Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Available to Download Now
 
Buy the MP3 album for £4.49
  
 
 
 
Madcap Laughs [CASSETTE]
 
 
Share your own customer images

Madcap Laughs [CASSETTE] [Import]

Syd Barrett | Format: Audio Cassette
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)

Currently unavailable.
We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.


Buy the MP3 album for £4.49 at the Amazon MP3 Downloads store.

Shop on Amazon.co.uk, pay with your currency
Amazon.co.uk Currency Converter
Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More.

Amazon's Syd Barrett Store

Music

Image of album by Syd Barrett

Photos

Image of Syd Barrett

Biography

Roger Keith 'Syd' Barrett (1946-2006) was the original front man and songwriter for Pink Floyd. Widely seen as a musical genius, he was an undisputed pioneer of the sixties underground psychedelic scene, and remains a source of unrelenting fascination for music journalists and fans alike.

Despite spending little more than two years with Pink Floyd, Syd's song writing was integral to the group's… Read more in Amazon's Syd Barrett Store

›
Visit Amazon's Syd Barrett Store
for 20 albums, 3 photos, discussions, and more.

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Product details

  • Audio Cassette (1 Feb 1991)
  • Format: Import
  • Label: Indent Series
  • ASIN: B00000EL35
  • Other Editions: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 469,051 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
1. Terrapin
2. No Good Trying
3. Love You
4. No Man's Land
5. Dark Globe
6. Here I Go
7. Octopus
8. Golden Hair
9. Long Gone
10. She Took a Long Cold Look
11. Feel
12. If It's in You
13. Late Night

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

Having left Pink Floyd in 1968 after a daily LSD habit had taken its toll, Syd Barrett's first solo album finally appeared two years later with ex-Floyd sidekicks Dave Gilmour and Rick Wright riding shotgun with him in the studio. The Madcap Laughs is a brilliant but brittle album, with every strum of the electric guitar seeming to take its toll on Barrett's increasingly frayed nerve strings. On songs like "Love You", his state of mind is well concealed beneath the sort of jolly ice cream van jangle-pop Blur would later indulge in. On "Dark Globe", however, the strain is palpable: "Please land a hand ... won't you miss me? Wouldn't you miss me at all?" he pleas, ominously. Best tracks are "Octopus" with all the controlled mania of early Floyd and "Golden Hair", a still moment of musical rapture whose lyric is taken from a James Joyce poem. --David Stubbs

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
 
(22)
(14)
(13)
(15)
(10)
(8)
(7)
(4)
(4)
(4)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
One of rock's most famous recluse's, the first of Syd's solo album contains some of his most fluent, and also incoherent work. Painstakingly put together this documents an amazing revolutionary artist in free-fall. Yes, "Piper..." may always be superior, but it will never have the emotional depth and intrigue this offers the listener. Ranging from the fuzzy "No good trying", to the frightening mental pain of "Dark Globe" ("Wouldn't you miss me?!?" he roars, titling his won best of 32 years later) and the sweet borrowed poem of "Golden hair". The range of moods and emotions, the way you can feel the difficulty Syd was going through this heartfelt work is amazing. This album is wonderful, and anyone considering investigating him should defiantly start here, not at that evil commercialised best of and see what this incredible songwriter managed to produce under the worst of circumstances. Miraculous.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Vinyl
The opening track of the album 'Terrapin' sets the scene for what any listener unfamaliar with the work of Barrett is about to encounter. It is a bare skeleton of a song, with just a single acoustic guitar playing at a snails pace, and Syd singing a simple love lyric with all the soul he can muster. A beautiful yet strange song, it is one of my favourite tracks on the album. If the track doesn't draw you into Syd's world, it is probable that this record won't be for you.

