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The Madcap Laughs | 
| Artist: Syd Barrett
Label: Capitol
Category: Music
List Price: $11.98
Buy New: $8.97
You Save: $3.01 (25%)
Rating:  101 reviews
Sales Rank: 31339
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 46607
UPC: 077774660723
EAN: 0077774660723
ASIN: B000007MVM
Release Date: August 7, 1990
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | Terrapin | | • | No Good Trying | | • | Love You | | • | No Man's Land | | • | Dark Globe | | • | Here I Go | | • | Octopus | | • | Golden Hair | | • | Long Gone | | • | She Took a Long Cold Look | | • | Feel | | • | If It's in You | | • | Late Night |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
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 David Gilmour and Richard 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 such as "Love You," his state of mind is well concealed beneath the sort of jolly jangle-pop Blur would later indulge in. On "Dark Globe," however, the strain is palpable: "Please lend a hand ... won't you miss me? Wouldn't you miss me at all?" he pleads, ominously. The best tracks are "Octopus," which possesses 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
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| Customer Reviews: Read 96 more reviews...
It's raw, it's ragged, and it's real. (4.5 stars) November 2, 2008
John Alapick (Wilkes-Barre, PA United States)
In hindsight, Syd Barrett's debut album, The Madcap Laughs, shows a talented artist slowly going off the deep end. In comparing his work with Pink Floyd, this album is divided between elements of the space rock of "Lucifer Sam" and "Astronomy Domine" and stoner folk music with simplistic rhymes like "The Gnome" and "Bike." The lyrics here are very personal and speak of love and the loneliness and depression that come when love is lost. This is not the meticulously crafted music that Pink Floyd would perform in the `70s. This is the work of a songwriter struggling with his emotions. At times, you can hear Syd nearly falling off the proverbial tracks, most notably on "If It's In You" and "Dark Globe." Most of the songs are very good although the quality peters out near the end. "Love You", "Here I Go", and "She Took a Long Cold Look" are joyous folk tunes while the desperate lyrics of "No Good Trying", "No Man's Land", and "Long Gone" are matched by the noisy vibe provided by former bandmates David Gilmour and Rick Wright. "Octopus" is probably the best song here and most closely resembles Pink Floyd. Other strong tunes here include "Terrapin", "Golden Hair", and the aforementioned "Dark Globe." How much you like this album depends on your tastes. I'm more partial to early Pink Floyd so I listen to this quite often. However, you may not dig it if you're into Pink Floyd's more popular work.
it's not pink floyd, but it's close June 9, 2008
B. E Jackson (Pennsylvania)
While there's certainly some good, "far out" psychedelic songs on here, it's actually a pretty mellow style of psychedelia compared to Floyd's Piper at the Gates of Dawn album. I guess that's to be expected from a solo album (after all, most solo albums from a certain band member related to a popular band is basically just re-creating the same kind of stuff that made them popular with his band, but with less interesting results- usually).
Syd Barrett was trying hard to reach for some incredibly diverse styles on the Madcap Laughs, and while he succeeds (since it's easy to tell the songs apart) I'm not quite convinced he's the "master of psychedelic songwriting" that people have been trying to convince me he is. He's more like a solid musician with some exciting, though more often than not inconsistent, musical ideas. I think Pink Floyd's early stuff is easily better, as far as songwriting and atmosphere goes.
At least most of the songs are short and sweet (except for "Terrapin" which should have been a couple minutes shorter).
I can't deny this stuff was pretty incredible back in the late 60's when it first came out. There wasn't anything like it back then. It's hard to really fault this stuff- you either like your pop music to sound like this, or you think it's horribly dated and too goofy to take seriously (seriously enough to enjoy I mean, not serious as in "mind-blowingly brilliant art" or whatever). That's what made the late 60's a special time period.
Serious Sid......... January 30, 2008
Lynn D. Walther (Surprise Arizona)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This portrays the true Sid Barrett at his peak along with Roger Waters.
After you listen to this Audio CD it will leave you in deep thought about Pink Floyd. Two complete opposites to each other before the addition of David Gilmore. Enjoy..........
The Piper of Pink Floyd's solo debut November 9, 2007
Terrence J. Reardon (Port Saint Lucie, FL)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Pink Floyd co-founder/original guitarist/singer/songwriter Syd Barrett's first solo album entitled The Madcap Laughs was released in January of 1970.
The album would not be released in the US until the Syd Barrett double album entitled Syd Barrett in 1974.
The album was recorded throughout 1968 and 1969 with producers Malcolm Jones whom produced most of the first half of the disc and the closing classic "Late Night". It was also produced by Roger Waters and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd.
By this point, the effects of Syd's drug use started to deteriorate his songwriting skills and his mental state (he sadly died of pancreatic cancer in 2006).
There are some great tracks like the opening "Terrapin", "No Good Trying", "Here I Go", "Octopus", "Golden Hair", "Long Gone" and the aforementioned "Late Night".
There are songs on here that were not great, "Dark Globe" (another version of this track appeared on Opel as Wouldn't You Miss Me and buries the version on Madcap by a longshot as I felt Syd was straining his voice on the Madcap version of Dark Globe), "Feel" and "If It's In You" sound like he is going through the motions and there was a false start on the latter whilst on the former he stopped midway to flip a songbook page and were seen as a genius sadly deteriorating.
This is a very good album nonetheless if you liked Piper at the Gates of Dawn era Floyd and are a Floyd connoiseur.
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