I consider this a birthday present although it was actually a present to myself from myself, but it still counts, right? The Piper At The Gates of Dawn has long been at the very top of my vinyl wishlist, which shouldn't come as any surprise if you know me and how much I adore Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett. It's Pink Floyd's debut album and is the only album that really features Syd. Because of this the album has a completely different sound to other Pink Floyd albums, much more psychedelic, and personally to me is their best. Debut albums are almost always worth more in general, but Pink Floyd's history with Syd really makes this one skyrocket and it can be difficult to find a genuine first mono pressing which is what I wanted. I always figured if I was going to spend big on this album one day, I may as well get the one I really wanted!
I got some money recently and knew straight away that I wanted to treat myself to this with it so went straight onto eBay and quite lucked out finding this copy. It hadn't been described very well and so didn't have many other bidders (only two others) and it ended in the middle of the night so I presume I was the only one dedicated enough to stay up for it to ensure it became mine. It's a true first mono pressing (mono is important as it's mixed differently. Pink Floyd mixed the mono themselves over a period of days, whereas the record company mixed the stereo without Pink Floyd's input in about 20 minutes and there's quite some significant sound differences) and it has a G1 matrix which means it was part of the very first batch ever made. Exciting, huh?? I still can't quite believe it's mine!
