Best double album ever

[Nutrocker]

How in the name of sweet chocolate Christ could The Wall be beating out The White Album or Physical Graffiti in that poll? I love Pink Floyd, can't stand The Wall...The Wall might be great music for depressed teenagers to slash their wrists by, but as a middle aged man, a double album written by a wealthy rock star whinging about how terrible his life has been...give me a fuckin' break, Roger. Sure, his dad died in the war, he had a terrible time in school, his wife left him, audiences pissed him off, blah blah blah...spend some time hanging out with starving kids in Africa, Mr Waters, you'll find yer life was actually pretty fuckin' good! (end rant)

My top five double albums:

Exile On Main Street

Physical Graffiti

The White Album

Quadrophenia

Seconds Out

[janejoe]

Pink Floyd -The Wall

Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti

Barclay James Harvest - Live (1974)

The Beatles - White Album

Al Stewart - Live

Queen - Live Killers

The Beatles - Rock and Roll Music

Peter Gabriel - Live

[Charles J. White]

Smashing Pumpkins or Led Zeppelin, though I lean Zeppelin

[Sagittarius Rising]

Spot on about some Pink Floyd, The Wall I never liked and Ummagumma is not what I would call a double album, one side is live (great, awesome!!!), the other side is unlistenable shite, not even filler but downright crap.

I have three favorites: Physical Graffiti, How the West was Won, & Coltrane Live in Seattle 65'.

[slave to zep]

Physical Graffiti

i also love Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Tusk, and parts of The Wall

[janejoe]

Spot on about some Pink Floyd, The Wall I never liked and Ummagumma is not what I would call a double album, one side is live (great, awesome!!!), the other side is unlistenable shite, not even filler but downright crap.

I have three favorites: Physical Graffiti, How the West was Won, & Coltrane Live in Seattle 65'.

I think you'd better listen again "If" is absolutely brilliant on Ummaggumma, why don't you just say you don't like Pink Floyd?

[tomloge]

The Wall-Pink Floyd

Allman Brothers Band-Live at the Fillmore East

Rockin' the Fillmore-Humble Pie

[janejoe]

The Wall-Pink Floyd

Allman Brothers Band-Live at the Fillmore East

Rockin' the Fillmore-Humble Pie

Allman Brothers........Great choice!!!!! I haven't heard that for years

[tomloge]

just thought of a fairly recent one that really isn't well known at all. Foghat Live II. Great album.

[Sagittarius Rising]

I think you'd better listen again "If" is absolutely brilliant on Ummaggumma, why don't you just say you don't like Pink Floyd?

Why? Because I love Pink Floyd that's why. Just because I think half of Ummagumma is shit does not mean I am going to throw out the baby with the bath water. Let's be honest, with the exception of The Narrow Way Pts 1-3, side two is horrible, like Yoko Ono horrible IMO. And regarding The Narrow Way, it is only ok, the first two parts would be re-worked and used for Dark Side of the Moon, and part 3 sounds like Pink Floyd doing While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

Anyway, I truly love Pink Floyd I just don't like side two of Ummagumma thats all, just like I don't like Jimmy's Noise Solo from the 77' tour. Does not mean I hate ALL Zeppelin simply because I don't like a particular song.

Life is not a series of absolutes.

[Stryder1978]

ABSOLUTELY!!

[greenman]

Why? Because I love Pink Floyd that's why. Just because I think half of Ummagumma is shit does not mean I am going to throw out the baby with the bath water. Let's be honest, with the exception of The Narrow Way Pts 1-3, side two is horrible, like Yoko Ono horrible IMO. And regarding The Narrow Way, it is only ok, the first two parts would be re-worked and used for Dark Side of the Moon, and part 3 sounds like Pink Floyd doing While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

Anyway, I truly love Pink Floyd I just don't like side two of Ummagumma thats all, just like I don't like Jimmy's Noise Solo from the 77' tour. Does not mean I hate ALL Zeppelin simply because I don't like a particular song.

