ARNOLD LAYNE

Yesterday I was in a record-shop for the first time in many weeks and to my delight, as a huge Pink Floyd fan, I noticed this special EP. The track Arnold Layne (Pink Floyd their debut single in 1967) is one of my favorite Syd Barrett era songs and when it was released the music press hailed Syd Barrett and named him a genius, mighty close to legendary tunesmiths like Lennon and Ray Davies! Well, now it's forty years ago and last year (2006) Syd Barrett died so David Gilmour teamed up with a special band to dedicate the songs on this EP to the memory of Syd Barrett, a very creative and witty musician who (in my opinion) suffered from schizophrenia and was never able to return to the life of a rock musician, too much pressure for his vulnerable personality, how sad!

This EP contains two versions of the song Arnold Layne. The first one delivers the very distinctive voice of David Bowie, to me it sounds good, also because I love Bowie his voice. The guitarwork by David Gilmour and Phil Manzanera is excellent and halfway we can enjoy that compelling organ solo (great Farfisa sound) with a strong psychedelic overtone. The second version features Rick Wright as the lead singer, he does his best but his vocals are a bit dull, fortunately his organ work in this track (a bit extended in comparison with version one) is outstanding. The third song Dark Globe is written by Syd Barrett and performed by David Gilmour on acoustic guitar and vocals, what an emotional atmosphere, so melancholical ("wouldn't you miss me?") and I even got wet eyes, the result of the sad story and the way Gimour succeeded to bring a perfect musical tribute to Syd Barrett. A big hand for him because it's hard to do this while he knew his fame and fortune was based upon the fact that he was asked to replace a good friend who was no longer able to function on a decent level as a musician.

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