Meh....
2
By Abandoned House
Way to take the whimsical air out of Syd's writing. Most of these tracks are way too dramatic or boring. I dig that everyone respects Syd, but yikes. It's really hard to do a cover song to begin with.... There is a fine line between respecting the original work and making the song your own, and with such a complicated genius such as Syd Barrett, it's even harder. As a fan of all types of music, I would have to say the only cover that really works here is Interstellar Overdrive.... That riff is made for loud guitars and the bonus that there are no vocals makes it easy not to mess them up. The Rats cover is interesting. Astronomy Domine is too perfect, good musicianship but pointless. The cover of Octopus by Giant Squid really pissed me off.... I never thought artistic freedom should be taken away from anyone until now, completely uncalled for. Chapter 24 is actually really neat and trance-y, modern and fits with Syd's original idea. Overall, The album isn't as bad as it could be (if there were covers by Good Charlotte and the like) but it's not as good as it could be either. And I'm not sure if this kind of tribute album could ever work for such and individual and surreal talent. These are just my opinions though, you might like it, who knows....
