Pros: Classic live versions of early Floyd
Flashes of brilliance
Cons: Poor quality engineering/recording despite re-mastering, avant-garde studio album.
The Bottom Line: A great mix of live experimentation and studio experimentation. Four stars for the songs, minus one star for the poor quality recording.
Of all of Pink Floyd's work (excluding their soundtrack LPs) this is perhaps the most disliked (aside from "The Final Cut") Pink Floyd album. You will either love it or hate it. Why? Well certainly not because of the live album - it's four classic Floyd tracks, incredibly performed. It's because of the studio album - a dozen tracks all very avant-garde (which basically means it is beyond what is accepted by the artistic communities and public audience).
Live Album
Four classic tracks of early Floyd standards - what more can I say? Any fan of early Pink Floyd will love how improvisational the band was during their live performances. Even if you aren't a fan, you'll appreciate how different their sound was to any other British "psychedelic" or "art rock" group at the time. Each song here is an improvement on the original studio version (though the overdubs added later may also be a good reason why the songs sound so amazing). "Careful With That Axe, Eugene" is the best of the live material. The version of the song also happens to be one of the best officially released versions (at least equal with the version on "Live at Pompeii").
It is worth the purchase price to hear this song alone.
Studio Album
If you are into experimentation (the musical kind ;-)) you will probably like this part of Ummagumma. At the very least you can hear how willing the band was to try to do something different, at the very most you can see shades of future brilliance. Each of the four members contributed one (or two) songs - when it was released originally on vinyl, this meant that each member had half a side of record space to work with.
Rick Wright's (Keyboardist/Pianist) "Sysyphus", while a little bit disjointed, is still quite enjoyable. His performance here isn't quite perfect, and personally I think it's too short to develop the whole story. But hang on - what is the story? "Sysyphus" (or as it is more commonly spelt "Sisyphus") is about the mythical Greek King Sisyphus. Condemned to Hades, Sisyphus had to roll a heavy stone up a steep hill where it repeatedly would roll back down once he reached the top. Through Wright's music, the story unfolds over four parts - the best by far being "Part Four", which ranges from being very mellow and calm to explosive and (almost) Wagnerian. While certainly not Wright's best work, it is still a competent and enjoyable song that warrants a listen from any classical music fan that enjoys a bit the works of avant-garde composers.
Roger Water's (Bass Guitarist, Vocals) "Grantchester Meadows" would have been perfect for Pink Floyd's 1970 album "Atom Heart Mother". Essentially it is a poem (accompanied by some gentle acoustic picking) which tells the story of, well, Grantchester Meadows (a real park in the city of Grantchester not far from Cambridge). Combined with wonderfully vivid sound effects recorded from the meadow, this is a beautiful song, great to listen to when unwinding after a long day. Look out though for when the song is almost over, you hear a few unsuccessful attempts to swat a fly, which ends in a big "SPLAT!". Typical of Water's humour and style, it's a wonderful touch to a wonderful song.
Water's next "song" is more or less just screwing round with a bunch of effects. With a ridiculously long title ("Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict"), Water's relies heavily on tape effects surrounding the words of a Pict who is rambling on about "the wind cried Mary!" and all other sorts of nonsense. (Trivia buff alert: the Pict's were one of the non-Celtic people who once occupied Great Britain, who around the 9th Century assimilated with the Scottish). It's okay for a laugh, but it can hardly be considered a song, more just an attempt at being weird.
"The Narrow Way" by David Gilmour (Guitars, Vocals) has a poor mix (the vocals get lost most of the time behind the drums) but otherwise if it had been cleaned up a bit would have fit perfectly on the 1971 album "Meddle". Starting off with "Part One", the song is based around an minor chord sequence, with some cleverly used reversed slide guitar sound effects. "Part Two" breaks down into a heavily distorted, Black Sabbath sounding riff, which is very dark and foreboding. It's not until "Part Three" that Gilmour actually comes up with the goods though. Here we see him perform on all instruments - he's actually not too bad, though you can see how amateur his drumming is towards the end. Still, with a bit of polish, this could well have become an even greater song. What is lacks in perfection it more than makes up for in vision and potential for greatness.
"The Grand Viziers Garden Party" by Nick Mason (Drums) is broken into three parts ("Entrance", "Entertainment", "Exit"). It is actually quite good! You may think "a guy on drums...gee how exciting", but combining some flute work from Nick's (then) wife, and clever tape loops and percussion, the mood created throughout the piece is great. It's hard to describe, other than saying you feel like you're actually at some mysterious party, the kind where one might wear a mask (not Halloween!) like during the Georgian age (1714 - 1830). A Vizier was a sort of Prime Minister from the Ottoman Empire (you can learn more at this site http://i-cias.com/e.o/vizier.htm). Nick's drumming here is markedly improved from the bands earlier work. Overall it is quite an imaginative song from Mason, and a great way to close the studio album.
If there is one issue that is quite obvious with the studio album is the poor quality recording and engineering. The band was not allowed to edit its own tapes. At the time EMI in strong control over any technical aspects of recording, claiming that if you were not a union member you were not entitled to edit your own material. The master tapes were apparently poorly kept, so despite the best efforts of James Guthrie in 1994 to re-master this album, the flaws of the original recording are too obvious to ignore. However, this issue doesn't ruin the songs, but it would be nice to hear the album as intended.
Post Script
So there you have it - a review of Ummagumma by someone who appreciates Pink Floyd's experimentation during the bands early years. Fans of "Dark Side" and onwards may find this hard to take. Some of the studio work isn't always friendly to the ears. But give it time to settle in before forming an opinion against it. It's not the album I'd listen to every day of every week, but it's an enjoyable every time I listen to it.
Music. For many years, this double LP/CD was one of the most popular albums in {$Pink Floyd}'s pre-{^Dark Side of the Moon} output, containing a live ...More at DeepDiscount.com
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