Atom Heart Mother

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
In the grand, colour-bending tradition of psychedelic experimentalism, Pink Floyd's iAtom Heart Mother/i takes as its title an inscrutable phrase and under the title launches a similarly inscrutable--or at least dense--musical concatenation. The title suite features French-horn-led brass melodies riffed on by David Gilmour's guitar and the rhythm section, all of which veers into choral passages that recall György Ligeti's vocal works and then almost atonal pulses of keyboards that mask reams of audio snippets swirling underneath. There's some moody folk from Roger Waters, an almost Kinks-ish rambler from Richard Wright, then more moody folk (this time from Gilmour) on "Fat Old Sun" and, to close, the spirited melodic runaround of "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast". Pink Floyd offers a range of emotion here, from doleful to crazed to humorous (especially the dramatised comments on macrobiotics in the closer). iAtom Heart Mother/i was a spotlight ahead for Pink Floyd, showing the extensions of form the band would engage in so successfully on iDark Side of the Moon/i just a few short years later. i--Andrew Bartlett/i

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2009-06-07 rating:
An almost forgotten masterpiece.
It may seem unapproachable at first. Listen to it only a second time and you realise that "Atom Heart Mother" certainly has some of the most unique moments in the Floyd's history. The title track is a collaboration with Scottish composer Ron Geesin. It is a piece of beauty, 24 minutes long, experimental albeit its distinctive main theme, incorporating an orchestral brass section and a choir, a bit of a secret masterpiece that never really made it, perhaps because it's not "Just Floyd". br / br /The original B-side is dominated by 3 solo compositions of Waters, Wright and Gilmour. Despite the fact that all three are some of their stronger ones, Richard Wright is the undisputed winner with "Summer 68", perhaps one of the best Floyd compositions ever. Waters' "If" seems like an early template for "Good Bye Cruel World", and Gilmour's "Fat Old Sun" is a lovely, rather sweet tune with his favourite pedal steels. Both, Waters' and Gilmour's tunes have become regulars in their later solo shows. br / br /The album closes with Roadie Alan's "Psychedelic Breakfast" which might have been considered ground breaking in 1970, but these days is at best a piece for the rock museum. The sounds of a geezer frying eggs and praising marmalade just don't do it after sampling of random sounds has become an art in its own right. br / br /Despite its unnecessary finale the "Cow Album" is a great one. It is often forgotten in the praise for classic Floyd albums although it is absolutely awe inspiring, very Floyd in the 70s, and ultimately Abbey Road.

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review by: date: 2009-03-03 rating:
The Floyd
Atom Heart Mother is an all time classic, a bit off the wall- in fact not on this planet; superbe!

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review by: watsonian date: 2008-08-02 rating:
Days of future past
This album captures the positive and experimental aspects of the sixties Floyd before they found fame and fortune with Dark Side Of The Moon and became increasingly gloomy and angst driven. The first track is their longest single suite with added brass, cello and choir orchestrated by Ron Geesin. This is followed by three songs, 'If' is an acoustic number by Waters,'Summer 68' is a funky tune by Wright and 'Fat Old Sun' has a great guitar solo at the end by Gilmour. The album finishes with a long soundscape full of Floydian sound effects in 'Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast' which has snap, crackle and pop in abundance.

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review by: date: 2008-05-06 rating:
A-moo-zing
I've always found this album very funny. You can't really tell if they were taking the michael or indulging in true hippy experimentalism. The title track is a meandering mess, but with a powerful and moving recurring theme. 'If' is a lovely song in its own right, and worth the price of the album in my view. Incidentally they did a live version of the title track in the early 70's which I have on a tape from a long forgotten John Peel show (from somewhere strange like the Bath West show). It is a note perfect replica of the album version, which suggests that someone must have written down the score. br /I was a big PF fan as a teenager (aren't all middle class boys) before I left them for the delights of The Smiths, The Birthday Party etc. This album, though, is worth a re-visit every now and then, if nothing else to remind myself how avant-garde I thought I was back then. And its surprisingly listenable even now. Ah, nostalgia.


review by: date: 2008-01-01 rating:
Under-rated and leaning to a future
"Atom Heart Mother", is a undeservedly bashed record in their canon. The title track is an ambitious, epic instrumental with orchestra that is a precursor to the bands signature tune "Echoes". Side two is generally formless, compiled of just a number of frankly average songs and a couple of standouts in the shape of "If" and "Fat Old Sun". Overall, the production is strong but the songs are lacking.

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