The musical lifetime of Syd Barrett was brief. He was one of the shining stars of the British scene of Psychedelic Rock in the late 1960s. Sadly, he suffered a personal decline, due to excessive LSD and other drug use, along with some likely pre-existing mental health issues. It is still not quite clear, to this day, exactly what derailed him, however. He was one of the founding members of Pink Floyd. This band was formed by some art school students from Cambridge in the UK, with Syd Barrett on vocals and guitar, Roger Waters on bass guitar, Richard Wright on keyboards and Nick Mason on drums. Syd and Pink Floyd recorded some amazing EPs and the first Pink Floyd album, The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn during the years of 1965-1967. However, due to Syd’s personal issues, he was gone from Pink Floyd by 1968, being replaced by guitarist David Gilmour. He did have some solo releases in 1970, before he went back home to live with his family until his passing in 2006. That story aside, this compilation was released in 2010, four years after Syd Barrett had passed away. Let’s take a good listen to this compilation and celebrate the music of Syd Barrett along the way.

Arnold Layne is the first A side of Syd Barrett’s career. It launches straight into it, with chugging guitars, Syd’s vocals and intricate sonic sounds. This is a witty parody of a guy who steals women’s clothes to wear them. It’s a fantastic listening experience to this day. Whether or not you find it humourous, this is an outstanding sounding tune. Syd and Pink Floyd together made a tremendous tune here. It has the perfect mixture of Psychedelic music, imagery and lyrics together. The organ solo here is really excellent as well. The second half of the song has a twist to it, which is quite different. In any case, the music on this tune is fantastic. A great staple of music from early Pink Floyd, and a great listen throughout. The story concludes nicely at the end and is a warning to those in general about breaking the law. Fantastic song, all the same.

See Emily Play begins with lovely slide guitar, and eerie electronics and is another great Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd staple. It sounds soulful and amazing to this very day, particularly in the chorus. Syd and crew place a real passionate performance here, although it is noted that by the time Pink Floyd was recording this song, Syd was already experiencing problems. The piano and keyboard parts, along with the rest of the playing are fantastic and excellent. A sing-along chorus is here, and the whole song is remarkably wonderful. There is a good mixture of slide guitar and keyboards in the solo section. The Beatles obviously had some serious competition back in 1967, and Pink Floyd was an example of that. In any case, this is a great and magical tune to listen to, time and time again. Awesome music with Psychedelic imagery and excellent music to match. Worth listening to, even today. It ends with some awesome sounds. Great stuff.

Apples And Oranges begins with some trippy guitar riffs and has some awesome music, to begin with. Syd sings wonderfully about the simplicity of life back in the 1960s, and the whole thing is very magical. A great story about a girl that Syd supposedly fancies, this is so wonderful that one would like to hit the repeat buttons on these songs. There is a bridge section with Syd Barrett singing about this girl he loves. A very cool tune to hear, this is a lovely listen with multitracked harmonies sung sweetly. All in all, this is another classic tune that deserves your attention, even in today’s postmodern environment of computerised music. A blissful journey, it sounds awesome from start to finish. It ends with microphonic feedback from guitar and harmonies. Excellent.

Matilda Mother – Alternative Version (2010 Mix) is a different version than the original on the 1967 Pink Floyd album Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. It has different lyrics and has some different instrumentation on this version as well. It sounds very quintessential listening here. It honestly doesn’t sound as polished as the original tune and is a bit weird sounding as well, consequently. Still, this is really cool and enjoyable to hear. We are very blessed to hear Syd Barrett’s music in this respect. The solo section has some brilliant proto-beatboxing, organs and excellent Fender Esquire playing by Syd. Soon enough, this returns to the song at hand. It is very beautiful, pretty and extremely Psychedelic listening. Another gem from the brains of Syd Barrett. The outro is extended with brilliant Psychedelic harmonies, more organs and some great guitar playing. This goes on for much longer than the original tune and is slowly and wonderfully faded out. Another excellent listening experience and it is a legendary tune. A fine listen.

Chapter 24 is an extremely underrated listen from Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. It is deep, meaningful and moving throughout, with layered keyboards, cymbal hits, nimble bass guitar and Syd’s unforgettable singing. Extremely beautiful and wonderful, this is a true gem from early Pink Floyd. Syd Barrett wrote songs that touch the heart and that appeal to an intellectual mind as well. “Change returns success, going and coming without error, action brings good fortune, sunset, sunrise!” is the chorus and it sounds absolutely brilliant with layered harmonies and some of the most beautiful sounds that you will ever hear. This song makes perfect sense, high or sober, to listen to. Thank goodness Pink Floyd made their first album, this is a fantastic listen from it. The layered and gorgeous harmonies towards the end are absolutely magical and beautiful. A truly underrated song, it ends with some spacey and slightly dark textures. A must listen.

