yeah a few too many histrionics to get it past echoes, but still a great piece

Well, maybe I should rephrase.

AHM definitely has some fluff sections (especially towards the end), but the high points, imo, are at least as good as echoes. I mean, that spacey intro slide solo/cello section is incredible. And I love the psychedelic chorus/organ transition section leading into the bluesy guitar solo.

If the band revisited that song and cleaned it up (stream lined it, whatever) it would be unbelievable.

eh, i hate it when bands 'clean up' their songs, and anyway atom heart mother is good for what it is.

It was a hypothetical suggestion. I have loved the song the way it is from the first time I heard it. It was more for people who complain about certain sections dragging or being jarring.

However, if there were a "cleaned up" version, I would definitely be curious to see what it sounds like.

well if they were going to start doing that the first thing i would suggest is

1) removing that horrid keyboard wankery from rick wright in the middle of 'dogs' and make it the best song of their career
2) make the wall a single album, roger waters not allowed to write lyrics post-1977
3) roughen up the production on dsotm so it sounds a bit more distant.
4) more gilmour licks on EVERYTHING
5) get over syd barrett's departure

I know you're not being serious, but I actually like the "horrid keyboard wankery" you are referring to.

agreed on all counts dreamcoil. syd's departure was the best thing that ever happened

i really like syd barrett pink floyd and sometimes imagine what future pink floyd albums would have sounded like (based on syd's madcap laughs) but roger pining on syd every other song is tiresome

and san, my list was 100% serious. dsotm sounds shitty with its production (to my ears) and as for dogs - i almost always skip that mid section. more gilmour guitar banshee and less wwwwowowowowweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewewowuwuwuwuwwwaaaaaaawwww

I meant not serious as in not actually doing those, a la leaving AHM the way it is, even though it's not perfect.

I actually like the "sonar/whales fucking" parts from Echoes and I fucking love that crazy synth section from Dogs, especially when it segues back into the opening acoustic guitar riff, that's one of my favorite parts of the song. I always love Wright's synth solos, especially Welcome to the Machine and Run Like Hell.

Floyd wouldn't be Floyd to me without those freaky atmospheric moments.

I also love The Wall for it's over the top bombasity. I think disc 1 is all around excellent and all the songs segue together perfectly, disc 2 has some filler but the highlights more than make up for it.

I enjoy double albums because even though they rarely ever come out perfect I actually like when musicians embrace excess and go crazy and reach outside of their usual limits. One of the things that defines my taste in music is the fact that I like self indulgence and excess in my rock 'n' roll, without it some of the best rock music would have never been made. Not saying artists shouldn't have self discipline, but I believe it's a legitimate artistic choice to go wild if you want to.

Being too concerned with what other people like is a far worse thing for an artist to be IMO.

I agree that cleaning up songs is stupid and I'm not a fan of cleaning up albums either, sometimes it makes sense (Let it Be Naked) but even then not everyone agrees with the final results and at worst it's just a way to make easy money and get people to buy the same records over and over again. I believe that works of art should be accepted for what they are "flaws" and all, not looked upon as faulty products.

It's bad enough that major film studios are obsessed with butchering their movies and re-releasing the fuck out of them and never knowing when to quit.

I think incredibly cohesive albums was one of Floyd's greatest strengths in the 70s. When it comes to DSOTM, WWYH and Animals I wouldn't change a thing, those albums are skip proof, yeah I said it, anyone who skips through On the Run is a putz. Actually I wouldn't change anything in Meddle either, I think Seamus fits into the album in a weird way, pretty much like how Clamz described it.

I think The Wall falls short of the standard of those 4 albums but only by a little bit, not enough to keep it from being a great record.

I also love Piper and Saucerful and while all the remaining Floyd albums are much less consistant I think there's some good shit to be found in all of them.

Which pressing/release do you have? I highly recommend the Alan Parsons quad mix or the 30th anniversary surround by James Guthrie. Even downmixed to stereo, the quad mix is one of the best sounding recordings I've ever heard.

I can understand why people might think DSOTM's production is too polished but shitty it aint, it's still one of the best produced albums I can think of, I mean what they did with Gilmour's guitar solo on Time is fucking incredible, it sounds like a giant is playing.

I've heard good things about the quad mix though and I need to check it out.

"Time" the beautiful. I didn't notice anything different about the Parsons mix though.

One of the most underrated Floyd moments: The entry of the talkbox in Pigs (Three Different Ones).