Listen to such magic as Summer of 68, which uses some nice horn work. The title track is a sprawling opus mixing classical, rock and funk with great effect. My all-time favorite is Fat Old Sun, which just might be the best PF song ever. The guitar track in this song is quite simply mindblowing. Even better then Comfortably Numb, in my opinion. The album is rounded out by the acoustic beauty of If and the fun Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast, which has great percussion work by Nick Mason.

Any serious Floyd aficianado already has this album, but budding fans need to pick it up. Besides, you newbies have to give yourself a break from The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon, anyway!


Excellent! A must for any PF fan!   April 26, 2000
Justin (USA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

Among my first Pink Floyd albums were Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall, and Animals. Once I listened to this album, I was astonished that I had never heard of it before.

I would almost rate this album to be better than The Wall (by far their best album, and in my opinion, the most incredible created of all time) but it would have to be much longer (if it was a double-cd album, I'd have a much harder decision!).

Still, this is plenty long. With only 5 songs, it weighs out at over 52 minutes! The first song alone is 23 minutes long! You will, as I have, fall in love with these songs - "Fat Old Sun" and "Summer of '68" are some of my favorite songs of all time.

If you've heard other Pink Floyd, such as Ummagumma or Meddle, you may have heard a very abstract form of Pink Floyd (synthesizers and songs that almost drain on, sounding more like sounds than written music). This album takes a step away from that with some of the most musical PF on any cd.

I own every single Pink Floyd album ever created, and this is probably my 2nd favorite. I strongly urge you to buy a copy, it is necessary for any classic rock fan!


Atom Heart Mother is not "Drugged-out hippie music"   May 28, 2000
17 out of 21 found this review helpful

Sorry if I misquoted the reviewer below, but how can anyone put down early Pink Floyd like that? The Wall and all of the following albums simply lacked the creativity of the older years. Even Dark Side of the Moon is getting less interesting (The only time I still listen to it is with Wizard of Oz). To insult early Floyd as the reviewer below did is completely ridiculous. Atom Heart Mother is a wonderful example of the CREATIVE AND AMAZING WORKS OF EARLY POST-DRUG(Syd Barrett) PINK FLOYD. The title track is an epic triumphant piece, fusing classical music and vintage Floyd to create an unforgettable song. The slide guitar in "If" is memorable, as well as the lyrics. "Summer '68" is all around excellent, especially the brass section, "Fat Old Sun" is a wonderful lazy song with an excellent guitar solo, and "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast", although many consider it to be a novelty track, includes some very fine melodies, some extremely similar to their later works (Meddle, etc.). So it is on that note that I spit in the face of the reviewer below. Sell your copy of The Wall, buy Atom Heart Mother, and listen to it with pride.


An Obscure, Yet Classic Floyd Album   March 20, 2007
Luke J. Gublo (Bay City, Michigan)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

Contrary to popular belief amongst all of those classic rock fans who've been educated by their local classic rock station, Pink Floyd existed before the release of their 1973 album "Dark Side of the Moon." A band that had made a huge transition from the psychedelic tendencies of the brilliant, yet drug addicted Syd Barrett, much of the early years of Pink Floyd were spent bumbling around in the dark, trying to find the sound that would put them on the right track.

I, for one, respect the hell out of these years for the Floyd. They were rewarded for their persistence and experimental nature which helped create their sound. Atom Heart Mother is one particular case of this happening.

This album is highly degraded by the band themselves nowadays... David Gilmour has stated on a couple of occasions his disgust for this record, and other members of the band have as well. Drummer Nick Mason's criticism of the album is much more restrained than the others, as he has noted that many of the elements, such as the long instrumentations and styles later found in DSoTM and Wish You Were Here, were first started with this album.

The name of the album came from a headline in a British newspaper which told of a news story about a pregnant woman who had recieved an atomic pacemaker. The cover of the album, a cow in the English countryside, was a specific request from the band to designer Storm Thorgerson to provide them something that would deflect from the overall theme of the album, which would allow them to be more creative with their music. Thorgerson went for a drive, and shot the first mundane thing he saw, a cow standing in a pasture.

Here is the list of tracks:

1. Atom Heart Mother Suite (23:44) (Waters, Gilmour, Wright, Mason, Geesin)
2. If (4:31) (Waters)
3. Summer '68 (5:29) (Wright)
4. Fat Old Sun (5:24) (Gilmour)
5. Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast (13:00) (Waters, Gilmour, Wright, Mason)

The opening track, on the vinyl version of this album, took up all of the first side. A very experimental and long track, composer Ron Geesin, an aquaintence of Roger Waters, was brought in with a full orchestra backdrop to add to the song. The track is somewhat dragging, definately sprawling, and a little pretentious, but it's not hard to recognize the talent in the piece. Gilmour's guitar was solid throughout the composition, and while not really leading to any place in particular, the Suite definately keeps you engaged throughout, and is an impressive, if not somewhat confusing track.

The middle tracks are individual songwriting contributions from the band. Waters' "If" is a folky, somewhat mocking ballad. Wright's "Summer '68" seems to me to be a mix of The Kinks and The Beatles, taking elements of both and rolling it into one. Of the solo compositions in the album, I enjoyed this one the most, as well as the fact that it's probably the strongest of the three in it's presentation. Gilmour's "Fat Old Sun" is a nostalgic song of the days of youth. He'd hit this theme later on as well, at the end of the Floyd's run with the song "High Hopes" from The Division Bell. The songwriting of Fat Old Sun is very personal, but weak in comparison with later Floyd compositions. The end guitar solo is quite good, existing also a sign of things to come.

The final track "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" continues where Atom Heart Mother Suite leaves off, throwing caution to conventional music. The song, complete with background noises of Pink Floyd roadie Alan Stiles preparing and eating his breakfast, is broken into three musical parts. The music itself is quite good, but a tad underwhelming. The last part of the song, titled "Morning Glory" is the strongest part of the song, and brings the album to a strong close.

Overall, one cannot fully understand a musical act until they expose themselves to the humble beginnings. Pink Floyd rose meteorically to their stardom... they once found themselves trying new things, and creating a formula for success. It's important, especially in the Floyd's case, not to ignore the importance of the first few albums.

Atom Heart Mother maybe chided as the worst Pink Floyd album by a few. But it's not. It's not their best either. It's one of my favorite, and one of their most important albums, as it really got the ball rolling in their evolution from psychedelic to progressive themes of rock.