Bike is the staple song from the first Pink Floyd album. It has Syd Barrett singing rather nonsensical and interesting lyrics that have a joyous and very interesting appeal to the listener. Again, this is a fantastic listening experience with some electric piano, crunchy Fender Esquire guitar playing and a groove to match. This is genuinely adorable musically, and Syd does impress very well on this tune. Singing about some simple things in life, this eventually progresses to an interesting proto-Dark Side Of The Moon climax that follows. Once the song finishes, footsteps are heard and a huge array of clock sounds emerge. Absolutely brilliant and fantastic to hear, this sounds very image-evoking. Really awesome and different, this must have taken a considerable amount of effort to record back in 1967. After the clocks finish ticking, some looped quacking ducks are here to fade out. Absolutely wonderful, once again.

Terrapin is from Syd Barrett’s solo career. It begins with strummed acoustic guitars, Syd singing and clean electric guitar playing. All in all, this is a simple and interesting listen from The Madcap Laughs, his first solo album. This tune, although acoustic mainly, is a great piece of mellow Psychedelic musings and sounds simply great. A really enjoyable and a fine tune to listen to. We are certainly privileged to hear such music today. The simplicity and loveliness of Syd’s music is clear to listen to here. There is a solo section with strummed acoustic guitar and mellow electric guitar playing. A slow burner that sounds just as good today as it did back in 1970, this is very much enjoyable all the way through listening to this song. Syd sounds worn out on this song via his singing, but he still delivers a decent performance throughout. This is enough to put a smile on one’s face and listen repeatedly. The music here is simply enjoyable, no autotune or anything electronic here, just Syd and guitars. Someone should perform these live on acoustic today, as these songs are truly magical. A really simple and enjoyable love song for a lady out there. Great to hear, many decades later.

Love You begins with some strange guitar chords, before launching straight into an enjoyable and wonderful tune to listen to. It’s a romantic and enjoyable listen from Syd Barrett devoted to a lady out there. Overdubbed electric pianos and drums are present here as well. A shorter tune, but lively, energetic and wonderfully simple. A really fantastic tune to hear in the history of music, songs such as these make this compilation definitely worth listening to. A joy to hear, even though Syd doesn’t sound energetic or enthusiastic recording this. Magical music, regardless. A short and sweet tune.

Dark Globe is a deep and meaningful tune by Syd Barrett which is just him singing and playing acoustic guitar. This tune is a little lyrically messed up, but sounds good musically regardless. Syd’s voice is fairly whiny, but he still delivers the tune the best he can here. A short sample of music from Syd Barrett, and the world of music misses great songs such as these today. A really cool listening experience regardless. Worth your time and ears. It is a short two minute long listen which is still great to hear today.

Here I Go begins with some clean guitar and has Syd singing about a lady whom he admires who doesn’t like him or his music. A really good listen regardless, this has some good electric guitars and some drums overdubbed as well. A really weird, but decent and interesting listening experience throughout. It is an interesting listening experience that sounds fairly odd and is a good starting point for Folk musicians to be inspired by. Simple, enjoyable and lovely music. The second half makes for a better deal lyrically, and the music matches it nicely. A really cool tune, this is an entertaining listen. Very witty and humourous, it has an instrumental section to conclude within the fade out. Awesome.

Octopus – 2010 Mix begins with some decent and melodic acoustic guitar playing with a false start before this tune gets going properly. This is one of the more catchy listens from The Madcap Laughs era, and Syd Barrett sings and plays well here. Nice and catchy listening, this is a really cool and a fine tune for the listener to enjoy. The lyrics are very surreal, and unforgettably so. Syd sounds like he is struggling to keep his mind together over delivering this fantastic tune, but it works regardless. In any case, this surreal tune has a great Fender styled electric guitar solo, acoustic guitars and choppy drums. Eventually, we return to the octopus ride at hand and this enjoyable tune is very catchy. Clever, lovely and catchy, this is a wonderfully enjoyable and interesting piece of Folk based music. The outro has some acoustic guitars and drumming that sound great. Nice job.

