ATOM HEART MOTHER

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Although the "songs" on the album are all remarkably good, the six "thematic episodes" of "Atom Heart Mother" are the very essence of prog-rock, and deserve a special place in genre history. With the exception of the Moody Blues, this is also the first blending of rock, orchestra and chorus, and a brilliant one at that. As good as "prog-rock" gets.

One of the best albuns of Pink Floyd. The first we can call totally progressive, because every song fits in the progressive rock genre. All the songs are great and the orchestral arrangements add much to Pink Floyd's sound.

The first side has a 20+minute song with great musicianship and lush orchestral arrangements, being one of the best instrumental epics from the progressive rock. The song has lots of variations, including pompous orchestral parts and some psychedelic experimental ones.

The second side of the original LP has 3 good short songs, being my favourite Summer 68', a great work done by Wright instrumentally and in the vocals. The last song is another psychedelic/progressive instrumental long suite, with 13 minutes and very strong content on it.

Nothing much to add, this is one of the must-have albuns from this great band that is Pink Floyd.

The first album that started Floyd as a giant prog group. Everything has been said (from groundbreaking to botched up) about the title track, but personally I am a fan and think this is the album's highlight. However, this is rare Floyd track receiving a the help from an outsider, and in the name of producer Ron Geesin. His role in this ATM album is gard to describe, but if you were to listen to the Waters/Geesin album (Body), you'd probably see exactly in which way did intervene/contribute to the sidelong title track.

But the second side gets sometimes a bad rap from people who do not really enjoy quiet music. OK, this is pastoral music but nobody reproaches Genesis or the Trees or Fairport Convention to be pastoral so what's the problem? These tracks are far from uneventful but it does require attention (so does GG and VDGG and KC etc....) from the listener. Anyway, it is rather useless to talk of each of them tracks since there are a few dozen reviews coming behind this one! Enjoy your read!!

When I was a young kiddie - boo-boo I bought what I was told to be one of FLOYD's stronger albums. From the first moments this album hit my turntable to the CD digital re-mastered version I frequently spin, "Atom Heart Mother" is a masterpiece. FLOYD blend blues with psychedelic rock with orchestration delivering one of their most artistic pieces of work todate. "Atom.." is a real sonic exploration with loads of great organ, guitar, bass and drum workmanship. Epic track "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" is a real stunner with loads of talking and background breakfast nook sounds. I think the song is actually put to the process of preparing ones breakfast. Personal favs would be "IF" and title track "Atom Heart Mother" which explores the heavy combination of rock and full orchestra.

Shame on me. I don't listen enough Floyd. But, this record has my sympathy. Mainly because if you buy Echoes, you won't find any of AHM songs on it. The title track is a marvellous song. My favorite is summer of '68. It's funny, the trumpet-organ that Rick's Wright's using in that song is rejoycing, hee hee, guilty pleasure on a cloudy day.

The most progressive effort- a symphonic one- by Pink Floyd, even though usually they are not so progressive. The "psychedelic" elements are mixed here with the rumor of tanks, epic horns and such a typical soundtrack for an epic number. In between you find some tepid breaks through for this anyway important symphonic album (which prevent me to give it the maximum score), but the first track alone is well worth checking out. At the end the present recommended work is the only "progressive effort" for this great but controversial band, along with "Meddle" and- in some circumstances only- also "Animals" and "Wish You Were Here":altogether those are unforgettable numbers!!

This record is a bit different. The rythm is very slow: no Hurry! On "Atom Heart Mother", you have delightful classical arrangements that give another dimension to the psychedelic mood already present. Female choir is also a turn on. What I find more ordinary is those smooth acoustic songs with mellow vocals "Summer 68","if" and "Fat Old Sun". Finally, the last song allows you to be witness of "Alan's...Breakfast", which is, indeed, very psychedelic; maybe the eggs did not pass well...

A nice old cow

Looking at "Atom Heart Mother" retrospectively, Pink Floyd took another giant step forward towards their "Dark Side of the moon" masterpiece with this album. There was still along way to go right enough, but the album is generally much tighter than previous releases.

The title track takes up the whole of one side of an LP, and while nominally in 6 sections, it is very much a complete piece, the section breaks being irrelevant and often indiscernible. The controversial inclusion of orchestral backing makes the music seem almost classical at times. While the piece is enjoyable, is does tend to have the feel of being stretched.

Side two is generally lighter and more commercial. "If" and "Fat old sun" are delicate acoustic numbers, the former being particularly precious. There are hints in "If" of what was to come on "The wall", particularly in some of the cynical lyrics.

"Summer '68" is undoubtedly the most accessible track, veering towards the psychedelic flower power sounds of the late 60's. It has some superb and uplifting brass, and a very catchy hook.

The final track "Alan's Psychedelic breakfast" is something of a filler, including sound effects of a breakfast being prepared. I would suggest simply considering the album finished after "Fat old sun".

Lovely picture of a cow on the front cover too!

There are some who think this is the best PINK FLOYD album and then there are those who think this is their worst. Well, I can't make the claim that it's their best, luckily I can't say it's bad either. On side one, the band created a side-length suite called "Atom Heart Mother Suite". Here the band incorporates orchestra and choir with rock band. There is many atmospheric and experimental passages, including a twisted passage fooling around with the Mellotron (yes, PINK FLOYD used the tron, but only on this album, "Ummagumma" and "A Saucerful of Secrets"). There are oddly passages that sound like The ALAN PARSONS PROJECT circa "I Robot" (minus the synthesizers, of course, since this was 1970, not 1977, and synthesizers were still mainly big bulky modular Moogs). Maybe that shouldn't be any surprise as Alan PARSONS made his first appearance here on a PINK FLOYD album (not "Dark Side of the Moon", as commonly believed, although they had him mispelled as Alan PARSONS on this album).

Side two consists of more or less song-based material, trying to do another "Ummagumma" here by giving each band member their chance to stroke their ego (except for Nick MASON, luckily, since we don't need another drum/percussion experiment that falls flat). First you have Roger WATERS' "If", an acoustic ballad that he often likes doing. Then there's Richard WRIGHT's "Summer '68". Here's the odd piece: here he'd desperate to recreate the sound of "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn". It has all the trappings of late '60s psychedelia, you might think Syd BARRET had returned (of course he didn't, but he did record two solo albums the same year as "Atom Heart Mother"). Even that "Bah, bah, bah" chorus is present, making me think of certain California bands circa 1967 (The TURTLES, The ASSOCIATION, or even the Chicago band SPANKY & OUR GANG). It's almost as if the "canyons of your mind" and "flowers and beads" psychedelia reared its head once again in 1970! Still, it's a great song. I had never really cared for GILMOUR's piece, "Fat Old Sun". Here he tries for a country vibe and it just falls flat. Pretty mediocre. And for the last piece, rather than Nick MASON going on a drum/percussion wankfest like on "Ummagumma", the space was left for a full band composition, "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfest". I presume "Alan" was meant for "Alan PARSONS". Mainly a bunch of background chatter and environmental sounds. There's an acoustic piece, more ambient stuff, then the band finally gets to kick in with some real music.

Yeah, it's a bewildering album, but at least it's not quite off the wall as "Ummagumma", but can be a bit uneven in place. Still recommended for those who are sick of "The Wall" or want to start exploring FLOYD before DSOTM.

this album is different to the others. its a big step from ummagumma but this really paved the way to the latter floyd albums (meddle to the wall). the 70s had arrived. which would give birth to a chain of incredibly atmospheric and inspirational works. i personally prefer the early years but musically i think the 70s era was untouchable.

anyway... atom heart mother. if you thought interstellar and saucerful were epic tracks then you aint seen nothing yet. atom heart mother suite, taking up a whole side of the album to itself is one of the most underated pink floyd tracks of their career. this song defines experimental music, progression and is probably the first time david gilmour really pushed himself. the solos weaving out of richards piano pieces are remarkable. this album shows how pink floyd can work flawlessly as a team and also show off with the individual pieces on the album (side two).

rogers beautiful "if" is a similar piece to cirrus minor and grantchester. whipping out the old acoustic to dazzle us in a new way. before this rogers best songwriting appeared in set the controls but "if" shows much better lyrics as this track is almost a ballad. a prelude of better things to come indeed. dave and rick provide uplifting tracks and show off the best solo pieces (along with ASOS) alans psychadelic is confusing and trippy but a neat little way to wrap up the album if you can make any sense of it. this album may require more of a demand to get the best out of it but once you do see how good this album is it will be worth it. in a word...brilliant.

I keep coming back to this album for the same reasons I keep listening to "Meddle" and "Ummagumma"- its always so intriguing for me to hear these glimpses of the band in between their psychedelic rock beginnings and the later, more focused works. I feel bad that everyone doesn't love it, so I'll try to be your study guide..I'm only taking a stab at which sections are which- much harder to read the grooves on a cd than an lp haha- but I'm sure I'm pretty close... 'a) Father's Shout': the band plus a horn section establishes the main theme, weighty and grand and just slightly grim. Once the fanfare is complete, we hear a simple but memorable bass line which pulls us into a quieter section; 'b) Breast Milky',a lovely and mournful melody on violin that is repeated and expanded upon by the whole band, and finally the strings, horns and choir. Once this section reaches its climax, it gives way to movement 'c) mother fore', a pretty but increasingly eerie choir section (newcomers may initially be reminded of the original "Star Trek" theme, but let's get past that), also eventually joined by the band to conclude this movement. The organ comes in with an odd key change and suddenly we are in a piece, 'd) Funky Dung', that sounds remarkably similar to the two-chord jams on "Dark Side" and "Wish You Were Here" (it's even a similar chord change, from minor root to 4th/7th). This gets stranger as the choir returns with some unintelligible scatting and if you're anything like me, you wonder at this point whether it is more scary or silly. Luckily, the climax is a reassuring return to the original theme, a tiny bit faster this time. You think we've come full circle, but PF still has another curve ball to throw at us: 'e) Mind Your Throats Please', the incredibly strange next section, filled with odd synths (the mellotron, official keyboard of progressive rock, makes a rare PF appearance), disembodied voices, leslie-soaked noises a la 'Echoes", and general mounting chaotic menace. Just when it gets unbearable, strains of the previous movements begin to filter through and you realize that the piece is building towards the final climax, 'f) remergence', a reiteration of the main theme which allows the embellishment of that lovely violin movement we heard in section 'b'. This build up nicely and the suite ends very large, with all hands on deck (band, orchestra, and choir) for the finale. A fine way to spend 24 minutes. The 2nd half of the disc is individual songs focusing on individual members. "If" is a pretty little tune, very honest and simple for Waters, with some very well-written lines. "Summer '68" sounds very cool but Wright's refusal to rhyme still bugs me as much as it did on his solo album. "Fat old sun" has some great guitar (well of course, it's Gilmour!) but is somewhat limp as a song- I'm sure they could have recorded it with more impact. Finally, "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" is classic PF jamming, unremarkable but very nice to have on in the background. The album as a whole is probably less essential than 'Meddle' but in a similar vein and well worth repeated listening. We won't be able to hear anything quite this improvisational for much longer in PF's career; the 'concept' albums with their tighter focus are right around the corner.

A bit like Nursery Cryme for Genesis this album acted as a metamorphosis for bigger things to come. It is bold, brash and flawed which is what makes it so satisfying. Side one being the highlight and "Summer of 68"

Another highly underrated Pink Floyd album. This is another one of the Floyd's more experimental albums, a fact which is emphasised by the opening and closing tracks. The opener is the title track "Atom Heart Mother", a 23 minute instrumental epic. The song features great orchestration, sound effects aplenty, and most importantly, some outstanding keyboard work from Rick Wright. Experimental musician Ron Geesin contributed to the songwriting of the piece, and this shows off in the final result. The album's three middle songs are more conventional. "If" is a Roger Waters love song, and is one of those rare songs of his showing off his sentimental side. "Summer '68" is a Rick Wright song, and is one of his best vocal efforts ever. It also features some great piano and an incredible chorus. The song is truly a classic, and the best of the album. Then there's David Gilmour's "Fat Old Sun". This is a gentle, uplifting acoustic piece. While not the album's best song, it does have a great guitar solo, and has the kind of life that "If" was lacking. The album then closes with the experimental "Alan's Psychadelic Breakfast". The song is composed of a recording of one of the band's roadies cooking breakfast, and in between, three sections of music. The first is a soothing Rick Wright piano solo, the second is David Gilmour delivering a starkly beautiful acoustic performance, and the third is an outstanding full band jam, finishing the album off perfectly. Although not one of Pink Floyd's more accessible albums, Atom Heart Mother is a brilliant one, and should be in the collection of any serious prog fan.

