SYD BARRETT “Madcap Laughs” UK LP HARVEST black label gatefold NM

$

40

Artist:  SYD BARRETT

Title:   “The Madcap Laughs”

Label:   HARVEST RECORDS ~  # SHVL 765.  Label is black with silver text.  Stereo pressing on medium weight vinyl. 

Matrix numbers are as follows:

Side 1:  SHVL 765 A-3C-1-1

Side 2:  SHVL 765 B-3     

Year:  1970.

Condition: 

DISC:  Vinyl is NEAR MINT with 100% of original gloss, as clean as can be found.  Appears to have been played one or two times at most, and handled with care.  Labels are clean.  Fidelity is superb.  A gorgeous disc you will never need to upgrade.         

JACKET:  Gatefold jacket is gorgeous NEAR MINT.   All panels are clean and bright.  Nice seams and spine.  Bottom right corner has been lightly bumped.  No splits, stickers, writing or cutout indications.  A beautiful jacket to accompany the gorgeous disc.    

Track Listing: 

Side One:

• Terrapin
• No Good Trying
• Love You
• No Man’s Land
• Dark Globe
• Here I Go  

Side Two:

• Octopus
• Golden Hair
• Long Gone
• She Took a Long Cold Look
• Feel
• If It’s In You
• Late Night    

Review:

“Wisely, The Madcap Laughs doesn't even try to sound like a consistent record.  Half the album was recorded by Barrett's former bandmates Roger Waters and Dave Gilmour, and the other half by Harvest Records head Malcolm Jones.  Surprisingly, Jones' tracks are song-for-song much stronger than the more-lauded Floyd entries.  The opening "Terrapin" seems to go on three times as long as its five-minute length, creating a hypnotic effect through Barrett's simple, repetitive guitar figure and stream of consciousness lyrics.  The much bouncier "Love You" sounds like a sunny little Carnaby Street pop song along the lines of an early Move single, complete with music hall piano, until the listener tries to parse the lyrics and realizes that they make no sense at all.  The downright Kinksy"Here I Go" is in the same style, although it's both more lyrically direct and musically freaky, speeding up and slowing down seemingly at random.  Like many of the "band" tracks, "Here I Go" is a Barrett solo performance with overdubs by Mike Ratledge, Hugh Hopper, and Robert Wyatt of the Soft Machine; the combination doesn't always particularly work, as the Softs' jazzy, improvisational style is hemmed in by having to follow Barrett's predetermined lead, so on several tracks, like "No Good Trying," they content themselves with simply making weird noises in the background.  

The solo tracks are what made the album's reputation, though, particularly the horrifying "Dark Globe," a first-person portrait of schizophrenia that's seemingly the most self-aware song this normally whimsical songwriter ever created.  Honestly, however, the other solo tracks are the album's weakest tracks, with the exception of the plain gorgeous "Golden Hair," a musical setting of a James Joyce poem that's simply spellbinding.  The album falls apart with the appalling "Feel."  Frankly, the inclusion of false starts and studio chatter, not to mention some simply horrible off-key singing by Barrett, makes this already marginal track feel disgustingly exploitative.  But for that misstep, however, The Madcap Laughs is a surprisingly effective record that holds up better than its "ooh, lookit the scary crazy person" reputation suggests.”

(review courtesy of Stewart Mason, allmusic.com)       

Guaranteed to be original and authentic.  This is NOT a bootleg or modern reissue.

As with all my records, I offer a complete guarantee of satisfaction.  If not happy, simply return it in same condition for a full refund of purchase price plus one-way postage.

I pack all records in sturdy cardboard custom LP boxes for safe shipment.
The records are removed from the jackets to protect the cover.
Both the LP and jacket are sandwiched between additional layers of cardboard.

I am happy to combine purchases to minimize shipping cost.  Second and third albums ship at no extra charge when combined with initial LP purchase.

FAST SHIPPING:  If I fail to ship your item within 2 business days of payment receipt, your shipping is free!

Check my feedback, and bid with confidence.  I am dedicated to providing you the finest and rarest records to assist in your collecting. 

Thank you for viewing my auction, and good luck with your bids!