Interstellar overdrive (Pink Floyd) (LP 3484 - 3489)

Pink Floyd  London'66/'67 (Vinyl, Snapper Records, 2005) ****  

Pink Floyd  London'66/'67 (DVD, Snapper, 2005) ****  

Pink Floyd  The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (CD, EMI, 1967) ****  

Pink Floyd  A Saucerful of Secrets (CD, EMI, 1968) **** 

Pink Floyd  Soundtrack from the Film "More" (Vinyl, EMI/ Columbia, 1969) **** 

Pink Floyd  Ummagumma (CD, EMI, 1969) ** (side 1 and 2) and ***** (side 3 and 4)

Genre: Psychedelic rock, Prog rock

Places I remember: HMV, Fives, Kings Recording, Marbecks Records,

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Astronomy Domine (Ummagumma)

Gear costume: Careful With That Axe, Eugene (Ummagumma) 

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: The Pink Floyd catalogue is vast and while I'm not a completist (no Final Cut for me thanks), I do have a shed-load of their albums. So, this will be another multi-post effort. First up the sixties versions of the band, and I'll be including the live albums along the way for the sake of context (seems sensible given Ummagumma's inclusion in this post). 

Their earliest available recording is London '66/'67. It includes two extended tracks - Interstellar Overdrive and Nick's Boogie. They were originally recorded for a film Tonite Let's All Make Love in London in 1967, but the songs were only partially released at the time. 

The DVD is great - with the full-length video of both songs, plus interview footage from the 1960s of Mick Jagger, David Hockney, Michael Caine and Julie Christie. Footage capturing the London Scene in the late sixties is also included.

Interstellar Overdrive is a remarkable 16 plus minute version that is constantly questing, twisting, turning, resolving. A wow moment!

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn was a remarkable debut in 1967. Syd Barrett is the main man and he moves at ease between catchy pop songs and more experimental sounds. The album title points towards his childlike world that indulgence in LSD only exacerbated. It all adds up to a psychedelic classic album.  

A Saucerful of Secrets is Syd's last album with the band. During the recording the band's friend David Gilmour joined in. This meant it became a transitional album where the rest of the band had to contribute songs and vocals.

That said, it's still brilliant with the highlight being the richly atmospheric Set The Controls for the Heart of the Sun - coincidentally the only song on the album where all five members play together.

The Soundtrack from the Film "More" was their first without any involvement from Syd and allowed them to settle into their new roles. 

The film itself included a plot revolving around drugs and 'free love'. I haven't seen it, but the music stands alone as a cohesive album. It seems the music also suited the film, as Nick Mason later said it was 'ideally suited to some of the rumblings, squeaks and sound textures we produced on a regular basis'.

Ummagumma rounds out the sixties releases and remains just as weird as its title (slang for sex apparently). All four members get a side each on the studio album and it's a rambunctious ride through their self-indulgent moments in the spotlight. I get the intention and I like the experimentation vibe - it is just a bit of a slog.

The live album is so much better - the sum of the parts! Four songs and each one is a joyous noise. They are better versions than the studio ones and show up a very coherent band delivering big time.

Superb cover too - I love the effect created with the band arranged in varying ways.

Where do they all belong? Into the spectacularly successful seventies next.