4 1/2 Stars: Great Psychedelic Pop!

I guess I'm something of an oddity, as I love the "classic" Floyd ('Dark Side of the Moon' etc.) as well as the Syd-Floyd. Two different animals i suppose -- like apples and oranges (sorry 'bout that). "Arnold" and "Emily" may sound dated (what doesn't from 1967) but hold up as great pop songs. And I love the lyrics -- "float on a river forever and ever" -- as well as Syd's voice, which often sounds vulnerable in the same way that Gram Parsons' did.

"Candy And A Currant Bun" (originally titled "Let's Roll Another One") is typically great Syd and very catchy (Bowie "Rebel"-era fans, take note). "Scarecrow" is a folkier tune (albeit psychedelic folk) that doesn't quite fit in with the others, but is enjoyable nonetheless (early-Bolan and XTC fans, take note). "Apples And Oranges" is another excellent song marred by poor production and performance -- Syd's terrible sounding wah-wah (the single was released during the Jimi Hendrix tour) and Nick Mason's cymbals are mixed much too loudly, and the background vocals (Roger Waters?) are off-key (attention Dave and/or Roger: how about releasing a remixed version of this wonderful little song, along with the unreleased "Vegetable Man" and "Scream Thy Last Scream"). The Rick Wright tune "Paintbox," although very much "A Day In The Life"-derived, is quite good and fits in nicely with Syd's tunes - much better in fact than Roger Waters' songs from this period. Wright's contribution to the overall sound of these songs -- second only to Barrett's at this point -- should also be credited.

The artwork for this CD is fairly simple but nicely done -- no high concepts here -- as opposed to some of the other similar Floyd collections. It's a nice companion piece to the 'Piper' mono box, although less elaborate, and was actually intended to be a part of that set, sort of a bonus EP of singles from the same period (1967) when Syd was in the band. That's why the other post-Syd singles from 1968 were not included. The front and back covers of the original 45's are displayed on the front and back of the CD cover. The gatefold cover opens to a colorful pastiche of individual and group photos from the period. The design on the disc itself is identical to the 'Piper' mono disc.

Great idea but it's way too short

I tip my hat towards the company execs who thought this was a good idea. It really was but they could have easily added on the other two singles from 1968 and that would have practically rounded up the singles since Pink Floyd weren't going to make another single until " they built the wall "

As it is they're 6 brilliant songs that clock in at under 18 minutes. Just can't help but feel you need another 12 more minutes just to feel anyway satisfied. Still it is a nice memento in memory of Syd of the talent he had for writing rather odd pop tunes. Hats off to him

Syd's glory days

This cd is a great example of the amazing 3min pop-psychedelic songs Syd could write in his glory.(minus paintbox, which is by Rick Wright)It was basically Arnold and Emily which made the floyd into pop stars in 1967 england. Though Arnold, Emily. scarecrow, and Paintbox can be found on other records, such as paintbox, this is only 1 of 2 places i know of to find Candy and a currant bun, which is awesome and shouldve been the a-side to their 1st single instead of the b-side. Then theres Apples and Oranges, which even though it flopped as a single, in the words of Roger Waters, "It's a fu!*ing good song", which it trully is, it was just recorded in to much of a hurry, the band diddnt even get to tune their instruments right. I recomend this for any fan of Floyd's early work, but if possible, look for "The Pink Floyd Early Singles" which was part of the Shine On box set, that disk contains the 6 songs here, but also the singles "It would be so Nice" and "Point Me at the Sky" with their b-sides, "Julia Dream" and "Careful With that Axe Eugene" which are trully classic floyd pieces.