She Took A Long Cold Look – 2010 Mix begins with some strummed acoustic guitar and singing from Syd Barrett. This is a short and enjoyable listening experience that has some interesting lyrics that are, again, romantically based. This is a strange listen about relationship issues that Syd may have had in real life. A good and interesting piece, and this nicely continues the vibe of this compilation. Syd made great songs that nobody else could do. He finishes up with a word on the length of the song. Good to hear.

If It’s In You begins with some false starts and Syd talking with the studio crew about the process of recording. He eventually gets singing and strumming away, a little whiny and wailing sounding, but still going. Despite that, this is another good listening experience with some strange lyrics throughout. A good tune with Psychedelic imagery, it does sound very good for what it is. Syd Barrett’s voice isn’t great here, but the song is enjoyable here. Not bad, it ends with strummed chords, finishing after over two minutes long.

Baby Lemonade is off the second Syd Barrett solo album simply named Barrett. It begins with some clean electric guitar riffing that is nice and sweetly melodic. It has a Blues feel to it upon listening. This is a great thing to hear. Soon enough, acoustic guitars and organ join on to this track, sounding really fantastic. Syd Barrett sings and this tune adds bass guitar and drums to match. This is another gem from Syd’s solo days. Very enjoyable and listenable, it is amazing that Syd managed to get his musical act together for his solo career. A really cool tune, this does have a nice songwriting style to it, along with polished production values as well. The second half of this song has Psychedelic lyrics and mellow playing. Syd’s voice sounds less tuneful than his Pink Floyd work, but it works well here nonetheless. Towards the end are loud and intricate drum rolls, along with catchy guitar playing. Good to listen to in any case. A slow fade-out ends this tune.

Dominoes – 2010 Mix begins with some organ, clean guitars and Syd Barrett singing nicely here. He sounds really unenthusiastic in his singing here, but the song itself is quite good, complete with backward guitars, which is different. This is still really good music to hear anyway. It continues the themes of the second Syd Barrett solo album Barrett, which is basically Syd Barrett’s solo work with some polished production values. This has some great keyboard playing in it as well. A nonetheless enjoyable tune to listen to, this does work nicely. A thoroughly awesome and interesting listen, this has its own musical personality and flavour throughout. The second half of this tune has a long instrumental section with reversed guitars and drums, organs and other overdubs here. It sounds rather odd, but hey, that’s Syd Barrett for you. Good song.

Gigolo Aunt begins with some distant sounding music playing before this song begins with Syd singing and organ and drums supporting him musically. It is a simple, pleasant sounding and sweet tune to hear and enjoy. A really cool and inspired listen, this is a humourous tune that has a lot more consistency and great sonic sounds than other solo pieces from the Barrett album. An interesting tune that is super quirky and different. Syd Barrett obviously still had some good musical pieces in him, even after he parted ways with Pink Floyd. There is an organ and electric guitar solo section here, which is enjoyable and different sounding. This is much closer to Pink Floyd in sound and appeal than you would typically think. A loveable and enjoyable listening experience that sounds decent, Syd sings about the pleasantries of British life. One cannot help but laugh at the music here in delight. This is a rather extended listening experience, but it still sounds fresh and awesome, to this very day. A really cool tune with an extended guitar solo section in the second half, which is worth your time and ears. Overall, a good listen and proof of the genius of Syd Barrett. Very, very good. It ends with a bunch of weird sounds and percussion to conclude. Decent.

Effervescing Elephant begins with some very weird and strange night sounds, with some squealing in the background. Some horns enter, along with acoustic guitar and Syd Barrett singing away. This is one of the more enjoyable tunes from the solo Syd Barrett era. Weird, Psychedelic and wonderful, this is likely inspired by drug use. A short and sweet listening experience, this sounds wacky and different. It ends with the sounds from the intro to fade out.

Bob Dylan Blues is a good tune that sounds very melodic with acoustic guitar playing. This is, believe it or not, a song written by Syd Barrett. It is a good tune about being inspired by Bob Dylan himself. Regardless, this wacky tune is good to listen to and a good summary of the sort of music that both Bob Dylan and Syd Barrett made. An enjoyable and gorgeous tune to finish off this consistently inspired and great compilation. It still sounds great to this very day, and the music here is very cool. A nice oddity to hear. The acoustic guitar playing sounds very fresh and amazing, to this day.

This is a great starting point for the music of Syd Barrett. It evenly places out his works, both in Pink Floyd and during his solo career. In fact, using this compilation as a starting point unlocks a great listening experience for one of the most underrated Rock musicians of all time. Should you listen to this album? Do give it a try and even if this is not your favourite music out there, this is something that should be heard by many music fans out there.

R.I.P. Syd Barrett.

9/10