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Ummagumma | 
| Artist: Pink Floyd
Label: Capitol
Category: Music
List Price: $23.98
Buy New: $15.97
You Save: $8.01 (33%)
Rating:  182 reviews
Sales Rank: 1941
Format: Live
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 5 x 1
MPN: 46404
UPC: 077774640428
EAN: 0077774640428
ASIN: B000002UA5
Release Date: October 25, 1990
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Tracks:
Disc 1
| • | Astronomy Domine | | • | Careful With That Axe, Eugene | | • | Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun | | • | A Saucerful Of Secrets |
Disc 2
| • | Sysyphus: Part One | | • | Sysyphus: Part Two | | • | Sysyphus: Part Three | | • | Sysyphus: Part Four | | • | Grantchester Meadows | | • | Several Species Of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In A Cave And Grooving With A Pict | | • | The Narrow Way: Part One | | • | The Narrow Way: Part Two | | • | The Narrow Way: Part Three | | • | The Grand Vizier's Garden Party: Part One (Entrance) | | • | The Grand Vizier's Garden Party: Part Two (Entertainment) | | • | The Grand Vizier's Garden Party: Part Three (Exit) |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Released in 1969, Ummagumma represents where the influence of departed founding songwriter Syd Barrett began to fade in favor of the rather less whimsical and pastoral visions of Roger Waters. Ummagumma is a double album, divided into live and studio halves. The live cuts--"Astronomy Domine," "Careful with That Axe, Eugene," "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun," and "A Saucerful of Secrets"--established the Floyd's predilection for gloomily atmospheric and faintly preposterous sci-fi bombast that would turn them into such a successful stage act. The kindest that may be said of the studio compositions--by and large interminable avant-prog rambles in search of the lost chord--is that they haven't dated terribly well. --Andrew Mueller
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| Customer Reviews: Read 177 more reviews...
 4 for the live side, 1 for the studio side. A solid 3. August 27, 2008
Parkansky (Morehead, KY USA)
Probably 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.
 Classic Floyd August 8, 2008
G. White (Arkansas)
Couldn'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.
One of Pink Floyd's worst July 23, 2008
Rock 'N Roll (Las Vegas, Nevada)
Okay, 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.
Underrated Gem May 22, 2008
Benjamin Bernard
In 1969, Pink Floyd released this monstrosity. Half live and half studio, it is really two albums, and it seems to fall into a "love it or hate it" kind of place with their fans.
STUDIO
Each member got half a side for their studio time. The result is a long instrumental that is more or less hookless, disparate mess of psychedelic noise, an 8-minute drum solo, and two bonafide songs establishing Waters and Gilmour as the songwriters in the band.
LIVE
Here is the real gem. We get four of their early classics played live, extended and more vibrant than their studio incarnations, and they leave their studio versions far behind in the dust.
Despite its faults, it grows on you if you have an open mind. If you like self-indulgant avant-garde noise rock, you'll be right at home on the studio disc, and if you like spacey trad jazz, the live disc is fine.
It is a pity that "Embryo" and "Interstellar Overdrive" were taken off of this album to make room for the studio parts. Perhaps since 2009 is the 30th anniversary, Gilmour, Waters, Wright, Mason, and EMI might get together and release a special anniversary edition CD with the two omitted live tracks included. "Embryo" live, for those who have only heard the version on "Works", is simply AMAZING, easily as good as "Echoes" and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond".
Highlights: all four of the live songs, "Grantchester Meadows", "Several Species..." and "The Narrow Way".
Awesome! May 6, 2008
finulanu (In my own little world)
5 out of 12 found this review helpful
Definitely the best album of Floyd's "transitional" period - that is, those few years after Syd left and before they really became Pink Floyd. This is also their first, and in my opinion best double-album. The first LP is live, and it's fantastic. "Careful with That Axe, Eugene" is one of Floyd's best songs ever, a haunting, psychologically manipulative masterpiece that slowly, carefully builds its way to a blood-curdling peak. It'll make you feel that nine minutes is the perfect song length. This version of "Astronomy Domine" is good too, though the group sounds kind of bored singing it. Still, when they get to the jamming... whoa. Minds get blown. I'm pretty sure a lot of people baked pot brownies, cookies, and cakes and ate them while listening to these instrumental bits. And you know what? I've never so much as taken a bong hit in my life, but it's pretty clear to me that Dave and Rick especially had taken several before playing this song. Fans of the trippy will also appreciate the awesome synth noises found on this version of "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun". While the studio version of that song was, without question, the best song on A Saucerful of Secrets, I like this take more myself. It plays up on the Far East elements found in the original, and really gets intense as it goes along. And they turn "A Saurcerful of Secrets" itself fantastic, upping the emotional ante astronomically so it really does sound like a battle being fought and the aftermath of said battle. Best example of live Floyd in a second! The studio stuff isn't anywhere near as good, but it's still interesting. Basically, the group decided they'd give every group member half a side of material to do their thing. These sides are controversial, but I find them at times captivating. Wright's avant-garde keyboard solo "Sisyphus" is great, and the majestic, all-acoustic "Grantchester Meadows" blows me away. Its lyrics are simple, but laden with evocative imagery of a meadow by Cambridge University. And "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered In a Cave and Grooving with a Pict" is funny! Yes, it is pretty avant-garde. Meanwhile, Gilmour plays some solo acoustic that could put Steve Howe to shame on the first part of "The Narrow Way", though the weird noises are rather distracting. They hadn't quite gotten good with weird noises yet, see. That would come later. The second part is an interesting proto-industrial guitar solo, and the trippy third has odd lyrics. As for Mason, he contributes the unique percussion showcase "Grand Vizier's Garden Party", and like the rest of the album it's unlike anything else you'll ever hear in your life. This is a fantastic album. Not recommended for starting fans, that's for sure, but it definitely is worthy of investigation. By the way, "ummagumma" is supposedly Cambridge slang for "sex". Why didn't that term catch on?
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