Ummagumma

Goes round and round works for me.

I’ve seen the Floyd numerous times, and of all their recordings I love this one above the rest. The first of the two LPs here, the live album, is the most true, the most extreme example of raw psychedelic music ever played before a live audience. No messing with pre-recorded tapes, this is a 4-piece band playing and singing their way into the stratosphere, and taking you with them. I heard them play the songs of this album, which I adored in 1970, note-for note at the Fillmore East. I was in the front row of the balcony, 50 feet away from the band. This wasn’t improv, this was as serious as the most demanding ‘classical’ music I’d heard at Lincoln Center in NYC. After the intermission, for the second half of the show, they performed Atom Heart Mother with chorus and orchestra. Everyone was absolutely stunned as they staggered back onto the street in Greenwich Village. The studio album is well known to be sketchy, and you need to be in a special state of mind to run through it . Like most people, my favorite is “Grantchester Meadows” more than the rest, which I usually skip. This was the historical period when bands had enough money to essentially waste studio time. To each his own. BUT THIS RECORDING AND PRESSING ARE SPECTACULAR. I still have my ancient, taped-up Harvest copy of the LPs, which, beat to hell, I always preferred to the dull CD. But now this!! An absolutely incredible remix of the original tapes, and a perfectly silent, stunningly alive pressing of the LP. After 50 years, now with a $15K stereo, I’m back in the Fillmore East! GET IT!!

This is a very early blue print of the band's more well-known hits that would come later as the result of Ummagumma being the start of Pink Floyd's experimental phase that would continue on with Atom-Heart Mother (1970) and Meddle (1971). Here the band began early experimenting to test their own music individually shown by the second disc of Ummagumma to see where it stood alone as compared to playing together with each member having their own signature compositions. Of these compositions by each band member the ones that made the album so strong musically to me were Rick's Sysyphus pts 1-4, Roger's Grandchester Meadows, Dave's The Narrow Way pt 3, and Nick's The Grand Vizier's Garden Party pt 2: Entertainment. The live album the comprises the first disc of Ummagumma is also very beautifully sounding with the haunting screams on the live version of Careful With That Axe, Eugene and the live version of Astronomy Domine which is almost identical to the original version that appeared on the band's 1967 debut album The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn While Syd Barrett was the principal singer and song writer for the floyd. All in all I would say Ummagumma is a must have and important album to own by any Pink Floyd fan because it not only has very lovely and unique music on it but it also was the early experimentation where the band saw what worked and what didn't and would later lead to more experimentations in the early 70's that would eventually spawn and evolve into masterpieces such as Dark Side Of The Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Wall. Ummagumma is an excellent Pink Floyd album that deserves more credit than it gets.

Arrived in great condition. Great music. Great price.

At least I did, ha. But then, I first turned on to Yes via Tales from Topographic Oceans... Anyway, to me there is no controversy: This is the most "amazing" of the Floyd's albums, because it's not supposed to be. And no matter what the band says or some fans say, it's a masterpiece, INCLUDING DISC 2, and it's always been the album that most deserves to be brought out of the closet, unforgotten in the light of what came later, with wide-awake attention. I play the thing and still say to myself, "How the hell did they get those sounds in 1969 when Keith Emerson didn't even own a synthesizer? When The Nice, ELP, Crimson, Moodies -- no one was sounding at all like this in rock? Did they get ahold of a first Moog? (The Monkees had one on their fourth album). Was the young Richard Wright a humble genius?" Yet this double-set in the early catalogue also rewards most after the most listens. I've now experienced enough of this oddity since 1981 that it seems there isn't a note on it that isn't purely musical. Maybe that's just the way my brain tweaked it, who knows. What attracted me at first was someone positioning my head near a speaker to hear -- with lights out, no drugs -- "Several Species--." Yes, "The Narrow Way" is the grounding force and best overall, kinda regular song here, with its fascinating & repeated plunging, in each of the three movements, into the deeper, darker melancholic turns of melody; but this immediately prior piece by Waters, chirping seamlessly from the pastoral of "Grantchester Meadows" into the petrifying -- why call this song "erratic"? Is that just to mime the critics and appear cool? Maybe it's actually a marvel of controlled chaos. In any case, WEIRD is what it is. And *if one likes weird,* that's what will give you the patience to come back to the harsher segments of UMMAGUMMA time and time again. You sense something special and worth your time. The live disc is truly great, but the studio disc only needs those who like some avant-garde to give it its due respect. There's my rant. The remaster's on its way.

