ATOM HEART MOTHER

In the early 1970s, to be precise on October 1 1970, EMI released the new Pink Floyd album "Atom Heart Mother". This record meant a great deal to both the band and the fans because the LP with the cow on the cover marked the beginning of a true change in direction. Although the band members individually had already experimented with the latest toy from Abbey Road Studio, the eight-track recorder, for the successful "Ummagumma" album in 1969, the recordings for "Atom Heart Mother" were the first for the group using that new device. It must have opened up a whole new world for David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Richard Wright and Nick Mason. Nowadays, we laugh about it, but for the creative minds of Pink Floyd, it represented a significant enrichment at the time. From then on, the band started producing increasingly complex and epic prog while gradually moving away from psychedelia.

The Pink Floyd guys, the pioneers, had a knack for it, especially Roger Waters, who had become quite skilled in manipulating the tape. To this day, their experimentation continues to leave a huge impression. The album is filled with various environmental sounds and stereo effects. Waters and Mason cleverly incorporated neighing horses, explosions and revving engines into the instrumental suite Atom Heart Mother, which occupies the entire A-side of the LP. These sounds are skillfully woven into the music, providing a rhythmic cadence. The closing track of the album, Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast, is also full of environmental sounds. In fact, for 13 minutes, the listener is a guest at the breakfast table of a certain Alan Stiles. You can hear him frying eggs and so on. All of this is interrupted several times by some fantastic musical passages. In my opinion, the balance tilts a bit too much towards the sounds, but it's acceptable towards the end of the album. Nowadays, one could call it a hidden track, although it's not really hidden.

In addition to the added sound effects, it is primarily the enhancement of the long title track with choir and orchestral arrangements that has made the album so memorable. The orchestra in question is called The Abbey Road Session Pops Orchestra. Pink Floyd collaborated with Ron Geesin, an experimental composer and friend of Nick Mason, for the parts. Geesin spent months working on the scores and the result is impressive. Euphoric and bombastic horns, tubas and trombones find their way through the song, holding its six parts together. This is achieved through a powerful theme, as presented in the opening section, Father's Shout.

When the father's outburst subsides and the mother takes over, the music becomes gentle with flowing organ and evocative violin. Then Gilmour comes in with his now-infamous guitar antics, skillfully sliding his bottleneck over the strings of his Stratocaster. In the third part, Mother Fore, the atmosphere becomes more solemn. The choir, conducted by John Aldiss, sounds somewhat ethereal with its high female voices. It may be a bit drawn-out, but just in time, the magnificent Funky Dung arrives. You can hear the driving organ play merging into a section where an impressive choir seems to be practicing an Asian martial art. After a repetition of the bombastic opening of the long track, there's a moment to catch one's breath during the vague Mind Your Throats Please. This is typical Pink Floyd and while the backward-sounding Mellotron parts may have raised a few eyebrows, the band still occasionally showcases their love for psychedelia. For example, at the beginning of the final part, Remergence, various fragments from the song pass by in a somewhat cacophonic manner. The chord progressions are so skillful; it's a display of expert craftsmanship. The Suite ends as grandly as it began.

The long track weighs heavily on the listener and by heavily, I don't mean it's heavy or overwhelming. It's because the music sounds so bombastic and experiencing the nearly 24-minute listening session requires a lot of energy. As a result, the B-side is lighter and less complex. Acoustic guitar and piano play a significant role and apart from Gilmour's beautiful lap steel guitar in If, which is sung and plucked by Waters, the electric six-string only comes out of the case for a solo in the middle of Fat Old Sun, the third track on the B-side. This song, written by Gilmour, quickly became a huge live favorite. It's primarily that solo, derived from a few riffs, that truly makes the cows dance on ice. It's extraordinary how the Floyd guys can create such a tremendous atmosphere with relatively simple musical patterns. Give them a few chords to tinker with and you get magnificent songs like If and the melancholic Fat Old Sun.

Summer '68 is another example. The brass section from the Suite makes a reappearance. The trumpet cheerfully blares through this Beach Boys-like song and it's evident that assistant sound engineer Alan Parsons had a great influence. With its brass section, this song somewhat serves as a link between both sides of the album, allowing "Atom Heart Mother" to be experienced as a cohesive whole, even on CD. Despite the black-and-white cow on the cover.

Orginally posted on www.progenrock.com