With Atom Heart Mother Pink Floyd seem to continue the journey that began with the studio section of Umma Gumma. Of course the most tedious aspect of that double album was it's studio cuts. But Pink Floyd were still regrouping at this stage but for me Atom Heart Mother is a needless exercise in way too much cerebral over indulgence that goes beyond a progressive experiment. Experimental but unfocused and for the most part hurried and some of the suites are way over long for comfort and it is hard to see the direction as to where the Pink Floyd were actually going at this stage as they continually thrashed out loose, inconsistent and at times unsympathetically overwhelming music. Some of the orchestration was interesting to me on the extremely infrequent occasion, but even playing it now it comes over rather annoying and seriously irrelevant, luckily they had reduced the boredom and were produced some good cutting tunes by the time Meddle, which was released the following year, hit the shelves. "Alans Psychedelic Breakfast" is interesting as it is simply not interesting on any level, nor is it a major psychedelic experience though at first I did find it a tad amusing but now I feel nothing, or at best very little, and could live happy if I never have to listen to it or talk about it ever again. This may have seemed clever for a transient moment as the sixties came to a close through a haze of dope and LSD now its just another Pink Floyd album filler and a needless example of Waters, Gilmore, Mason and Wright being naïvely obnoxious.

Pink Floyd started to progress more and more into their classic sound with this one, though you can clearly hear that they haven't really found the right path yet. The most notable difference between this one and later releases is that this one sounds much more primitive though not less mature. It's got a sad and cold mood to it with the only uplifting moment being "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" which is an entertaining track that sadly get's old quickly. Musically, this album sounds slower and less inspired, but the songs are decent nevertheless. The best track here is the title track that opens the album, a 23-minute suite with some really good moments.

This album sold pretty well when it came out, and many people seems to love it, but Im a bit sceptical to this one. I can't go over 3 stars here, neither under, so It's a good album, just a bit hit'n'miss.

Atom Heart Mother represents an evolution, a new cycle in Pink Floyd music. Absorbed by the classical/rock music fusion tendencies performed by MOODY BLUES and particularly emphasized by the previous year KING CRIMSON debut album, Pink Floyd started to establish themselves as classical composers, in their own way. So they picked their psychedelic ideas and fuzzed them with classical music. They probably couldn't reach it without the precious help of Ron Geesin, who managed to add the orchestra to the record.

So what to expect from listening to the album? You have a first track, the title track, which is a fine suite and the soul of the record with its classical arrangements built with orchestral instruments (trombones, horns, mellotron, piano, bass, violin) and choir, and some discrete rock interferences performed by one solo guitar and some drumming. The 3 middle tracks are much poppier and the album ends with a psychedelic purist, though not reaching the level of the best tracks of their previous phase.

The main arrangement of Atom Heart Mother is achieved with trombones and horns and it certainly is a nice catchy motif, followed by nice violin, but another highlight of the track is the crescendo chorus with background mellotron and bass sadly playing, very peaceful and emotional! The chorus changes a little bit further, after an brief guitar solo, becoming more explosive and somewhat psychedelic leading again to the main motif. Then we have psychedelic arrangements remembering Interstellar Overdrive which conducts to the conclusion. The following track, If, from Roger Waters, is a very calm melody with acoustic guitar. Summer'68 is from Richard Wright and my favourite from the 3 middle "commercial" songs, with classical piano, catchy refrain a la BEATLES with energetic acoustic guitars and joyful piano added by classical instruments. That is followed by the calm country track Fat Old Sun from David Gilmour. These 3 tracks have little from progressive, very little indeed. The last track is what I said before. Well, we actually can listen to the preparation of the breakfast and eventually get hungry, but musically nothing of very transcendent.

The album worth's it mainly because the first track, a memorable suite. The 3 middle tracks little have with progressive music itself, though Summer'68 is a memorable song.

My rate: 7/10

If only RON GEESIN had never been allowed in the studio! Otherwise I'm sure I would be giving this album a full 5 stars--but when a title track of that length is fouled up so badly, it costs an album pretty severely. All in all, even with that said, PINK FLOYD's members perform wonderfully, even on my least favorite, the title track. RICK WRIGHT begins to show hints of his more mature Hammond-playing style. Also, DAVID GILMOUR truly begins to come into his own as a guitarist. Unfortunately, the annoying intrusions of GEESIN's choir (and to some extent the horn section as well) greatly diminish the title track. There was potential there--if only they had gone it alone!

The other much-maligned longer suite, "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast", is far more successful, and truly Floydian. Yes, the eating noises become really nasty at one point, but that's its only real drawback. Otherwise, APB has some bright, snappy band jams that make a very filling "meal" for the listeners. I'd like to make the point that this is not drug music contrary to what some think--this is of too high of a quality to have been thrown together under the influence.

ROGER WATERS' simple, heartfelt "If" I could go on all day about. Here, without any hint of the belligerence he built up over the years, WATERS tentatively, shyly lets the listener hear perhaps even more clearly than on The Final Cut or "Flickering Flame" who he really is. A young man, dealing with the numerous contradictions, insecurities, and aspirations within himself delivers his touching lyrics in an unusually soft, vulnerable, even "Wrightish" manner. For this, "If" is a truly precious gem. There are no barriers of anger that prevent me from making a full "connection" with what he sings of--of being someone who seeks companionship and understanding in a very confusing world. "If I were a good man, I'd understand the spaces between friends." But at this time...I feel he was still trying, and that's why I am able to empathize. People often confuse mere bluntness with honesty--unlike Animals and other venomous lyrics...this is true honesty.

The next track is equally stunning--RICK WRIGHT's "Summer '68". There's more substance to this than simply a song about cavorting with groupies. The character WRIGHT assumes actually has some interesting things to say. Perhaps inspired by watching the total abandon of the "Swinging 60's", this character of his finds the situation troubling and emotionally dissatisfying. His commentary isn't--at first glance biting or sarcastic in nature, but it's very obvious he feels a "cold", loveless relationship (one where he couldn't truly know the answer to his question "How do you feel?") is not for him. Despite the soft delivery, though, one look at the lyrics does reveal an uncharacteristically snide tone, where he seems to say to these loveless "lovers", "HEY, how about actually giving a damn for once?!" It's not WATERS' kind of in-your-face sarcasm...but it is there if you're willing to look. (On a related subject, note his 1996 solo masterpiece Broken China, where he demonstrates what he's willing to invest in a true bond of love.) Musically this is an absolutely infectious foot-tapper of a song with beautiful vocals, and naturally it would be WRIGHT who finds something truly useful for this album's horn section to do! Given his classical and jazz roots, it's no surprise he was able to pull it off.

"Fat Old Sun" is a pleasant DAVID GILMOUR guitar-based piece, which interestingly enough, is the first place we hear the bells that reappear in The Division Bell's "High Hopes". While nice to listen to, I must admit it doesn't quite stand out like APB, "Summer '68" and "If"...although when he croons, "Sing to me, sing to me..." I can't help feeling something in my heart. I would say AHM is rather underrated, at least...the band's contributions to it!

It's a shame GEESIN had to drag the overall product down so.

"Atom Heart Mother" is one of Pink Floyd's more underrated albums. The 24 minutes long title track is a quite unusual by band standards, bombastic, orchestral track and the only symphonic one they ever did. I think that the orchestral choir arrangements are done well, as well as the performance of each band member, specially Nick Mason delivers one of his best work on drums. Except the choral passages, the whole piece with six parts is holden instrumental. It also has some lengths after about seventeen minutes, where the psychedelic part of the song takes control, that's why the track can't reach the charm and brilliance of the space-masterpiece Echoes, but it's by no means a less than solid epic. After the 24 minutes long piece follows "If", a slow piece by Roger Waters, which is just nice but boring at first listen, but becomes even more meaningful after some more listenings. The lyrics are poorly sad but the uplifting mood of the song makes it at the same time pretty joyful. Unspectacular but rewarding. "Summer '68" is the secret highlight of the album, very good lines and a emotional chorus sung by Rick Wright, actually one of the most overlooked gems in Pink Floyd's catalogue! A song that reminds on the flower-power era, but in a real nice way. "Fat Old Sun" is David Gilmour's song on AHM, after we already have heard Water's and Wright's collaborations on the album. It is a lot more exciting than If in a straight musical aspect, with nice vocals a emotional guitar solo by Dave Gilmour at the end, which also closes the song. "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" is to me a dull filler, with some cool ideas though, for example you can hear the cooking of some eggs and stuff. The 13 minutes long epic is only weared by a acoustic guitar and a guy who talks at breakfast, during he cooks the eggs.

Well, "Atom Heart Mother" is a strange Pink Floyd album, but it grows from time to time. It couldn't reach the brilliance of milestones like Meddle, Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here or even Animals, but it's a state of art record. The band themselves hate it, but I think it doesn't deserve that bash. AHM was IMO even the best work of the band to date and is something of a transition album of Floyd's psychedelic phase and the later direction took on Meddle towards commercial success on DSOTM and WYWH. It's at the end a great addition to any prog collection, at least for the monumental, if flawed title track.

album rating: 8.5/10 points = 83 % on MPV scale = 4/5 stars

point-system: 0 - 3 points = 1 star / 3.5 - 5.5 points = 2 stars / 6 - 7 points = 3 stars / 7.5 - 8.5 points = 4 stars / 9 - 10 points = 5 stars

"Quiet in the studio..."

With one of the most recognized album covers in existence, "Atom Heart Mother" is a highly moo-ving progressive experience. Together with Ron Geesin (who previously collaborated with Waters in the OST "Music From The Body") the FLOYD embarked on their most ambitious journey yet. The addition of a brass orchestra into their repertoire was nothing short of ELP-bombastic.

If the 'Atom Heart Mother' Suite could be described in a single word, it would be: Rich. The centrepiece of the album, there is a lot to discover here. Many different instrumental and orchestral layers to peel away. There are no 'lyrics' per se in the suite, but the accompanying voices add a certain 'movie music' texture to the piece. One could only guess what would have been playing on Mr. Screen behind the band if it had actually existed back then.

In a better example of how to make solo pieces for an album (unlike the "Ummagumma" studio album!) the individual band members put together some very interesting tunes for Side Two. 'If' is not Waters' most inspired work, and in fact is a bit dull. 'Summer '68' and 'Fat Old Sun' are the real hidden gems on AHM, written by Wright and Gilmour respectively. Wright continues to show that he is a very competent songwriter, and his offering on AHM is easily superior to Mr. Waters'. Dave Gilmour builds upon his soft and unique 'Green Is The Colour' type sound to give us the wonderfully pastoral 'Fat Old Sun'. It's hard to decide what is better: his voice, or his guitar playing? Enjoy Gilmour's walking-into-the-sunset guitar solo as it fades away at the end of 'Fat Old Sun'.

Love it or hate it, the 'Atom Heart Mother' Suite is a progressive rock must for all beginner progheads. The album itself is not quite a masterpiece though, due mainly to the simply ordinary 'If' and the none too serious, but still enjoyable 'Alan's Psychadelic Breakfast'. (On the original vinyl release, the dripping water sound at the end of 'Alan's Psychadelic Breakfast' will play continuously in a loop, until the needle is removed)

"Marmalade...I Like Marmalade"

Mooo! I think this album represents us the phase where the band searched for a new direction, after the hazy post-Barret psychedelia days. The result didn't please me, and only the musicianship of the band's players resist for me to give this one star, as there are some good technical achievements accomplished on this record. But the stylistic solutions are very far from my personal tastes.

The album opens directly with a big 23 minutes long epic themed about cows (I think). Here the band plays over symphonic orchestra, and the composition starts with annoying fanfares. I don't want to hear unprofessional classical music, I want SYD! There are some effects here too, and I begin to feel very uncomfortable. The middle part has some better movements with choir, and soon the symphonics stop to play, and the band does their basic slow blues, which will form as their trademark in the future. As the orchestra returns to the game, we get chaotic aural experimenting to disturb our mental states. I like serious psychedelic music, but this is just fooling around in my opinion, and not consciousness altering avant-garde. The horrifying track ends to some choirs and a bombastic theme. When compared to other classical efforts by British URIAH HEEP, DEEP PURPLE and PROCOL HARUM, this is the least successful result.

