Throughout its thirteen-minute length, the track is driven along by a melange of trickling pianos, loungey steel guitar balladeering and - perhaps most bewilderingly - the sounds of of a man preparing his breakfast and muttering incoherently to himself - all while stuffing his face. Apparently not so s**t eh, Dave?Ītom Heart Mother ends with a "song" entitled "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast", which is not so much a song as it is an ambient psychedelic sketch. Notable however is the fact that this song was resurrected for both of Gilmour's 2001/02 unplugged tour and his On An Island shows, which probably suggests something about the man's opinion track. Ultimately it ends up being a bit too similar to "If", and on an album with only five songs, that becomes quickly noticeable. Behind the vocals are mostly acoustic strummings and a rather simple bass-line - although Gilmour's phenomenal sustain and blues-influenced phrasing do make a brief appearance towards the end.
Gilmour's contribution of "Fat Old Sun" is a folksy number that is - bluntly - a bit on the unmemorable side. Richard Wright's solo vocal performances on Floyd albums have never been particularly memorable - mostly due to his being overshadowed by the singing talents of his bandmates Waters and Gilmour - however on "Summer '68" the bitter and blithe lyrics that are in place end up suiting his indifferent singing style, resulting in a piece that is very compelling overall. With a groovy chorus that appears when it is least expected, and bombastic trumpet solo breaks at the middle and end of the song, it's hard not to feel some affinity towards this song. Up next is the late Richard Wright's "Summer '68", which is perhaps the catchiest and most-accessible track on the album. Although not as well-written as some of his later (and even earlier) pieces, "If" still features very introspective lyrics that end up making it a memorable outing: "If I were a rule I would bend/If I were a good man/I'd understand the spaces between friends". The first of these so-called "solo" pieces is Roger Waters' "If", a pastoral ballad which turns out to be strangely reminiscent of the sound presented on "Grantchester Meadows" (another Waters-penned track, off the Ummagumma album).
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Much like the band's double album Ummagumma - which was released a year earlier - Atom Heart Mother is structured such that one half of the record features tracks that contain the full band, with the other half focusing on individual members. Although it does sprawl around somewhat, the "Atom Heart Mother Suite" manages to stay interesting and relevant throughout - an impressive feat for a nearly 24-minute-long track, it has to be said. Father's Shout, for example, is a progressive piece that impresses with its dramatic use of a brass section and a cleverly utilized Hammond organ by contrast, the psychedelic groove of the Funky Dung section is propelled forward by none other than the use of an (oddly spooky) choir and David Gilmour's trademark sustain notes alongside a mellotron. The Suite comes in six parts - all of which have the benefit of diverse and strangely intriguing titles: namely Father's Shout, Breast Milky, Mother Fore, Funky Dung, Mind Your Throats Please, and Reemergence - with each section having a distinct mood and feel to it. The opening "Atom Heart Mother Suite" turns out to be an incredibly focused and well-written piece of lounge music - despite the band's claims to the contrary. Indeed, across the years there has been more than a sack-full of derogatory comments from several former Floyd members on the state of their fifth-ever studio effort the most colourful of them are "Atom Heart Mother is a good case, I think, for being thrown into the dustbin and never listened to by anyone ever again!" (Roger Waters, circa 1985) and "God, it's s**t, possibly our lowest point artistically" (David Gilmour, in Mojo Magazine, circa 2001).īut in all honesty, Atom Heart Mother is seriously not that bad - not by any stretch of the imagination in fact, it's probably better than your average band's shot at a fifth album. However, in the case of Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother, the band in question is probably just being a little too hard on themselves. When a band goes on record to say that an album of theirs sucks, it's usually a warning worth taking heed of - and certainly as close as one can get to a absolutely honest, sentiment-free critical appraisal. Review Summary: Pink Floyd's hidden gem - The Dark Side of the Moo.
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