Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother

Discussions about Pink Floyd and Solo Official Album CDs and DVDs.

Rate This Album

5 - Best
24
21%
4
50
43%
3
31
27%
2
7
6%
1 - Worst
4
3%
 
Total votes: 116

jmoog
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Re: Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother

Post by jmoog »

danielcaux wrote:I think that had the band spread the three parts of Alan's Breakfast all over the album, like a conceptual thread running all over it, AHM would be rated as good an album as Meddle by most people, even better.

It would look something like these:

Atom Heart Mother
If
Rise and Shine
Summer '68
Sunny Side Up
Fat Old Sun
Morning Glory

That way people would actually LISTEN to how good the music of APB is (not great, but good still) and would stop focusing only on the 60 seconds of concrete breakfast SFXs.

All three parts are definitively a lot better than San Tropez or Seamus :smt102
I agree with you 1001%.
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Phantom Turnip
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Re: Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother

Post by Phantom Turnip »

Dude, that's a brilliant idea! Once you get past the sound effects and look at the actual music, APB is a great track.
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twcc
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Re: Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother

Post by twcc »

Game on, I've dug out the AHM CD (and a copy of the Trance Remix), plus I've rounded up 1 medium camel, 1 medium North African goat etc and I'll see what the new running order sounds like when combined with a bottle of Merlot
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jtull
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Re: Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother

Post by jtull »

I never had "Atom Heart Mother" album on the vinyl, so I didn't know this thing about Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast:

"On some copies of the vinyl version, the dripping tap at the end of the song is cut into the run-off groove, so it plays on infinitely until the listener removes the stylus from the album, an effect obviously lost on the CD release, though the dripping continues for approximately 17 seconds after all other sounds have ceased."
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Massed Gadgets
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Re: Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother

Post by Massed Gadgets »

Yep, my old vinyl copy of AHM does that. I always that was cool. 8)
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Re: Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother

Post by jtull »

This is an interesting recollection which describes Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast live performance:

"It was at the Manchester show and I still have hazy memories of the performance. Part (all?) of the stage was set up as a kitchen. There was definitely a huge (maybe 6+ feet high?) box of Kelloggs Cornflakes and I seem to think everything else might have been oversized too - a bottle of ketchup, a radio, a bowl and spoon, maybe the table and chairs too?"

I seems to remember a picture of Roger Waters playing on stage surounded by two huge boxes of Kelloggs Cornflakes and a big bottle of ketchup. I saw it picture years ago (probably in a some book..?) and I remember I was really puzzled thinking what the heck it's all about?? 8)

Does anyone else have seen this picture too?
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Re: Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother

Post by MoreOrLess »

Phantom Turnip wrote: Mon Aug 29, 2016 5:08 pm Dude, that's a brilliant idea! Once you get past the sound effects and look at the actual music, APB is a great track.
I'd agree it is, it plays on Floyds ability to play these kinds of slightly folky, slightly jazzy instrumentals that whilst their not that complex are both very catchy and do have a certain strangeness to them. Honestly though I'm not sure it needs to be any longer than it is, each theme gets enough time for me and the concept doesn't wear out its welcome.

As far as the album as a whole goes honestly my feeling has always been that the title track of ATom Heart Mother is spread a little bit thin across an entire side. For me the form it took as a band only performance was more playing to its strengths, not that the orchestra didn't add something, the choral section especially I think clearly does but the "Mind your throats please" Geesin section doesn't really come off and a third return to the main theme is just too much IMHO. Its a shame really it seems like 90% of what you here talked up the track is the main theme and Geesin when the choral buildup and spacey jam section are up there with the bands very best work for me.

Not sure what else they could have filled up the space with, maybe The Embryo? I'd say that would have matched the tone of the album quite nicely.
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theaussiefloydian
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Re: Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother

Post by theaussiefloydian »

It's been a while since I've listened to this album, but I would still rank it as a pretty decent album. Floyd has been really hard on themselves concerning that LP ever since it released - hearing Gilmour describe it as "complete rubbish" is kind of sad.
Atom Heart Mother - the track has always fascinated me. My brother and I have joked before that the first section "Father's Shout" would make a great theme track to a silly throwback TV show. All in all it's a fascinating piece, and the sections "Mother Fore" and "Funky Dung" are some of my favourite Floyd moments, especially the latter - always love a good Gilmour/Wright jam! 3.5/5
If - Unremarkable really, but it's rather nice to listen to so I like it. 3.5/5
Summer '68 - Rick Wright's contributions have a habit of being on the goofy side, and this one is no exception. Which isn't to say I don't like it. The brass section is a bit much though. 3/5
Fat Old Sun - One of Floyd's lovelier compositions. Goodness, I want to listen to this one again now. 3.5/5
Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast - my feelings on this one are a mixed bag. I would definitely agree with everyone else that splitting it up across Side 2 to create a through line might have been a better move, but as it exists... I can definitely jive with the actual music. Most of it doesn't really go anywhere, but it's nice enough to listen to. But those godawful sound effects, especially in "Sunny Side Up"... could that man eat his breakfast any louder? 3/5
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Re: Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother

Post by Annoying Twit »

This album is the PF album I'm least familiar with. By some margin. I don't know why I haven't listened to it that much, but I haven't.

