A Saucerful of Secrets
"Remastered" Mono Edition
Odeon - M6898
Tracklist:
01 Let There Be More Light
02 Remember a Day
03 Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun
04 Corporal Clegg
05 A Saucerful of Secrets
06 See-Saw
07 Jugband Blues
08 It Would Be So Nice*
09 Julia Dream*
10 Point Me at the Sky*
11 Careful With That Axe, Eugene*
12 Jugband Blues (alternate mix)
* Original Mono Singles
Lineage: Silver Disc > EAC (secure mode, offset corrected, test & copy) > WAV > TLH > FLAC level 7
Ripped 2006-03-31
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EMI Records saw fit during the late '90s to release the mono version of Piper at the Gates of Dawn
in a special boxed edition, but overlooked the mono master of its follow-up, A Saucerful of Secrets .
Thus, it's fallen to a group of anonymous bootleggers to provide this lost piece of Pink Floyd ephemera
to the public, in a beautifully designed digipack jacket.
Admittedly, A Saucerful of Secrets is overall a weaker collection of music than its predecessor, but there's still a good deal that's worth hearing.
The mono edition of the album offers different mixes on songs such as "Let There Be More Light," with
the keyboard and guitar embellishments far more prominent than they are in the standard stereo edition.
"Corporal Clegg," it must be conceded, may well work better in the stereo version, as the mono master pushes the guitars too far into the background.
"Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" is also very different from the standard stereo master --
for starters, it's possible to make out the lyrics a lot more easily, and the shimmering percussion
and keyboard effects are further forward in the mix.
The biggest variation of all is evident in "A Saucerful of Secrets," which has a completely different set
of musical effects throughout its length, but most noticeably in the first section.
There is some slight weakness in the sound on this CD, relative to the authorized release, but the quality
is still above average.
The producers have rounded out the disc with a selection of early non-LP sides -- "It Would Be So Nice," "Julia Dream," "Point Me at the Sky," and "Careful With That Axe, Eugene" -- along with an alternate mix
of "Jugband Blues" that is taken from a slightly ragged vinyl source.