UMMAGUMMA

Ummagumma is by far Pink Floyd's most experimental album, but on that same note it's also their worst. Many of these songs lack a strong structure and go nowhere musically, and many of the parts are just plain annoying.

The beginning song, 'Sysyphus' is Wright's piece. This is really hard to listen to; there are weird sounds everywhere, and the keys don't really help, except for the mellotron.

'Grantchester Meadows' is a Water's composition and is the only bearable track on the album. It opens with a pleasant backtrack of birds chirping and gives the image of a summer day in a field or something. Acoustic guitar enters along with Roger's vocals to give a very relaxing atmosphere.

But his second song is the experimentally poor 'Several Species.' I don't listen to Avant-garde at all, and this is why.

The Narrow Way is Gilmour's first attempt at serious songwriting in the band, and like the rest of the songs on this album, it backfires. The beginning part is some nice acoustic guitar, but with no substance. The middle features some nice riffs, but they don't develop well and repeat too much.

Getting your drummer to compose a song is usually a bad idea, and 'The Grand Vizier's Garden Party' is no exception.

I'm not going to pretend I like this album, I simply don't. There's too much noise and Avant-garde weirdness which is simply not my cup of tea. While I appreciate many of the soundscapes Floyd used in their later albums, I simply don't get this.

1/10