Rest of the album consists of acoustic fragile ballads "If" and "Fat Old Sung", which is quite powerless acoustic wailing to my ears. "Summer 68" is piano driven pop tune resembling maybe BEATLES or something similar. The last "whacky" tune is a collage of sounds with some effects and some played stuff together, and the result is very boring 13 minutes in my opinion.

The second word of the title tune's fourth movement sadly describes this album in my humble opinion, and I want to beg my pardon for all of those who liked this album, as I just don't like this album at all. There's no successful innovative strength or power here, which is present in some other albums by this band. Maybe fans of symphonic epics and acoustic rants can appreciate this album much more than me.

Once more, my deepest apologies!

A WORD OF CAUTION: What looks like a cheese-paring two-star rating is actually a mark of the highest regard. Explanation to follow.

To me the most interesting and misunderstood phase of Pink Floyd's long musical life span was the period between "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" and "Dark Side of the Moon", after the tragic loss of Syd Barrett but before their transfiguration into chart topping superstars. And it was during the same uncertain time of trial, error, and experimentation that they released what has to be their most enigmatic and puzzling album.

How weird is it? Start with the unlikely cover art: maybe the most impeccable portrait of a heifer this side of a Gary Larson cartoon, and a visual non-sequitur worthy of Magritte ("Ceci n'est pas une cow").

Consider next the epic 24-minute title track, in retrospect a noble but failed attempt by a band at loose ends to broaden their musical horizons, in the highbrow fashion of the times. This was an age, remember, when every serious rock band had to validate their artistic pretensions by recording with a classical orchestra, and Pink Floyd was no exception. At least they made a tongue-in-cheek effort to mock their own ambitions, with meaningless bovine sub-titles to each "movement" of the suite ("Funky Dung", and so forth).

The actual orchestration and arrangement is sometimes laughably amateur, but it's the effort that counts, isn't it? Don't blame Ron Geesin, who had to quickly cobble together a score after the band had fled on tour to America, leaving him with only the basic backing tracks to work from and a second-rate studio orchestra at his disposal. It may not be fair to compare them to the Portsmouth Sinfonia (a gaggle of non-professional musicians with no prior experience on their instruments; Brian Eno briefly played in the woodwind section), but they sure ain't the London Philharmonic.

And is that a mellotron in the mix as well? Be still my heart: a classical orchestra and choir, plus a mellotron? Give the band credit for covering all the symphonic bases.

The balance of the album (Side Two in vinyl terms) presents a trio of solo efforts from Waters, Wright, and Gilmour, not unlike a mini-"Ummagumma" but with better (i.e. shorter) results. Each song is a throwback to an older Pink Floyd, most explicitly Richard Wright's bouncy "Summer '68". The highlight here is Roger Waters' underrated and overlooked "If". It's an interesting signpost to the future: a gentle acoustic ballad able to express in an easygoing four-and-one-half minutes the same themes of madness and alienation that would later require entire concept albums for Waters to communicate.

And, for the record, "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" (the album's audio verité closing track, mixing ambient sounds of frying eggs with pastoral musical interludes) was not an homage to producer Alan Parsons, but to roadie Alan Stiles, at least according to band biographer Nicholas Schaffner.

And now about those two parsimonious stars.

It wasn't easy figuring out how best to rate this oddity. On its own terms it isn't very successful, and how can anyone endorse an album dismissed by the band itself as "a load of rubbish"? So says Dave Gilmour, quoted by Schaffner, and that isn't all he has to say on the subject, either. I won't even repeat the typically acid hindsight assessment by Roger Waters.

But on the other hand the same load of rubbish still holds enormous historical interest to fans of Progressive Music. This was the album on which Pink Floyd found its voice, when they finally shed the last traces of late '60s psychedelia and began paving the solid gold road to the "Dark Side of the Moon". Sure, it's primitive stuff, but there's a real sense of discovery here, of latent potential soon to be unlocked.

The Prog Archives definition of the two-star review is for "collectors/fans only". Which means of you look beyond the rating you might find a rare treasure no five-star masterpiece can equal. Newcomers and casual fans are better off elsewhere, but to collectors, completists, and Prog Rock archeologists this may be the most valuable and important Pink Floyd album in their collection.

In my opinion this album has the best brass sound in Progressive Rock, brass being used to good effect in both the title piece and 'Summer '68'. Session musicians, conducted by Ron Geesin (who wrote the orchestral score), played French horns, trombones, trumpets and tubas.

The 'Atom Heart Mother' piece - or "suite" as it is sometimes called - is atmospheric and could easily have been the soundtrack to a First World War movie (it comes complete with horses shying, shelling and a motorbike). Wright's excellent keyboard, with morose violin (viola?) over the top, sets the mood. Waters' bass line is simple yet so effective. There is plenty of Gilmour's trademark guitar to satisfy fans of the later albums. The use of orchestral instruments and a mixed choir give the piece a classical feel, although the conventional choral vocalisations give way to unusual Maori-like chanting in one place. The piece changes mood, varying from depressing to groovy and laid-back. There are also the expected FLOYD artefacts: sound effects reminiscent of a spooky cave, a PA announcement, and a train with Doppler effect. It's an ambitious and pretentious piece but I think the band pulled it off, and is a 5-star effort as far as I'm concerned.

'If' is a nice enough song, starting in a very laid-back manner with acoustic guitar. It's melodic, pleasant and relaxing, although nothing special in my opinion.

I adore 'Summer '68' though, which again uses brass effectively. It also uses piano in a simple but very pleasing way. The weekly BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs allows the guest to choose eight pieces (as opposed to albums); 'Summer '68' would definitely be one of my eight. The disdainful and seemingly acerbic lyrics appear to be about a casual fling or a groupie ("tomorrow brings another town, another girl like you") and, to me, seem at odds with the instrumentation and music itself. I find it almost impossible to listen to this track without singing out loud the vocalised refrain (which, incidentally, was used in the early 1970s as the introduction to the evening news on Brazil's largest TV network).

Softly peeling church bells herald 'Fat Old Sun', which is rather like 'If' in that it's a nice, lazy song. I like this one too. With the pace, lyrics and artefacts (the aforementioned bells, plus children playing) it sounds very 'English summer evening'. The vocals - the whole song, actually - sound Beatle-esque to me, reminding me of McCartney. The trademark FLOYD guitar rocks it up a bit towards the end and the track fades out to the sound of the church bells. Not a masterpiece by any means, but pleasant, melodic and relaxing.

A dripping tap introduces 'Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast', named for the roadie Alan Stiles. Recorded in Mason's kitchen it includes sounds such as the striking of matches, the making of a cup of coffee/tea, and the pouring of cereal into a bowl (the slurps and exaggerated grunts only making me want to tell him to keep his mouth shut when eating). The whole thing does have an easygoing Sunday morning feel to it, especially when the sound of an egg frying begins. It's moderately amusing and easy listening, but sounds like pure filler to me. Apparently the band thought it was lousy. Finishing with the running of the tap, the draining of the sink and the tap dripping - which is where we came in - this track is the antithesis of the title piece.

If more of the album had been up to the standard of the title piece and 'Summer '68' then I would have been able to award the album 5 stars but, as it stands, I have to go with 4 stars (Excellent addition to any progressive music collection). All four members of the band were very critical of the album - embarrassed even - in later years. Even so, it's one of my favourite FLOYD albums, although certainly much rougher than the polished and more commercial "Dark Side Of The Moon" and later albums.

This is a hugely mixed album. The first side has a similar feel to the later but MUCH better Echoes on Meddle but the "noises" section in the midle is grossly inferior. There's some fine keyboard work, some lovely slide guitar and the violin solo which precedes it is complete bliss but the brass and choral work are annoying at times. 50% for this at best. The second side is OK until Fat Old Sun raises it to a high and then Alan's Psychedelic bloody Breakfast brings it crashing down again - utter rubbish. They were showing some good ideas but the consistency was just not there. Another 3 months of work might have led to a better result but the money wasn't available. Buy it by all means but be prepared!

This is a Oh so strong album. Except for the last track, wich is a bit of a filler, this album is perfect. It starts with one of the most excentric yet beautiful song ever written, Atom Heart Mother. It is a mix of Bluesy guitars, pychedelia structures and the insertion of an orchestra. Quite challenging ar first, this song builds up on you. Roger Waters delivers some fine basslines, and Rick Wright is especially strong. This is more of a suite than a song, as the not only the structures changes, but also the mood, as we go from scary to happy, and the whole thing accentuated by the use of a choir in a pretty unusual way, as it sings through sounds and mostly is used as percussions. This is definitely a love-hate situation. You'll have to listen it for yourself, because it is unusual. The second side of the album is split between three compositions by each member, except Nick Mason.

The first one is ''If'', the Waters one. It has a rather simple acoustic guitar riff, and the accent is put on the lyrics and the voice of Waters, wich is still not over the top at this point of his career. It is a quite cute song, and soon you find yourself singing along him.

The second one is '' ' Summer 68'', the Wright's song. It has a great use of brass, and Wright is as melodic as he could possibly be.

The third one is ''Fat Old Sun'', you guessed it, the Gilmour's one. In my humble opinion, it is the best within the 3. It is this kind of song that makes you want to stop working and just do nothing, laying in the grass all day long. It does is a ''fat old'' song, and of my alltime Floyd Favorite. Pik Floyd included it in thei tours up to the release of Dark Side Of the Moon, and some great versions of it live can be found on numerous bootlegs. Also, David Gilmour included it on his solo DVD David Gilmour Live. The solo makes you fly and the voice of Gilmour is in excellent shape also.

The album finishes with Alan's psychedelic breakfast, wich take about 6 minutes to really starts up, and never get that big anyways. A bit of a filler, it cannot compare with the quality of the rest of the album. It has its moments, but definitely not enough to take 13 minutes of the album! Some drugged junkies find it cool, but it is not my case, so nope, not my cup of tea!

When it comes to rate this album, the first side of the cd makes this album a masterpiece itself, but with the addition of three absolutely gorgeous songs, this IS a masterpiece and a tour de force. The last song is less good, however the rest of the album more than back up this little flaw. Definitely a must for any prog fan.

This album, like 'Ummagumma' belongs to the 'finding our feet' period of Floyd. See my review for that album. This one is similar in parts, although, overall, it is slightly better. Nevertheless, this is a quite dated and tepid affair, certainly not one of the band's best works. The opening suite, 'Atom Heart Mother' is a laborious affair, with far too much emphasis on a horn section that simply doesn't work. Remember how Genesis fans, (me included) disliked Abacab partly because of the introduction of horns? Well, it is a similar thing here. The music in this suite is very naive and directionless, even though you can tell the band is trying. It is, in a word, predictable. Funny how this band changed from their first two, very effective albums, to meandering experimentation. Now, I am all for experimentation, as it is one of the core ingredients in prog rock, but it has to lead somewhere, has to have a sense of melody, and a sense of completeness, with different sections complimenting one another. 'Atom Heart Mother', sadly, doesn't do this, although I know a lot of fans love this album. Second track, 'If' is almost a prelude to material on 'The Final Cut', with Waters droning on in his most depressive way. It's not a bad track, however. 'Summer '68' is better again, one of the best two tracks on here, for my money. 'Fat Old Sun' is adequate but, again, not memorable. The last track, 'Alan's Pyschedelic Breakfast' is the best song on offer here, with nice sound effects, and good guitar work. Overall, this is a patchy but, in parts, half-decent album. However, although I prefer it to 'Ummagumma', it lacks one thing that album has - an excellent cover! 'Ummagumma's cover is probably my favourite Floyd cover, effective and memorable. Still, it's the music that matters, isn't it?

This is an obscure solid album from Pinkfloyd. The experimentation here is at its peak, but it does not always work and there are some bad spots in the album. Here, the band has on orchestra to amplify its sound, and it is probably one of Richard Wright's best moments.

Atom Heart Mother 7/10 : This is the peak of Pink Floyd's experimentations and it really works. It begins with the main theme on orchestra which is good. It has a very effective simple bass line, choirs and sounds classical meets psychedelic. It also contains plenty of Gilmour's trademark's guitar in a long amazing solo. After that solo, it contains a bass line with good keyboard riffs. it gets eventually tighter and the keyboards sound like jazzy improvisation of the highest lever (It is overly wonderful) and the peak is reached when some weird (yet effective) female chants take over. Unfortunately, it doesn't end that well, with strange irritating noises all over.

