Atom Heart Mother review

The fifth album by Pink Floyd, which contains only 5 songs; one of these is a massive 23 minute collection of instrumentals called the Atom Heart Mother Suite which begins the album.

Tracks:

1. Atom Heart Mother Suite: 8/10 overlong and more disjointed than some of Floyd's other instrumental pieces, yet still an endlessly innovative, insane and often terrifying musical juggernaut. A flawed masterpiece.

2. If: 9/10 abstract yet utterly affecting, this is a songwriting showcase for Roger Waters that benefits from a refreshingly simple and quiet instrumental.

3. Summer '68: 6/10 bland lyrics are propped up by an effective instrumental.

4. Fat Old Sun: 8/10 an effective and enjoyable tune, though far from one of Pink Floyd's best songs.

5. Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast: 4/10 what on earth were they thinking?! A boring instrumental. A guy eats breakfast. A boring instrumental. A guy carries on eating breakfast. A boring instrumental. A guy drives away in a car. It picks up at the end but still, what a stupid song.

Best song: If
Worst song: Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast

Summary: I'm not too fussed about this album. It has only 5 tracks, none of which are classics, and it lacks charisma much of the time, but it's Pink Floyd so it's certainly not bad. The opening 2 tracks are very good and even though it tails off after that Atom Heart Mother still provides an interesting and hypnotic musical experience that really could have come from outer space.



Final rating: 7/10