ATOM HEART MOTHER

This album, like 'Ummagumma' belongs to the 'finding our feet' period of Floyd. See my review for that album. This one is similar in parts, although, overall, it is slightly better. Nevertheless, this is a quite dated and tepid affair, certainly not one of the band's best works. The opening suite, 'Atom Heart Mother' is a laborious affair, with far too much emphasis on a horn section that simply doesn't work. Remember how Genesis fans, (me included) disliked Abacab partly because of the introduction of horns? Well, it is a similar thing here. The music in this suite is very naive and directionless, even though you can tell the band is trying. It is, in a word, predictable. Funny how this band changed from their first two, very effective albums, to meandering experimentation. Now, I am all for experimentation, as it is one of the core ingredients in prog rock, but it has to lead somewhere, has to have a sense of melody, and a sense of completeness, with different sections complimenting one another. 'Atom Heart Mother', sadly, doesn't do this, although I know a lot of fans love this album. Second track, 'If' is almost a prelude to material on 'The Final Cut', with Waters droning on in his most depressive way. It's not a bad track, however. 'Summer '68' is better again, one of the best two tracks on here, for my money. 'Fat Old Sun' is adequate but, again, not memorable. The last track, 'Alan's Pyschedelic Breakfast' is the best song on offer here, with nice sound effects, and good guitar work. Overall, this is a patchy but, in parts, half-decent album. However, although I prefer it to 'Ummagumma', it lacks one thing that album has - an excellent cover! 'Ummagumma's cover is probably my favourite Floyd cover, effective and memorable. Still, it's the music that matters, isn't it?