Pink Floyd - A Saucerful of Secrets - Released Year 1968
Tracklist front / back album covers
Side one
1. "Let There Be More Light" 5:38
2. "Remember a Day" 4:33
3. "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" 5:28
4. "Corporal Clegg" 4:13
Total length: 19:52
Side two
1. "A Saucerful of Secrets"
I. "Something Else" (3:57)
II. "Syncopated Pandemonium" (3:07)
III. "Storm Signal" (1:34)
IV. "Celestial Voices" (3:19)" 11:57
2. "See-Saw" 4:36
3. "Jugband Blues" 3:00
Total length: 19:33
About the Album
A Saucerful of Secrets is Pink Floyd’s second studio album, released in 1968. This album bridges the gap between the Syd Barrett era and the band’s later progressive rock masterpieces. With Barrett’s departure and the arrival of David Gilmour, the album captures a pivotal moment in the band’s evolution, blending experimental psychedelia with the emerging progressive sound that would define Pink Floyd.
Fun Facts
🎸 This is the only Pink Floyd album to feature all five members: Syd Barrett, David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Nick Mason, and Richard Wright.
🎹 The title track, “A Saucerful of Secrets,” is an instrumental epic that foreshadows the band’s later cosmic soundscapes.
🎤 “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun” became a live performance staple and showcases Roger Waters’ early songwriting.
🎷 Syd Barrett’s final contribution to the band is the haunting and surreal “Jugband Blues.”
🥁 The album’s experimental style reflects the band’s search for a new identity in the wake of Barrett’s declining mental health.
🎧 David Gilmour’s arrival helped stabilize the group’s sound and laid the groundwork for their progressive rock future.
Why Listen to A Saucerful of Secrets?
A fascinating snapshot of Pink Floyd’s transition from psychedelic to progressive rock
Beautifully layered instrumentals and eerie, atmospheric textures
Essential for understanding the early evolution of one of rock’s most legendary bands
Classic psychedelic rock infused with early hints of the band’s epic, cosmic explorations
A Saucerful of Secrets is the 2nd studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 29 June 1968 by EMI Columbia in the United Kingdom (following adverts in Melody Maker giving that date) and released on 27 July 1968 in the United States by Tower Records. It is the only album to be credited to the band as a five-piece, consisting of Syd Barrett (guitar), David Gilmour (guitar), Nick Mason (drums), Roger Waters (bass) and Richard Wright (keyboards). Barrett's behavior had become unpredictable during the recording of the album, so David Gilmour was recruited to complement Barrett, who eventually left the band before the completion of the album.
While the prior record had been creatively driven by Barrett as the band's leader and principal songwriter, this album showed a much more diverse set of influences, with every member contributing to songwriting and lead vocal roles. Gilmour, new with the band, appears on five songs (all except "Remember a Day" and "Jugband Blues"), while Barrett, in his final appearance on a Pink Floyd album, contributed to three ("Remember a Day", "Jugband Blues" and "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"). "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" was the only song all five members appeared on together. The band's drummer, Nick Mason, has declared A Saucerful of Secrets to be his favourite Pink Floyd album.
