#14 Pink Floyd – Atom Heart Mother
When namedropping Pink Floyd’s discography, others have called out for some of Pink Floyds more popular albums (The Wall, Dark Side of the Moon, .etc), however, this one always seems to be closest to my heart and yet I would imagine it is one of the more difficult to embrace. First there is the enigmatic, cow pictured on the cover looking back at the listener, almost suggesting why you are listening to this album to begin with, or at least listening while drinking a New Glaurus Spotted Cow.
The title track to this concept album, even by Pink Floyd’s standards has always reminded me of the cool autumn chilly days. The first “Side” of the album was devoted to the title track broken 6 segments including a full brass section that feels part blues, part chant part medieval rock. Spanning over 23 minutes, the track is an early precurser to the progressive direction that the band would attempt on future albums. An interesting tidbit of course is that Stanley Kubrick wanted to use the track in the movie “A Clockwork Orange” only for the band to decline due to the fact there was not certainty of what parts Kubrick would use.
The second “Side” of this album was more a catch all as Waters, Wright and Gilmour each composed one song and complete the album with ‘Alan’s Psychaedelic Breakfast’. It is a bit of a hodgepodge but the songs are still worthy enough to make this release one of my favorites.
Whenever I listen to this album there are distinct moments that I hear parts of Radiohead circa ‘Kid A’ are apparent but what always impressed me at this point was the fact that they were taking challenges at this point in their career. While the band has been generally dismissive of the record, it is one of those records that they would not have gotten to the point in their career without it and for me it just seemed to resonate. Not to be critical of the rest of their library of material but I liked the orchestral arrangements and horns that were featured. This album just felt much more organic and at the end of the day, it been the album that has stuck with me the most.