Alan Parsons / engineer Releases informationĬD EMI United Kingdom - CDEMD 1072 (1994, Europe) Remastered by Doug Sax with James GuthrieĬD EMI - 50999 028940 2 7 (2011, Europe) Remastered by James Guthrie with Joel PlanteĪHM is a very controversial album, decried by many as boring and pretentious (this usually the Barrett unconditionals pissing on Floyd's successful convalescence of their Syd-loss), almost disowned even by some Floyd members and hailed as the first giant step to the group's ascension to perfection ? it was after their first chart topping album. Haflidi Hallgrimsson / cello (uncredited) Philip Jones Brass Ensemble / brass (1,3) Roger Waters / bass & vocals & acoustic guitar (2), tape, Fx Richard Wright / keyboards (Hammond M102), vocals (3) David Gilmour / guitars, bass, drums & vocals (4) It wasn’t specifically meant for orchestra, but the orchestra arrangements certainly added to the power and emotion where it was.5. In fact, they did do orchestral work in the later years. Later day Floyd would have been awesome with an orchestra. Floyd was very experimental and was pushing the boundaries of rock and roll. Horns compliment woodwinds, strings accompany percussion to form a cohesive heartbeat. Orchestras are supposed to be a conglomeration of different instruments that are not just playing one singular piece of music, but also playing to complement each other. Orchestras really require and depend on concrete principals. Their style of music at that time really did not blend well with an orchestra. I don’t think it helped the band either to be working with orchestral players. Echoes retains that wall of sound aesthetic but contains multitudes of substance which AHM lacks. Echoes would not have been made without the experimentation with AHM’s title track. Without this album - and the title track - I think Meddle would have turned out completely different. However, I do think AHM is incredibly important for them. There really is no concrete basis for it so I think it falls short when you put it up against the bands other work around this time. Not their best work but certainly has its moments. To paraphrase one of the title track’s principle movements, it might be dung, but it sure is funky.Īs a studio piece, AHM is good. It was the end of Floyd’s years as a fearlessly experimental band and the beginning of their career as superstars. It is not a piece of music that you can comfortably relax into.īut should we expect it to be? If “Atom Heart Mother” was Pink Floyd’s first masterpiece, Nick Mason points out it was “the beginning of an end” as well. ![]() Elements of the title piece feel grating today, particularly when the horns kick in with their bludgeoning fanfares. ![]() “To be honest with you, a load of rubbish.”īoth “Atom Heart Mother” and the album it titled feel less than complete compared to what the band would go on to achieve, beginning with their next full LP titled “Meddle.” “Atom Heart Mother” lacks the warmth and imagination that would so soon become an integral part of Pink Floyd’s musical approach. “I think we were scraping the barrel a bit,” David Gilmour mourned. Waters went so far as to suggest the whole thing be “thrown into the dustbin and never listened to by anyone ever again.” Impressive though it is, the musicians believed that was all it was: an impressive wall of sound but lacking in substance or any real sense of creativity. Can we do it for real now?”įloyd members were also less than happy with the way the final piece came out. When Geesin listened to the playback of the final mix he announced, “OK, that’s a good demo. What could have been a clash of ideals instead developed into a musical creation that veers from hot jazz to soporific richness without a second thought a piece that Frendz magazine promptly labeled “huge, timeless, sweeping, universal … ” Geesin provided the extracurricular musicianship that would give the piece its flavor and then about halfway through announced that he was completely exhausted and should be replaced.Ĭlassically trained orchestrator John Alldis took over, completing the piece of music and introducing his own visions and notions. Geesin rewrote and rearranged entire sequences of the pudding and created harmonies and melodies their initial vision lacked. “Atom Heart Mother” is utterly unlike anything else Floyd recorded (or would, for that matter).
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