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Post by kds on Dec 8, 2019 2:54:24 GMT
That is a good shot, and I like the front cover as well. It's worth mentioning that Ummagumma was the last Floyd album cover that featured any band members.
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Post by kds on Dec 11, 2019 16:17:22 GMT
1970
I've been neglecting the thread that I pledged to write about my favorite band's catalog. How will that affect my legacy. Floyd were pretty busy in 1970 as well, so here's a post to talk about their output for the year.
"Biding My Time"
This song debuted live in 1969, and was recorded then as well, but wasn't released until the 1971 Relics comp, so I'm meeting in the middle and listing it here. It's a bit of a bluesy song, with a ragtime feel at times, especially Wright's trombone solo. Sung by Waters, and capped by a gritty Gilmour guitar solo.
"Embryo"
A more atmospheric song that sounds like it could've come off Saucerful. A slow haunting song about....an embryo...the lyrics are quite literal. Recorded in 1969, it was included on a 1970 Harvest compilation. Floyd played it live in 1970-71 with a very different, more guitar oriented arrangement.
ZABRISKIE POINT
Floyd doing soundtrack work again. They actually recorded an album's worth of material (one of which a piano based instrumental called The Violent Sequence that would be repurposed for Us and Them), but three songs saw release on the album. Heartbeat Pig Meat is a piece built around a pounding heartbeat rhythm, with some noodling from the rest of the band, and includes various audio from news reports (from the film). Mildly interesting, as the heartbeat concept would be reused on Dark Side of the Moon. Come In Number 51, Your Time is Up is a re-recording of Careful With That Axe Eugene. Crumbling Land is a country esque song which probably could've been better done by one of the other artist on the soundtrack (The Grateful Dead maybe).
ATOM HEART MOTHER
Floyd's first proper album of the decade and probably their best to date despite on gigantic flaw.
The album is bookended by two epic tracks. The opening, side long, 23 1/2 minute title track featuring an orchestral arrangement from Ron Geesin is a bit of a polarizer among Floyd fans. Even some of the bandmembers have since washed their hands of it. Personally, I think it's a great instrumental track, and includes several musical elements that would become Floyd trademarks - most notably Gilmour's guitar. Gilmour has several solos throughout where we start to really hear the sound that would define classic Floyd. Definitely not a piece I'd use for to introduce a casual fan to the group, but I think it's one of the best pieces of early Floyd.
The closing Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast on the other hand, is a terrible waste of 13 minutes. Musically uninteresting, and it features the sounds of a Floyd roadie actually cooking breakfast. The run time might make it a worse offender than Several Species.
The middle of the album is filled with three shorter songs, one from each bandmember (which full band arrangements this time unlike Ummagumma). Waters' If is probably the first indication of some of the autobiographical lyrics that we'd see on The Wall, but with a gentle acoustic arrangement with some slide guitar and piano.
Wright's Summer '68 is a tale about a meet up with a groupie. It features a nice balance of light and shade from the verse sung by Wright to the chorus sung by Gilmour.
Gilmour's Fat Old Sun is probably the album's most enduring track. A gentle pastoral ballad about summers in Cambridge.
With two instrumentals taking up 36 minutes of vinyl, this is not the most accessible Floyd album, but it was the first to hit #1 in the UK.
I guess I'll mention the cover art. The picture of the cow has become somewhat iconic, and arguably more well known that the music, but I think it's overrated and a tad pretentious.
Overall, a very good listen until, so long as the STOP button is pressed before Breakfast time.
"Give Birth to a Smile"
Not a tribute to a mythical Beach Boys album. This is the closing track on an album by Roger Waters and Ron Geesin, a soundtrack to a documentary called The Body. But, it features Gilmour, Mason, and Wright, so it's essentially a Floyd song. It's a short track that's a bit repetitive, but the female backup singer's repetition of the song's title is the first example of another trademark that Floyd would later use.
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Post by jk on Dec 11, 2019 18:44:37 GMT
kds, I'm afraid Atom Heart Mother era Floyd is completely lost on me! Meddle is a vast improvement. But that's for later.
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Post by kds on Dec 11, 2019 18:46:38 GMT
kds, I'm afraid Atom Heart Mother era Floyd is completely lost on me! Meddle is a vast improvement. But that's for later. Meddle may have to wait until next week with Christmas approaching faster than I'd like it to.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Dec 11, 2019 20:33:05 GMT
Love "Embryo". I really think Waters was channeling Syd in some of that early stuff.
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Post by kds on Dec 11, 2019 20:56:07 GMT
Love "Embryo". I really think Waters was channeling Syd in some of that early stuff. I'm not sure I hear a Syd influence on Embyro, but there is a pretty direct Syd reference on If "If I go insane, will you still let me join in with the game?" I believe this is the first lyrical reference to the Floyd's former leader, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Dec 12, 2019 14:12:34 GMT
I have to admit when I first saw the 23+ minute length of the title track, I was a little concerned about what I was in for, given Pink Floyd’s tendency toward abstraction… but I actually mostly liked it. It did lose me a bit around the 15:30 mark but it got me back. There’s quite a bit there to enjoy. I could listen to that again.
The other songs…
If, Summer ’68, Fat Old Sun - I loved all of these. “If” is so beautiful and sad, and Fat Old Sun is also lovely… but Summer ’68 actually hit all the marks for me. What a great song. I love the changes between the gentle verses and the more raucous chorus.
Finally, Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast. I have to respectfully disagree with kds that this is the worst song in Pink Floyd’s catalogue. It maybe premature to say that because obviously I haven’t heard the whole catalogue yet, but I’ve definitely heard worse than this, and that raspberry goes to “Small Furry Animals”.