I'm currently reading through the book 'Pink Floyd All The Songs - The Story Behind Each Track'. It's not a marvellous book, but it's helping guide me through the catalogue. I'm on 'The Man and the Journey' now, and will be hitting AHM next.

I re-read some of the posts in this thread, and see that many people agree with my current view that this is one of the lesser PF albums. I'm not sure if anyone will notice this post :) but I'm wondering how my opinion may change after quite a few repeat plays in a short time.
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twcc
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Re: Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother

Post by twcc »

^^^
I gave AHM a score of '4' however, with hindsight, maybe '3' would have been closer. If you have access to 'The Early Years' Volume 4 Devi/ation then additionally listen to the development and live versions as they provide an interesting comparison with the fully finished and full effects formal release.

AHM has been the subject of a few 'unofficial' documentary DVDs and there was a neat little book about the recording process that was on offer at the V&A exhibition ... the book was then remaindered as it clearly didn't sell.
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Re: Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother

Post by Annoying Twit »

Now that I'm more used to AHM, I can see the quality of it.

I note that even in the extended pieces AHM and APB Nick doesn't seem to be doing much creative. That compares dramatically with what he was doing on the longer instrumental tracks on previous albums. Much of the time he's playing a fairly basic beat, while on previous albums he was being much more creative.

If someone had played AHM for me and I had never heard it, then I might have guessed that it was by the Alan Parsons Project. AP was an engineer on the album, and I suspect this album had an influence on what he did later.

The three 'songs' are good, and it's interesting that the three songwriters did one each. But, I think there were better songs on some of the albums that preceded AHM, and on the albums that followed it.

It seems an odd album to be PF's first No. 1. album (in the UK at least). But, perhaps it was due to the zeitgeist at the time.
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space triangle
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Re: Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother

Post by space triangle »

Come across a quite interesing review of the AHM somewhere on the net and the first sentence reads: Appearing after the sprawling, unfocused double-album set Ummagumma, Atom Heart Mother may boast more focus, even a concept, yet that doesn't mean it's much more more accessible.

Anyone else who thinks Atom Heart Mother is a concept album?
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Re: Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother

Post by Annoying Twit »

space triangle wrote: Sun Aug 16, 2020 3:00 pm Come across a quite interesing review of the AHM somewhere on the net and the first sentence reads: Appearing after the sprawling, unfocused double-album set Ummagumma, Atom Heart Mother may boast more focus, even a concept, yet that doesn't mean it's much more more accessible.

Anyone else who thinks Atom Heart Mother is a concept album?
I've not seen it described as a concept album. Usually it's described as not being a concept album. E.g.

https://medium.com/@thewildabstract/udd ... 68b2043e79

"When asked to comment on the album cover, Thorgerson has said that it was meant to be a “non-cover” for a “non-title” and “non-concept” album."

If I'm to believe that it's a concept album, I'd want to see it said by someone who was more of an insider than Thorgerson. I suspect that the person writing the review that you mention has retrofitted a concept from their own imagination.
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space triangle
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Re: Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother

Post by space triangle »

I recall that I read once 'side two' on the AHM is sort of conceptual work. A main theme is a summer time and sunny weather.

First is Ricks 'Summer '68' with its obvious summer titel.

Then it follows by David's 'Fat Old Sun' with it's summer lyric

When that fat old sun in the sky is falling,
Summer evening birds are calling.
Summer Sunday and a year,

And finally we have 'Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast' with a Sun sections: 'Rise and Shine' and 'Sunny Side Up'.


I don't remember if the side 1 has any connection with this.
Last edited by space triangle on Sun Aug 16, 2020 6:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother

Post by Annoying Twit »

space triangle wrote: Sun Aug 16, 2020 6:24 pm I recall that I read once 'side two' on the AHM is sort of conceptual work. A main theme is a summer time and sunny weather.

First is Ricks 'Summer '68' with its obvious summer titel.

Then it follows by David's 'Fat Old Sun' with it's summer lyric

When that fat old sun in the sky is falling,
Summer evening birds are calling.
Summer Sunday and a year,

And finally we have 'Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast' with a Sun sections: 'Rise and Shine' and 'Sunny Side Up'.


I don't remember if the side 1 has any connection with this.
Yes, but did PF intend this as a concept? Or, is it just that yourself and/or other people are over-enthusiastically pattern matching?

Given that Thorgerson described the album as 'concept-less', I think that is stronger evidence than the impressions of reviewers and fans.