If 6.5/10 : a nice acoustic ballad with very solid vocal performance and melodies, yet it is too simple.

Summer '68 8/10 : A richard Wright piece and my favourite song of the album. the arrangements are excellent, including good keyboard performances. The 'pre-chorus' with its beatlesque (or yessy) vocal harmonies really shines, and the horn driven chorus is brilliant.

Fat Old Sun 5/10 : A boring and badly recorded lazy song that picks up with an electric guitar solo. I prefer the Mostly Autumn version of it.

Alan Psychedelic Breakfast 4/10 : It is just a bunch of noise with instrumental improvisation ... Maybe it is cool for a 'high' person, but not for me.

My Grade : C

Sadly this album is often underrated and not appreciated at the way it should be. Each note here is filled with brilliance and unique inspiration, and this is perhaps the FLOYD's more progressive work. Here we have the most wonderful union between an orchestra and a rock band. Both of them complete each other in perfect shape, and i greatly appreciate Ron Geesin's contribution with the orchestrations which is what make my love for this album be so big.

The title track is perhaps the Floyd's most essential work in terms of progressive music. It would also be their most successful song in this field along with "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and its nine movements of rich instrumental exploration. The suite opens with "Father's Shout", a great intro announcing that this is a whole new FLOYD. After some noises and pure orchestra we are led to "Breast Milky", a very melodic piece showing how Gilmour can put his soul into his guitar. This and "Mother Fore" are my favorite parts of this album, being the latter alone one of the FLOYD's most touching moments. "Funky Dung" has a theme that will be later repeated on the song "Echoes", from their next album. After this the epic starts going a bit "crazey" - but in a good way. The last parts repeat some of the last movements, mixing them together in a psychedelic vein that is characteristic of the FLOYD (yeah, even trying to make an album cover in the less psychelic way possible - a cow, just a simple cow starring at the camera, even though i think this cover is one of their most psych ones despite its apparent simplicity - they still held together with them their spacey psychedelic roots which appeal us so much). Finishing the first floydian epic in a glorious way, we have the return of the song's first section's rhythm, with an insane guitar playing by Gilmour full with emotion and beauty. This track alone makes the album worth getting, but the trip is just starting... "If" is a great acoustic song sung by Waters. Even though it is a bit repetitive, it is still very beautiful and if you are in the mood you'll get moved while listening to its interesting lyrics instead of annoyed by the mumbling singing. Next we have "Summer'68". I admit that i never liked this song, but now it is growing on me in a way that allowed me to give this album a 5 star rating. I was never a fan of the way this song seems to lose path before Gilmour says "how do you feel, how do you feel??" but i am now tolerating it. We have here the return of the orchestra, making a great work once again. "Fat Old Sun" is my second favorite number here. Gilmour shows how talented he is as a singer too, with a very soft vocal performance that fits with the music very well. Now we have "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast", thirteen minutes of very well done experimental work.

In my opinion this is one of the most important prog rock works and should be listened to everyone who's into the genre. Here we notice that the true FLOYD sound was borning, leading to their golden era soon. But compare this experimental album with their last two ones, "Ummagumma" and "More". None of the those worked perfectly as this one did, and here we also had the first floydian epic, the title track. What a great way to begin the 70's decade...the one that featured the most incredible works of progressive rock, and the peak of music in general.

This album is not for the casual listener. Pink Floyd was still knee deep in their more experimental phase, and were not shy to try something new at this point. A little bit about the rating, two stars because you will either have to be a very serious Floyd fan, or hate their later more standard cut and dry psychedelia. It doesn't have one distinct style, and everything other than the title track is just filler. Waters, Wright, and Gilmour all have one song that they penned themselves that come after the title track, and then there is "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" (named after Alan Parsons). A very uneven album, makes you wish they had seriously recorded some music to complement "Atom Heart Mother".

This album starts with a bang. The no less than brilliant orchestral "Atom Heart Mother", this kind of fusion of styles was virtually unheard of at this point in history. Despite silly concept (hey that's the trademark of prog right?) it manages to practically secrete power. I can imagine four silly looking fellows standing in the middle of an entire orchestra playing their hearts out and managing to complement the compositions very competently. On this suite Nick Mason has pretty much peaked his drumming IMO.

Now for the rest of the album. "If" is a very honest lyriced tune, but it also proves that Roger Waters still has a lot of growing to do as a songwriter at this point. Repetitive, and not very viable musically. "Summer '68" is well written, but doesn't have enough steam to do any better than mediocre, its played almost half heartedly I find. "Fat Old Sun" is pretty forgettable, not offensive but certainly not memorable in any way. Now comes the stinker of the album; "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast". Probably the most unlistenable Pink Floyd song ever recorded. With instrumentation that I would describe as annoying at best, this song tries to cater to the LSD crowd, and is nothing but a bad joke. Truly they should have kept that one for themselves.

The only reason to get this album is for the Title track. If your interested in Pink Floyds more adventurous side this album is a must. For the average listener, don't touch it with a ten foot pole.

When it was released, this album was considered as a generous compensation for many Pink Floyd fans that happened to be disappointed with the double-album "Ummagumma" for its almost inaccessible materials. This doesn't mean it is an easily approached effort. Still, whenever one successfully penetrates the extended floating orchestral "Atom Heart Mother", there surely are benefits worth whatever the cost.

The 23-plus-minute title track opener, which consists of six seamless parts, embodied interesting moments scattered throughout the track. There is no lyric whatsoever here and yet the band can beautifully incorporate many elements -- sounds, instruments, voices -- into a body of song that moves freely between grandiose and simplicity as well as dark and laid-back moods. Rick Wright contributes eloquent keyboards playing, mostly laid as solid foundation on top of which the other instruments are allowed to put colorful sketches. Among the delicious parts is where the horns and David Gilmour's guitars deliver their wonderful, uplifting passages.

While several attempts needed in order to discover the gem in the first track, this just isn't the case regarding the four tracks that follow. With "If" (by Roger Waters), "Summer '68" (Wright), "Fat Old Sun" (Gilmour) and "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" (Gilmour/Nick Mason/Waters/Wright) one actually encounters much easier situation. Nevertheless, while these are shorter and more accessible tracks, a lack of cohesiveness between them might lead the listeners to the wrong impression.

Judging by the facts that there are strengths and weaknesses, this album is far from being perfect let alone a masterpiece. However, to those who like to be challenged, this definitely will suit the need.

Although with plausible moments, still not a perfect album!

The first FLOYD's attempt at "symphonic" sound is quite controversial. The title side-long suite is obvious answer to the requirements of the era: if DEEP PURPLE could do it with orchestra in the same year 1970, why shouldn't we do it too? The result is mixed however; many beautiful passages are spoiled by unpleasant, quasi-dramatic choir voices and strings, while it's all way too long to endure, stressing the urge to skip onto the side B of the vinyl record. What a relief! Waters' hypnotic acoustic ballad "If" and Wright's excellent piano-led orchestral psychedelic pop song of "Summer 68" rank amongst the best PF songs ever produced, alas they were often brutally overlooked in favour of the subsequent releases. Gilmour's "Fat Old Sun" is negligable filler, while the interesting musique concrete of "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" with its sleepy and relaxing mood, is still a worthy and very listenable experiment. "Atom Heart Mother" is not one of the better results of the PINK FLOYD opus, but it has enough fine moments to be dig out and enjoyed.

After all those years I still don't succeed to get into this acclaimed Pink Floyd album, I miss the typical Pink Floyd 'flow' that usually carries me away to progheaven. Reading the reviews on Prog Archives about this album you can conclude that many Pink Floyd fans appreciate it very much. Well, it's not my cup of tea is my conclusion after playing "Atom heart mother" this afternoon.

During the recordings of this LP the band was in a rush because of the forthcoming USA tour. In order to gain time the band contributions were recorded first and then the orchestra and choir were overdubbed. Pink Floyd was not satisfied about the result and asked Ron Geesin to help. He orchestrated 10 brass players and a choir of twenty singers but the result remains "a plodding mess" according to Ron Geesin! In my opinion the epic titletrack has some fine and compelling moments (Gilmourian guitarplay and pleasant organ waves) but in general it sounds too experimental and fragmentic, to me there is hardly any direction and chemistry. Side two features the more acoustic/folky side from the band. It sounds warm, especially "If" (beautiful twanging acoustic guitar and tasteful organ and piano) and "Fat old sun" (pleasant acoustic rhythm guitar and halfway nice blend of sensitive electric guitar and organ). During the final track "Alan's psychedelic breakfast" my attention too often slips away, this is not my Pink Floyd music, their next can please me more!

Sean said it all very well!!! The first of many good/excellent albums to come. Stardoom is at their door steps!, and will never be the same for these guys!! Difficult to digest with one listen, you probably require several spins, but once you get it, it will set you free!!!

I bought this album in 1972 (my first prog acquisition) and having passed 1/3 of a century here I am pleasantly making a review of it. What I mean is that time remained steady as this work is perennial, really!

The tracks:

Side A comprises only one song - and what a song! 1) Atom heart mother - the title-song is a true EPIC, a piece to be placed in the pantheon of the most important compositions of the contemporary music (ok, in 100 years ahead it'll be no more contemporary but still important). When I heard it for the first time I didn't know what to expect - I thought it could be some jazzy or experimental dull work, but it functioned like a kind of mind-cleaner; after that moment: prog-addiction forever. The song has passages that could be easily signed by any musical genius, also here and there it sounds like a dream-song and then the guitar appears to remember us that it is rock - and we rock too. A masterpiece by its own.

Side B is divided into 3 individual works and a different and unusual track. 2) If - a soft and cool song with some folky touch and a nice guitar backing. 3) Summer '68 - the song that impelled me to go the shop and buy the album. It still occupies a special room in my mind - and it is beautiful, with the piano, the choir, the singing; one of the most agreeable love songs of the entire prog universe. 4) Fat old sun - a warm and balladesque song praising our leading star and the effects it causes on us; the same good effect of this particular song. 5) Alan's psychedelic breakfast - interesting, sometimes experimental, sometimes funny, sometimes pleasant with moments of good music and some others quite dull. To be listened not frequently.

Side A: 5 stars; Side B: 4.5 stars. Total rating: 4.75 stars => 5 stars.

This is one of my favorite prog albums of the seventies. Well, to make it clear, I always refer to this album with the title track "Atom Heart Mother" which comprises seven movements. It's not to say that other tracks are bad ones, it's more on my habit of playing this album only the title track because at that time I was not really into any kind of psychedelic music which sounded to me very boring. For the sake of this review, I have listened to the album in its entirety to give you my opinion towards this album. Otherwise, my review will be biased against the first track only.

In this album the band took grandiose approach by inviting Ron Geesin to work especially on chorus and orchestra he added at the title track. The use of orchestra in prog music has always been my favorite so my opinion about this album is definitely biased towards my personal preferences. But, specific with this long track, if I put aside the orchestra addition I still can see the beauty of the song especially in its harmony and catchy melody. The opening part with an ambient nuance followed with a blast of the orchestra which flows uniquely from one part to another - especially the use of brass instruments - ha made a special experience for me. Not only that. The duet of Gilmour's stunning guitar work and Wright's organ / keyboard work is another great enjoyment to experience for me. The choir which comprises non-lyrical voices of female and male is another point of attraction especially in an angular fashion. Well, for me personally, this is a wonderfully crafted composition with powerful songwriting and great performance. Listening to this track is a joy and most of the time I realized that the end of the song seemed so sudden because of full of enjoyment throughout the 23 minutes duration. Please note, at that time there was no Yes "Close To The Edge", no Genesis "Supper's Ready", no Jethro Tull's "Thick As A Brick". King Crimson had already released "In The Court of The crimson King" but there was no track which consumed 23 minute duration. So, this track can be considered as a pioneer of long epic in prog. Probably the other one was Procol Harum's "In Held Twas I".

The remaining space of the disc contains songs that - for my personal taste - does not stimulate something stand-out, musically. The ballad "If" can be considered as a snoozer. Half way through of "Summer '68" is something on good intro but the coda part is something off-track. "Fat Old Sun" seems to me like a track that functions as a "filler" only to make the disc full. "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" is the band's exploration on different kind of sounds but nothing special can be heard.

