ATOM HEART MOTHER

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.