ATOM HEART MOTHER

Ron Geesin would also go on to work with the full band on their 1970 album, Atom Heart Mother. Featuring the iconic Holstein cow album cover, this record bears structural similarities to Ummagumma. Atom Heart Mother opens and closes on full-band suites, while Waters, Wright, and Gilmour each have one solo song in the middle (with the full band's backing).

Atom Heart Mother is also the first album where Pink Floyd unambiguously stepped into the emerging field of progressive rock. Prior to this point, they were primarily a psychedelic band with some experimental and space rock leanings. However, they didn't fully abandon their psychedelic past, and they would remain somewhat semi-prog up until the mid-70s. It wouldn't be until Wish You Were Here that I would say they released an unquestionably prog album, with all interceding records having significant psychedelic and space rock substrates.

The song "Atom Heart Mother" is the longest studio recording Pink Floyd ever made, clocking in at 13 seconds longer than "Echoes". (That is assuming you don't count the two pieces of "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" as one song.) It's also one of the rare Pink Floyd songs to credit a non-band member, as writing is attributed to the band's four members, plus Ron Geesin who arranged the strings, brass, and choir.

Roger Waters and Nick Mason recorded the rhythm section part in one massive take, resulting in an inconsistent tempo throughout, but that doesn't hamper the song. Geesin's brass arrangements add a spooky, circus-like feel to this song. Upon hearing this song for the first time, my wife referred to it as "haunted carnival music."

Though some bandmembers have expressed distaste for this song since its release, I think it's one of their seminal pieces. Nick Mason's drumming is especially noteworthy for the power he gives to the song's more bombastic moments. The choir arrangements add a haunting quality, and Gilmour's soloing is shockingly un-Gilmour-like. The vocal arrangements feel like an earthier counterpart to Magma's celestial chants.

Stanley Kubrick asked to use "Atom Heart Mother" in A Clockwork Orange, but the band refused permission. As much as I love this song, I'm glad they didn't allow Kubrick to use it; I would not want this piece associated with that stupid, boring, nigh-unwatchable film. (I'll save the rest of my anti-Kubrick sentiments for another essay.)

Side 2 of Atom Heart Mother sees Waters, Wright, and Gilmour contribute one song apiece. This experiment turns out stronger than Ummagumma's solo-writing experiment, as the members of the band weren't required to play all the instruments.

The Waters-penned "If" begins side 2 and is the weakest of the tracks. It's a slow, acoustic piece that features some languid soloing from Gilmour. Wright's "Summer '68" follows. It's reminiscent of the songs he contributed to A Saucerful of Secrets?relatively light, piano-led psychedelia. The chorus has a great punchiness to it, and the inclusion of a brass section was a smart move. David Gilmour's "Fat Old Sun" is the strongest of these three songs. It's slow-moving, gentle, and sweet. The closing guitar solo is among the best he ever recorded. In live settings, this song would get stretched out to nearly 15 minutes and feature some truly dramatic interplay between Gilmour and Wright.

Atom Heart Mother closes on the weird, three-part instrumental "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast", another group effort (though primarily written by Nick Mason). The three segments are intercut with audio of Pink Floyd roadie Alan Styles making breakfast for himself. The first section is centered primarily around piano and organ, and the second is a folky acoustic guitar fugue. Part three features the full band and acts as a strong closer. Piano is the lead instrument here, and a relaxed but purposeful feel drives this piece along.

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