SYD BARRETT
OCTOPUS
( The Best of Syd Barrett )
CLEO 57712
(P) 1992
Made in Canada
Reviews/Comments:
A compilation of tracks from Syd Barrett's two proper solo albums,
1970's Barrett and
The Madcap Laughs ,
plus a couple of tracks from the 1989 odds and ends collection Opel.
Octopus: The Best of Syd Barrett is a fine, though not
world-beating, collection.
In distilling the three albums, the compilers wisely kept to the
more lucid material,
choosing skewed pop gems like "Gigolo Aunt" and
"Baby Lemonade," not to mention the
sublime musical setting of James
Joyce's "Golden Hair," over the creepy and fragmented
stuff that's
more psychologically intriguing than actually fun to listen to.
As an introduction to Barrett's solo work, Octopus is pretty good (though
the later Wouldn't You
Miss Me is more comprehensive), but the
complete Syd Barrett novice should still start with
Pink Floyd's The
Piper at the Gates of Dawn , his sole masterpiece.
Music fans would pour over 19 odd takes of 'Clowns And Jugglers' and
watch it turn into 'Octopus'.
By the way, the 1993 CD version of this album features six bonus
tracks, an alternate take of
'Gigolo Aunt' being better than the
version eventually used on 'Barrett'.
Syd, Roger Keith, Barrett is a genius,quite simply-an artistic
genius.
In a way, I often feel like I'm going through EXACTLY what he went
through in the 60's,
but I know this isn't true.
I just feel this way.
I've been listening to Syd Barrett's music for 10 years now and I
Never get tired of it.
When I'm alone, depressed, feeling inspired, or just plain
spaced-out and yes, his music makes
complete sense while expanding
one's mind... but I respect him for having broken the boundaries
of
conventional wisdom.
He's a spiritual seeker in a way...but pray that the last piece of
news we hear about
Syd won't be tragic. |
| Tracks: |
Time: |
| |
|
| 1. Octopus |
3:47 |
| 2. Swan Lee (Silas Lang) |
3:11 |
| 3. Baby Lemonade |
4:07 |
| 4. Late Night |
3:10 |
| 5. Wined And Dined |
2:54 |
| 6. Golden Hair |
1:59 |
| 7. Gigolo Aunt |
5:42 |
| 8. Wolfpack |
3:41 |
| 9. It Is Obvios |
2:55 |
| 10. Lanky (Part One) |
5:30 |
| 11. No Good Trying |
3:26 |
| 12. Clowns and Jugglers (Octopus) |
3:24 |
| 13. Waving My Arms In The Air |
2:09 |
| 14. Opel |
6:24 |
| |
|
|
Total Time: |
52:19
|
| |
|
Line-up
- Syd Barrett / guitar, vocals, production
- Mike Ratledge (Soft Machine) / keyboards
- Vic Seywell / horn
- John Wilson / drums
- David Gilmour / bass, guitar, production, organ
- Hugh Hopper (Soft Machine) / bass
- Malcolm Jones / Producer
- Roger Waters / Bass, Producer
- Robert Wyatt (Soft Machine) / Drums
- Jerry Shirley / percussion, drums
- Willey / percussion
- Richard Wright / organ, harmonium, piano,keyboards, production |
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