The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story

Rating:
Summary: "Have you got it yet?"
Review: A good (if not interstellar) overview of Roger "Syd" Barrett and the early days of Pink Floyd. The DVD tells the story of Barrett's brilliant rise with the band, and his subsequent acid-fueled fall into schizophrenia.

The main drawback is a maddening lack of supporting video and pictures. (Several years ago, VH1 ran a similar documentary that included a treasure trove of video, including the legendary "American Bandstand" appearance in 1967.) In fact, much of the vintage footage appears to come from the "Syd's First Trip" video, the "Arnold Layne" promotional film, and a performance of "Astronomy Domine." Besides a glimpse of the unreleased "Vegetable Man" film (with the soundtrack clearly using audio from the bootleg version) there is little of unique historical value.

The interviews are the high point of the DVD, particularly the observations by Roger Waters. His comments are by turns poignant, funny, and sad, and are obviously heartfelt. The other members of the band also share their memories (although Nick Mason seems less than fond of Syd).

The extras are a bit thin, incorporating expanded interviews with Waters and David Gilmour, and three acoustic performances of Barrett songs by Robyn Hitchcock and Graham Coxon. A digital collection of posters and other memorabilia is a nice touch, but (at least on my player) cannot be paused. Sadly, the extras do not include any of the promotional films or performances.

Any serious Barrett or Pink Floyd fan will want to own this DVD, if only for the interviews, and the great cover art. It's also a nice introduction for anyone curious about the subject. But I will continue to hope for a more detailed and comprehensive overview of Syd Barrett and the early Floyd.

Rating:
Summary: Very good documentary but flawed as opposed to VH1 airing
Review: Don't be fooled by the four star review. This is a great documentary as I saw it on VH1(and I also recorded it) in January of 2002 as part of VH1's Legends series.
The documentary was a good overview of Roger "Syd" Barrett's brief career and the early days of Pink Floyd and three classic albums(Dark Side, Wish and The Wall) they made in reference to his acid-fueled downfall into schizophrenia.
Much of the vintage footage appears to come from the "Syd's First Trip" video, the Arnold Layne promotional film(which the lady narrator mispronounces Arnold Layne at least William Baldwin had passion in the narration in its American airing as opposed to the snooty narrator who is annoying) and bits of the band's performance of Astronomy Domine from the BBC's Look Of the Week in 1967 with the infamous Roger Waters and Syd interview with Hans Keller. Besides a glimpse of the unreleased "Vegetable Man" film (with the soundtrack clearly using audio from the bootleg version) there is little of unique historical value footage as opposed to the original TV airing(the American Bandstand footage is missing and some of the stuff was jumbled around as compared to the original US VH1 airing with Dark Globe instead of Wish You Were Here ending before Pow R Toch is played in the outro).
The interviews are the high point of the documentary, particularly the observations by Roger Waters and David Gilmour. Although Roger has been seen as a pompous person in some interviews and what not, his comments are for a change poignant, funny and sad here. Also, there are heartfelt comments from David Gilmour whom was a childhood friend of Syd's and Rick Wright's comments were heartfelt as well. Nick Mason, on the other hand, seemed less than fond of Syd(probably because of Syd's bizarre behavior from the LSD).
The extras are a bit thin, incorporating expanded interviews with Waters and Gilmour which strangely were included on the American airing of this documentary. Also, the covers of Syd songs were not necessary.


Rating:
Summary: The Pied Piper Led the Way
Review: Syd was first to pilot the ship that took us (all) into the space between our ears. He was not following, but leading the way. He used his imagination. What better way to travel! Like many great artist, he showed us his most inner deep thoughts, instead of being told by some suit, to do somthing typical that sells. Some of the vintage material on this DVD was very rare to find on VHS, and very costly. Now here is the archives of this bands early era in up-to-date playback technology.