There are a few bands that have suffered the loss of a key member and soldiered on to reach even greater success: AC/DC, Genesis (post-Peter Gabriel) and even Manic Street Preachers have pulled the unlikely feat of reinventing themselves after a main cog is gone. However, I think the greatest act of band resuscitation belongs to Pink Floyd. There is the notion that, on their fist album, the band practically was Syd Barrett (a not-entirely unfounded idea, though a bit simplistic as Roger Waters wrote one song and the individual musicians obviously played a large role in the improvisation). At that point, Barrett was the singer and songwriter of Floyd's material. His departure after one album would have broken lesser bands but Pink Floyd evolved dynamically: first into a heavy psych rock combo on A Saucerful of Secrets (which still bore Barrett's fingerprints and his song "Jugband Blues"), then into an expansive space rock giant on Meddle, and eventually into pig-launching, planetarium-inspiring Prog Masterminds on Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall. It's always fascinating to listen to Piper in contrast to what the band would become, as it sounds in many ways like an entirely different band.
Though Barrett would release some excellent solo material, many would count The Piper at the Gates of Dawn as the best thing ever released by Barrett or Floyd, and it's easy to see where that notion comes from. Piper is a highly original work that could only be forged by an eccentric in a band dynamic. Whereas Barrett and the rest of Floyd were free to explore their respective interests separately on later albums (Barrett's acoustic weirdo pop troubadour; and Floyd's interest in open space rock epic), Piper finds them feeding off each other, so we get the echo guitar with the falsetto vocal progressions of "Astronomy Domine" and the frenzied guitar jam of "Interstellar Overdrive." However, you also get quirky Barrett ditties like "The Gnome" or the Mod-tastic "Bike" (which sounds galaxies closer to The Kinks than it does to "Wish You Were Here"). Excellent examples of the synthesis between Barrett and the rest of Floyd can be heard on amazing classics like "Lucifer Sam" and "Matilda Mother." The Piper at the Gates of Dawn definitely fits the Velvet Underground mold of album that is somehow under-heard yet highly influential.
Calling Piper a great album forty years after its release and countless articles is hardly news. The question with any reissue is why this? and why now? The "why now" question is pretty clear with forty years being a nice round milestone and the album seem highly relevant amongst contemporary "freak" folk and psych rockers. The "why this" question is more interesting. The reissue comes with three discs: one featuring the stereo mix of the album (if you're new to it, I suppose), another featuring a mono mix of the album, and a third featuring highly sought Piper-era singles such as "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play" as well as alternate takes of Piper songs. Two alternate versions of "Interstellar Overdrive" may be a bit overkill, and though many Floyd enthusiasts will already have these singles, it is nice to have them all in one audiophilic package. The real treat here is the mono mix disc of Piper, which sounds immeasurable more dynamic and rich than the stereo mix of the album that has been the only available for a while. Many of these type of reissues are crash commercialized grabs at fan love and nostalgia, but the 40th Anniversary of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, thankfully, is dedicated to highlighting a seminal moment in music that many younger listeners may have not yet discovered. The lone shame is that Barrett is no longer around to reap his hefty share of praise for this legendary album. |