Today, Jan. 3, marks the 45th anniversary of The Madcap Laughs, the debut solo album by original Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett. Other than being a remarkable album musically, The Madcap Laughs is also significant for being a surreal document of Barrett's mental health at the time, which had been steadily declining ever since his departure from Pink Floyd in 1968. To celebrate the anniversary of this incredible album, here are its 13 tracks ranked, from weakest to strongest.
13. She Took A Long Cold Look
Though Syd Barrett's greatest songs often sounded like they flowed right out of him without any pesky deliberation, this also meant that his weakest songs sounded as if they were made up on the spot, such as the solo acoustic number "She Took A Long Cold Look." The lyrics are fine and even quite beautiful, but the chord progression is incredibly flat, almost as if Barrett hadn't decided what chords he wanted to play until the tape was rolling.
12. Feel
Based on the studio banter and the way the tracks run together, "Feel" seems to have been recorded immediately after "She Took A Long Cold Look," and though it's similarly messy and unpredictable, the chord progression and melody are far more effective, while the occasional swells of reverb on Barrett's voice help break up the song's strummy monotony.
11. Here I Go
Barrett had allegedly written the jaunty "Here I Go" in just a matter of minutes, and while that's quite impressive for such a catchy tune (one of the album's most infectious), it could also explain how familiar and even musically clichéd the track sounds. Though this is the song you'll probably remember the most after hearing the album once, it doesn't have any of Barrett's signature psychedelia or surrealism, and comes off as a song that anybody could have written.
10. Love You
While "Love You" has a similar upbeat, '50s pop-aura as "Here I Go," it's much more in line with what we expect from Syd Barrett, complete with nonsense lyrics, light psychedelic flourishes, and even some plinking piano that sounds like it was taken from one of Barrett's early Pink Floyd songs, such as "Bike" and "See Emily Play."
9. Terrapin
While most artists (and their record labels) would want to open an album with one of its poppiest tracks to immediately grab listeners, Syd Barrett took the exact opposite approach by opening The Madcap Laughs with the hypnotic "Terrapin," the album's longest and sleepiest song. The melody and lyrics are definitely strong and very well-written, but they would have been suited better to a more uptempo, full-band arrangement.
8. Long Gone
Like any good British rock musician of his era, Syd Barrett came up playing the blues (Pink Floyd actually took its name from two obscure bluesmen), but "Long Gone" was one of Barrett's few original songs that actually sounded blues-influenced, with its minor key guitar riff and (relatively) straightforward lyrics about the loss of a woman. If he had held onto his sanity long enough, we would have loved to hear Barrett record a stripped-down, Nebraska-style country blues record.
7. Late Night
Syd Barrett never seemed to take any obvious cues from The Velvet Underground, but the closest he came was with the subtly psychedelic "Late Night," with sounds a bit inspired by some of VU's more ethereal songs such as "All Tomorrow's Parties" and "Here She Comes Now." It's a refreshing close to the album after five mostly acoustic tracks in a row, and has perhaps the most fascinating electric guitar playing on the entire album.
6. No Man's Land
There aren't many moments of pure rock 'n' roll on The Madcap Laughs (or anywhere in Barrett's career, really), but "No Man's Land" is quite an exception. The track sounds like Barrett's interpretation of Jimi Hendrix's otherworldly fuzz-rock, but with an ear-piercing guitar solo that would have made Lou Reed proud.
5. No Good Trying
From a strictly technical standpoint, "No Good Trying" is pretty much a mess. The rhythm section of Robert Wyatt and Hugh Hopper (of The Soft Machine) is desperately trying to find a groove that Barrett simply won't play, but as a sonic represenation of Barrett's mental state at the time, the song's psychedelic cacophony is spot on, particularly when considering that he thought it all sounded just fine.
4. If It's In You
Though the wildly unpredictable nature of Barrett's guitar playing and singing on The Madcap Laughs can become a bit trying at times, it also resulted in some of the album's shining moments, such as "If It's In You." The song boasts one of the album's strongest and most captivating melodies, carrying the listener along through a million twists, turns, peaks, and valleys, all while coming in at under two minutes.
3. Golden Hair
The most focused that Barrett ever sounded on one of his solo songs is the gorgeously ethereal "Golden Hair," which takes its lyrics from a James Joyce poem and sounds as if it was ripped straight from a dream. Perhaps Barrett felt more pressure to tone down his typically unpredictable strumming when singing the words of one of the English language's greatest writers.
2. Octopus
Few songs from The Madcap Laughs could really be considered "accessible" or "radio-friendly," but by far the album's catchiest track is the brilliant "Octopus," which ended up being the album's only single, as well as the only solo single that Barrett ever released. You know you have a great track on your hands when it opens with an incredible hook ("Trip to heave and ho...") but then manages to hit you with another great hook when the chorus comes around.
1. Dark Globe
As disconnected from reality as Barrett may have been by this point, he was still capable of incredible, heart-wrenching introspection, as he proves on his greatest solo song "Dark Globe." From his emphatic yet erratic guitar strumming to his cries of "Wouldn't you miss me at all?," this is the sound of Barrett struggling to keep himself sane in the face of his declining mental health.
What are your favorite songs from The Madcap Laughs? What did we get wrong? Let me know down in the comments section below!