Alan’s PB has music in it, at least. Now, am I disappointed that they ruined three beautiful musical interludes with breakfast sounds? Yes. Especially the food smacking in the second section. But the music that is there is gorgeous. It’s good enough for me to… forgive is the wrong word, but… accept the breakfast noises. They ruined it, but they didn’t ruin it enough for me to never listen to it again.
So, Atom Heart Mother the album… overall I found to be mostly pleasing, and I could absolutely give it another go.
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Post by kds on Dec 12, 2019 15:16:28 GMT
Hearing that lip smacking on APB is one of the low points of any music I've ever heard.
The thing I like about Atom Heart Mother is that, like A Saucerful of Secrets, it's a fully realized piece, not just pointless noodling. But, that's sort of a hallmark of progressive rock. It's not length for length's sake.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Dec 12, 2019 15:44:56 GMT
You know what annoyed me more? The critter sounds near the end of the song Embryo. Wow, way to wreck a gorgeous song. Apparently I hate critter sounds more than food smacking sounds. Today I learned.
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Post by kds on Dec 12, 2019 15:59:41 GMT
You know what annoyed me more? The critter sounds near the end of the song Embryo. Wow, way to wreck a gorgeous song. Apparently I hate critter sounds more than food smacking sounds. Today I learned. I think that was Nick Mason recorded at high speed. There's a BBC recording that exists that's pretty similar to the studio version without those noises.
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Post by kds on Dec 17, 2019 15:57:12 GMT
MEDDLE (1971)
General consensus among Floyd fans is that Meddle is the first album that features the "classic" Floyd sound. Even though I think there were echoes (see what I did there?) on the Atom Heart Mother album, I'd mostly agree that Meddle was the first of four albums with the "classic" Floyd sound.
The album opens with One of These Days, a pulsating bass driven instrumental which builds tension for about three minutes before turning in a fast paced rocker, featuring a brilliant slide guitar from Gilmour.
A Pillow of Winds is an acoustic ballad that would've fit nicely on the More album (and probably would've been a standout track on that album). It's a nice song that tends to be overlooked thanks to the next song, another acoustic number, Fearless. A fan favorite, notable for the coda which features a soccer stadium sing along to You'll Never Walk Alone. Both songs feature an excellent lead vocal from Gilmour.
The next two songs somewhat have a novelty feel, and probably the final time there was a hint of humor on a Floyd record. San Tropez is a Waters penned and sung song that would not have been out of place on a 1970s Jimmy Buffett album (I'm not joking), complete with Hawaiian style guitar from Gilmour. Seamus takes it title from the dog that howls (again, I'm not joking) during this blues piss take, which is thankfully brief.
Side Two is taken up by another 23 minute plus Floyd epic, Echoes. Unlike Atom Heart Mother, this one is pure Floyd, no choirs, cello, or brass. But, like ATM, there's not a wasted note in this epic piece. This one also features harmonized vocals with Gilmour and Wright (this vocal blend was a secret weapon that Floyd did not use enough). The slow build starting with a single piano note is breathtaking. Also, the slow build coming out of the "seagull" middle section that leads into the third verse is one of the highlights of Floyd's canon. Echoes features all four members in top form musically too. Gilmour's solo after the second verse is the sort of solo that would make him a revered guitar hero throughout the 1970s.
So, after three years and four albums after losing Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd finally really found their footing with the Meddle album.
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Post by jk on Dec 17, 2019 21:31:17 GMT
I really like this album. The highs easily outweigh the lows. And "Echoes" is one of my all-time favourite Floyd tracks. (I remember watching a film about surfing that featured the entire track. It worked surprisingly well.)
"Echoes" includes what for me is one of the most stunning moments in all pop (OK... rock, it you must). It's the wildly chiming guitar figure out of nowhere over that glissando bass line, here at 18:13. Sheer genius! It gives me chills every time. For reasons best known to my psychiatrist, it will be forever associated in my mind with a similar passage in Led Zep's "Stairway To Heaven" (just before the solo at the end) and the revolving diamonds during the "Star Gate" episode in Kubrick's 2001:
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Post by kds on Dec 18, 2019 17:30:19 GMT
I really like this album. The highs easily outweigh the lows. And "Echoes" is one of my all-time favourite Floyd tracks. (I remember watching a film about surfing that featured the entire track. It worked surprisingly well.) "Echoes" includes what for me is one of the most stunning moments in all pop (OK... rock, it you must). It's the wildly chiming guitar figure out of nowhere over that glissando bass line, here at 18:13. Sheer genius! It gives me chills every time. For reasons best known to my psychiatrist, it will be forever associated in my mind with a similar passage in Led Zep's "Stairway To Heaven" (just before the solo at the end) and the revolving diamonds during the "Star Gate" episode in Kubrick's 2001: Yeah, that's a great moment, that whole build up that leads to the third verse is one of my favorite moments in the Floyd catalog.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Dec 18, 2019 20:49:20 GMT
I don't own the album, but I really like "One Of These Days", though I never got the meaning of the song title. What happened to song titles like "Interstellar Overdrive" and "Astronomy Domine"?
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Post by kds on Dec 18, 2019 20:56:24 GMT
I don't own the album, but I really like "One Of These Days", though I never got the meaning of the song title. What happened to song titles like "Interstellar Overdrive" and "Astronomy Domine"? Apparently, the "One of these days I'm going to cut your into little pieces" was aimed at a BBC DJ for whom Floyd didn't care.
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