Description
A Saucerful of Secrets is the second studio album by Pink Floyd, released on 29 June 1968 by EMI Columbia in the United Kingdom and released on 27 July 1968 in the United States by Tower Records. The album was recorded before and after Syd Barrett's departure from the group. With Barrett's behaviour becoming increasingly unpredictable, he was forced to leave the band and David Gilmour was recruited in January 1968.
As a result, A Saucerful of Secrets became the only non-compilation Pink Floyd album on which all five band members appeared, the first for Gilmour, with him 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 the last for Barrett, with him on 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.
Upon release, A Saucerful of Secrets reached #9 in the UK charts, but failed to chart at all in the US. The album received mostly positive reviews, though many critics have deemed it inferior to The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