Overall, this album still has a strong appeal to me because of the title track. The other tracks are not something that please my ears which I tend to skip them. I still consider this as an excellent addition to any prog music collection. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

I have a book written by Miles called "Pink Floyd" (Omnibus Press, 1988). In this book there are fragments of inteviews with some of the members of the band about their opinion about this album. Some of the members said : "That album was crap...". I couldn`t believe their opinion about this album. The same happened to me when I read an interview done with Tears for Fears `bassist Curt Smith. He was asked about his first solo album, called "Soul On Board" (1993). He said: "That album was a compromise with the record label, I don`t like it, and I don`t expect that people are going to listen to it... don`t bother to find it in the record shops and to listen to it...it doesn`t represent me as an artist". With both Pink Floyd and Curt Smith I disagree: both albums are good.

In the case of "Atom Heart Mother", Side One of the old L.P. has the "Atom Heart Mother" musical piece, which has interesting arrangements, including an orchestra and a choir, "The John Aldiss Choir". I was surprised recently when I discovered that some of my late father`s albums in his long Classical Music record collection include this choir in works of several composers. The orchestral arrangements were composed by the band with Ron Geessin, who previously worked with Roger Waters in an album called "The Body". Rick Wright particularly worked more with Geesin in these arrangements. I can`t see why the band despise this musical piece, I think that it was unfair. Some choral arrangements are similar to some parts of Carl Orff`s "Carmina Burana" a bit.

Side Two of the old L.P. starts with "If", a song composed by Waters, which has acoustic guitar, a bit of drums, a bit of keyboards, a slide guitar solo and very good lyrics. The next song is "Summer of `68", composed by Wright, is the best song in this album and also has a very good orchestral arrangement. It also has good lyrics which seems to be about waking up after spending the night with a groupie. The next song, "Fat Old Sun", composed by Gilmour, is another good song. The album is finished with "Alan`s Psychedelic Breakfast", an experimental instrumental piece with sound effects added, which is the less interesting song in the album.

What rating can one give to albums like this which are not liked by their composers? I could give a four star rating, but, after reading their opinions about this album, I give a three star rating to it.

As impartial as I attend to be, I cannot put a stop to a personal feeling that Pink Floyd, apart from many other bands, have a constant excellence from release to release, from period to period, from context to context (the second such feeling being that, at the brilliancy they've demonstrated so many times, the discography is abnormally leisure, having released too few). It can be probably what settles them to such a high position in my heart and in my passion of prog music. This is kind of what I feel recently when I listen to Atom Heart Mother (which I've listened so many times by now, it's hard to trace much of an originary effect or.something like that). The sense of divine disproportion, if such a mixture of words can be done. For the contrast and the character asset of great compact creation combined with leisure attractive musical melodies actually gives space and credit to masterful touches. And it's a phenomenon, at least for me. A phenomenon that defines almost every time Pink Floyd, however low or grand are we talking about (well, the lowest utter disappointments lack of it indeed, so not to low and not too shabby). One that somewhat caught the attention in the otherwise moderate Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, that blew my mind in the peaceful Saucerful Of Secrets or that settled the weirdness of Ummagumma (onto the next years and next achievements it is probably needless to say more). The passion, the exhilarating feeling, the always subtle touch make out of this album a reference and a solid one as well. One that should not be avoided by no means.

Okay, so on to the main description. First part of the album is the epic-sized composition, something that by character can be only once more acknowledged in the Golden Era by putting together all nine parts of the 1975 album, otherwise something like this never to be illustrated or conceived again. That means by definition two things for me: uniqueness of bright standard and a full thick complex composition. And to the second aspect is exactly what Atom Heart Mother-the piece resembles. A major thought and a bright ideal, combining assets and distinguishing values. Enormous as sizes, it doesn't compromise it looks, on the contrary it gives the opportunity into a desirable motion and into an exteriorization of forces. It is something I absolutely love, in its entire, as well as in its main symbolic message (one that speaks that language of the inner spirit and correlates with the own interpretation of the listener). Though made rather minimalist, it expands to a vision beyond the usual abstract form of their music and it lifts the spirit and the motivated soul to an image beyond the casual, rigorous form of psychedelism. It is a peach of music, one emotional, one flowing into the tempos of charming lights and vibrant effect, one carrying the spark that rarely saw such intensity, if we are to make comparisons once more. Illuminating, exhilarating, conceived in the word of greatness, this will enchant me forever. As for a general tag, it's highly recommendable to a Pink Floyd (complete) vision, for its outstanding form leads to memorable and to eccentric success. Top shaped, artistically powered.

Second part is hardly nomination for complementing the epic construction (or worst, fillers), but is a different demonstration of psychedelism, short, simple, concentrated (not to say by this that the title track was loose, just that these go defined in their short time, just as that one went into a privilege of exposure). I would gladly like to correlate them with something contemporary, but they too appeal to a perfectly unique Atom Heart Mother savor and flavor. If is a "sizzling tardive" effect, that goes will into the tardive drive of a mind that's exhausted or simply.tired. Summer '68´ is a bit diluted, but the reprise goes nice in melody. Fat Old Sun means (or must) charm for every dedicated Floyd soul. At the complex valences of the title track comes Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast which is also remarkable. Dense, stylistic, of superior culture, of refined taste of the brand. So the second part comes to an impressive moment as well, showing the pleasure of diversity in a similar consensus.

So.a pretty euphorically vision, but one that grew to me in a justified way. By this I'm saying that until a couple of months ago, indisposition and inadequate experience in Pink Floyd made me see Atom Heart Mother lower that it is. Not anymore, as at how much this one worths, you can't really accept too many facts or diverge in sides and slides. Anyway, I'll keep Saucerful Of Secrets as my personal favorite psychedelic, but this comes second, being an immense work, done in outstanding shape of quality and subtle shape of expression. Recommended! And do enjoy.

Shine On Your Crazy Diamond?, Echoes?, Atom Heart Mother?; the three have the same level of raw score and technical ability ,but one factor allowed me to rate the latter higher.

And the factor is: Geesin. Pink Floyd was able to write some complex melodies (at times), but only with cosmetic brass arrangements and deliciously funny chants, their music deserves to be "over-the-top", and they get away with it. It dragged for Roger Waters when they found and stayed with the formulaic style they developed later around 1973; but for me, this version of "The Pink Floyd Sound" (as it was called with Syd's lead) was the most daring and irreverent (as opposed to the more conservative style of the mid-70's), very similar to what Deep Purple was doing a year before. Despite that, the band's trademark sound was already present: Gilmour's calculated licks, accompanied by Mason's thumping drums, Wright's basic keyboard and Waters' complementing bass lines.

Of course it's not a masterpiece; it certainly has flaws; the turn-off factor is the cheesy keyboard randomness in "Mind Your Throats Please". Then again, many things about this album is random, starting with the cover photo. Suddenly they thought about doing a suite about how cows serve for clothing and milking. The rest of the album is highly uninteresting, or pleasant and pastoral at best, with Summer '68 being the most addictive ditty, while "If" and "Fat Old Sun" are very conservative and repetitive. "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" is just a collage of sounds from daily morning chores, and nothing really excuses it from being a filler.

2.5 stars rounded to 3.... proof that sometimes daring is good.

I purchased this album in 1973. At that time, I already knew "Meddle" and "Ummagumma". I must say that this was a major disappointment for me. After a few spin (very few) of B- side and a few more of Side 1, I left it unheard for over thirty years.

So, would I change my mind in 2006 (I wrote this review in December but finalize it now) ?

I think that the best review I can refer to is the one from Roger Waters himself, telling about AHM, I quote :

"I wouldn't dream of performing anything that embarassing... I'm not playing that rubbish" ! I totally agree with him.

If this is not sufficient, here is what Gilmour says about it : "All I've ever tried to do is play music that I like listening to. Some of it now, like Atom Heart Mother, strikes me as absolute crap".

Then : ""...a load of rubbish, to be honest with you. We were at a real down point. We didn't know what on earth we were doing or trying to do at that time, none of us.

Are you convinced ? These are the best review for AHM. From persons that can not be categorized as anti Floyd, right ?

These quotes are posted on the official Floyd's web-site, so no invention here.

I do not usually read other reviews before writing mines to avoid being biased but when I looked at some ratings for this one (4 or even 5 stars - the masterpiece status !) I honestly believe that there is something wrong here.

Although Waters is maybe too hard with AHM. Actually, the title track is not bad; but the orchestration and choirs are so pompous. I prefer live renditions of this track. The track is then more rock-oriented and nice to listen to, really. You can hear it on some unofficial releases like "Atom Heart Mother Goes On" from the Paris Theater in London for instance.

B-side of this album is of the caliber of their studio work (?) from Ummagumma (maybe "Fat Old Son" is a bit better) : like David and Roger said : rubbish. Two stars (considering side one as three star and side two ...).

The band hate this album, especially the title suite, which was more thrown together rather than explicitly created as a work of art. But it is a wonderfully atmospheric piece, a psych masterpiece involving choir, orchestra and band in a truly Prog work that stretches across a number of sections that evolve slowly, worming their way into your brain before changing shape. The second side is excellent too: Water's reflective If, Wright's psych Summer 68 with brass band, and Gilmour's bluesy Fat Old Sun. The sound effect laden Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast is bearable only once however. While future glories are still far away, this album's title track is the base point of their progress towards the majestic sound of Dark Side. Highly recommended.

The beginning of Pink Floyd as most of us knew them? Of course it is. Let me explain. This album was the very first time that they started to embrace their talents for spacey sounds and more serene musical landscapes, and this is also where they ditched the hopped-up psychedelics and the made for cinema albums. This is probably as far back in time as any Dark Side of The Moon fan will go, to put it bluntly. On another topic, like many before me have stated, there is absolutely no in between on this album. Either you absolutely love it or you just despise it. Honestly, this album doesn't get the credit it deserves. A lot of rock n' rollers are excited by the hectic A-side and turned off by the atmospheric B-side.

The "Atom Heart Mother" suite gets this progressive show on the road in a fine fashion. The first part, "Father's Shout", is a complete barrage or orchestral arrangements, whereas "Breast Milky" is a more serene and harmonious piece. This flows right into "Mother Fore" which has an almost spooky vocal arrangement, and is closed pretty hard with some intense drumming by Mason. The organ pops back in with some odd time signature changes and "Funky Dung" beings. An excellent guitar showcase for David Gilmour, it slowly starts to change shape and then eventually becomes an organ driven-chant session. Kind of creepy, but you can find yourself laughing at it eventually. "Mind Your Throats Please" is one of the weirdest things Pink Floyd has ever done, musically. A big tip for prog fans, look out for the mellotron here! It makes a rare Pink Floyd sponsored appearance, so don't pass this track up. The cheesy Pink Floyd P.A. announcement is present here as well, making it rather cliché. "Remergence" ends the massive suite with a jam that is very reminiscent of the opening, what with all of the violin chords and such. The full crowd is back for a majestic ending including the band and orchestra. It really does go out with quite a bang!

The second half of the album is geared more towards the individual works pf Gilmour, Waters & Wright. The Waters ballad, "If", is a really beautiful song, even if the lyrics are sometimes of absolutely no sense what so ever. If you pay more attention to the beautiful melodies, then I'm sure you will love this song as well. Wright's piece is next, if you couldn't already tell by the huge organ intro. "Summer '68" is another beautifully atmospheric piece that is enjoyable by anyone and everyone, and even it has it's occasional flare-ups on the keys. Gilmour is the last batter with "Fat Old Sun", and this is once again beautiful in the beginning, but his changes near the end as he manages to sneak in a slashing guitar solo. Now that is beautiful! The band combines forces once again for the album closer named "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast". Most everybody I know thinks that this is a pile of rubbish, and that's exactly what I thought on first listen, but there is a ton of subtle musicianship that not many people know about. I'm sure everyone knows it was named after roadie Alan Styles, but that's a different story. What Pink Floyd was doing was replicating a traditional English breakfast scene, complete with the striking of matches, the sizzling of bacon, and the dripping of water taps. Although the song is far from a favorite of mine, I give it 5 stars just for concept and effort.

One of the greatest concept albums to ever grace my ears pretty much sums it all up here. Excellent ideas, musicianship, and production top off this amazing musical achievement. 5 stars, complete perfection.

Turning Point

Atom Heart Mother represents the Nebulus of the 1970's Floyd sound - when you hear th band, that is. The "Orchestral" (read: Brass Band) sections are something else entirely - a curious experiment, but one that I feel does not work particularly well, and certainly did not have enough time lavished on it, by all accounts.

