Saturday 8 June 2013

Atom Heart Mother (Pink Floyd, 1970)

One of the most known group + orchestra suites and perhaps one of the most successful ones. This masterpiece of 24 minutes and six movements is more popular today than in 1970 and I think the main reason for this longevity resides in its unpredictable and unclassifiable structure. I won't waste many words to describe a song anyone knows, suffice to say that the whole track is an adventurous exploration of open musical spaces, from rock to jazz, from classical to prychedelia, from blues to electronics. Some acid sounds follow melodic passages and the guideline is provided by a visionary fantasy.

Do you remember Lulubelle III the cow?
Thank you, Storm Thorgerson!

The grand themes and the odd variations, the solos and the orchestral arrangements, the gloomy and the brightness, all is in there and - to say it with other Floydian words - all is in tune. All about this piece has become a legend, after all, from the cover art with no band's name nor album title to the newspaper article that provided the first inspiration for the suite. Recently, I had the chance to attend a public performance of this composition in a crowded arena near my town, set up by an orchestra and a good cover band and I saw so many youths enchanted by the mystery, the power and the intensity of "Atom Heart Mother". I was happy, but hardly surprised.

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