Ummagumma
Capitol - Capitol
Pink Floyd
Release date: 1990-10-25
Audio CD
Album Rock, British Psychedelia, Pop, Pop/Rock Music, Prog-Rock/Art Rock, Psychedelic, Rock, Rock/Pop
1. Astronomy Domine
2. Careful With That Axe, Eugene
3. Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun
4. A Saucerful Of Secrets
average reviews
0 vote
0 vote
React and review
Ummagumma
Date undefinedProbably the biggest avant-garde album in history. That might not be a good thing though. By 1969, Pink Floyd had somewhat of a fanbase going. Their live shows were getting some good word, and due to their music being used in documentaries and films, they were able to make a decent living off of touring and recording. So, they decided to celebrate a bit and make their first double album. First things first, the live side is great. Containing four tracks, mostly from the Syd and the Syd-influenced days, this showcases early Floyd at their best. The live Astronomy Domine blows away the original. Vocal harmonies, wahed guitar, creepy keyboard solos, it's all there. Amazing how the band would work on these songs over the years and make drastic improvements. Careful With That Axe, Eugene is brilliant. There's not one note wasted, and the climax 3 mintes in is spellbinding. Set The Controls and Saucerful are both excellent live too, with Set being drastically changed to a much more spacier and intense performance. I really dig the trippy 'outer-space' keyboard section in the middle. Kewl. However, I have to say...WHAT IS WITH THE STUDIO SIDE?! Did they seriously want to alienate all their fans? This sucks! The band returns to some of the failed experimental atonal noises that they hashed out unsuccessfully on Saucerful and Piper, only this time they are "solo pieces." Whatever, no one should listen to this garbage. Sysphus starts out interesting, almost like an ELP song, before going into harsh noise territory. Several Species is just pure garbage, I guess it would be cool if I was tripping. The Narrow Way is just amazingly dull, though there is a cool Sabbathesque riff in one section that would've been awesome had they worked on it. And the Grand Vizier thing is just a long drum solo with some weird flute noises. Bleh, this sucks! The only song worth noticing is Grantchester Meadows, and that's if you enjoy the folky stuff from More. Just download the live side. You'll be glad ya did instead of wasting money.
Ummagumma
Date undefinedCouldn't explain it for the life of me but I really enjoy this album, front, back and middle. One who leans to Prog rock, experimental, stream of consious elements in their music would be more likely to Ummagumma.
Ummagumma
Date undefinedOkay, its one of their worsts, actually the worst, but I still rated it 4 stars.
The Live portion is good, it has one song from Piper at the Gates of Dawn, 2 songs from A Saucerful of Secrets, and a single I had never heard before. A good 1st disc.
The second disc is a studio album. Let me start by saying that I am a pianist and love Rick Wright, that being said the first 4 songs are by him and they are...odd. Good piano playing however.
The next 2 songs are by Roger Waters. I am surprised that whatever drugs he was taking in order to make these songs didn't kill him, these songs were downright weird. I was laughing so hard at one of them I could not stop. I really like ALL of Roger Waters other music with Pink Floyd though.
The next 3 are David Gilmour's. These are really good. Really...these alone make up for the first 6.
The last 3 are Nick Mason's and are excellent. It showcases his greatness (don't know if that is a word) and has some flutes also? While they not as good as Moby Dick-Led Zeppelin with John Bonham, its still good.
All in All it is a CD that is worth getting, just don't expect songs like Let there be Light or Time.
And Pink Floyd is hands down the best band EVER.
