Pink Floyd: Labyrinth (1969)

This is my first edition of Rock Reimagined.  This latest project was inspired by Albums That Never Were's Pink Floyd Massed Gadgets of Auximines available at http://www.albumsthatneverwere.blogspot.ca/.

My goal for this album was to turn both the initial concept of Massed Gadgets as well as all the available material from Pink Floyd in 1969 into a cohesive whole.  The only way to properly do this was to create a triple album (!).

Pink Floyd in 1969 was experimenting with great effect after the loss of their band leader Syd Barrett who had provided much of the songwriting prior.  Entering the studio to record a concept album titled Massed Gadgets of Auximines, Pink Floyd had a vision to create a metaphysical journey showcasing the "Life of Man" and "The Journey".  As soniclovenoize explains on his blog, little is known about the concept as a whole besides the premise of the day in the life of man and the journey, whatever it may be..  This project ultimately was scrapped and the material from the period was repackaged into More and Ummagumma.

The band have described this period as painful, having not found their signature sound yet. However, I disagree with this assertion.  The material presented is daring and musically engaging, especially for experimental music which is a hard genre to tackle. I believe had the band stretched farther in developing a grander concept, this material would've shone much brighter. Instead we were left with a disjointed film soundtrack and a double album with one LP being live and the second a studio effort where the band separated the tracks by composer.

Thus, here I've come with a vision to redeem 1969 for the Floyd.  Taking inspiration from the main concept of Massed Gadgets, I've expanded the concept with inspiration from the track "Labyrinth of Auximines" and created an album simply titled Labyrinth.

Labyrinth is a triple album divided into three sections.  Most of the tracks have been renamed to fit the theme and tone of the record.  The first LP is titled "The Man" and is a meditative journey to the center of the nature of man.  Like the cover, this journey is labyrinthian in its trajectory beginning with the waking of man and following the course of his life through a day.

Much credit goes to soniclovenoize for the edits on the original jams by Pink Floyd into what he created as his version of Massed Gadgets.  I follow the relative structure of his album, except I've extended what was one side of a record to a whole LP dedicated to The Man.

The Second LP is titled "The Maze" and is the opposite of The Man.  Rather than a meditative journey, it is a journey fraught with confusion and challenge.  This is the metaphysical transition from a life in stasis to a life of action.  Journeying through The Maze is intended to be difficult and not without its rewards.  The tracks used in The Maze are culled from Ummagumma and More and arranged in a sequence to convey a chaotic and meandering journey.

The third LP is titled "The Journey" and is the final journey in the series.  Rather than an adventure through chaos, The Journey is the climactic travel through the actualization of the self.  From out of the depths of the maze, The Journey turns inward and upward towards to an unknown destination of a higher nature.  Tracks 1, 2 and 3 are taken from Zabriskie point while the rest are culled from soniclovenoize's Journey side of his Massed Gadgets of Auximines project.  The final track is taken from More and is meant to convey the potential start of another journey with sounds and melodies of a vagabond country.

I hope you enjoy listening to this record as much as I enjoyed making it!

Track List:

I: The Man

1. Let The Games Begin!
2. Awaken
3. Take Me Down
4. Daybreak
5. Work
6. Afternoon
7. Doing It
8. Evening
9. Midnight (When The City Calls)
10. Sleep
11. Nightmare (Cymbeline)
12. The Descent (Of Man)

II: The Maze

1. The Grand Party I: Enter The Grand Vizier
2. The Grand Party II: Dangerous Games
3. The Grand Party III: Exit Of The Damned
4. The Nile Song
5. Confusion
6. Eye Of The Maze
7. The Slaying Of Agamemnon
8. Plastic Meadows And Rubber Mountains
9. Dance Of The Minotaur
10. The Narrow Way

III: The Journey

1. Heart Beat, Pig Meat
2. Heart Of The Matrix
3. Death From Above
4. Dying Light
5. Enter The Eye
6. The Pink Jungle
7. The Labyrinth Of Auximines
8. Behold The Temple Of Light
9. The End Of The Beginning
10. Smoke And Mirrors

Covers and gatefold included.

Credits: soniclovenoise, rivendude and PF of course!

Artwork by Michael Palladino.  http://www.michaelpalladino.net

EDIT:  New gatefold version.  Disregard the old one contained in the files.

Gatefold

(edit: link fixed May 11th)
mp3 320 kbps: 1, 2