Pure madness. How did such an album come to be? Drugs? Most definitely. Zeitgeist? Okay, sure. Syd Barrett? Check. Aurally intoxicating, at times embarrassingly weird, Piper is Floyd's proverbial fist in the face of all music hitherto heretofore. Is it absolutely brilliant? Sometimes. Does it seem positively wretched? Oh yes. But unlike my necessary condemnation of Trout Mask Replica, Piper is far more rewarding in its awkward abundance. "Astronomy Domine?" Delicious. "Lucifer Sam?" Pernicious. "The Gnome?" Who the fuck writes songs about gnomes? The revolting barrage of random cacophony in "Bike?" Genius. And stupid. At the same time. Never has an album (despite my lack of existence in 1967) seemed so perversely fresh. Best ever? Hardly. Important? If I am to conjure up Master Cianan for a moment and his sincere loathing of labeling any album "important," I would say, as I always do, in retort, "Yes! It's important to me!" Just maybe not to you. Rub some oil on your bald soprano. This is the Mad Hatter, over and out. B
8 comments:
Yeah, yeah. A good album for sure, but I say balls to the import you place on it. I say it's no more important than any of Mariah Carey's abysmal offerings, or less important than, say, Black Sabbath 4. They're just records, man.
oh yeah, I'm gonna go see kaki king in 2 days. HA! I win again.
Oh yeah, well I get to see Radiohead August 8! So there! Although I'd like to see Kaki King, too. Well, oh yeah, I might see the Police a few days before as well. I win!
the police are playing 2 more shows around here... so the win could still be mine. And I already saw radiohead way back in 94 or 95. so there.
I hate you.
This is a good album in the context of its time, but it lacks the timelessness of their later releases. Also, Syd Barrett was a screwball more than a visionary. What made the later albums (Meddle, Dark Side, Wish You Were Here) amazing is that they were groundbreaking, but they also spoke to those who listened. "The Gnome" probably only speaks to other people who end up living in their mothers' basements after the unfortunate collision of chemical imbalance and chemical dependency.
I agree. Syd Barrett is the Christopher Marlowe of music. Groundbreaking, but he would never grow up. Granted, the English government killed Marlowe, but still. Syd's not having grown up and living in the basement mentality was absolutely necessary, though. Piper in many ways is a one-time deal. Still timeless, though, despite it being diluted by what came after.
he hates me. I guess that's a victory for me, then. And I didn't even have to send video clips of buck angel.
Post a Comment