Syd: Astronomy Domine and Scarecrow prog classics?

 

There is footage of Floyd playing this live (on YouTube I think) with Syd howling the lyrics with arms aloft. Epic stuff.

 

As for the early Barrett era work? It's not prog as many would recognise it here- certainly the early Floyd themselves I've seen many people disregard. I feel it was a huge stepping stone towards prog bands such as Yes, King Crimson et al. in that a touch of the lyrically surreal was added and also, highly advanced musicianship by throwing in some folk and jazz into the rock melting pot. What makes the Syd era floyd different is that most of this is done within a pop framework- few bands epitomise the 'pop psych' genre as well as the Syd era Floyd.

 

Not all of Syd's stuff is unbearably poignant. There's actually a lot of humour that's often neglected in gems like 'Here I Go', 'Arnold Layne', 'Gigolo Aunt', 'Bike' and 'Effervesecent Elephant'. Heck, even some romanticism emerges in songs like 'Golden Hair', 'Long Gone', 'Wined and Dined' and 'Late Night'. There has been too much focus on the 'mad' aspect of his career (and will sadly, probably be more now) whereas there are many different facets to his work.