UMMAGUMMA

Pink Floyd's second album of 1969 was even more acutely aimless. Ummagumma is a sprawling double album of immense contrasts. Disc 1?the live disc?is absolutely fantastic. It features reworkings of four songs: "Astronomy Domine", "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", "Careful with That Axe, Eugene", and "A Saucerful of Secrets". That fourth song, in particular, is one of Pink Floyd's top live moments, and that is a title with stiff competition.

Disc 2?the studio disc?in contrast, is an absolute mess. The four members of the band split up song writing duties, so each would get between 9 and 14 minutes of time. The band members had to play all the instruments on their tracks, much to the record's detriment. This disc is a trudge, but it's also the weirdest studio material they ever put out.

This disc opens with Richard Wright's four-part "Sisyphus" suite. Part 1 has a promising opening, full of looming Mellotron and dramatic tympani and cymbals. Part 2 is piano-focused with a lot of jazzy dissonance which reminds me of the weakest parts of the studio version of "A Saucerful of Secrets". Part 3 dives even deeper down the disjointed, atonal weirdness hole, to the point that it is almost unlistenable, especially with all its high-pitched squealing. Part 4 is as long as the other three parts combined and thankfully is the best of the bunch. It opens on a quiet and meditative note before some brief bombast leads into dull improv. It closes by revisiting Part 1's theme. With the help of the rest of the band and a bit of workshopping, this piece may have been salvageable.

The same cannot be said of Roger Waters's two compositions. "Grantchester Meadows" is an abusively dull seven-and-a-half minutes of floundering folk. Live renditions would be improved slightly, but not by much. The annoyingly-titled and entirely unlistenable "Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict" follows. Only Roger Waters's voice is featured on this track, often manipulated in some way.

Side 2 of Disc 2 starts with David Gilmour's three-part "The Narrow Way", which is hands-down the best composition on the studio disc. Part 1 is a folky idyll, and Part 2 is centered around an off-kilter, slithering guitar riff. Part 3 is the best of the three parts and feels the most like an actual song, though Gilmour's unsteadiness on the piano and drums is evident. (But kudos to him for branching out.)

In order to prepare for this review, this was the first time I'd listened to Nick Mason's three-part "The Grand Vizier's Garden Party" since high school. It's not as awful as I remembered, but it's mostly unfocused percussion and weird tape effects. If you're into musique concrète, you may like this. Otherwise, skip it.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2021/03/01/deep-dive-pink-floyd/