I'm reviewing from the vinyl here - and unlike the CD, the sections are not clearly marked, so I've had to guess... but, since there are actually 12 identifiable sections, most expressing one idea, then a "responding" idea, the lines could be drawn in a couple of places. I've drawn them where I think it makes most sense of the piece as a whole - where I can make sense of such a relatively haphazard structure.

Father's shout

A deep organ sound introduces the piece, which leads into a quasi-avante garde brass section that reminds me of the orchestra tuning up at the beginning of "Sergeant Pepper...", with flavours of the main AHM theme drifting through.

At 1:26, the AMH "Theme" is presented for the first time in its entirety: A lumbering behemoth of a theme that I find somewhat lugubrious. Just over 30 seconds later, we are treated to a rather half-hearted chromatic section, with the sounds of guns and motor vehicles - obviously adding the what is intended to be a kind of warped military feel.

Finally (it seems) at around 2:55, we hear Waters arpeggiated bass prelude the band entry, accompanied by keyboard and cello. Some bright modulations propel this section in a satisfactory way through a series of repetitions that are built upon until Gilmour's glissando guitar kicks in and announces the style that he would settle in for life - heralding "Echoes" and everything that followed it.

Breast milky

The "orchestra" accompany this in the background, until a lonely organ introduces a new background theme around 5:22 that ushers in the choir, in an architectural structure which follows the path set by "A Saucerful of Secrets". Simple, beautiful lines intensify towards more dischordant harmony and converge again. Sadly this is more or less repeated, and begins to feel like padding, even with increasingly tense layers and breakaway motifs in various parts.

It's then repeated and further intensified by the addition of the band, who jam along over two chords - the tonic and subdominant, which give a tiringly predictable feel until the new idea at 10:11.

Mother fore

This new idea feels somewhat tacked on, and is a typical 1970s two-chord riff over a subdominant pedal. This is blues, and very satisfyingly played, with lots and lots of space - a real crash course in less is more... except that it's a bit stupefying in its predictability after the big build up we've had to this point.

Around 12:50 some keyboard atmospherics are brought in, and the guitar also changes to an atmospheric texture. A new choral vocal idea is brought in at 13:25 - savage and earthy, but too far down in the mix.

Brown and sounds like a bell (and is funky)

There's a nice modulation heralding a new section around 14:30 - which itself is a re- introduction to the brass, which briefly recapitulate the first theme at 14:55.

Mind your throats please

The events are more dense now, and a new dischordant idea is introduced on a keyboard around 15:25, which is filtered and layered with atmospherics that appear to be based on synth sounds and tape splicing - ideas that probably would have come from the Beatles' "Revolution #9", and certainly hearken back to the studio part of "Ummagumma".

A new section starts around 17:45, again, based on atmospherics that predict "Echoes", but also uses more tape splicing that recapitulates the earlier ideas in the piece - it's a bit of a shambles in execution really, but the idea is a good one, as the listener tries to work out which musical idea is going to take over and dominate.

Remergence

There's little doubt that it's going to be the 1st or main theme, and it duly returns around 19:14 in a simply variated form, followed by the bass arpeggio/cello 2nd idea (which has jut reminded me of some of Julian Lloyd Webber's playing on his brother's little-known Prog masterpiece "Variations"). Gilmour's guitar idea (the 3rd section, if you will) returns, with Gilmour harmonising against what seems to be a copy and paste version of himself. The layers are all increased - in a valiant but somewhat doomed attempt to maintain interest, before the choir return over a clumsily variated brass section for some directionless sludge that drives us to the dischordant mess that preludes the triumphant final chord that ends side 1.

"If" is a harmless Waters song - pleasant, and with a nice message, but quite obviously not a prog song. It seems very much the predecessor of "Brain Damage".

"Summer Sun" is a Barrett/Beatles/Beach Boys inspired song, with an Arthur Lee inspired trumpet solo - now there's a mix! Oddly enough, the overall flavour ends up being slightly proggy, despite, or possibly because of the film music inspired brass section that's crowbarred in before and after the piano-driven coda. The arrangement is a bit Motown though.

"Fat Old Sun" is a nice, laid-back blues inspired number. 'Nuff said. ;o)

"Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" is Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast. 'Nuff said. :o)

So yes, a very progressive album, one that marks a turning point in sound and style for Pink Floyd - but one that is both not to my taste, and not executed particularly well: An album that makes less sense as a whole than almost any other Floyd album up to "The Final Cut", and one that I really don't listen to very much because it's so carelessly and craftlessly put together - and that shows in the music.

I can't bring myself to say it's good, as I think it's just OK - but it is definitely worth checking out from a historical point of view, and not just by Floyd fans. It's also worth checking out as an example of how not to put together a side-long track ;o)

This album seems to be loved or hated by PINK FLOYD fans.Experimental music will do that,and certainly the side long suite "Atom Heart Mother" and the 13 minute album closer "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" are experimental in nature and can be a challenging listen to say the least. "Atom Heart Mother" is one of the few PINK FLOYD tracks to have mellotron played on it.Lots of orchestration to open the first minute and a half before drums and french horn come in.It starts to sound like PINK FLOYD after 4 minutes.Synths,guitar,organ and a female vocal melody create a wonderful sound.Drums are back 9 minutes in as Gilmour fires off some rounds of guitar as organ plays on.This is one of my favourite passages of the album.Vocal melodies are back and french horns.There is a great full sound 15 minutes in followed by some experimental noises.We get the melody back after 19 minutes and some violin melodies.Gilmour lays down some scorching guitar as horns play to end the song.For me the choir and orchestration really works well on the title track,especially the vocal melodies.I really like the next three songs that all remind me of the "Meddle" album.It's kind of cool that each of these three tunes were each written and sung by a different member of the band."If" was a Waters' tune with gentle guitar and vocals.Nice."Summer'68" was a Wright tune about groupies.Piano,drums,horns and vocals in this fun and at times sixties sounding song."Fat Old Sun" is a Gilmour tune and a long time favourite of mine.The drums and guitar take on a greater role towards the end of the song.On "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" the actual human "noises" are done by Alan their roadie as you can hear him in the kitchen making breakfast.This goes on throughout the song in intervals.In between we get at first a guitar and piano melody until 3 1/2 minutes in.Later guitar,and then later still organ. I like this record a lot (cows and all) and give it a solid 4 stars.

With Atom Heart Mother, Pink Floyd began showing more cohesion as a band than in past recordings and started showing the beginnings of what would become their classic sound. The multi-part title suite is the longest song the band had composed, this time with the help of orchestration by Ron Geesin and a choir. It has its moments, but at times seems longer than necessary. The use of horns in some of the sections is really nicely done. Sparingly used elsewhere in the band's catalogue (with the exception of saxophone), the horn sections make this song stand out as something totally different from anything Pink Floyd had done before or after. Lyrically the band still sounds a bit unsophisticated, but that would change with the next couple of albums. They carried over some of the weirdness from Ummagumma, but the music is much more composed than a freak-out or just plain goofing off.

The B side contains three tracks written by three of the members separately: If by Waters, Summer '68 by Wright, and Fat Old Sun by Gilmour. If and Fat Old Sun are slow acoustic, pastoral pieces. Very nicely done with lovely melodies. Waters' If has the most profound lyrics on the album and is a precursor of Waters being the main writer in their future. Wright's Summer '68 has a nice Beatlesque feel to it and the horn sections during the chorus are very nicely done.

The last song seems like a waste of time and is the weakest track on the album. Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast is basically three sections of an instrumental with sound effects of breakfast preparation between them. It's a sort of simple jam that seems like it was just thrown together to fill out the album. I don't mind the sound effects. It's the music that needs a good kick in the rear, making for an uneventful, boring ending to what otherwise could have been considered a masterpiece. Still, this is a worthwhile album well deserving of four stars.

"Atom Heart Mother" is a weird album for PINK FLOYD, seems like a band who has just left Psychedelia (not completely though) and they are trying to find a new sound in Prog, remember we are talking about 1970 when the genre still hadn't developed and there was nothing such as Space Prog in any catalogue.

Not bad at all, very ambitious but some parts don't sound as PINK FLOYD at any era, it's a one in a kind album, that probably doesn't satisfy the fans completely.

The opener is the epic "Atom Heart Mother", which starts with an outstanding piece of Orchestral Neo Classical or Avant Garde piece of music, very complex and elaborate, not what I could expect of the band, specially when I had heard most of their albums before this one.

Ron Geesin does an outstanding job with orchestra and choirs, very pompous and I would dare to say close to Symphonic, but about the middle of the song when Gilmour and Wright enter we can listen for the first time in the album the sound that made them famous, pure Psychedelic jamming in the best style you can get, but again the orchestra joins more pompous than before, until the weird stuff begins, sound effects, noises, spooky choirs, now we are before PINK FLOYD, even when more adventurous than ever just to end with the full orchestra.

The weirdest song I would have ever expected of a normally atmospheric band, really nice stuff that may be more appreciated by Symphonic fans than by the real followers of the band. 22 minutes of pure Progressive Rock, I guess Alan parsons took some ideas from this otrack for his most pompous song in Pyramids like "n the Lap of the Gods" and What Goes Up"

"If" is a softer acoustic track that flows gently until the final section when Gilmour gives us a bit of what we like to listen from him, nice relaxing song.

"Summer '68" is another track hard to expect from PINK FLOYD, very melodic and soft, until the middle when they hit us hard with some sort of BEATLES influenced music, this ratifies my initial opinion that "Atom Heart Mother" is the middle of the road between Barrett and the peak of the band.

"Fat Old Sun" is a classic, still not totally the band we learned to love but they are inn the way, well blended with the ballad we can listen the essence of later albums, great track.

The album is closed with "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast", to be honest I never understood this track is supposedly dedicated to Alan parsons who had his first encounter with PINK FLOYD in this album and not in DSOTM as most people believe.

Too long for what they pretend, if a band wants to be experimental for the first time in a big project, 13 minutes is too much, not bad but nothing special either.

Now how to rate it= Despite being weird for them, the first epic deserves 5 stars, but the rest of the album is so uneven that they seem lost somewhere in between two worlds and it's not worth two stars, 3.5 stars would be perfectly fair, but will have to be conservative and go with 3 solid stars.

How? How did they do this?

Barely a year after the unmitigated disaster of 'Ummagumma' PINK FLOYD produce a masterpiece. It is unlikely many people share my opinion of both albums, but I will attempt to justify my opinion.

First, a comment about the cover. An image chosen at random, according to the FLOYDIAN mythos, it accurately summarises the pastoral, bucolic feel of the record. Gentleness and beauty are the keys here, not harshness and experimentation.

The 23-minute title track is a radical departure for the band. Up until this point their music was primarily psychedelic in nature: however, this track is full-blown symphonic prog. Yes, it has choirs and an orchestra, mellotron and all, but the thing that makes it symphonic is the recurring theme, restated and expanded, in the way of classical symphonic music. The twinset of four falling notes denotes the main theme, for those wondering. Actually, 'symphonic' rock is something of a misnomer in genera for this type of music: the form is closer to 'concerto' rock, with this piece, 1971's 'Echoes' and YES's 'Close to the Edge' all having a typical concerto shape. An opening theme, variations on the theme, then a solo section featuring the main instrument, followed by a closing triumphant restatement of the main theme. Yes, the sounds are those of 'Ummagumma', but the shape of those sounds is symphonic, not psychedelic, and that makes all the difference.

I believe the adoption of a musical form brought discipline, direction and above all focus to PINK FLOYD's meandering musical ambitions. It wouldn't have mattered what musical direction they chose - they could have been a good punk band had they been at this crossroads in 1976 rather than 1970. That they chose the symphonic route is a bonus for all lovers progressive rock.

One other thing needs mentioning before I look more closely at this masterpiece. PINK FLOYD had their own individual way of going about things, so anything they did had a slightly odd, eccentric stamp on it. Thus 'Atom Heart Mother' might be straight-down-the-line symphonic prog, but it sounds unique. Apparently the band hated it, and even their orchestral collaborator, Ron GEESIN, disowned it. It didn't measure up to their own ambition, according to NICK MASON in his book 'Inside Out'. This is no reason to reject the music: in fact, there's more depth to this so-called 'flawed' piece than in any single composition in their subsequent stellar career. All the production troubles detailed by MASON can't detract from what is, at its heart, a beautiful and structured pastoral musical piece, with a typical PINK FLOYD quirkiness.

