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Was Syd Barrett overrated?

Earthshine

By Earthshine,
in Music Of The Spheres

Was Syd Barrett overrated  

38 members have voted

  1. 1. Was Syd Barrett overrated

    • Yes. He was overrated and just mad
      18
    • No. He was a genius that went mad
      18
    • Yes. He was a genius that was not mad
      0
    • No He was a genius that did not go mad
      0
    • Yes. He was overrated and not mad
      1
    • No. He was a genius and was not mad
      1
    • Yes. They had you explain why you were mad even if you were not mad
      0
    • No. They had you explain why you were mad even if you were not mad
      0

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rushgoober

rushgoober

Posted
Posted

i don't know why jim morrison got lumped in with this conversation suddenly, but speaking about syd barrett only, he was probably one of the most un-pretentious musicians out there.

 

i've read several books about him, and this just couldn't be further from the truth. he had a real childlike innocence and fragility about him. he was simply a musical genius who was overwhelmed by fame, and whose talent burned out way too soon due to mental instability fueled by excessive drug use. he just had a completely left-field wacky sensibility when it came to writing and playing guitar and made no apologies for his material. he was mercilessly uncompromising in his artistic expression. he was absolutely the central figure in the entire psychedelic music movement, and he was for the most part completely unaware of his importance. even the beatles marveled at him, and john and paul saw the early floyd perform regularly.

 

his music, even while he was mentally falling apart, was more brilliant than most people who were completely together, and his talent is greatly revered by millions to an insane degree given the length of his career and minimal recorded output. his influence is enormous.

 

you don't have to like his material. it's probably too out there for some. that i can understand, but to call him pretentious to me is simply a lack of understanding for what he was all about. he was a pure artist.

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Some Half-Forgotten Stranger

Some Half-Forgotten Stranger

Posted
Posted

As much as I love Floyd and and am interested by the mystique and legacy of Syd....I feel he was overrated. As mentioned before he wrote a few good pop songs in the really early days Lucifer Sam, See Emily Play, Candy and a Currant Bun to name a few, but I think most of Piper @ The Gates of Dawn sucks and so do his solo records.

 

Within the past year I went through a Syd stage where I was listening to a lot of his stuff and as much as I tried I just couldn't get into it. It was boring noise. Also, as mentioned by ReRushed, I think he was just surrounded by good musicians (I know has said this about Morrison but I feel it applies to Syd as well) and as far as Floyd goes, it was essential for him to leave the band to make room for the real geniuses Waters, and Gilmour.

 

As far as The Doors go (which I also love), Morrison too surrounded himself with great musicians, but he was far less controlling than Syd. But I do feel he was less overrated than Syd. I feel Morrison had more writing talent than Syd.

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Joshua

Joshua

Posted
Posted

QUOTE (ReRushed @ Aug 27 2010, 12:35 AM)
He, along with Jim Morrison, define overrated in rock music. Like I posted earlier, he wrote some good songs and he inspired the other members of Pink Floyd to write some pretty good albums.

goodpost.gif

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Bastille Dave

Bastille Dave

Posted
Posted

ya know, I wasnt there in London in 1967 (I was born that year) so I wasnt into the scene so to speak so I gotta go with what Ive seen and heard.

 

In my opinion, Sid was kinda like Dave Mustaine was to Metallica: without him the band wouldve never gotten off the ground. They both wrote the bulk of the early material. But I believe Roger and David and the guys wouldve found a way to make a band and be where they are even if Sid was never born.

 

so as for Sid being overrated or not, I'd hafta say a little overrated but he still helped pioneer a movement back in '67 that was less than a year old.

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rushgoober

rushgoober

Posted
Posted

QUOTE (Bastille Dave @ Aug 27 2010, 07:56 AM)
ya know, I wasnt there in London in 1967 (I was born that year) so I wasnt into the scene so to speak so I gotta go with what Ive seen and heard.

In my opinion, Sid was kinda like Dave Mustaine was to Metallica: without him the band wouldve never gotten off the ground. They both wrote the bulk of the early material. But I believe Roger and David and the guys wouldve found a way to make a band and be where they are even if Sid was never born.

so as for Sid being overrated or not, I'd hafta say a little overrated but he still helped pioneer a movement back in '67 that was less than a year old.

the band have said many times they wouldn't have been successful without syd, and i firmly believe that.

 

first off, they only got david gilmour because of syd's deteriorating mental state, so gilmour wouldn't have been in the band. PLUS, syd was responsible for the two early big hits (in the UK); Arnold Layne & See Emily Play, that got them their first bit of exposure. Without that and the confidence that Piper gave them (also a success in the UK), they wouldn't have stuck it out once he was gone. Even when he was gone, they tried for awhile to model their material somewhat in the style of Syd until they found their own identity without him.

 

of course to me it's all a moot point because syd was a genius with the band, and he was a genius outside of the band.

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thelocator

thelocator

Posted
Posted

I'm with Goover the Oregonian on this one...a man who also qualifies as a mad genius in some circles...

