A Saucerful of Secrets is the second studio album by English rock group Pink Floyd. It was recorded at EMI's Abbey Road Studios on various dates from August 1967 to April 1968. It is both the last Pink Floyd album on which Syd Barrett would appear and the only studio album in which all five band members contributed.

Recording and structure[link]

During the album's difficult recording sessions, Syd Barrett became increasingly unstable, and in January 1968,^{[citation needed]} David Gilmour was brought in. As a result, A Saucerful of Secrets became the only non-compilation Pink Floyd album on which all five band members appeared, with Gilmour appearing on five songs ("Let There Be More Light", "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", "Corporal Clegg", "A Saucerful of Secrets", and "See-Saw"), and Barrett on three ("Remember a Day", "Jugband Blues", and "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun")^{[citation needed]}. Barrett was finally ousted from the band in early March, leaving the new incarnation of Pink Floyd to finish the album. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" is the only song on which all five band members appeared.

Richard Wright sings or shares lead vocals on four of the album's seven songs, and contributes backing vocals on the eleven-and-a-half-minute instrumental opus "A Saucerful of Secrets", making this the only Pink Floyd album where Wright's vocal contributions outnumber those of the rest of the band. This is also the only album to contain lead vocals by all five Pink Floyd members (Nick Mason sings lead parts on "Corporal Clegg"). However, it is not the only album where the other four have singing credits, as on the album Meddle, all four remaining members contributed their voices, with Mason delivering a single spoken line in "One of These Days".

Unreleased songs[link]

As well as "Jugband Blues", the album was to include "Vegetable Man", another Barrett song. The song was to appear on a single as the B-side to another unreleased track, "Scream Thy Last Scream". Two additional Barrett songs, "In the Beechwoods" and "No Title" (frequently referred to on bootlegs as "Sunshine"), were also recorded early in the sessions for the album. At least one other song, "John Latham", was recorded during these sessions, and remains unreleased.^{[citation needed]}

Reception[link]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Rolling Stone	unfavourable[2]

Upon its release, Rolling Stone magazine's review was unfavourable, calling it "not as interesting as their first" and "rather mediocre", highlighting the near-departure of Syd Barrett as one of its detractors.^[2] Allmusic called it "a transitional album on which the band moved from Syd Barrett's relatively concise and vivid songs to spacy, ethereal material with lengthy instrumental passages."^[1]

Track listing[link]

Album cover[link]

This is the first of several Pink Floyd album covers designed by Hipgnosis, and was only the second time that an EMI group (The Beatles were the first) was permitted to hire outside designers for an album jacket.^[3] Certain elements of the collage are taken from page 25 of Marvel Comics' Strange Tales issue No. 158 (1967), including the face of the Living Tribunal in the upper left, Doctor Strange along the right edge, and the image of a string of planets entering a whirlpool that runs through the center of the design.^{[citation needed]}

The title track was Gilmour's first professional songwriting credit. His name is incorrectly spelled "Gilmore", an error that would persist on all pressings until finally being corrected with the 1994 remastered version.

Songs from the album[link]

Like The Piper at the Gates of Dawn before it, the album contains space rock and psychedelic rock songs. However, unlike Piper, which was dominated by Barrett's compositions, A Saucerful of Secrets contains only one original Barrett song, "Jugband Blues".

With Barrett seemingly detached from proceedings,^[1] it came down to Waters and Wright to provide adequate material. The opening "Let There Be More Light" penned by Waters, continues the space rock approach established by Barrett. Both "Remember a Day" and "See-Saw" use the child-like approach that was established on their debut. Wright remained critical of his early contributions to the band.^[4]

"Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" (another Waters composition) is a space rock number which was first performed with Barrett in 1967. The success of the track was such that it remained in their live setlist until 1973 where it appeared in a greatly extended form. Waters later performed the track during solo concerts from 1984 and later. Waters borrowed the lyrics from a book of Chinese poetry from the Tang Dynasty, like Barrett had used in "Chapter 24".

"Corporal Clegg", written by Waters, is the first Pink Floyd song to address issues of war, a theme which would endure throughout the career of Waters as a songwriter for the band, culminating on the 1983 album The Final Cut. This song also features the first official release with vocals by Mason, who sings lead.

Release history[link]

The album was released in the UK on 29 June 1968 on EMI's Columbia label as both mono (catalogue number SX 6258) and stereo (SCX 6258) LPs, reaching #9 in the UK charts.^[5] It was released in the US by the Tower Records division of Capitol, where it remains the only Pink Floyd album to not chart.^[6] However, when reissued as A Nice Pair with the original version of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn after the success of The Dark Side of the Moon, the album did chart at #36 on the Billboard 200.^{[7][dead link]}

The CD stereo mix of the album was first released in 1987, and in 1992 was digitally remastered and reissued as part of the Shine On box set. The remastered stereo CD was released on its own in 1994 in the UK, and then in April 1995 in the US.^{[citation needed]} The mono mix version of the album has never been officially released on CD.

Singles[link]

• "Remember a Day" (Edit)/"Let There Be More Light" (Edit) (19 August 1968, US release only)

Non-album singles[link]

• "It Would Be So Nice"/"Julia Dream" (19 April 1968, 7" UK release)
• "Point Me at the Sky"/"Careful with That Axe, Eugene" (6 December 1968, 7" UK release)

Personnel[link]

Pink Floyd[link]

• Roger Waters - bass guitar, percussion, vocals
• Richard Wright - piano, organ, mellotron, vibraphone, vocals
• David Gilmour - guitar, vocals, kazoo
• Nick Mason - drums, percussion, vocals on "Corporal Clegg"
• Syd Barrett - acoustic and slide guitar on "Remember a Day", guitar on "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", lead vocals and acoustic guitar on "Jugband Blues"

Additional personnel[link]

• Norman Smith - drums and backing vocals on "Remember a Day"
• The Salvation Army (The International Staff Band) on "Jugband Blues":
  • Ray Bowes (cornet)
  • Terry Camsey (cornet)
  • Mac Carter (trombone)
  • Les Condon (E♭ bass)
  • Maurice Cooper (euphonium)
  • Ian Hankey (trombone)
  • George Whittingham (B♭ bass)
  • One other uncredited musician

Sales chart performance[link]

Notes[link]

References[link]