THE SYD BARRETT STORY

A story of Genius Unfulfilled, this DVD documentary "The Syd Barrett Story" is a haunting and touching tribute to the legacy of the cult figure, and clearly portrays Syd Barrett in a proper light. That is, he is solely responsible for Pink Floyd's early success, and he eventually became a spectral, muse-like figure that would hang over all four band members continuously to this day.

The original lead guitarist of the Floyd, Bob Klose provides anecdotes of Syd, as does Jerry Shirley (of HUMBLE PIE) who played drums on Syd's solo albums. A long line of people including ex-girlfriends, landlords and old flatmates weigh in with thier own 'Syd stories', which are quite interesting and humourous at times. Graham Coxon (of BLUR) also pays homage to his idol, with a great rendition of 'Love Song' in the Bonus Features section.

Most intriguing about this documentary is the heartfelt, emotional accounts presented by the four main band members (especially Waters and Gilmour!). All are sincere, and desperately seem to miss their friend with a mixture of guilt and reverence.

There are plenty of short 5-20 second musical snippets played in the background, but no 'tracks' as such in the documentary. So the 'track listing' provided in Archives here is incorrect. Keep an ear out for extremely rare FLOYD tunes during the documentary: 'King Bee', 'Lucy Leave' and 'Vegetable Man' to name but a few.

There is some nice early footage of Syd and the band in their early successful period, including some short 'Astronomy Domine', 'Interstellar Overdrive' and 'Pow R Toc H' clips that are priceless.

This documentary belongs in EVERY Floyd fan's collection as it educates the viewer about the absolute primacy that Syd was to the early Floyd, that is: lead singer, songwriter and guitarist! It is also of interest to those wanting to know about the early origins of the Floyd.

Syd is not interviewed on the DVD, but he did watch it the documentary when it was broadcast on television. His sister, whom Syd lives with, knew about the program but didn't want to bother Syd to watch it in case it brought back bad memories. Syd found it on his own accord while flipping through the channels, watched it straight through and then told his sister about it. His comments on the film: "There was a show about me. I quite liked it." Too surreal...

5/5 stars and essential for FLOYD fans, 3/5 stars for everyone else.

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