Poll: How do you rate Syd Barrett's "Opel" album?

While not really a core album from Barrett, I opted to include this in the series. Plus, Syd Barrett personally approved this release.

The rules for this series: this poll is designed for people familiar with the album in question and with at least some familiarity with some of their other catalog (for comparison purposes). If the poll doesn't interest you, please kindly move on to a thread that does. Please simply consider how YOU would rate the album in question, in comparison with the rest of the Floyd's discography! And as always, a shout-out to member mrjinks for creating all the groundwork for this series.

Note: please use the same criteria for rating these solo albums as you would Pink Floyd as a band albums, so we can compare the results of this poll to, say, The Division Bell.

So, how do YOU rate this album?

Album history: "Opel is a 1988 album compiled from recordings made by former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett between 1968[nb 1] and 1970.[nb 2] The album is a compilation of unreleased material and alternate takes of recordings from sessions for Barrett's solo albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett. Before they were vetoed by Pink Floyd, the album was to include two unreleased tracks that Barrett had worked on while with Pink Floyd, "Scream Thy Last Scream" and "Vegetable Man".

Opel was released in October 1988 on Harvest in the UK, and on Capitol Records in the US. The album was remastered and reissued in 1993, along with Barrett's other albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett (both 1970), independently and as part of the Crazy Diamond box set. A newly remastered version was released in 2010."


Tracklist:
1. Opel 6:26
2. Clowns And Jugglers (Octopus) 3:27
3. Rats 3:00
4. Golden Hair 1:44
5. Dolly Rocker 3:01
6. Word Song 3:19
7. Wined And Dined 3:03
8. Swan Lee (Silas Lang) 3:13
9. Birdie Hop 2:30
10. Let's Split 2:23
11. Lanky (Part One) 5:32
12. Wouldn't You Miss Me (Dark Globe) 3:00
13. Milky Way 3:07
14. Golden Hair [Instrumental] 1:56




Previous polls:
Pink Floyd (updated 9/14):
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. Currently 595 people have voted, with an average of 4.26.
A Saucerful of Secrets. Currently 363 people have voted, with an average of 3.78.
More. Currently 291 people have voted, with an average of 3.36.
Ummagumma. Currently 435 people have voted, with an average of 3.09.
Atom Heart Mother. Currently 445 people have voted, with an average of 3.72.
Meddle. Currently 522 people have voted, with an average of 4.70.
Obscured by Clouds. Currently 445 people have voted, with an average of 3.87.
The Dark Side of the Moon. Currently 621 people have voted, with an average of 4.75.
Wish You Were Here. Currently 742 people have voted, with an average of 4.78.
Animals. Currently 715 people have voted, with an average of 4.62.
The Wall. Currently 842 people have voted, with an average of 4.01.
The Final Cut. Currently 586 people have voted, with an average of 3.08.
A Momentary Lapse of Reason. Currently 441 people have voted, with an average of 2.97.
Delicate Sound of Thunder. Currently 256 people have voted, with an average of 2.89.
The Division Bell. Currently 491 people have voted, with an average of 3.28.
Pulse. Currently 307 people have voted, with an average of 3.34.
Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81. Currently 252 people have voted, with an average of 3.67.
The Endless River. Currently 474 people have voted, with an average of 2.53.

Syd Barrett:
The Madcap Laughs. Currently 231 people have voted, with an average of 3.79.
Barrett. Currently 149 people have voted, with an average of 3.75.



****************************************
We've been rating and discussing Syd Barrett's studio albums. There are other albums of his that we haven't rated - feel free to discuss them here.

Syd Barrett, 1974
Re-release of his two studio albums together, a la A Nice Pair.

Octopus: The Best Of Syd Barrett, 1992
1-CD compilation of songs from his three albums.

Crazy Diamond [Box Set], 1993
Box set compiling his three albums (remastered) and bonus tracks. It has all the released content from Barrett except for three songs from An Introduction To and the Radio One album.

The Best Of Syd Barrett: Wouldn't You Miss Me?, 2001
Best of of songs from his three albums, a song from the Radio One album, and an unreleased track, later re-appearing on An Introduction To.

The Radio One Sessions, 2004
Live CD including all of the songs from The Peel Sessions and three unreleased BBC tracks.

An Introduction To Syd Barrett, 2010
Best of featuring two unreleased tracks and all re-mastered (or remixed) sound. Came with a link to download the unreleased 20-minute long "Rhamadan".

 

I can't offer a vote on this album because, frankly, it left no impression on me other than "meh," and I haven't listened to it in ages.

That said, I should probably revisit. I'm mostly commenting because I want to see what other people have to say on the subject.

Surprising to learn that Barrett approved the release though... I had no idea.

