In 1969, Pink Floyd stopped imitating Syd Barrett and started becoming the machine. The machine was rusty, it leaked oil, and it occasionally made no sense. But when it fired up—on “Careful with That Axe, Eugene” or “The Narrow Way”—you could hear the future breathing.
Immaculate. The versions of “Astronomy Domine,” “Careful with That Axe, Eugene,” and “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun” are definitive. You hear the space between the notes. You hear the echo. This is the Floyd as a unit —meditative, powerful, and scary. pink floyd 1969
They would perfect this on Dark Side of the Moon . But in 1969, they proved they had the ambition . Grade: B+ (Essential for deep fans, confounding for casuals) In 1969, Pink Floyd stopped imitating Syd Barrett
1969 is not the year you start with Pink Floyd. It’s the year you go to after Dark Side , Wish You Were Here , and The Wall have burned themselves into your soul. It is the awkward, brilliant, self-indulgent, and utterly necessary adolescence of a band learning that silence is as loud as a scream, and that a story can be told without a single verse-chorus. Immaculate