The Pink Floyd album Roger Waters wants to delete from history: “Embarrassing”
A faultless back catalogue is a feat that very few bands have achieved. Even most musicians who have successfully reached the pinnacle of their industry foster regrets about their career, and if given the opportunity, they would go about things differently, including Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters.
Although he’s responsible for creating albums that have shifted the dial tone on popular culture, most notably The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall, Waters didn’t miraculously reach such triumphs before previously tasting defeat.
Pink Floyd was given time to evolve their artistry and find their feet following Syd Barrett’s departure, which altered the group’s dynamic. They simply couldn’t go on making music in the mould of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn without Barrett’s involvement; therefore, they needed a re-start. Throughout this teething period, Pink Floyd were yet to become an arena-dwelling rock behemoth, and it took until their fifth album, Atom Heart Mother, for the group to score a number-one record in the United Kingdom.
Although it didn’t become a smash hit internationally like their later work, it still represented a breakthrough moment for Pink Floyd that would put them on the path to becoming giants. Nevertheless, from the perspective of Waters, Atom Heart Mother is a black mark on their legacy.
In the lineage of Pink Floyd’s discography, Atom Heart Mother is sandwiched between Ummagumma and Meddle. The album, released in 1970, arrived at a fascinating point in their acclaimed career. While it was their third record without Barrett’s presence, Pink Floyd were still discovering their new identity, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying.
Significantly, Atom Heart Mother marked the end of their relationship with producer Norman Smith, who had previously worked closely with them on their work up to that point. However, following the end of the recording process, Pink Floyd knew it was time to move on and start a new chapter of their career without Smith’s influence.
While recording the album, Pink Floyd’s creativity was at an all-time low, and consequently, the recording process of Atom Heart Mother was longer than they anticipated. Ron Geesin was brought in to assist with the struggle, and the lack of harmony between the band arrived as a huge surprise to the songwriter.
Geesin later reflected on the experience in the book The Flaming Cow: The Making of Pink Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother: “When we did Atom Heart Mother, they were at their lowest point of creativity. They were pretty exhausted, and they didn’t really know where to go. It just happened that I was on the spot around that time.”
Ultimately, the album is a reminder of a difficult time in the band’s history, with Waters saying in the 1980s (via The Times): “Atom Heart Mother is a good case, I think, for being thrown into the dustbin and never listened to by anyone ever again.”
Meanwhile, Mark Blake’s book, The Inside Story of Pink Floyd, quotes Waters disregarding the album as “a really awful and embarrassing record”.
Typically, David Gilmour and Waters don’t see eye-to-eye on anything. However, one matter where they are on the same page is their shared hatred for Atom Heart Mother, which they both wish had never been released.
Gilmour told MOJO in 2001: “Atom Heart Mother was a good idea, but it was dreadful. I listened to that album recently: God, it’s shit, possibly our lowest point artistically. It sounds like we didn’t have any idea between us, but we became much more prolific after it.”
Thankfully, Atom Heart Mother was only a bump in the road for Pink Floyd on their journey. While their famous experimental edge hindered this album, that same adventurous artistic streak led them to create greatness. However, at this stage, they had yet to acquire the skills necessary to execute their vision, but in time, Pink Floyd eventually mastered this knack.
Furthermore, despite Waters’s aggrievances towards Atom Heart Mother, the project’s commercial success also invaluably helped Pink Floyd in the long term. He may not be immensely proud of the project, but it enhanced Pink Floyd’s stature, which allowed for world domination to later take place.