It begins with the opening theme, right enough, which follows a seemingly unstructured brass intro. By 1:55 we have heard the theme of the piece, and what follows is an elaboration and extension of the idea. Here, unlike DEEP PURPLE or THE MOODY BLUES, the orchestra is fully integrated with the rock musicians, producing a wonderful synthesis. A stirring violin and organ piece interrupts for a moment, leading us to the next variation of the theme, focusing on the band members. Here we get the first hint that WATERS is an excellent bass player: it is his work more than anything else on the album that integrates the piece. And for the first time we hear MASON's characteristic drum fills, the roll and play-out sound he made famous in the albums to follow.

But it is the choral moments that are the suite's special genius, and for this GEESIN must take credit. A precursor to 'The Great Gig In The Sky' (without this album that sublime track would not have existed), the choral sections impart a pastoral and contemplative beauty to the track. I ask again, how did PINK FLOYD get here a year after 'Ummagumma'? Here we have melodies to burn, one after the other, chilling in their sheer beauty, the soaring organ-backed female voices counterpointed with the slightly dissonant male voices to create such a pleasing effect. Then, near the nine minute mark, the rest of the band returns with more MASON fills to lead us to 'Funky Dung' and GILMOUR's first significant guitar contribution to the band. A splendidly understated funk, indeed, a gentle battle between keyboard and guitar.

One of the hundred highlights of this track is when WRIGHT brings in the mellotron after 12 minutes, signalling the return of the choir to do their own brand of funk over the bands' playing. So seventies, so relevant, and finally PINK FLOYD have succeeded in recapturing the sound of the times, lost since 1967. The song lifts still further with the bridge back to the main theme, which in turn presages the 'freak-out' section, 'Mind Your Throats Please'. Here the sound is directly comparable to 'Sysyphus' on 'Ummagumma', but it works in context: the breakdown, the crazy keyboard and tape effect stuff preparing us for the finale. OK, the finale is a little over the top, cheesy in fact, but they've won the right to break out the classical music cliches by what they've done before. Choir, orchestra and band join together in creating a stunning climax.

Side 2 isn't as strong, of course, but does just fine. WATERS proves he writes great stuff, thoughtful lyrics and reflective music, as long as nobody mentions the war. WRIGHT shows he kows how to handle a tune, and GILMOUR can do the blues, albeit in a restrained fashion. 'Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast' is anything but: three gentle, pastoral tunes are linked by the sounds of one of their roadies having breakfast, a gimmick that for some spoils the beauty of the pieces. Particularly strong is the third piece, a finale to the album worthy of the title track.

Don't make the mistake of considering this album in any way related to its predecessor. Musically it is quite dissimilar, save the small psychedelic section in the title track and the idea (but not execution) of three individual member's tracks.

I'm staggered that enough people liked this album that it reached No.1 in the UK. How was that possible? There's nothing remotely commercial on this disc. People were mad back then. Mad, I tell you. And they had surprisingly good judgement.

The more I listen to this one, the more I like it.

This is a great, original work, an exposition upon order and chaos from Pink Floyd.

Atom Heart Mother is the epic on the vinyl. It's not quite up there with Echoes, but it's close. A brash brass section, an ethereal chorus, atmospheric keyboards, and Gilmour finally developing his mature style on guitar all lead to an enjoyable composition. But what's really interesting about it is how all of these bold statements devolve into a chaotic melange in the last 5 minutes or so of the piece. They are of course saved in the end by an obligatory summation, but it is still a bold and original piece of music.

If hearkens back to Pink Floyd's early days. Syd Barrett was a wonderful lyricist and later Floyd was never able to match his understated, almost pedestrian, lyrics which nonetheless were evocative and disturbing. On this song, though, they come closer than at any other time. Add in a gentle guitar and some restrained keys and you get a piece that would have been a highlight on Piper.

Summer of '68 starts out with a plaintive piano part and some wistful singing about a one night stand. And then things go nuts. Beach Boy-esque harmonies and scat, brass parts, and vocal break that would not sound out of place on mid-career Beatles albums. This song weaves together much of the musical zeitgeist of the time in an entertaining way.

Fat Old Sun is probably the track that I like listening to the least, which is a strong statement about how strong this album is. It's a quieter piece with some nice bass and Gilmour's slide guitar work popping up fairly often.

Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast is the other epic. While it isn't as good as Atom Heart Mother, it doesn't deserve the hate that is sometimes focused at it. As Atom Heart Mother is all about music devolving into chaos, this is about chaos (the sounds of a person waking and making breakfast) evolving into music. Floyd would revisist this idea on DSOTM in the track Money, but here the relationship is much more subtle and you need to be listening closely to appreciate it. The actual musical parts are nice, but the breakfast parts do indeed get a bit tiring.

Anyhow, I'm giving this one 4 stars. It's Floyd's most innovative album (possibly excepting Piper), and it is the monolithic landmark that marks the end of Floyd's days of lack of popular recognition.

A bit of direction never hurt anyone

After a couple of very improvisational and mostly instrumental albums Pink Floyd finally hit a chord. This is the true beginnings of the band that would later put out masterpieces like Dark Side Of The Moon. Not to say that this album is as tight or well played as those later albums, but the ideas are all there and they're all falling into place. Stylistically this album follows very closely to the previous two albums. Spacey, long instrumental freakouts that are honed in live performance still dominate the album. But the difference here is that the Floyd seem to have found how to play these very tightly as the album comes off as something probably more planned sounding than it actually was. There's a certain amount of delight to this because anyone who enjoyed elements of their very strange Ummagumma album will find that the good points have been fine tuned and the bad points left out.

There's only five compositions on the album. Two of which are the long freakouts that we're used to from the band. The title track, Atom Heart Mother is a long divided side long suite that goes though just about every kind of motion that you can think of capturing a very nice side of space rock with a kind of lulling music that at points stabs and demands attention with sharp raises in volume and an almost victorious sound with the chorus of voices. A sometimes overlooked Floyd masterpiece, this is the first time that the band would create a side long venture. Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast is much shorter and much less demanding of the listener, this one more dealing with ambiance, but it remains a pleasant voyage none the less. The sounds of someone cooking themselves breakfast in the morning at the beginning of the song can be somewhat annoying the first couple of listens through, but one gets used to it with repeated spins.

The rest of the songs on the album are just short little songs more in the traditional manner of progressive rock. If is a very slow and reflective track which is a welcome addition after the very crazy opening epic, which is a soothing track perhaps made entirely for the purpose of bringing the audience back down to earth. A lo-key guitar and vocal track make this one pleasant but nothing to write home about. Fat Old Sun is much in the same except with this one having the guitar pick up into a very nice solo from Gilmour at the end.

Indeed the most notable song from the shorter ones falls right in the center. Summer '68 opens with an almost 'Peanuts'-esque piano track and soon leads into more of the lo-key insturmentation and vocals before exploding into a surprisingly up tempo ride for the whole family. Pleasant harmonizing of vocals and a very catchy and simple acoustic guitar make for a very triumphant sound as the song makes it's way. One of Floyd's very best short songs.

This album is not really essential if you don't enjoy the beginning period of the band, but it certainly is the turning point from the more psychedelic Floyd to a more progressive Floyd later expanded on Meddle. Very ''trippy'' and pleasant with the shorter songs this one makes for an excellent addition to any progressive music library.

This is my first PINK FLOYD review, and I'd preferred if I could've started with a better album than this flawed record. But in the interest of chronology, I'll say just a few words about a release that has been already very thoroughly discussed.

There's no point in me describing PINK FLOYD. By now only people living in complete isolation of the rest of the world could not know what this legendary band sounds like. Suffice it to say, "Atom Heart Mother" is a transitional point for the group, where the complete mastery of their art hadn't yet been reached, and actually it had just started to be defined.

The direction of PINK FLOYD's sound was not-yet completely evident here. The title-track hints at the spacey-atmospheric future that the British would travel starting with their next release, but most of the rest of the songs lack that particular magic. Psychedelia is here, but it's not sure if it's to stay. The addition of an orchestra is an example of this uncertainty.

The album, ultimately, fails because it's uneven from a musical point of view. After a first brilliant track, the epic "Atom Heart Mother", the remainder of the disc is made of fairly average songs, going all the way down to the mediocre ending number "Alan's psychedelic breakfast", which is poor on any element of interest and sounds more like a failed experiment.

The album has still its moments, though, and as such 3 stars sounds like the correct rating. The best PINK FLOYD was yet to come, but some of their great traits can already be heard in "Atom Heart Mother".

The 70s had begun!!! With the 70s began the biggest trip in the world of music - the golden trip of Pink Floyd! And this trip begins with Atom Heart Mother. This album is big return for Pink Floyd after shock of the lost of their previous leader Syd Barrett, who quit the band. After two weaker albums Pink Floyd returns to the quality of the first two albums, but in different way. Atom Heart Mother is the first Pink Floyd's album, that is more progressive than psychedelic; and this transition is exactly at the beginning of the decade! Here is the longest Pink Floyd's composition - the eponymous Atom Heart Mother. The composition is progressive rock golden treasure. Then, followed by the melancholic-psychedelic songs - If, Summer '68 and Fat Old Sun - true masterworks of art. The album's final composition is Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast - its name is important. Firstly it's psychedelic indeed and secondly. This breakfast is described in the music - the most musique concrète song by Pink Floyd. They use musique concrète almost everywhere, but this song is true example of that. A definition 5 stars' album!!!

Better than siblings Ummagumma and Meddle. A classic.

Review #500 for Prog Archives needed a special subject that allows discussion of the sweet and the melancholy of life, of music as metaphor for appreciating simple moments long gone (as a good friend here and I discussed recently) and as the catalyst for change. I'd like to try to make the case that this album is very strong, under-appreciated, and in my view a more solid progressive work than the acclaimed Meddle or the wild Ummagumma, its two closest siblings. A challenge to Meddle is unthinkable to some but to a few of us, it's not even close.

Floyd started off with the masterpiece Piper and after Barrett left the group proceeded to wallow for a few years in search of their way. Barrett was the man, the only able songwriter, the sound revolutionary, the charismatic jester that brought fans to Pink Floyd and the spark that enabled them to ever be discovered. The others owe their careers to Barrett. I'm not slamming Saucerful, More, or Ummagumma as all three have some very fine moments. But by their own admission the band were somewhat adrift in these years, learning to compose and getting understandably tired of playing Barrett's material. In 1970 the band left some notes and ideas with Ron Geesin as they took off for some American dates. He was left with only a backing demo and sketchy info and asked to pull some arrangements together for when the band returned. The group returned and things soon turned to panic as the material remained in some disarray even as recording needed to continue. The orchestral musicians were not seeing eye to eye with Geesin to put it mildly. After an admirable attempt and a near physical altercation with a mouthy horn player he was replaced by John Aldiss. With the working title of "The Amazing Pudding" the track began to take shape. The ideas and the music were very interesting though the album would ultimately suffer from being an extremely rushed affair which led to less than desirable recording and production. The band would comment later that they could have done much better with more time and at one point considered re-recording it. Mason notes that poorly positioned microphones picked up some monitor sound and that this will not be able to be repaired. But the remastered version sounds good enough not to distract the listener from the joy of the music. In fact to me the album's sound warts actually add a certain swampiness that adds more than it detracts as it works with the feel of the composition. It was well received by the many critics, one reviewer of the time calling it "the most successful integration of rock and formal music I've heard." Geesin's work here was superb and should be recognized, giving shape and a bold statement to this unique Floyd exploration. The band was still trying some radical things at this point which should be something to admire.

