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Opel (album)

compilation album

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionApr 19, 2026
Entity authorityQ1072640
Source-derived summary

Opel is a 1988 album compiled from recordings made by former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett between 1968 and 1970. The album is a compilation of unreleased material and alternative takes of recordings from sessions for Barrett's solo albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett.

Opel was released in October 1988 on Harvest in the UK, and on Capitol Records in the US. The album was remastered and reissued in 1993, along with Barrett's other albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett (both 1970), independently and as part of the Crazy Diamond box set. A newly remastered version was released in 2010.

Background

The album was originally set to include the unreleased Barrett Pink Floyd songs "Scream Thy Last Scream" and "Vegetable Man", which had been remixed for the album by Jones. However, the two songs were pulled by Pink Floyd before Opel was finalised.

While Barrett only released two albums, The Madcap Laughs and Barrett, both in 1970, the existence of unreleased studio work was widely reported. After years of demand from Barrett's considerable fan base, Opel was compiled and released. Barrett personally approved the new release.

Release and content

Opel consists of eight previously unreleased songs and alternative versions of six already released songs.

Editorial summary

“Opel (album)” enters the record as compilation album. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Opel, album and compilation can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1988, 1968, 1970, 1993—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1988-10-17. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Opel, album and compilation.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Opel (album)” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Opel, album and compilation provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1072640. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1988, 1968, 1970 and 1993.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Opel (album)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Opel (album) primary sources, Opel (album) archive and Opel research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Opel (album)”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Opel (album)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.