Poll: How do you rate Pink Floyd's "A Saucerful of Secrets" album?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Johnny Reb, Jun 21, 2017.

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  1. Johnny Reb

    Johnny Reb RĂ©sident du forum Thread Starter

    Location:
    MA
    "It's awfully considerate of you to think of me here/And I'm much obliged to you for making it clear/That I'm not here..." So said Syd on "Jugband Blues" from this album!

    The rules: this poll is designed for people familiar with the album in question and with at least some familiarity with some of their other catalog (for comparison purposes). If the poll doesn't interest you, please kindly move on to a thread that does. Please simply consider how YOU would rate the album in question, in comparison with the rest of the Floyd's discography! And as always, a shout-out to member mrjinks for creating all the groundwork for this series.

    So, how do YOU rate this album?

    Album history: "A Saucerful of Secrets is the second studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 29 June 1968 by EMI Columbia in the United Kingdom and released on 27 July 1968 in the United States by Tower Records. The album was recorded before and after Syd Barrett's departure from the group. With Barrett's behaviour becoming increasingly unpredictable, he was forced to leave the band and David Gilmour was recruited in January 1968.[3][4]

    As a result, A Saucerful of Secrets became the only non-compilation Pink Floyd album on which all five band members appeared, the first for Gilmour, with him appearing on five songs ("Let There Be More Light", "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", "Corporal Clegg", "A Saucerful of Secrets" and "See-Saw"), and the last for Barrett, with him on three ("Remember a Day", "Jugband Blues" and "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun").[5] "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" was the only song all five members appeared on together. The band's drummer Nick Mason has declared A Saucerful of Secrets to be his favourite Pink Floyd album."


    Tracklist:
    1. Let There Be More Light 5:38
    2. Remember A Day 4:33
    3. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun 5:28
    4. Corporal Clegg 4:13
    5. A Saucerful Of Secrets 11:57
    6. See-Saw 4:36
    7. Jugband Blues 3:00

    [​IMG]


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  2. aakko

    aakko Forum Resident

    Location:
    Finland
    Let There Be Light is one of the most powerful opening track for an album I've ever heard.
     
  3. 93curr

    93curr Senior Member

    I always loved it - not a bad track on here. But it almost sounds more like a "various artists" compilation than an album by a single band. (yes, even more than the studio half of 'Ummagumma') Seems to me like they really hadn't formally decided on a homogenous post-Syd "sound" yet.

    Personally, I would have preferred a lot more of the 'Saucerful' and 'Set The Controls'-type stuff (both tracks could easily have been longer) and maybe issue 'Corporal Clegg' as a single instead?
     
  4. Daniel Plainview

    Daniel Plainview God's Lonely Man

    Not bad. Room for improvement.
     
  5. Chrome_Head

    Chrome_Head Planetary Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA.
    Very good in parts and eclectic, for only being seven tracks. I do kinda wish there were more songs though, and I never cared much for the title track. I voted pretty solid.

    Gilmore brings a new energy to the group in the midst of Syd's unfortunate decline.

    I think it's a good record to seek out after one has fully digested Piper At The Gates Of Dawn.

    As an album, it's the link to the early post-Syd era of the band.
     
  6. yarbles

    yarbles Too sick to pray

    One of their worst. Only the post-Waters albums are worse. The 15-odd minutes of Cpl Clegg and ASOS is among the most unlistenable sequences of music it's been my misfortune to hear.
     
    Dude111 likes this.
  7. Johnny Rocker

    Johnny Rocker Well-Known Member

    Location:
    DFW
    I think the band at that point was "trying to find themselves". If I pick up a rock and roll album and I cant pick it on the old Gibson or Fender, I usually tuck it back in its cover or cd holder and listen to it on a rainy day.........
     
  8. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    ESSENTIAL! A lovely, uneven trainwreck (and I mean that as a good thing) as the band splits with Syd and welcomes Dave BEFORE YOUR EYES! So many stunning tracks:

    1. Let There Be More Light: One of Roger's best, most playful psychedelic songs!

    2. Remember A Day: The depressed, desultory slide sounds mournful, but so, so, good! BEST Rick Wright song, so transporting!

    3. Set The Controls for the Heart Of The Sun: Keep the live versions, this beautiful studio version with the piercing organ is pure magic!

    4. Corporal Clegg: Better in the mono mix, but this is Python-esque comedy from Roger!

    5. A Saucerful Of Secrets: OK, maybe not the best version - this one would take off in live performance, but still fantastic.

    6. See-Saw: The Most Boring Song I've Ever Heard Bar Two, but also a lovely, leisurely, soma-tose classic from willowy Wright.

    7. Jugband Blues: What? Where the hell did he come from? Syd reappears to say a sad good-bye to the party. As others have said, practically a self-diagnosis of schizophrenia. Syd was always so much more open in his songs than his words. He lays it all out here, and sad it is, but also brilliant.

    So how is this Pink Floyd thing going to work out without Syd Barrett? Well, this album answered the question, being a powerful springboard to the rest of the Floyd's career. This isn't as directed and balanced as Piper was or subsequent albums would be, but this is a brilliant epilogue to The Pink Floyd, 1960's model. Hereafter they would be a 70's band, even as early as 1969.
     
