pretty weird. The dreary melody is another Barrett-produced acid trip.

Flaming 8/10

Too much madness without the method this time. The melody's too juvenile! But ... if you're one of those weirdoes who enjoys this type of song, then all the more power to you. I'm conservative, and this don't fly. ... Nevertheless, the atmosphere and the random noises in here are quite mesmerizing indeed.

Pow R. Toc H. 8/10

Holy mother of Carrie Fisher ... If you thought the previous four songs were weird, you haven't heard this one yet! ... This is a dreary, psychedelic instrumental with a bunch of crazy animal noises thrown in for good measure. ... Maybe, this is a tad bit more accessible than Frank Zappa's avant-garde stuff of this same time period...

Take Up Thy Stethoscope and Walk 7/10

........................... If you thought the last five songs were weird, then you have yet to listen to this! ... This is almost to the point where doing acid for musical inspiration didn't totally work! They just threw together some random lines of lyrics that happen to rhyme and probably didn't plan any of the instrumentals in here ... I like the song title, though. That's weird, too.

Interstellar Overdrive 16/20

Aaaaaaaaaahhhh! THIS SONG IS NEARLY TEN MINUTES!!!! ... I'll try to remember to pay attention through it ...

Now that I feel the need to check myself into a mental institution, I've nearly completed listening to this instrumental. It's a very appropriate song title, I'll tell ya. It's like that episode when Captain Kirk and the Enterprise is hurling through space and they encounter Abraham Lincoln ... yeah ... and ... I'm feeling really weirded out now! ... Only Pink Floyd can make me feel this weirded out at such effectiveness! Really, my monitor is doing with weird jiggling thinggg

The Gnome 8/10

Dude, gnomes are weird. And so is Carrie Fisher. No wonder the woman turned out so strange! ... I mean ... Debbie Reynolds is her mother! And Debbie Reynolds knew Gene Kelley. And Gene Kelley tried to give himself pneumonia one time in the 50s! ... Gosh, gnomes are weird. ... Why does this song sound like something from the first season of Sesame Street? When Syd Barrett went nuts, did he join the Sesame Street production team? ... Man ...

Chapter 24 6.5/10

WEIRDDDDDD... This song is more difficult to sit through than others, unfortunately. There's really no melody to this and the instrumentation is too clumsy and bleak ... igggg.

Scarecrow 9/10

Yay!!!!!! ... I like this song!!! ... It's another very ominous one, but it doesn't totally drown in its own weirdness. It's more delightful, this time, with a bunch of clock clicking noises, and ... fine little psycho-dellic tune. I like the noodling electric-organ/mellotron/moogsynth/whatever the best!

Bike 9.5/10

The lyrics of this song really blow the other songs out of the water in that respect ... (well, half of them didn't really have lyrics, but ...). I don't always find it necessary to praise songs too much for lyrics, but ... I have to make an exception this time. These are delightful, and they just roll off of Barrett's tongue as if it was natural. (Naturally, Barrett is weird.) The melody is really catchy, too (and visits a sort of carnival theme). The end is more avant-garde noises ... that are ... also weird. ... Dude, this album is WEIEERRRDDDDEDDEDDD!

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