syd barrett is the lost genius behind the first pink floyd album and one of the most original recording artists of the late sixties. as a lyricist, he is without peer, his words never fail to strike a chord and are more poetry than song. this album represents a selection from his output recorded after leaving the floyd. syd was apparently not in good mental health at the time and many of the tracks here are unfinished but no less beautiful for all that.
syd is (did you guess?)one of my heroes, so why the low rating? Well, this is an odd collection which omits some of his best songs whilst including some weaker ones (swan lee, for example) and i would advise buyers to go for either the double cd of the original two solo albums ("the madcap laughs" and "barrett") or the triple cd which couples the afore mentioned with the out takes album "opel" (there's not much to write home about on opel). BUT this album is doubly annoying because it includes the reputedly excellent and long lost track "bob dylans blues" which has never been released before and which i have never heard. AND THAT MEANS I WILL PROBABLY BUY IT AND I HATE THAT!!!
cleverer people than me might be advised to hang back on that though because there apparently exist a few more lost tracks (not to mention the unreleased floyd tracks) and these are bound to come out on another collection soon.