 

Not bad. For an album of leftovers it is actually pretty enjoyable. Golden Hair, Silas Lang, Wined and Dined and Dark Globe are all top tier Syd. Opel is a very disturbing track.

 

Yeah, me too; I got it from Wiki so who knows. This is what is says: "While Barrett only released two albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett, both in 1970, the existence of unreleased studio work was widely reported. After years of demand from Barrett's considerable fan base, Opel was compiled and released. Barrett personally approved the new release.[6]"

 

Hard to pick one of these options. The title track alone makes this "essential," but certainly not "one of their (!) best works." I picked "solid" but it's not really "solid" either, is it? But it's not going to get a "so-so" from me with so many classic songs, even if many of them are rejected takes of stuff already released.

 

I can only imagine how that conversation would have gone down... Trying to get Syd to comment on his music in '88 could only have been difficult.

 

Essential for Barrett fans. I love it!

 

Great for Lanky pt 2, Opel and for Clowns and Jugglers. The rest is ok.

 

Voted so-so, and that was being generous, to be honest

 

Was the first Syd solo release I bought / heard on CD after devouring Piper At Gates Of Dawn. For that, I'll always have a soft spot of sorts for it.

The off-the-cuff, almost demo quality to the outtakes lend a nice character to the whole thing. The stripped down version of "Clown & Jugglers" almost ruined me for "Octopus" on Madcap.

"Dolly Rocker" is a wonderful Syd song that I wish had been more fleshed out, and I could easily have seen it on Barrett. "Let's Split" is fantastic as well.

"Opel" was my depression anthem for awhile. Kind of glad "Scream Thy Last Scream" & "Vegetable Man" weren't included, as Syd doesn't even sing lead on the former (it's Mason, isn't it?)

I can only imagine how revelatory it was for fans to finally hear these tracks in the late 80's. I voted solid, worth recommending. The Syd stuff is too niche / bizarre / half-finished to call essential listening for the average music fan, but for me of course all his stuff is essential listening. It also works great as a good introduction to his solo work.

 

I would really like the previous Floyd polls to be ranked according to the board's rating rather than the date of the thread to give us an idea of the consensus on ranking.

Opel good but not essential. Except for the title track.

 

I was pleasantly surprised when this release happened.....it holds up pretty well for an insight into Syd's fractured vision.

 

Actually, they're in chronological order of the album release, not the thread date. But yeah, seems fair to me. Next time I update them I'll do that (which will be the first David Gilmour poll, after the one Nick Mason poll).

 

Essential for me - purely on the basis of the title track which I feel is probably his best song. Astonishing that so much feeling could be wrested from one man and a guitar.

 

OK, I see that and appreciate your understanding what I mean. This series does a great service to compare with, say, the Amazing Pudding fanzine poll data at the end of Shaffner's book.

As for Mason's albums, I think I am with many posters who will need to do some research before I vote!

 

Me too... We'll only be doing Fictitious Sports because that's the only one that fits in the criteria (others are colabs). I imagine that one won't get too many votes! I've never even seen a copy...

 

I don't care if they include those tracks on a Willie Nelson album; they need to be officially released!

 

It's a pretty good Carla Bley album, to be fair.

 

The Early Years 1965–1972 - Wikipedia

 

This is the only Syd album I don't own, so I can't rate it.^^

 

For Swan Lee (Silas Lang) which is one of my favorites and earliest unreleased Syd solo tracks. The other version of "Octopus" Clowns And Jugglers is a great track as well. Plus Golden Hair (Instrumental) is beautiful.

As far as compilations go, IMO the 1992 Cleopatra, Octopus - (The Best Of) is the best as far as track listing goes and the sound is great without noticeable noise reduction, loud mastering or compression. You also get both versions of Octopus plus there are two artwork variations and one which was limited to 1500 copies with a photo of Syd and a Syd pin button inside a purple/black colored cloth bag with the limited 1500 sticker. I have the Wouldn't You Miss me compilation CD as well but always go back to the Cleopatra CD. Plus the liner notes essays for the two different Cleopatra CDs are different.

 

I almost see this as a big long single: "Opel" as the A-side with an absolute ton of generous b-sides. Nothing else here comes close to comparing to that title track. The mind boggles at how it was left as an outtake for so long.

 

This version of Clowns and Jugglers (Octopus) is one of my favorite Barrett tunes.

 

Yeah I sort of feel that way too, and the title track is an immense masterpiece, but "Octopus" (Jugglers and Clowns) and "Dark Globe", albeit already released, aren't exactly chopped liver, and some of the other newly released stuff (Dolly Rocker, Let's Split, etc.) aren't half bad either. Swan Lee has it's fans but the cod-Indian stuff is a little corny.

 

Love it!