 

IF you happen to be a true appreciator of The Floyd, not just a casual fan, you truly and fully understand what Barrett brought to the table, that what this man accomplished in just a small blip in time provided the template for the remaining members to continue on and generate loads more.

 

See what NaturalSciences101 says about this topic in the second post on this thread...Guy seems to know what he's talking about.

 

 

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metaldad

metaldad

Posted
Posted

QUOTE (ReRushed @ Aug 27 2010, 01:28 AM)
Mr. Morrison was an artistic and intellectual fraud.

Amen

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rushgoober

rushgoober

Posted
Posted

QUOTE (Silas Lang @ Nov 12 2010, 12:33 PM)
QUOTE (metaldad @ Nov 12 2010, 12:17 PM)
QUOTE (ReRushed @ Aug 27 2010, 01:28 AM)
Mr. Morrison was an artistic and intellectual fraud.

Amen

eyesre4.gif

Agreed with the eyesre4.gif

 

I will acknowledge that Morrison sometimes took it too far and got too self-indulgent, but the rest of the time he was a brilliant poet/singer/lyricist...

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tjtull

tjtull

Posted
Posted

QUOTE (rushgoober @ Nov 12 2010, 03:31 PM)
QUOTE (Silas Lang @ Nov 12 2010, 12:33 PM)
QUOTE (metaldad @ Nov 12 2010, 12:17 PM)
QUOTE (ReRushed @ Aug 27 2010, 01:28 AM)
Mr. Morrison was an artistic and intellectual fraud.

Amen

eyesre4.gif

Agreed with the eyesre4.gif

 

I will acknowledge that Morrison sometimes took it too far and got too self-indulgent, but the rest of the time he was a brilliant poet/singer/lyricist...

+1

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nappy2112

nappy2112

Posted
Posted

QUOTE (Joshua @ Aug 27 2010, 06:53 AM)
QUOTE (ReRushed @ Aug 27 2010, 12:35 AM)
He, along with Jim Morrison, define overrated in rock music.  Like I posted earlier, he wrote some good songs and he inspired the other members of Pink Floyd to write some pretty good albums.

goodpost.gif

I agree.

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apetersvt

apetersvt

Posted
Posted

QUOTE (metaldad @ Jun 3 2009, 06:51 PM)
i like FLOYD after him. take what ya want from that................. wink.gif

My thoughts exactly.

 

I also concur there would have been no Floyd without Barrett.

 

 

<<ps - Got my tickets for Mule/Allmans for the Roseland the week after next>>

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micgtr71

micgtr71

Posted
Posted
He knew psychedelic, but Waters and Wright were the vision in the early Floyd. I remember reading where Steve Howe played with them alot because Syd was so gone. Sad. Don't get me wrong, I love David Gilmour and rightly gets the credit as being the guitar and the Voice of Pink Floyd and Waters gets credit for the songwriting, but Rick Wright was super important to early Floyd-more so than the other 3 and he was integral to the sound that evolved. I love The Final Cut-one of my favorites-but I notice his presence missing.
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ozzy85

ozzy85

Posted
Posted

Sorry, man.

 

Just another sign of the pure excesses of 1967. I've tried to listen to the first two Floyd album and one of his solo albums... it just doesn't stick with me, even as an experiment in sound. Maybe OK in those terms, I'm just not on those terms. For me, Floyd doesn't get started in earnest until Meddle.

 

...There were some good things about Ummagumma, though.

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rushgoober

rushgoober

Posted
Posted

QUOTE (ozzy85 @ Nov 14 2010, 10:36 PM)
Sorry, man.

Just another sign of the pure excesses of 1967. I've tried to listen to the first two Floyd album and one of his solo albums... it just doesn't stick with me, even as an experiment in sound. Maybe OK in those terms, I'm just not on those terms. For me, Floyd doesn't get started in earnest until Meddle.

...There were some good things about Ummagumma, though.

eyesre4.gif

 

Not metal enough for ya? wink.gif

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ozzy85

ozzy85

Posted
Posted

QUOTE (rushgoober @ Nov 15 2010, 06:43 AM)
QUOTE (ozzy85 @ Nov 14 2010, 10:36 PM)
Sorry, man.

Just another sign of the pure excesses of 1967.  I've tried to listen to the first two Floyd album and one of his solo albums... it just doesn't stick with me, even as an experiment in sound.  Maybe OK in those terms, I'm just not on those terms.  For me, Floyd doesn't get started in earnest until Meddle.

...There were some good things about Ummagumma, though.

eyesre4.gif

 

Not metal enough for ya? wink.gif

laugh.gif ...Yeah, I know. My anti-'60's schtick is probably getting a bit old. The only stuff I seem to like from then is along the lines of Steppenwolf or Grand Funk Railroad. I do try to give everything a spin before I decide, though. Hey, just recently I found a few Miles Davis albums I think are fantastic... from the '70's, naturally.

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