I like all eras of Floyd. Post-Barrett, pre-TDSOTM era and post-TDSOTM, pre-AMLOR eras are my favorite. I haven't came across people who don't count Soundtrack From The Film More and Obscured By Clouds, but then again I haven't came across Pink Floyd fans who aren't hardcore fans of the band.
Anyway, reviews:
Soundtrack From The Film More
The album is opened by Cirrus Minor, a melancholic ballad that ends with a great keyboard part. The Nile Song is an aggressive rocker, very untypical for Pink Floyd, but really good. Crying Song is an another mellow track, but quite forgettable. Up The Khyber represents the album's avant-garde songs, basically a jam by the drummer and the keyboardist. Green Is The Colour is an another ballad, but upbeat and not as good as Cirrus Minor.
Cymbaline is one of the top tracks of the album - a beautiful ballad with melancholic verses that are cheered up with a happier chorus. The end is similar to the end of Cirrus Minor, but has a happier feel to it. Party Sequence is a short song completely based on percussion instruments, nothing special.
The second side begins with Main Theme, a haunting instrumental with hypnotic melodies and rhythm. One of the best tracks on the album. Ibiza Bar is a rocker similar to The Nile Song, but made more interesting with the guitar solos. An untypical Pink Floyd song, but really good - one of the best on the album. More Blues is a short song based on a guitar solo, not a very remarkable track.
Quicksilver is the longest song of the album, and it's an experimental song based mostly on sound effects - no thanks. A Spanish Piece is a very short, flamenco-influenced track. The album closer, Dramatic Theme, is very similar to Main Theme and feels like a rehash.
Favourite songs: "Cymbaline", "Main Theme", "Ibiza Bar"
Rating: 6
Ummagumma
The live album setlist is good - all four are great tracks. The performances, however, range from great to average. Astrononomy Domine is one of the better performances, one of my favorite versions of this song actually. Performance of Careful With That Axe, Eugene isn't too bad but not really good either. The band has done much more exciting performances of that track, I'll stick to those.
Performance of Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun is okay, but again the band has done better. Some good soloing there. The performance of A Saucerful Of Secrets is very average. It's not too bad at first but it gets worse towards the end. Mason's drum work at the last part of the song is painful to listen to.
The studio disc songs are very experimental solo compositions from the band. This shows in the songs: Wright's four parts long Sysyphus uses keyboards a lot. The first part is good, but the rest are just unbearable, artsy wankery.
Waters' solo pieces are different to the others' songs in that they aren't based on his instrument, bass. Grantchester Meadows is a mellow ballad with bird noises on the background. It's an okay track, one of the least experimental songs on the album. Several Species... however, is probably the most. Just noises. Artsy avant-garde bullshit.
Gilmour's guitar-based song The Narrow Way begins with a quite forgettable acoustic part. However, the song rises up in quality every part: Part II has got some hypnotic guitar work, and Part III is easily the best song of the album, the only track I'd have no shame comparing to songs from better Floyd albums.
Mason's The Grand Vizier's Garden Party begins with a short flute melody, and then the rest of the song is just percussion instruments and sound effects. Part II is probably the worst Pink Floyd song there is - even Several Species... beats it. Part III is a flute melody similar to Part I.
Favourite songs: "Astronomy Domine [Live]", "The Narrow Way, Part III"
Rating: 5+
Atom Heart Mother
The title track is awesome. I had to give it quite a few listens before I started to really like it, and now it's one of my favourite Pink Floyd songs. Top ten even? The last part of the song is just great, the buildup to the song's main theme is just pure greatness.
If is an okay ballad, not much more. Summer '68 is a much more exciting song. The mood of the song is constantly changing, which keeps it interesting. Second best track from the album. Fat Old Sun is once again a ballad but better than If. The solos are some of my favourite solos by Gilmour and the song is great live.
Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast is a mixed bag. There are the parts where it's just Alan preparing breakfast and talking about breakfast. They should have been shorter and incorporated to the music. As for the music: the first part is decent. Nice melodies, but doesn't really go anywhere. The second one is based on acoustic guitars, but it's not very memorable. The last part is the best. Classic Floyd. Too bad it's too late for the song to be really great at that point anymore.
Favourite songs: "Atom Heart Mother", "Summer '68", "Fat Old Sun"
Rating: 9-