Product Description

Party-liners may favour DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, but diehard space cadets recognise UMMAGUMMA as the pinnacle of post-Barrett Floyd's achievement. Originally released as a double LP, the first record is a live recording from 1969, while the second features four extended cuts written by (and featuring) each of the four bandmembers in turn. Eschewing the catchy, Kinks-influenced pop kaleidoscope of the band's first album, the live portion focuses on extended, spacy near-instrumentals, heavy on acid-fueled jamming and atmospheric electronic textures.
From the Eastern-tinged "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" to the over-the-top psychosis of "Careful With That Axe, Eugene", UMMAGUMMA's first half is ground zero for the genre that would come to be known as space rock. The solo efforts on the second half are undoubtedly theband's most experimental, unconventional efforts ever. Theymake good use of the avant-garde techniques that were a keyearly influence, like musique concrete-style tape collage and sound effects. Along the way, there's some lovely folk-tinged balladry, courtesy of Roger Waters ("Grantchester Meadows"), and some proto-prog keyboard wizardry (Richard Wright's multi-part "Sysyphus" (sic).

Track Listing

1. Astronomy Domine
2. Careful With That Axe Eugene
3. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun
4. Saucerful Of Secrets
5. Sysyphus
6. Grantchester Meadows
7. Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together...
8. Narrow Way
9. Grand Vizier's Garden Party

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1398 in Music
• Released on: 1994-10-31
• Number of discs: 2

Customer Reviews

It was the first album I bought
The first lp/disc contains, for me at least, the finest Pink Floyd to be found anywhere in their oeuvre. The second has its moments but I find it on the whole rather po faced. Music, like apples, cannot be tasted for you. So don't take my word for it, try it.

This album is misunderstood!
In my opinion I feel many people reviewing this album have missed the point of the album. For a start you cannot take out certain songs and review them (predominantly talking about the second disk), pink floyd deal in whole albums not songs. The album is designed to help you think, as long as you listen to it in the right circumstances, i.e. a place with no disturances. I think it is one of the most creative and thoughtful in Pink Floyd's discography due to the subtlty in musical devices and the abstractnessof the music.

disappointing
I am a huge Pink Floyd fan. I think that they have created some of the most wonderfully atmospheric music of the last few decades and there is no doubt that many of their tracks deserve classic status. This album, however, is far from their best.
The live disc is good and probably saves the album from receiving a 1 star rating from me. I agree with others who say that the live versions of Astronomy Domine, Careful With That Axe, Eugene, etc are probably better than the original studio versions and it is interesting to hear the band live so early in their career when the other live albums are all so much later and, naturally, concentrate on music from the more recent albums.
The studio disc is, however, hugely disappointing, in my view. Rick Wright's track, Sysyphus, appears disjointed and (...and I never thought I'd hear myself say this about a Pink Floyd track...) unimaginative. Grantchester Meadows, the first of two compositions by Roger Waters, is a lovely, relaxing piece (even if the poor bee does cop it at the end!), but his second offering, the now infamous Several Species of Small Furry Animals etc. is the most impenetrable nonsense I think I have ever heard and is, in my view, a complete waste of space on the album.
David Gilmour's piece, The Narrow Way is reasonable in parts although not a patch on most of his other work which is usually of a very high standard. Unfortunately, however, the album ends in a poor fashion as Nick Mason's contribution, The Grand Vizier's Garden Party is a dreadful, disordered mish mash of seemingly random percussive sounds bookended by a fanfare that would not be out of place in a Tudor period piece.
Thankfully, the band soon got their act together and the next album, Atom Heart Mother, showed flashes of the brilliance to come from the Meddle album onwards.