Piper at the Gates of Dawn

This album is considered, by many, a revolutionary psychedelic album. I think those "many" are stretching it a little. Sure, this album is awesome, only with some minor flaws, but I don't consider this psychedelia (only two tracks I consider psychedelic). It's closer to "American Psychedelia," but it's better. I'm rambling. I'll move on.

PATGOD (abbreviation) has some great songs. Astronomy Domine (a-strah-noh-mee dah-muh-nee) is a very upbeat song. The lyrics simply name certain celestial bodies, along with lyrics to describe the color (lime and limpid green, a second scene). Lucifer Sam is a very danceable tune. It uses cellos during the musical interludes to add a sneaky secret agent quality to it that I really admire. The only instrumental on the album is, by far, the best song. Interstellar Overdrive is a really cool freak out, but it is very organized. The guitar theme is very easy to figure out, partially because it's in the key of E major. The last song on the record, Bike, was funny the first few times I listened to it. The lyrics are completely nuts, but Syd pulled it off well enough that it turned out to be a love song, as it was intended to be. This song is very unpredictable, which is one of the reasons I really like it.