Re: Ummagumma is integral to the Pink Floyd canon, an excellent record, a fun listen, and something you will go back to hear again and again. First, full transparency, I love Dark Side of the Moon/Wish You Were Here/Animals, but pretty much despise The Wall. (The live show is breathtaking, but the album and animated movie always came across as heavy-handed and pompous, a darker Tommy Redux, but that's just me.) With that said... Most people consider Dark Side of the Moon the beginning of Floyd's 'masterpiece era'. Me, I think that era begins one album earlier with Obscured by Clouds. Before Obscured, you have the pair of 'pre-masterpiece' releases, Meddle and Ummagumma. If you are like me and appreciate those three core masterpieces (Dark/Wish/Animals), you should a) definitely get Obscured by Clouds, just don't expect it to be a concept album, and b) add Meddle and Ummagumma to have a very solid 6-album run of classic Floyd. The first two releases (Piper and Saucerful) are great for fans of Syd's quirky shorter songs, but I can sort of take them or leave them, with rare exception (eg Emily, Arnold). The soundtrack More doesn't quite move me, and Atom Heart Mother is, to me, way too un-psychedelic and too overtly gimmicky instead. (A much more successful and enjoyable attempt at the same thing would be Zappa & The Mothers' We're Only in it for the Money.) For those of you who follow and agree with this line of thinking, Ummagumma presents the best of early Floyd, some truly breathtaking performances, and a valuable listening step along the ascending road toward the masterpiece recordings that would soon follow. I'm happy with these Core Six: Ummagumma, Meddle, Obscured, Dark, Wish, and Animals.

On Pink Floyd's journey from the tragically short Syd Barrett era to Dark Side of the Moon Ummagumma gives a looking-back/looking-forward vibe. In particular, Syd's replacement, David Gilmour gets his chance to shine. His playing on the live disc, of necessity, frequently references Syd Barrett's improvisational, atmospheric guitar style while presenting his own more meticulously constructed solos in the same song(s). In the studio he reveals a subtlety and delicacy on acoustic guitar that made a credible case for a thriving post-Barrett Floyd. Roger Waters, Richard Wright and Nick Mason are also given space to express themselves, and all do so with great creativity. On Sisysphis, Wright's contribution, the mighty Mellotron(making its third-to-last appearance on a PF album - the last two being cameos on Atom Heart Mother suite and Meddle's Echoes)shares aural space with a flushing toilet and some avant-impressionist piano themes. Waters' Grantchester Meadows provides some pastoral folk reflectons. Mason's The Grand Vizier's Garden Party is the weak link, but the flute(might be 'Tron) figures are pretty even though the centerpiece seems to be a fairly pedestrian drum solo before reverting back to the flutes. Gilmour's The Narrow Way is the studio album's masterpiece. Delicate finger-style acoustic picking which seems to breathe is punctuated by electric slide guitar accents before it morphs into the sort of four-on-the-floor slow rocker,forshadowing musical and rhythmic themes that became more prominant on Atom Heart Mother(suite), Meddle(Echoes), Dark Side of the Moon(Time) and Wish You Were Here(Have a Cigar). Historically this album has the distinction of clearly NOT being pervaded by the "ghost" of Syd Barrett while equally clearly NOT being the commercially/artistically successful DSOM Floyd. Personally it is the first Floyd LP I ever bought back in 1969, and as such occupies a special place in my heart which explains the fourth and fifth stars in my rating. I've seen one- and two-star reviews for this album and while I understand peoples' bewilderment with its apparent lack of direction, I guess I hold it in higher esteem for sentimental reasons. That said, I picked up "A Nice Pair" when that one came out and became obsessed with Syd Barrett, both in and out of Pink Floyd and often meditate on what might have been had he been able to balance his hallucinagenic indulgences with a more disciplined creativity, either staying in the band or forging a successful solo career. How about if he & Gilmour could have continued as dual guitarists and writers as they (sort of) did on Saucerful of Secrets? In another time-space continuum maybe...