Some latter day reviewers have noted that Waters and Gilmour belittled these early classics years later but let's look at what they felt about the album *then* when it was fresh to them. The fact is they knew these were great albums when they created them. Whose judgment of quality prog do you trust more, current day Waters/Gilmour egos or the boys at the time when they were creating their musical legacy? While I understand they might feel a little funny as older men discussing something they did as kids, for what I'm looking for out of music, I concur with the comments they made at the time:

"This one is much simpler to listen to. It's more emotional, a sort of epic music in fact, because we have added brass and a choir." [Richard Wright, Melody Maker 9/70] ".much nicer to listen to. I think it's by far the best, the most human thing we've done." [Roger Waters, Sounds 1970] ".the faults are basically in details and I thought, overall, it was good. It has a very strange feel to it. Parts of it, like the ending, are real ham, which I like." [Nick Mason, Sounds 1/71]

I suppose once you've created an album like "Dark Side of the Moon" it is perhaps easy to look back at something more naïve and experimental and proclaim it silly or somehow beneath your current status. What these guys fail to realize is that there is a certain spark and magic that comes from naivety, youthful exuberance, fearlessness and lack of musical cynicism. Music fans can still look at something like Atom Heart and feel the same excitement for the material that the band felt in 1970. Atom Heart captures a snapshot in time and place of this band and these friendships, a point I need to stress. Sometimes capturing the simple moments of your life are as important to your story as are the planned spectacles and big events-this goes for life and art. You shouldn't assume your big planned event is any more important than that beautiful anyday Sunday morning waking next to your loved one, having a coffee and the paper with the sun coming in the window. Nor should the Floyd assume their later masterpieces must render their own simple breakfast of eggs, high-minded humor, and music with a friend regrettable. Both are valid moments that color one's life or one's artistic career with great authenticity. On your death bed it is quite likely that memories of your life's simple joys will bring you more comfort than recalling some big planned event or goal that you felt you had to achieve. And thus what Atom Heart represents for the lads and captures for the listener should not be under-estimated simply because more critics (and fans) bought The Wall, or because Roger thinks Radio Kaos was more substantive. The misgivings the bandmembers have with the material of this period have become all the more amusing and ironic to me as a music lover. They say this album is "rubbish" and that they had no idea what they were doing, and yet it is this material ('67-70) that remains the most intriguing for the long-time Floyd fans who have heard the later, safer stuff to death and wish to hear the band at their most reaching and curious. I would argue that the post-period pronouncements of the band members miss the point entirely and are driven by factors not important to music lovers. Furthermore, the two long tracks are gloriously free of lyrical content and prove that music done properly can convey feeling without words, another feather in the cap of this particular album. An interesting comment I noted by Gilmour was that Waters would not become lyrically strong until "Obscured by Clouds," noting that his lyrics before that, and on Echoes specifically, were merely "words to hang the music on." I bring this up because again, many Floyd fans love the Echoes lyrics and Gilmour's dismissal of them is not all that relevant.

The album's strength lies in the two long pieces Atom Heart Mother and Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast which comprise 36 of the album's 52 minutes. This is pure musical exploration and progressive nirvana, taking the raw adventurism of Ummagumma's studio material in a much more listener-friendly direction. AHM is "out there" but it is not dissonant, difficult to enjoy, or lacking warm melody. It is the best of their transitional albums because it does improve over Ummagumma and yet retains the interesting progressive side better than Meddle would. The horns, effects, and choirs-as well as the free-spirited material itself-satisfy this listener over time in a way that Echoes has ceased to. Echoes is a very pretty track that begins well, with gorgeous frailty, but bogs down in the middle and becomes quite easily assimilated in the way that AHM and APB do not. The palette presented on AHM/ASB is just stunning and I would argue far more interesting than the static, predictable Echoes repetitions (more on specific tracks following.) The title track is a feast of emotions and feelings from the soaring grandiosity of the main theme propelled by horns and guitar, to the fragile melancholy of the violin over Wright's beautiful keyboard, to the baroque feel in places. From there we will experience some of Gilmour's fine lead guitar, gorgeous, haunting, and searching. The piece continues by moving into dark territory with desolate wordless vocals building to dramatic, frightening-at-times chants by the full choir. There are gorgeous operatic vocals here that bring chills. It will revisit the various sections and twist beautifully back into the main theme before charting off again leaving you feeling uneasy, but with hope. That is what AHM leaves me with: a musical overview of the human condition. Mason would talk about the cover being intentionally plain and wanting to make a connection with the "earth mother" and if that includes pondering human emotions they succeed smashingly. Moving on to the second gem here we have Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast which I recall being inspired by German composer Carl Orff. Another track that too many listeners mistake as "filler" material because they don't have their ears on apparently. This is pure sound beauty, pure progressive delight, or "sound poems" as someone described them. What exactly is the problem with three beautiful sections of experimental pastoral-psych from the early heyday of a progressive pioneer? The sound effects were recorded in the kitchen of Nick Mason as roadie Alan was showing off his talents as breakfast connoisseur. But the sound effects are simply a whimsical sideshow. The fact is that the three appetizing courses of music are perfectly anonymous, wondrous because of their unassuming beauty. Not every piece has to be so "conceived" as "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" to be meaningful. Musical beauty and success come in many forms and APB is a sentimental keepsake of a band still into each other as friends sans the acrimony that success brought. Part one is filled with Richard's waking piano, sunny dispositions capturing the new day. Just delightful. Part two is courtesy of Dave's acoustic guitar, sitting on the stoop and serenading as we munch away and sip tea. In the third part, the band comes together and births one of the happiest melodies in Floyd's canon, imparting on me the coming day and moving from the morning to the possibilities of that day with hope. "Morning Glory" indeed.

The album loses the 5th star for me in the short tracks. They would have been far better served omitting "If" and "Fat Old Sun" and maybe just allowing Richard's joyous little "Summer '68" be an odd transition between the longer pieces. They could have even added a fourth section to APB with the extra time. "If" is a fairly weak Waters track with the wrong feel for this album's eventual optimism. "Fat Old Sun" would later become a stronger piece in Dave's live shows and while not out of place, it just doesn't match the strength of the surrounding material. His performance here is beyond laid-back, so sleepy as to be comatose. So while Atom Heart Mother is not the perfect masterpiece that "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" is, it is an essential title to fans of Pink Floyd and highly recommended to any adventurous progressive fan. The '94 remaster sounds great but features the annoying "new" artwork inside the accompanying lyric booklet rather than authentically matching the original design, a real pet peeve of mine. A minor quibble for a great album.

Cherish the small moments, and be well.

On Atom Heart Mother one can see some signs of what was to come on Meddle. The acoustic ballad If, for example, is strongly reminiscent of the acoustically based songs from that album. However, Atom Heart Mother was still very much a psychedelic album; a child of the 60's. Summer '68 even explicitly celebrates this decade in which Pink Floyd still were very much stuck at this time. Summer '68 has very Beach Boys- like vocal harmonies. But these songs lack memorable melodies.

The side long title track is a symphonic piece, complete with a symphony orchestra. This could have been interesting, but there is unfortunately nothing memorable about it. I have listened through this track several times and the only thing I can remember about it is that there were a choir and a symphony orchestra involved. That is not a good sign! The closing track, Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast symbolises exactly what I don't like about (much of) Pink Floyd's music. This "song" is based on samples of someone making breakfast! Musically it is going absolutely nowhere. It gets boring right from the very start and it has nothing at all to do with progressive rock - this is pure psychadelic experimentation (like The Beatles Revolution Number 9). This sort of thing was perhaps interesting in 1968, but was very dated in 1970.

Overall, to say that I'm not impressed with this album is an understatement. The sonic quality of the album is not bad though and this together with the presence of one or two half decent songs keeps me from giving this the lowest rating. Thankfully, things would get a bit better for Pink Floyd later on.

Only for fans and collectors this one.

Got Milk?

You know, this album saddens me, it really does, but not because the music is depressing or have a sad tone (because the music of this album does have that silent suffering feeling). I get sad because Pink Floyd managed to spoil such a beautiful album with a silly (and quite boring, if you ask me) last song, entitled Allan's Psychedelic Breakfast. Although i hardly listen to Allan's Psychedelic Breakfast, because it takes too long to the band to resume their music, even for progressive rock standards, the song isn't totally worthless. It has a couple really interesting instrumental parts. But the thing is that the song cannot hold my attention effectively due to the breakfast noises. Seriously, if i wanted to hear the noises of a person making breakfast i would just do my own breakfast instead of listening to them in a record.

However, not everything is lost. The rest of the album is just to die for, really! The Atom Heart Mother suite, for example, is great. The band, the choir and the orchestra interact perfectly with each other, although there is a clear predominance of the organs and pianos in general in the side-long suite, as far as the band part goes. The brass instruments make a great impression through the song and, along with the choir, give the The Atom Heart Mother suite an epic feeling in most of the times they appear in the song.

The following three songs are also very good. The psychedelic If, which can be played with practically an acoustic guitar alone, kind of breaks a bit the energy of the album, but that is actually good to settle down from the powerful suite that just played. They only problem of that song is that Roger Waters sings a bit out of tune, specially when he tries to hit the high notes (i mean tries because he can't really reach them). Summer 68' is considerably more energetic than the song that preceded it and actually retrieves a nice part of the suite's energy, specially due to the use of the brasses, which give the song the same epic feeling of the Atom Heart Mother suite. Fat Old Sun is mostly guitar-driven, like If, but it is rocked up, meaning that the song is pretty much a rock ballad (a very good one, but still a rock ballad).

Finally the album closes with Allan's Psychedelic Breakfast. i don't think i need to express again that the song spoil the album's closing and that it is sub-par, when compared to the rest of the album. The important thing to remember is that it ruins the end of the album.

Grade and Final Thoughts

What can i do here, but to give this album 4 stars? It is an awesome album, but the closing song ruins it! There is not much room to move, so i'll just end this review. It is a 4 stars album and that's it.

Atom Heart Mother is the fifth full-length studio album by UK psychadelic/ progressive rock act Pink Floyd. The famous cow cover artwork by Hipgnosis has always been one of my favorite album covers. The down to earth atmosphere of the cover artwork stands in stark contrast to the ambitious music on the album within though.

The 23:51 minute long title track which filled Side 1 of the original LP is a fantastic song by Pink Floyd. It´s an ambitious and grand composition which in addition to the band´s rock instrumentation also features orchestral- and choir arrangements. It´s the first song by Pink Floyd that points towards future greatness IMO. It´s unnecessarily long though and I could have done with a version that was 6-7 minutes shorter. Side 2 of the original LP contains four songs. If is a folky acoustic song, Summer ´68 is a rock song with more of the classical orchestration ( the best on this part of the album IMO), Fat Old Sun is mellow to start with but has a louder section later on and the 12:56 minute long Alan´s Psychadelic Breakfast which is divided into three parts is a mostly acoustic affair too but rather experimental. I´m not impressed by the quality level on Side 2. All songs are allright but nothing more. A bit of a shame as the quality of the title track is so high.

The musicianship is very good on this album. There´s no doubt that the band are still searching for their style but they´ve definitely come much closer with this effort. Note David Gilmour´s guitar solo in the title track. Soaring and beautiful.

The production is a bit dark but it´s pretty good.

For the third album in a row I´m not really satisfied with what I´m hearing. There are excellent moments on Atom Heart Mother but too many mediocre ones too. A 3 star rating is deserved. Don´t cheat yourself from listening to that title track though. A real treat.

Atom Heart Mother is a typical early Floyd album where their creative genius is at war with their natural disposition: laziness. Side one is a pompous, dated but nevertheless amazing piece of music. Side two is a snooze-fest that could even bring an insomniac to a comforting nap.

In 1970 rock went classic. There had been earlier exploits to recreate classical music with rock instruments (the Nice, Procul Harum,...) but in 1970 everybody suddenly brought a Philharmonic Orchestra into the studio: Deep Purple (ok that was end '69), the Nice, Uriah Heep and of course Pink Floyd. None of these experiments have been met by general approval. Some fans like it, others not at all.

And so fares Atom Heart Mother, a 25 minute psychedelic piece that compares to nothing else in Pink Floyd's output, apart from the guitar solo in the middle that they would redo on Echoes. I value it in the same way that I appreciate Uriah Heep's Salisbury: it has aged badly, it didn't create a very coherent sound and it's definitely over the top. And yet, I find myself liking it, I don't play it too much but when I do I'm always thankful they had the ambition to pull it off. After all there aren't too many similar songs around.

Next to this epic, all band members except Mason added one track each to complete the album, similarly as they had done on Umma Gumma. Unfortunately, the result is worse. If is a nice acoustic track from Waters but Grandchester Meadow was a lot better. Fat Old Sun is a weak track from Gilmour, they would do a few good live renditions of it but the version here is poor. No, The Narrow Way was a lot better.

Wright's Summer '68 might appeal to Beatles fans but it is completely out of place here and quite frankly, very dull. Alan's Breakfast is a band effort but really, I don't see the 'effort' here. Self-indulgent sloppiness is what I call it.

So, an epic monster track that is at the same time astounding and unsatisfactory; completed with 30 minutes of songs that range between tepid and hot air. If someone would release this now it would be a merciless 1 star but given its context I'd say 3.5.