
Description
For many years, this double LP/CD was one of the most popular albums in Pink Floyd's pre-Dark Side of the Moon output, containing a live disc and a studio disc. The live set, recorded in Birmingham and Manchester in June 1969, is limited to four numbers, all drawn from the group's first two LPs or their then recent singles. Featuring the band's second line-up (i.e., no Syd Barrett), the set shows off a very potent group, their sound held together on stage by Nick Mason's assertive drumming and Roger Waters' powerful bass work, which keep the proceedings moving no matter how spaced out the music gets; they also sound like they've got the amplifiers to make their music count, which is more than the early band had. "Astronomy Domine," "Careful With That Axe Eugene," "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun," and "A Saucerful of Secrets" are all superior here to their studio originals, done longer, louder, and harder, with a real edge to the playing. The studio disc was more experimental, each member getting a certain amount of space on the record to make their own music -- Richard Wright's "Sysyphus" was a pure keyboard work, featuring various synthesizers, organs, and pianos; David Gilmour's "The Narrow Way" was a three-part instrumental for acoustic and electric guitars and electronic keyboards; and Nick Mason's "The Grand Vizier's Garden Party" made use of a vast range of acoustic and electric percussion devices. Roger Waters' "Grantchester Meadows" was a lyrical folk-like number unlike almost anything else the group ever did. In 1994 the album was remastered and reissued in a green slipcase, in a version a lot louder and sharper than the original CD release.
Product Details
- Artist
- Pink Floyd
- Label / Studio
- EMI
- Number of Discs
- 2
- Recording Environment
- Mixed
- Original year of release
- 1969
- Media Format
- Audio CD
- Year of release
- 1994
- Run Time (minutes)
- 86
- SPARS Code
- AAD
- Catalog Number
- CDEMD1074
- Cast & Crew
- Pink Floyd (Music Performer)
- Norman Smith (Producer)
- Pink Floyd (Producer)
- Brian Humphries (Sound Engineer)
- Peter Mew (Sound Engineer)
Press Reviews
...Based on the principle that groups are often at their best when they don't know what they're doing, this is Pink Floyd at their most adventurous....genuinely sounding exploratory... Mojo (9/00, p.121)
3 Stars - Good - "...something of a bravely flawed gambit combining a side of Floyd live and archetypally spacey, with a studio set full of mad but appealing individual experiments... Q (1/95, p.275)
Tracklisting
Disc 1:
-
Astronomy Domine
-
Careful with That Axe, Eugene
-
Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
-
Saucerful of Secrets, A
Disc 2:
-
Sysyphus Part 1 - Richard Wright
-
Sysyphus Part 2 - Richard Wright
-
Sysyphus Part 3 - Richard Wright
-
Sysyphus Part 4 - Richard Wright
-
Grantchester Meadows - Roger Waters
-
Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Groo
-
Narrow Way Part 1, the - David Gilmour
-
Narrow Way Part 2, the - David Gilmour
-
Narrow Way Part 3, the - David Gilmour
-
Grand Vizier's Garden Party Part 1 Entrance, the - Nick Mason
-
Grand Vizier's Garden Party Part 2 Entertainment, the - Nick Mason
-
Grand Vizier's Garden Party Part 3 Exit, the - Nick Mason
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