Trippy man! Add to my collection. Had it on vinyl back in the day.

高校時代に2枚組はお高くて中々購入 出来ませんでしたがCD化されお安く 購入。 しかも、紙ジャケ版でレコードを買った気分です。何十年振りに聴き直し再発見も有り 内容としては、CD2のメンバー個々作品で 超マニアックな物も含めて好きです。

This was purchased to finally replace my vinyl version . I know it has been remastered but, to my mind this has altered some of the ambience of tracks such as Grantchester Meadows and Several species etc etc etc. The high frequencies seem to have been muted somewhat but over all, still a great album. I'd say my biggest complaint is that it is supplied simply in a very tight fitting cardboard wrapper. It is SO tight that getting the discs out is extremely difficult if, like me, you don't want to touch the playing surface with your fingers. If you are a Pink Floyd fan then I need say no more. If you're just becoming aware of one of musics greatest ever bands then add this to your collection.

Un des premiers album de ce groupe génial. Avec la version publique d'Obscured By Clouds extraordinaire.

Il ritorno dei Pink Floyd in vinile La mitica band inglese ristampa finalmente in vinile tutta la discografia rimasterizzata. Sono ormai alcuni anni che il prezioso disco in vinile rivive una seconda giovinezza, un successo (forse inaspettato) che sta man mano soppiantando il CD nelle vendite internazionali. E’ la dimostrazione del fatto che gli appassionati amano il suono caldo e dinamico del 33 giri e, soprattutto, non rinunciano alla bellezza di copertine e confezioni sempre più ricche, in molti casi – se trattasi di ristampe - repliche esatte delle release originali dell’epoca. Non sorprende quindi che anche artisti leggendari come Beatles, Queen, Doors, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, ecc. hanno già ristampato la loro discografia completa su vinile. Anche i mitici Pink Floyd erano attesi con la discografia in vinile da circa 20 anni e finalmente la Warner ha deciso di ripubblicare il loro catalogo a partire dal 3 giugno 2016 I primi quattro titoli sono: ‘The Piper at the Gates of Dawn’, ‘A Saucerful of Secrets’, la Colonna Sonora del film ‘More’ e il doppio LP di ‘Ummagumma’. Si tratta della prima fase artistica dei Pink Floyd, quella considerata “psichedelica”, album di straordinaria importanza per il loro contributo all’evoluzione del rock. In particolare il primo, ‘The Piper at the Gates of Dawn’, rimane ancora oggi uno dei dischi più significativi dei Pink e di tutta la scena psichedelica degli anni Sessanta, album leggendario anche per la presenza di Syd Barrett, personaggio controverso e geniale il cui ruolo fu importantissimo nella creazione del suono atmosferico e pulsante della band. Tutte le ristampe sono state prodotte su vinile audiophile 180gr. ed anche le copertine sono fedeli alle versioni originali UK. Per i patiti di suono hi-fi è importante sapere che tutta la serie è masterizzata appositamente per il vinile da James Guthrie, Joel Plante e Bernie Grundman e si basa sui remaster dei nastri analogici originali. Al primo ascolto il suono di questi primi 4 vinili sorprende piacevolmente, soprattutto in confronto ai CD pubblicati nel 2011, in parte contestati dai fans. Se queste sono le premesse si annuncia un grande ritorno su LP per una delle band più amate di tutti i tempi. Warner ha già annunciato la pubblicazione di altri sette LP, certamente i più attesi dai fan in quanto sono compresi gli album più famosi e amati dei Pink Floyd (“The Dark Side Of The Moon”, “Wish You Were Here” e “The Wall”), e successivamente degli altri capitoli finali della discografia (“The Final Cut” e “A Momentary Lapse of Reason”). Consigliati. Consegna Amazon eccellente, l'imballo, vista la delicatezza dell'articolo dovrebbe essere più consistente.

Cd arrived today in undamaged packing, but cd case looks to be stamped on, with marks and indentations on cover. Cd 1 inside has same marks and indentations, so it's unplayable.