Ummagumma – PINK FLOYD*

Astronomy Dominie/Careful With That Axe Eugene/Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun/A Saucerful Of Secrets/Something Else/Syncopated Pandemonium/Storm Signals/Celestial Voices/Sysyphus Part 1/Sysyphus Part 2/Sysyphus Part 3/Sysyphus Part 4/Grantchester Meadows/Several Species Of Small Furry Animals/The Narrow Way (Parts 1 2 & 3)/The Grand Vizier’s Garden Party (Parts 1 2 &3)

Ummagumma was a sprawling double album of supreme pretentiousness and self indulgence that is likely to appeal to only the most committed Floyd enthusiasts. Given the high chart placing there must have been quite a few British fans let down by this purchase. (US:74 UK:5)

“There isn't really much music here. This stuff would be OK if there was stuff to go with it but there isn’t - they have removed all the music from the psychedelic noise and left only noise. There are hardly any vocals, which normally wouldn't be a problem, but because they have separated all of the parts of the songs, it is really noticeable that nothing is going on. A large problem with this album is it doesn't seem to go anywhere. The live portion is just live versions of songs from old LPs.”

“The Ummagumma studio album is Floyd at their worst and most pretentious - every time you think it might be building up to something, it reverts back to unstructured experimental garbage.”

“Ummagumma is the sound of a band hedging its bets, split between a live album of older material and a studio album of what are essentially solo compositions.”

“A mediocre live disc in which every song sounds exactly the same and a half-LP side studio solo spot for each of the band members. They are having trouble working as a team already. Roger has fun with sound effects, Dave jams on a couple vamps for twelve minutes, Nick distinguishes himself as one of rock's worst drummers, and Rick pounds on his piano like an angry stroke victim.”

“Definitely the black sheep of Floyd albums. This is highly, highly, experimental and spacey, falling into aimlessness and experimentation for experimentation sake. It's a good thing that they didn’t release much more of this avant-garde music. The studio disc feels completely pointless. What each of these band members came up with are ambient pieces with a feel of musique concrete. Did they seriously want to alienate all their fans? The band returns to some of the failed experimental atonal noises that they hashed out unsuccessfully on earlier LPs, this time as solo pieces.”