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Syd Barrett – The Madcap Laughs

Label: EMI – 7243 8 55663 1 8, EMI – LPCENT1 Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Gatefold
Country: UK Released: 1997 Genre: Rock Style: Psychedelic Rock

Tracklist ?

A1 Terrapin A2 No Good Trying A3 Love You A4 No Man's Land A5 Dark Globe A6 Here I Go B1 Octopus B2 Golden Hair B3 Long Gone B4 She Took A Long Cold Look B5 Feel B6 If It's In You B7 Late Night

Credits?

• Composed By – Syd Barrett
• Engineer – Jeff Jarratt, Mike Sheady, Pete Mew*, Phil McDonald, Tony Clark
• Lyrics By – James Joyce (tracks: B2), Syd Barrett (tracks: A1 to B1, B3 to B7)
• Producer – David Gilmour (tracks: A5, B1 to B6), Malcolm Jones (tracks: A1 to A4, A6, B7), Roger Waters (tracks: A5, B1 to B6)

Notes?

Reissue on 180g vinyl with reproduction of the original artwork.

LP and SLEEVE are M-

Roger Keith Barrett Profile: Born: January 6, 1946, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England
Died: July 7, 2006, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England

A key figure in the development of London's underground music scene during the late 1960s and -- despite his rather brief period of activity -- a continuing influence on popular (and unpopular) music onward into the 21st century, Syd Barrett also has the unfortunate distinction of being one of rock music's early drug casualties. His combined talents for eccentric pop songwriting and bold sonic exploration insured his rapid rise to fame and enduring legacy, but the equally rapid decent into chemically-induced mental illness sadly leaves us with the never-to-be-answered question of what Barrett would have accomplished had circumstances allowed him to achieve his full potential as a musician.

Wisely, The Madcap Laughs doesn't even try to sound like a consistent record. Half the album was recorded by Barrett's former bandmates Roger Waters and Dave Gilmour, and the other half by Harvest Records head Malcolm Jones. Surprisingly, Jones' tracks are song for song much stronger than the more-lauded Floyd entries. The opening "Terrapin" seems to go on three times as long as its five-minute length, creating a hypnotic effect through Barrett's simple, repetitive guitar figure and stream of consciousness lyrics. The much bouncier "Love You" sounds like a sunny little Carnaby Street pop song along the lines of an early Move single, complete with music hall piano, until the listener tries to parse the lyrics and realizes that they make no sense at all. The downright Kinksy"Here I Go" is in the same style, although it's both more lyrically direct and musically freaky, speeding up and slowing down seemingly at random. Like many of the "band" tracks, "Here I Go" is a Barrett solo performance with overdubs by Mike Ratledge, Hugh Hopper, and Robert Wyatt of the Soft Machine; the combination doesn't always particularly work, as the Softs' jazzy, improvisational style is hemmed in by having to follow Barrett's predetermined lead, so on several tracks, like "No Good Trying," they content themselves with simply making weird noises in the background. The solo tracks are what made the album's reputation, though, particularly the horrifying "Dark Globe," a first-person portrait of schizophrenia that's seemingly the most self-aware song this normally whimsical songwriter ever created. Honestly, however, the other solo tracks are the album's weakest tracks, with the exception of the plain gorgeous "Golden Hair," a musical setting of a James Joyce poem that's simply spellbinding. The album falls apart with the appalling "Feel." Frankly, the inclusion of false starts and studio chatter, not to mention some simply horrible off-key singing by Barrett, makes this already marginal track feel disgustingly exploitative. But for that misstep, however, The Madcap Laughs is a surprisingly effective record that holds up better than its "ooh, lookit the scary crazy person" reputation suggests.

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SS: means Still Sealed, any defects such as "cut-out" marks will be noted in the description

NM : means "Near Mint" - maybe played once, no surface marks, "like new" and still in shrinkwrap

M- : means "Mint Minus" - No scratches or wear if not mentioned in description

VG+ :  means "very good plus" - a nice copy. Some signs of light wear and possible surface noise in spots    

VG : means "Very Good"  - marks on vinyl and surface noise between tracks or during quieter passages. A copy to buy until a better one comes along

VG- : Very Good Minus - wear and marks and surface noise, a copy to buy until a better one comes along. 

G : means "good". In record grading terminology, "Good" is not good. Guaranteed only not to skip.

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