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Syd Barrett - The Madcap Laughs CD (album) cover

THE MADCAP LAUGHS

Syd Barrett

 

Prog Related

3.60 | 236 ratings

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lukretio
2 stars Unfortunately there is not much of interest going on here, besides an harrowingly raw display of Barrett's talent.

Half of the album is comprised of acoustic tracks with only Syd's voice and guitar. On the other half of the tracks, Syd is helped by a handful of musicians including Soft Machine's Robert Wyatt, Hugh Hopper and Mike Ratledge. The former tracks sound more like demo versions of unfinished songs, but are also the tracks where Barrett's talent shines more brightly, especially in the disturbing dark psychedelia of "Terrapin", "Dark Globe" and "Golden Hair". The "band" songs are more refined and polished, but are also less interesting, dabbling in a sort of primitive psychedelic blues that feels outdated already for 1970.

Overall, The Madcap Laughs is a hard album to listen to: it leaves the listener with glimpses of Barrett's talent and the regret of the greatness that it could have led to, but sadly didn't.

lukretio | 2/5 |

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