Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother

 

"Atom Heart Mother" is one of those albums that I really liked when I first heard it in the mid 1970s, but I went off it over time. It would be interesting to see how it sounded after a gap of around 45 years.........

The title apparently came from a tabloid headline reporting on a women being given a pacemaker, and the band thought it would make a good song title. The album's front cover was strikingly different from others at the time, being just a solitary cow in a field, with no mention of the band or the title. More cows graced the back cover and the inside sleeve.

There are five tracks on the album, The instrumental title track spans Side One, weighing in at nearly 24 minutes and in 6 parts. Arranged by Ron Geesin, it is dominated by strings and brass, and the John Alldis Choir. Floyd are reduced to virtually being the backing band !

Side Two has a song each from Roger Waters, Rick Wright and David Gilmour, before closing with a 13 minute three-part instrumental.

"Atom Heart Mother" starts with "Father's Shout", beginning with trumpets and trombones before the drums come in for the main theme. There are also the sounds of horses, gunfire, bombs and motorbikes.

"Breast Milky", the second part, begins with a bass line and keyboards before aching cello, then come some drums before a dreamy slide guitar line, which always reminded of me as belonging in a Western. The section ends with a rising guitar line leading to the choir joining in.

Part three, "Mother Fore", commences with slow organ accompanied by one high pitched voice. Gradually more voices join, and male voices enter before the crescendo, which includes some drumming. It is essentially a choral version of part 2.

Part 4 features some funky organ and drums then some spaced out guitar which has shades of parts of the still to come "Shine On Your Crazy Diamond". Tribal/Japanese type signing comes in towards the end, building towards a soaring finish, with the brass coming back in with the theme from Part One. This section is perhaps appropriately named "Funky Dung".

"Mind Your Throats Please" is part 5, with pulsating keyboards then what sounds almost like an underground train, then an emergency ambulance or fire engine, then the train again. It's all intended to imitate the action of swallowing.

The track closes with "Remergence", with a gentle return of part one leading into a reprise of the cello/violins melodies and guitar refrain from Part Two, before finishing with a reprise of the Part Three choir lines. The finish is a big fluorish, the type that is used in films when intrepid space explorers land on a new planet or discover a lost world.

Roger Waters' folk song "If" opens Side Two. It has a gentle classical guitar and vocal, which lyrically at times hints at what was to come with "Brain Damage on "Dark Side of The Moon" ie "If I go insane, please don't put your wires in my brain". It moves on to a  soothing guitar solo accompanied by the organ, before piano is played under the next verse. A lyrical piano break is introduced before the final verse. 

Rick Wright's "Summer Of '68" follows and is a song about a one-night stand with a groupie. It begins with some pretty piano, before an almost Beatles Sgt Pepper like chorus "How do you feel ? Ba ba ba". A trumpet solo increases the pace for the second verse, after which the full brass section join in. The pace dramatically changes with strummed guitar and then piano for the coda, before the brass return for the finale.

David Gilmour's "Fat Old Sun" is a pastoral song conjuring up a country idyll image. Starting with church bells in the distance. it has a slow, strummed acoustic guitar and vocal. Pedal steel guitars and a mandolin feature later on in the song, and there is trademark Gilmour electric guitar solo to finish "And if you see, don't make a sound, pick your feet up off the ground. And if you hear as the warm night falls, the silver sound from a time so strange. Sing to me, sing to me".

"Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" an instrumental in three parts, with voices from roadie Alan. Part One, "Rise And Shine" sounds nothing like the song of the same name by The Cardigans, and has a dripping tap to start, a door closing, sounds of opening and closing cupboards and draws as Alan talks about breakfast items he likes, "marmalade, I like marmalade". There's sounds of trying to light a match to start cooking before we finally get some music, a jaunty piano, sympathetic guitar, and happy fairground style Hammond organ.

The voice returns at the start of the second part, "Sunny Side Up", before more kitchen sounds, putting some cereals into a bowl, then pouring milk on them. Acoustic guitar plays over the sound of the cereals being eaten and Alan almost choking on them, leading into a yearning electric guitar and organ under the acoustic guitar.

Part Three, "Morning Glory", has the sounds of a fry-up cooking and the roadie's voice again. It's mainly mid-paced piano and organ, with some drums, before the guitar comes in to bring the track to an uplifting, almost grand conclusion, with the organ creating the image of the sun coming out. The track closes with sounds of washing up before ending with the dripping tap.

Listening again to "Atom Heart Mother" I was pleasantly surprised by how good it sounded now. I enjoyed all of Side Two, and most of the title track, although the "Mind Your Throats Please" section was a low point, and "Funky Dung" was fairly average, but the other parts were nice to hear again.

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. Atom Heart Mother

Side Two :

1. If
2. Summer '68
3. Fat Old Sun
4. Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast

Released : 1970
UK Chart Position : 1