Syd Barrett left behind a small but powerful body of work during his all-too-brief career as a recording artist, including Pink Floyd's first singles ("Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play"), the majority of their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, a last lingering track on their sophomore effort, A Saucerful of Secrets ("Jugband Blues"), two full-length studio albums (The Madcap Laughs and Barrett), and the fascinating collection of previously-unreleased solo tracks and alternate takes entitled Opel.

Syd and Floyd officially parted company in March 1968, with the band's management Blackhill Enterprises deciding to stick with Syd as a solo artist. EMI's new Harvest label committed to a Barrett solo project, and over the course of a year Syd recorded his debut The Madcap Laughs. The album was well received and sold reasonably, so EMI elected to record follow-up Barrett straight away, the last official Syd Barrett studio album. In 1988, EMI released an album of Syd's studio out-takes and previously unreleased material recorded from 1968 to 1970 under the title of Opel, a highly-regarded track omitted from The Madcap Laughs.