Pink Floyd ventured into psychedelic territory after receiving a formative baptism in rhythm and blues on the London circuit that also produced The Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac. The band prospered with the release of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn in 1967. But stormy seas lay ahead due to bandleader Syd Barrett’s increasingly unstable state as a result of heavy drug use and deteriorating mental health.
Barrett was eventually phased out of Pink Floyd in 1968. His final contributions appeared on the underwhelming follow-up album A Saucerful of Secrets. Pink Floyd entered a transitional chapter when Barrett’s childhood friend and guitar whiz David Gilmour joined the band, and bassist Roger Waters took over as creative leader.
This period lasted from 1968 to the early 1970s masterpieces Meddle and The Dark Side of the Moon. It was critical to Pink Floyd’s development but didn’t include their best work. The film soundtrack for More, the studio/live hybrid Ummagumma, and the bizarre bovine Atom Heart Mother all had their moments, but none were consistent or excellent.
Pink Floyd’s most profitable decade began with Atom Heart Mother, an album that preceded masterpieces such as ‘Echoes‘, The Dark Side of the Moon, and Wish You Were Here, but the band saw it as a sign that ideas were running dangerously thin. In my opinion, ‘Fat Old Sun‘ and ‘Summer ’68’ secure the LP’s place on the record shelf, but the side one suite. ‘Atom Heart Mother’, is a long slog that doesn’t reward the patience required.
The 23-minute suite was a collaborative songwriting effort with six chapters of meandering prog-rock exploration. Like many of Pink Floyd’s lengthy recordings from this period, it began as a lengthy Abbey Road studio jam. Waters and Gilmour were aware of its flaws. But with few options and an album to complete, it was acceptable fodder at the time.
Over time, however, the band reached heady heights from which the jam appeared veritably sour. Gilmour thought ‘Atom Heart Mother’ was “a load of rubbish”. Speaking to the BBC in the 1980s, he added, “We were at a low point. None of us had any idea what we were doing or trying to do at the time. We were out there. I think we were scraping the barrel a bit at that period.”
Similarly, Roger Waters saw the album, particularly its Side One epic, as a blemish on Pink Floyd’s otherwise flawless discography. In providing his retrospective thoughts on the LP, he did not hold back. He stated that he would be perfectly happy to see it “thrown into the dustbin” never to be listened to by “anyone ever again.”
Richard Wright, the late keyboardist, was less harsh in his 1995 assessment of Pink Floyd’s late-1960s transitional period. “At the time, I thought we were making the most incredible music in the world. But looking back, it wasn’t so good,” he told Mojo at the time. “Now we have become a lot more professional, and we don’t take risks like we used to.”
Meanwhile, Nick Mason finds the track difficult to listen to, not because of its lengthy duration. But because of his and Waters’ inconsistent rhythm section. The pair bravely recorded the entire rhythm track in one long take. “I listen to it with acute embarrassment,” he admitted, adding, “The tempo rises and falls. It was a 20-minute piece that we just staggered through.
Many fans regard ‘Atom Heart Mother’ as a watershed moment in Pink Floyd’s history, but few listen to it regularly. If you have a half-hour to spare, listen to the track below.
