Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother (CD 1994)

Straightaway I'll say that I would like to award this album 4/5, but I'm only too aware that many people will hate it. My first reaction on hearing it was bafflement. Not only is the title track (occupying half the album) unlike any other Pink Floyd track, but it's not like anything else, ever. Containing horns, orchestration and a choir (amongst other things), the band almost seem to be playing second fiddle during much of it, but Richard Wright and Dave Gilmour do manage a nice spot of interplay during the centre section. "If", "Summer '68" and "Fat Old Sun" are quiet accoustic numbers which are pleasant enough but very, erm, pastoral? "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" is, well, Alan cooking and having his breakfast and occasionally musing about things interspersed with musical interludes. Most odd.
Whatever your taste in music, however extensive your music collection, buy this in the sure knowledge that it won't fit in.
[Quote from BBCs "The Fast Show":- "Uncategorisable. Is that a word? It is now."]

Umma Gumma wss a transitional album - split 50:50 tremendous spacey live stuff and the individual noodlings of the band. The Floyd were a cult band, but not global megastars. The band members found themselves at a loss / loggerheads as to what to do next......and they were still lost but with the idea of a side long piece and some chords... they brought in Ron Geesin - experimental / avant garde classical composer and banjo player and let him free with the chord sequences and ideas thay had already played with.
Ron crafted fro and with them something a bit more interesting and subversive than the typical "rock band does classical muddley" that was happening at the time; it was and is a rock piece punctuated and subverted by nagging brass figures, found sounds, choral interjections from ecstacy to shouts, strings and the Floyd themselves. And if you listen to this and DSOTM, WYWH etc, you can tell that the Floyd learnt from the experience and used that learning in later albums - more soaring Gilmour guitar
-more random conversations included in tracks
- more strange shouts
-more long pieces
-more found sounds,
but without ever going so far out again. They stayed with the "side projects theme for the rest of the album - a waters one, a gilmour solo, ome wright noodling and "Alans psychedelic breakfast" nice enough for a couple of listens, but..the side projects are nice but the reason that it doesn't get 5 stars
It is the suite Atom Heat Mother you have to return to - twenty odd minutes of five star bombastic film music in the best sense- it was the highlight of the Bath Festival that year, it was the highlight of the Chelsea Arts festival this year and Dave Gilmour is now a much better guitarist!
And incidentally, it propelled this to be the Pink Floyds real breakthrough album - their first no 1 album and their emergence from the giant spacey whimsey and brilliant pop shadow of Roger Keith "Syd" (sadly missed) Barrett. The seeds of global domination are here and it was because of this that the critics listened hard to Dark Side of the Moon when it appeared.

Quiet in the studio

Listen to and enjoy the first track then drift off to the rest - all good all nice.....

this is an amazing blend of pure sounds, classical cords and what some may call chaos. I could sit in the dark room with my eyes closed and listen to Atom Heart Mother Suite over and over again.

Also, after listening to Alan's Psychodelic Breakfast you may understand that we are just surrounded by music and even simple everyday actions create music - it's just us rarely noticing it.

Definitely worth having it in your music library!

...I like pink floyd and I like classical music. This seems to me to be a beautiful blend of both...and you get a cooked breakfast thrown in for free. It's great- not an opinion, but a fact.

I ought to that I don't like everything by pink floyd, I never have...and never will ever play the air guitar and don't wear the T-shirt(s), nor sport a goaty hence I consider my view somewhat unbiased.(eg...In particular, I don't like 'money' from DSOTM which for me spoils the album).

I think you might have to listen to this a few times though to get the vibes and then you should make sure you listen to the other truly great albums such as meddle, animals, wish you were here etc....I haven't done the maths, but this might be one of my desert island albums. If you buy this may the lottery gods smile upon you!

I love this album. CDs like this sound different on different players, also I find that all re-hashed golden oldies need the sound up much more than necessary with 'new' CDs.

I bought this cd because my friend I've known since I was 5 years old loves this cd.She had it when it was out on LP. So I asked her what she would like for Christmas so when she said this cd I thought now I have mastered ebay I shall get it for her. She will be so pleased when she open's it up on Xmas morning. Thanks you ebay. Best Wishes Susan and Happy Christmas x

Having never owned this before it was a bit of a gamble, but a good price helped the risk.
I was disapointed as Atom Heart gets nowhere close to Meddle or Dark side.