  9. Mainline461

    Mainline461 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tamiami Trail
    A solid effort, but it gets a little squashed by the weight of the rest of the catalog ... imo.
     
  10. Instant Dharma

    Instant Dharma Dude/man

    Location:
    CoCoCo, Ca
    ...where classic Floyd begins in Earnest.

    Or converesly, where Syd-o-philes jump ship.
     
    EVOLVIST and CBC like this.
  11. Thievius

    Thievius Blue Oyster Cult-ist

    Location:
    Syracuse, NY
    Its better than the middle option suggests (Not bad/Overall so-so) but as much as I like the album it really does sit in the middle of the pack for me. The title track is the weakest, though I love its ending, but overall its a sort of schizophrenic album. And with good reason. Their spiritual and artistic leader had a meltdown in the midst of its recording. And somehow they still managed to introduce a new guitarist into the mix and create a solid sophomore effort. Most bands would have called it quits! Honestly its a miracle SoS ended up as good as it did.
     
    Man at C&A likes this.
  12. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA
    I really enjoy this album. It's definitely in the top part of their catalog as far as I'm concerned.
     
  13. DrewHarris

    DrewHarris Forum Resident

    Location:
    Good ol' Alaska
    I think it's solid. Not a classic but it was a sign of greater things to come.
     
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  14. Instant Dharma

    Instant Dharma Dude/man

    Location:
    CoCoCo, Ca
    Its kind of a poor mans Astronomy Domine. I love it.
     
  15. A pretty solid effort. It's actually one of my favorites, but I know I'm in a minority. Corporal Clegg is the only song I dislike on it.

    It would not be the album to recommend to a Floyd newbie IMO.
     
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  16. catnip nation

    catnip nation Forum Resident

    Location:
    new haven ct usa
    The only thing that makes this record under-whelming is the fact that both Vegetable Man and Scream Thy Last Scream could have made it that much better.
     
  17. Front 242 Addict

    Front 242 Addict I Love Physical format for my listening pleasure

    Location:
    Tel Aviv ,Israel
    I love the album , I like the strange - dark atmosphere of the music.
    See-Saw and Remember A Day are beautiful psychedelic ballads with mesmerizing atmosphere.
    , A Saucerful Of Secrets and Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun Take the listener to a journey to a mysterious Forests. Let There Be More Light sounds like a stormy ocean of psychedelic power .
    Great choice to end the album with the Delusional atmosphere of Jugband Blues .

    I vote for A pretty solid effort - worth recommending
     
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  18. Sister Ray

    Sister Ray New Member

    Location:
    Nanjing, China
    Not so much to say about the music, but the cover art is my all-time favorite. Mesmerizing and kaleidoscopic. I can stare at it all day and keep finding something I never noticed before pop up. And I like the quotations of Chinese poetry on Set Controls for the Heart of Sun (considering I am a Chinese ). The English translations of those verses are very accurate and beautiful and the song as a whole gives me a different look at the culture that I am quite familiar with. And I should tell you that those poems are not very well-known ones even among Chinese.
     
  19. Front 242 Addict

    Front 242 Addict I Love Physical format for my listening pleasure

    Location:
    Tel Aviv ,Israel
    I agree except regarding See-Saw , I love the song a lot :)
    the song creates mesmerizing atmosphere filled with psychedelic beauty and magical sadness
     
  20. BadJack

    BadJack doorman who always high-fives children of divorce

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    Maybe not their best... but my favorite. It's got a little of everything I love about Pink Floyd.
     
  21. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    No, I like it too, I was just quoting what was it's actual working title! It took several years but I've come to enjoy it.
     
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  22. Rne

    Rne weltschmerz

    Location:
    Malaver
    One of my favorite albums by any band. I'm still waiting for an official mono release, by the way.
     
  23. PretzelLogic

    PretzelLogic Feeling duped by MoFi? You probably deserve it.

    Location:
    London, England
    I'm going to stick my neck out and say this is my least favourite Floyd album. That isn't to say I hate it, but I just don't feel the urge to play it that often. There's nothing that's a real A+++ big hitter ('Remember A Day' is closest), and there's no unity to the songs, so it doesn't feel complete; maybe one or two extra songs would have given it more shape.

    The Syd-era isn't my favourite, but I like it for what it is. However, I can't really abide 'Jugband Blues' as more than just half an idea around half a song; it fritters away any emotional heft that the coda might have with the badly-executed middle section.

    Rick's songs are probably my favourites - as I say above, 'Remember A Day' is my favourite, but I don't mind 'See-Saw', on account of Rick's voice and the pastoral atmosphere; I'd almost consider it part one of a trilogy with 'Fat Old Sun' and 'Grantchester Meadows'.

    And after the big box set, I'm totally burned out on the title track and 'Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun'.
     
    Jack Lord likes this.
  24. Jugband Blues makes it essential
     
  25. Scope J

    Scope J Senior Member

    Location:
    Michigan
    *
    Clearly one of their best works - essential listening for Floyd fans




    LOVE IT!!!
     
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