Saucerful of Secrets

I think this is a massively underrated Pink Floyd album. When I first got it, it definitely wasn't my favorite, but over the years it's really grown on me a ton. I definitely put it in my top 5 Floyd albums. "Let There Be More Light" is such a brilliant album opener too.

What I do find odd about it is when it was released. Stylistically it seems more like it should have been released around the time of Meddle, instead of after Piper at the Gates of Dawn and before More, Ummagumma, and Atom Heart Mother. Those albums are a lot more experimental, whereas Saucer... has a lot more of that spacey vibe.

Tough to pick a favorite song from the album as I love them all, so I won't. Jugband Blues is a bit strange though. It sounds like Syd's own obituary to his time in the band.

Jugband was a leftover track from Syd's tenure.

Stylistically it's not that different from the material on Ummagumma. Floyd's music really isn't that "outside" in the first place. While they did attempt some more experimental tracks like "Saucerful", "Careful With That Axe, Eugene", etc. They were still pretty much grounded in standard compositional structure. Probably one of the reasons they are so accesible to new converts.

There were many other groups during the era that were breaking down every barrier they could find, Floyd never seemed concerned with that, they were just searching around to find a sound.

I would agree that it is an underrated album. It's like people talk about Piper and then Meddle and forget the albums inbetween(which I've taken to in the past few years).

An excellent album that I have not played in forever, you have inspired me to pull this album out of the archives and give it a fresh spin today

manny wrote:

An excellent album that I have not played in forever, you have inspired me to pull this album out of the archives and give it a fresh spin today

x2

Shawn D. wrote:

Jugband was a leftover track from Syd's tenure.

Stylistically it's not that different from the material on Ummagumma. Floyd's music really isn't that "outside" in the first place. While they did attempt some more experimental tracks like "Saucerful", "Careful With That Axe, Eugene", etc. They were still pretty much grounded in standard compositional structure. Probably one of the reasons they are so accesible to new converts.

There were many other groups during the era that were breaking down every barrier they could find, Floyd never seemed concerned with that, they were just searching around to find a sound.

I guess I'm going to have to give Ummagumma a spin tomorrow, because my memory tells me that stylistically they are miles apart. Maybe I'll change my mind with a fresh listen.

I knew that Jugband was left-over, but I still think that the lyrics seem to speak to his departure from the band. Or maybe it was written for some other purpose, but when I hear it open up, "It's awfully considerate of you to think of me here, and I'm most obliged to you for making it clear that I'm not here..." I can't help but think about him leaving the band.

By the way, I really dig "Careful with that Axe, Eugene."

The other track that sounds like a leftover from the Syd days is "Corporal Clegg", it sounds like a b-side from Piper.

Let There Be More Light is a direct line to the future Floyd sound. Ummagumma is most interesting for the live album, the studio album features compositional segments from each individual band member, so it's a little different in style.

The Narrow Way (Gilmour's section on Ummagumma) is the most like later Floyd.

All of the early albums are interesting. I think Saucerful gets kind of ignored because Piper was considered a very groundbreaking album and many people were upset at Barrett's departure, think it took Floyd a little while to regroup from that and settle on a direction.

Great album. This is my favorite track:

Shawn D. wrote:

Jugband was a leftover track from Syd's tenure.

Stylistically it's not that different from the material on Ummagumma. Floyd's music really isn't that "outside" in the first place. While they did attempt some more experimental tracks like "Saucerful", "Careful With That Axe, Eugene", etc. They were still pretty much grounded in standard compositional structure. Probably one of the reasons they are so accesible to new converts.

There were many other groups during the era that were breaking down every barrier they could find, Floyd never seemed concerned with that, they were just searching around to find a sound.

Maybe you're right about Ummagumma. I listened through it yesterday and it didn't sound too experimental, but there's still something odd about it (the studio disc, that is), to my ears. It might just be the nature of the album, that each track was written by only one individual working separately from the others. As a result, there is a lack of cohesion on the album. The tracks are all so different, and maybe that's what stands out to me.

Ummagumma requires you to listen to both the live disc and the studio disc for the whole thing to work. It's still kind of an odd record, but I can understand their reasoning behind releasing it during that juncture of their career.

A way to both show off the current lineup in a live situation and give each band member a chance to stretch their individual wings. Almost like an "introduction" to the post-Syd lineup.

This whole era is overlooked.

''Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun" is so cool!

I haven't heard this whole album, just a few of the songs that appear on the best of comp Echoes. It's on my list to get though.

I'm finding that as my Floyd collection slowly grows, I'm enjoying the "non-radio hits" albums better than some of the more well known stuff. Probably due to too much classic rock overplay.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

I haven't heard this whole album, just a few of the songs that appear on the best of comp Echoes. It's on my list to get though.

I'm finding that as my Floyd collection slowly grows, I'm enjoying the "non-radio hits" albums better than some of the more well known stuff. Probably due to too much classic rock overplay.

That applies to almost any classic rock band.

Radio programming has been completely worthless since Clear Channel bought the world.

Totally agree about radio stations. Back not even all that long ago, they used to have character.

As for Floyd's hits, I'm kind of torn. When I talk about my top albums of theirs, I never mention The Wall; Dark Side comes in after Animals and Meddle...but I always love listening through both of those albums because they are brilliant too.

Another overlooked Floyd album is Obscured By Clouds.

Tur-Thalion wrote:

Another overlooked Floyd album is Obscured By Clouds.

Agreed. That album was a necessary step needed to reach Dark Side of The Moon. You can hear the genesis of that sound on several tracks.