The rest of the tracks on the record are made up of up-tempo songs such as 'Love You', 'Here I Go', and the superb 'Octopus, yet also has its share of undescribably painful songs which feel as if they came directly from the nervous breakdown from hell. 'Dark Globe' is one such track, yet even it sounds together when compared to 'If it's in You' and 'Feel'. Although these tracks have false starts, and would not be to everybody's liking, I have a lot of affection for both, particular 'If It's In You'. While some of the record may be deemed as "way out", there is no doubting the fact that the album contains several classic tracts, by whatever standards you use to judge it by. No Man's Land, 'Long Gone' and the gentle beauty of the closing track 'Late Night' are all superb, not to mention Golden Hair, where Syd imaginatively puts music to a James Joyce poem with great results. I

Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This album is just Syd, his guitar and some simple accompaniment. Everything is focussed on the lyrics and Syd's voice. Don't expect it to sound like ' The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn' as his voice has lost it's happy quality. At times though, especially on the slow and beautiful love songs 'Terrapin' and 'Late Night', the sound is sweet toned and together.
The 13 tracks and 6 retakes are lifted out of the ordinary by Syd's wonderfully poetic lyrics and that emotional quality his voice has. In my opinion his lyrics have never been bettered. There are dark tracks, the prophetic 'Dark Globe', 'Feel' and the unbearably sad 'If it's in you' that reflect his growing unease and despair. But it's not all sadness, the extraordinary 'Octopus' is a stream of consciousness as image after image flows and shines from his brilliant mind. The funny 'Love You' and the wryly amusing 'Here I Go' help to lift the spirit.
Of course the songs are imbued with what was happening to Syd at the time. He recorded this album already suffering from a terrible break down. For the past decades, this album has been an eloquent testimony to what has been lost; a rare poet, a composer of music and a free spirit.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
R.I.P Syd Barrett
LOST YOUTH VOLUME 2 LONDON was written while listening to the early creative music from the Cambridge legend that was Syd Barrett. Read more
Published 1 day ago by Geoff McDonald
A highly original acoustic psych classic
I came to this record without having ever heard any of Syd's other solo efforts, or for that matter, even being particularly familiar with his Floyd work. How surprised I was. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Martin Leitch
Disappointing
Being a committed Pink Floyd follower and fan, I bought The Madcap Laughs on the week of it's original release. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Knight Templar
"sails cackling at every plate we break"
Roger "Syd" Barrett,a founding member of Pink Floyd,a psychedelic rock group, having hits with Arnold Layne,See Emily Play and Piper at the Gates of Dawn,having written most of the... Read more
Published 23 months ago by technoguy
Crumbling beauty...
The Madcap Laughs contains some of my favourite of Syd's songs, there are memorable tunes a-plenty, some songs are bare bones fragile voice and guitar performances, some are... Read more
Published on 17 Sep 2009 by Pseudonymous
Appealing creativity
First listen screams a lack of direction and an element of clutter. Mainly acoustic based, a vast majority could have been cut from the final product to leave a more meaningful... Read more
Published on 15 Sep 2009 by Ms. J. Forrest
Why 'The Madcap Laughs' is so special and so good :)
It's so special because it's by Syd Barrett, one of only two proper solo albums he did.

It's so good fundamentally because it's a unique type of gentle, odd, haunting... Read more
Published on 19 Aug 2009 by Symon Vegro
Surprisingly Wholesome Record
Syd Barrett left Pink Floyd in 1968; his final contribution to Pink Floyd was the last song on "A Saucerful of Secrets", the very apt Jugband Blues. Read more
Published on 1 Dec 2008 by The Mancunian Candidate
genius
syd is my all time favourite artist,you either love him,or you don't.this is a timeless classic,just listen to dark globe,the whole album is clever and funny,bringing you into... Read more
Published on 25 July 2008 by Stephen Sams
Long gone
This is a highly disturbing record. It's the sound of a man having a psychotic breakdown in the studio, recorded with cruel precision by someone who was both trying to help him,... Read more
Published on 4 May 2007 by M. A. Alcroft
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?

› Explore similar items

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject




i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback