Rating: NNN
With renewed interest in Syd Barrett at an all-time high following his 2006 death, EMI teamed with former Pink Floyd bandmate (and eventual replacement) David Gilmour to present this overview of his brief, confounding career. A first-time collection of the highlights of his stint as Pink Floyd bandleader alongside selections from his short-lived solo career, the compilation is a cohesive look at a decidedly incohesive career.
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While Pink Floyd’s debut, Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, has long been recognized as a psychedelic treasure, Barrett’s solo work has been spottier. His knack for songwriting is easy to see, but knowing the effect his drug-induced psychosis had on his compositions can make some of them downright hard to listen to. Here I Go and She Took A Long Cool Look certainly sound like the work of an unravelling psyche, with folk rock hooks warped and fractured beyond recognition.
At times unnervingly brilliant, at other times just unnerving.
Top track: Terrapin
