With Syd Barrett (Pink Floyd's original frontsman) becoming more and more unstable, Pink Floyd seemed on the verge of collapse. After all, he had penned all their singles and all but one song from their debut album, 'The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn'. So, when he 'left' (read sacked) in April 1968, it wouldn't have been unreasonable to think that they wouldn't last long. How wrong they were.
'A Saucerful Of Secrets' did indeed reveal secrets; Roger Waters and Rick Wright could write songs! And great songs, too. Hypnotic beats and bizarre lyrics showcased in one heck of an album, which does feature one Barrett composition, 'Jugband Blues'. New guitarist David Gilmour doesn't contribute any material here, bar a little on the title-track, so you could argue that this is the most disjointed Pink Floyd album, as Barrett, Waters, Gilmour, Wright and Mason can all be heard; the only Pink Floyd album that can boast that.
Let There Be More Light - space rock riff, weird lyrics, great song
Remember A Day - brilliant. Probably the best song on here
Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun - a mouthful and-a-half! But another great song
Corporal Clegg - Decent song, not bad, not great
A Saucerful Of Secrets - actually, this is the best song on here. Betters 'Interstellar Overdrive' as far as I'm concerned.
See Saw - good song, perhaps best appreciated in a cloud of incense and blue smoke
Jugband Blues - goodbye Syd. Very good song with haunting last line ('And what exactly is a joke?')
Not so much for the casual listener as the Floydian. However, 'A Saucerful Of Secrets' delivers everything its cover promises.