Syd Barrett's legend persists even more than a decade after his relatively young death. Everyone knows the story, or at least some version of it. Barrett founded and named one of the most successful rock bands of all time, Pink Floyd. Then, after some psychedelic success, something happened. He entered a very disjointed phase and seemed to have checked out, gone completely mad, rebelled to an egregious degree or some combination of all of these. Fellow former band members tell nearly unbelievable stories from Barrett's last days with the group. Sometimes he showed up and only played a single note. Sometimes he didn't show up at all. He once poured hair cream all over his head and it melted and gooped all over his face during a performance. His eyes seemed empty and distant. Some claimed he took too much LSD. Others said he had plenty of problems before the LSD. Either way, he was gone. With or without psychic stimulation, he created an absolute psychedelic masterpiece, Pink Floyd's first album, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn." After the mind-blowingly brilliant number, "Jugband Blues," which appeared on Pink Floyd's second album, "Saucerful of Secrets," the band had to force Barrett out and they replaced him forever with David Gilmore. Pretty much everyone acknowledges that the Pink Floyd would have never existed without Barrett. He found himself on his own. Other members of the band, presumably feeling some regret and guilt over the circumstances, helped him record two very singular albums that continue to fascinate, inspire and confound listeners. The brilliant "Madcap Laughs" featured incredible compositions and performances and also false starts, studio chatter and even sounds of pages turning, supposedly his lyrics sheets. Some present at the sessions claim that Barrett wanted to keep all of the so-called "mistakes" on the album. Was he insane or did he want a really unproduced, stripped down, warts and all album? Perhaps he merely played to his own image? A far more produced follow-up album, "Barrett," followed, that once again included some amazing song writing and lyrics. Gone, for the most part, were the "flubs." Then something else happened. Apparently, he became absolutely completely utterly hopeless in the studio or on stage - to an even greater extent than before. Others tried to record him to no avail. His legendary, some say legendarily sad and pathetic, final 1974 recording session only recently appeared on YouTube. Though historically interesting, especially for rabid fans, it contains mostly unfocused guitar noodling and no vocals. After this, Barrett disappeared from the music business. His shadow loomed over some of Pink Floyd's most successful albums, most notably "Wish You Were Here" and "The Wall." The legend, and the inevitable myths, wafted around the troposphere for years. Just when everyone thought the story had ended forever, in 1988 a "new" Syd Barrett album showed up in stores. It completely shocked long time fans. Called "Opel" it contained some unfamiliar song titles along with some very familiar ones. The familiar titles were all alternate takes from his solo recording sessions. A few vary only slightly from the originals, but some sound almost like new songs. "Clowns & Jugglers" completely reworks and electrifies "Octopus." "Golden Hair (instrumental)" replaces the vocals with lovely volume-muted guitar. The beautiful "Wined and Dined" and the driving "Rats" include only Barrett's vocals and acoustic guitar. "Wouldn't You Miss Me (Dark Globe)" sounds very similar to the version on "The Madcap Laughs," but Barrett's timing differs significantly in places. It also doesn't have the intense half-sung half-screamed final chorus. All of these tracks differ enough from their official releases to justify a listen. The many never before released songs vary in quality, but some absolute gems lurk within. "Let's Split" opens with some famous Barrett studio chatter. "It really hasn't got a title" he tells the technician. The song itself needed some work as it kind of meanders and even falls apart more than once. Barrett stops and groans during the first break. Then he proceeds to whistle and fiddle around. Seeming a little lost, he finally says "hold it... can you... that's all... cheers." It definitely contained promise. "Lanky (Part One)," an instrumental, sounds like nothing else Barrett recorded. Heavy drums and bells underscore some excellent guitar playing. It exudes some shades of the middle bits of "Interstellar Overdrive." "Swan Lee (Silas Lang)" also sounds unlike anything else on the album. Chunky rhythm guitar, soaked in delay, and lead guitar provide an ineffable aura for the lyrics. The song ends on the unforgettable line "The land in silence stands." "Birdie Hop" is a very quirky highly-sung acoustic song with some excellently evocative wordplay, such as "I see the flies" and "Hecto-chrome plane." "Dolly Rocker," though not the album's best song, does contain the album's best line: "She's as cute as a squirrel's nut." "Word Song" is just what it says. A single strummed chord underlying a stream of seemingly random words. "Milky Way" is as good as anything on his solo albums, if not better. The title track provides the album's real treasure. A solo electric track, it culminates with a yearning chorus and Barrett almost painfully singing "I'm trying to find you." Never before released, this masterpiece alone justifies the entire album. Later releases also included additional tracks largely made up of alternate takes that present mostly a mixed bag. Many will probably only interest completists. Some do show just how much he experimented and reworked his songs, as both takes of "It Is Obvious" clearly demonstrate. Barrett himself apparently authorized this album. It was probably one of his final acts related to the music business, apart from collecting royalties from Pink Floyd albums (he sold the rights to his solo albums). Thankfully this album saw the light of day, because, despite his obvious personal issues, it simply adds to his reputation as a stunningly creative powerhouse, though this epoch sadly lasted for a minuscule period of time. Many may romanticize him as a "suffering artist" or feel the pull of morbid curiosity towards his music and his life story. He definitely suffered and tragically deteriorated. But, unlike most people, he left behind a unique musical legacy that continues to flourish as successive generations discover Pink Floyd and, by association, Barrett himself. His former band members have said they always ensured that his royalties found their way to him. So, though he can seem like a pitiable figure, he also seems to have lived a creative, though largely withdrawn, life. "Opel," though it does present the best of his left-over outtakes, still stands as a great compilation of some truly sterling song craft.