Reportedly, Pink Floyd themselves don't think very highly of their 1970 album, "Atom Heart Mother," aka "The Cow Album," with the band members on record having especially dismissed the 24-minute instrumental title suite, as well as the 13-minute instrumental-with-sound effects finale, "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast," as "absolute rubbish." Which leads me to one conclusion: artists are WAY too hard on themselves. The reality is, Pink Floyd have *nothing* to be ashamed of for this fine disc. I've always loved "Atom Heart Mother," and it still remains one of my personal favorite Floyd albums. By this time, Pink Floyd had gotten even more experimental with their music, and, having been influenced at the time by the "symphonic rock" leanings of such contemporaries as The Who, The Kinks and Deep Purple, the Floyd decided to take a crack at it themselves, and came up with their instrumental magnum opus, "Atom Heart Mother," co-written with avant-garde composer Ron Geesin, who had previously worked with bassist Roger Waters on the film soundtrack to "The Body." The main section of this big classical/rock hybrid sounds like music for a western movie (which guitarist David Gilmour says was the original idea), decorated throughout with odd string & brass flourishes, occasional changes in tempo, and haunting choir voices (courtesy of the John Aldiss Choir). There's also an excellent funky little Floyd jam right smack in the middle ("Funky Dung"), and another section for experimental sounds & effects ("Mind Your Throats Please"). Does it all hold together? To MY ears, definitely. I think the music is very captivating, with the band delivering a top-notch performance (including some very strong guitar & keyboard work from Gilmour and Richard Wright, respectively), and Geesin's grand orchestrations and choir parts only enriching this daring work even further. The "Atom Heart Mother" suite may not be for everybody, but I think it's very powerful stuff. And, if nothing else, it's outstanding "practice" for the band's next epic piece, "Echoes," destined for release on the Floyd's next album, "Meddle."The mid-section of the album's sandwich is comprised of three songs: Waters' beautiful "If," truly one of his best--and most personal--songs, Wright's golden contribution, "Summer '68," and Gilmour's acoustic sparkler, "Fat Old Sun." Finally, there's "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast," a three-part instrumental that's interspersed with the sounds of a guy eating breakfast and muttering to himself ("Marmalade, I like marmalade..."). One part piano, one part acoustic guitar, and one part rock piece, combined with sound effects so crisp and clear you can practically *smell* Alan's bacon & eggs on the grill, this track is just as bold as the epic title cut. It's arguably my favorite piece on the album, if only because it's so endearingly weird.As far as I'm concerned, Waters, Gilmour, Wright, and drummer Nick Mason shouldn't have a cow anymore about this album: "Atom Heart Mother" is a great Pink Floyd classic.

I've been a Pink Floyd fan for years and track down all their obscure stuff just like every other fan. This album usually falls through the cracks when Pink Floyd's massive canon of work is reviewed. Too bad, because this album is truly groundbreaking.

Listen to such magic as Summer of 68, which uses some nice horn work. The title track is a sprawling opus mixing classical, rock and funk with great effect. My all-time favorite is Fat Old Sun, which just might be the best PF song ever. The guitar track in this song is quite simply mindblowing. Even better then Comfortably Numb, in my opinion. The album is rounded out by the acoustic beauty of If and the fun Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast, which has great percussion work by Nick Mason.

Any serious Floyd aficianado already has this album, but budding fans need to pick it up. Besides, you newbies have to give yourself a break from The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon, anyway!

Sorry if I misquoted the reviewer below, but how can anyone put down early Pink Floyd like that? The Wall and all of the following albums simply lacked the creativity of the older years. Even Dark Side of the Moon is getting less interesting (The only time I still listen to it is with Wizard of Oz). To insult early Floyd as the reviewer below did is completely ridiculous. Atom Heart Mother is a wonderful example of the CREATIVE AND AMAZING WORKS OF EARLY POST-DRUG(Syd Barrett) PINK FLOYD. The title track is an epic triumphant piece, fusing classical music and vintage Floyd to create an unforgettable song. The slide guitar in "If" is memorable, as well as the lyrics. "Summer '68" is all around excellent, especially the brass section, "Fat Old Sun" is a wonderful lazy song with an excellent guitar solo, and "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast", although many consider it to be a novelty track, includes some very fine melodies, some extremely similar to their later works (Meddle, etc.). So it is on that note that I spit in the face of the reviewer below. Sell your copy of The Wall, buy Atom Heart Mother, and listen to it with pride.

