ATOM HEART MOTHER

Around the year of this album, dragging an orchestra into a studio to perform alongside a rock band was en vogue, largely thanks to The Moody Blues. Both the album artwork and the title are strange for two different reasons- the artwork is decidedly plain, as Storm Thorgerson reportedly went out and took a photograph of the first cow he saw (a heifer named Lulubelle III, incidentally), and while the title of the album, Atom Heart Mother, seems like a strange grouping of three random words, it actually comes from the headline of a newspaper about a pregnant woman with a nuclear-powered pacemaker. This information alone should be enough to inform someone about the psychedelic goofiness this album is all about. Unlike anything Pink Floyd had done or would do again, the centerpiece of the album is one garishly long psychedelic instrumental. By the band's own admission, this remains an embarrassing exercise in pomp- much ado about nothing, really. But then, with all the direction and purpose late 1970s Pink Floyd would exhibit with their bassist at the helm, a little nonsense does them some real good.

"Atom Heart Mother" The brass section leads off what is Pink Floyd's longest instrumental studio work. An intriguing bit of organ arpeggios and strings lead into some warm psychedelic guitar work. An eerie choir guides the music throughout the middle, accompanied by minimalistic instrumentation. Perhaps my favorite part of the piece begins about the ten-minute mark, which has a mesmerizing Roger Waters bass groove, Rick Wright's plinking organ, Nick Mason's steady and simple drumming, and a coarse guitar solo from David Gilmour. Of course, it would not be a Pink Floyd epic without a spacey and noisy passage, and that's precisely what transpires thereafter, with odd electronic noises and discordant bursts of sound. When things finally become musical again, they return to light organ and violin. The finale, despite the orchestra and choir, sound more like Pink Floyd would following this record.

"If" Written and performed by Waters, this is a gentle, pastoral acoustic song. It has a soft bit of electric guitar, organ, and a hopping bass, but retains its delicate texture throughout.

"Summer '68" Wright's sadly underused voice gets a turn on the album in this light piano-based song he wrote. Unlike the previous track, it has some sudden variation, becoming a fuller acoustic rock song, even featuring a trumpet solo.

"Fat Old Sun" Similar in sound to "If," Gilmour's contribution to the second half is a honeyed acoustic ditty. Predictably, there is an extended guitar solo during the latter half of the song.

"Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" If the listener did not get enough of peculiar instrumental work, the concluding piece has it in spades. With the sounds of the titular character literally making breakfast and muttering to himself, this three-part piece could have very easily been leftovers from Ummagumma. The piano in the first part makes for beautiful and bright music. For the middle, listeners are treated to two acoustic guitars and a steel guitar, all performed by the same man. The band returns to finish up the piece with a cheery conclusion, during which Mason enjoys the most activity, maintaining an even rhythm with some tasteful fills, while the band produces a happy tapestry of music.