Reading the reviews I start to think that fans only want to
give five stars to all WORKS from the band they love without
thinking with reason. Pay attention, the members
of Pink Floyd hate this album, so how can it be five stars?
Roger Waters and David Gilmour themselves have been saying to
all the people that want understand, that, they think this album is a rubbish. You people must think, if this album were
five stars, how many would be "DARK SIDE OR WISH YOU WERE HERE", ten stars? So don't try to forge a false rating please!
I only give three stars because of the three songs on the B side
that worth to listen to, these songs are really good:
If - Roger Waters.
(Superb piece of music) Summer 68 - Rick Wright.
And the Best one from this album - Fat Old Sun - David Gilmour. The guitar solo of this song is among the best solos ever.
I'm a huge Pink Floyd fan, I've been listening Pink Floyd music for more
than 30 years, and I know which are their
great works:

Five stars indeed.
The Piper at The Gates of Dawn
Meddle - The second best from Floyd.
Obscured by Clouds - Perfect album, I've changed my opinion.
The Dark Side of the Moon
Wish You Were Here
Animals - The best one from Floyd.
The Wall
Is There Anybody Out There
Echoes-The Best of Pink Floyd.

Four stars.
A Saucerful of Secrets
More
A Nice Pair
Relics
The Final Cut
The Division Bell
Pulse


Three stars.
Ummagumma - Three stars overall but a very interesting album indeed, and the live album is five stars with no doubt.
Atom Heart Mother
A Momentary Lapse of Reason
Delicate Sound of Thunder

In my opinion Pink Floyd have never made a "Two stars Album" as
was stated on that rubbish and outrageous DVD called,
"Inside Pink Floyd, A Critical Review".

Released in 1970, this excellent album showed the band developing the symphonic approach to their music that they started exploring on A Saucerful of Secrets (1968) and brought to its fullest expression on Wish you Were Here (1975). However, the experimental tendencies that characterized their music of the 1960's were also present too, albeit in the form of found sounds rather than bizarre effects generated on the electric guitar and other electronic manipulations.

The lineup at this point is the classic incarnation of Pink Floyd and included Roger Waters (bass, vocals); David Gilmour (electric/acoustic guitars, vocals); Rick Wright (Hammond organ, piano, mellotron); and Nick Mason (drums). Joining the band for the first time however, was a choir and a full symphony orchestra (including a ten piece brass ensemble) that was initially directed by Ron Geesin (who would also collaborate with Roger on The Body - 1970). Ron however, cracked under the pressure and the orchestra was eventually directed by John Aldiss. Syd fans may want to take note of the fact that he (Syd Barrett) apparently wandered into the studio during the recording sessions.

The nearly 24 minute multimovement suite Atom Heart Mother is one of my favorite lengthy compositions by Pink Floyd (along with Echoes and Shine on you Crazy Diamond). This is a fantastic work that opens with a plodding gloomy theme that Dave referred to as a "theme from an imaginary western". The addition of an orchestra; loads of brass and the choir add quite a lot to its epic, sweeping grandeur. Although the band members have been quoted as saying that they did not care for this track that much, I think it is just fantastic. The other "half" of this album (I used to own this on vinyl) consists of Roger's pastoral, acoustic track If, with great spacey Hammond work from Rick; Rick's adventurous piano-led Summer 68', which (somewhat) restates themes from Atom Heart Mother, complete with the brass sections; Dave's soft acoustic and spacey piece Fat Old Sun; and finally, the other epic on the album Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast (13'00"). This last composition is a collage of found sounds encountered in the kitchen while making breakfast (dripping water, a match being struck, frying food etc) that are alternated with loosely played sections by the band. Again, this was another piece that the band did not care for every much, indicating that it was more or less "thrown together", but something that I like very much.

The reissued CD is actually very nice and features a re-designed booklet by none other than Storm Thorgerson along with the original lyrics.

This album is significant in that the elements of the classic Pink Floyd sound were finally in place. Very highly recommended along with Meddle (1971). Before I forget, The Amazing Pudding was the original working title for Atom Heart Mother.