The first part of the Narrow Way has always been a favourite of mine, I love those layered Floyd acoustic tracks from the mid era. Beyond that part 3 and Grantchester Meadows are decent, the rest is mostly aweful although Several Species has comedy/weirdness value.

Generally I think it shows the band was much stronger than the sum of its parts, they'd probabley have been better off dumping most of that material and including stuff like the live version of Interstellar Overdrive or tracks like The Embyro and Biding My Time.

[janejoe]

I take your points, but I still like the album.

[greenman]

I take your points, but I still like the album.

The live album is one of my favourites ever, finding my dads old vinyl copy was one of the key events in shaping my musical taste getting me to look beyond straight ahead rock/pop.

The Wall really isn't one of my favourites though, a few good tracks stretched far too thin with the thoughtful social commentary of previous albums replaced with Water's rockstar whining, I listen to Gilmour's solo album from 78 far more.

[Nutrocker]

I think you'd better listen again "If" is absolutely brilliant on Ummaggumma, why don't you just say you don't like Pink Floyd?

Thing is, "If" isn't on Ummagumma, yer thinking of Atom Heart Mother.

As a complete package, IMO Ummagumma is a great title (Cambridge slang for screwing ) and cover design but a terrible collection of music. If it had just been the live album it would have been a much better thing (and those tracks are available on bootleg, including the "Interstellar Overdrive" performance that didn't make the official release). The studio disc is an embarrassment; even the band themselves disowned it, and rightfully so. Personally I would have liked to have seen "Grantchester Meadows" and "The Narrow Way" held over for another project; "Several Species..." is like a bad joke that goes on too long, and Wright and Mason's pieces are completely disposable. Again, IMO. Quite frankly I am surprised EMI let them release Ummagumma as is. If it was a 'contractual obligation' release I could understand, but it's not...the thing as whole reeks of poor artistic judgement, one of the biggest lapses I can think of by a major group ever, in fact.

[greenman]

Thing is, "If" isn't on Ummagumma, yer thinking of Atom Heart Mother.

As a complete package, IMO Ummagumma is a great title (Cambridge slang for screwing ) and cover design but a terrible collection of music. If it had just been the live album it would have been a much better thing (and those tracks are available on bootleg, including the "Interstellar Overdrive" performance that didn't make the official release). The studio disc is an embarrassment; even the band themselves disowned it, and rightfully so. Personally I would have liked to have seen "Grantchester Meadows" and "The Narrow Way" held over for another project; "Several Species..." is like a bad joke that goes on too long, and Wright and Mason's pieces are completely disposable. Again, IMO. Quite frankly I am surprised EMI let them release Ummagumma as is. If it was a 'contractual obligation' release I could understand, but it's not...the thing as whole reeks of poor artistic judgement, one of the biggest lapses I can think of by a major group ever, in fact.

I suspect the real problem was that the More soundtrack used up a lot of the bands material, you take the best of the studio work from 69 and you could have...

Cirrus Minor

Green is the Colour

Cymbaline

Main Theme from More

The Narrow Way

Grantchester Meadows

Biding My Time

The Embryo

Dramatic Theme from More

Mix that with the live album we got and you have one of the Floys best releases IMHO. I'm guessing that post Syd though the band needed money, it wasn't until Atom Heart Mother sold well that I think they were really masters of their own destiny.

You could actually argue the same for The Wall, its release was rushed and Waters given too much dominance because the band needed money for tax issues after their investments fell though.

[Nutrocker]

I suspect the real problem was that the More soundtrack used up a lot of the bands material, you take the best of the studio work from 69 and you could have...

Cirrus Minor

Green is the Colour

Cymbaline

Main Theme from More

The Narrow Way

Grantchester Meadows

Biding My Time

The Embryo

Dramatic Theme from More

Mix that with the live album we got and you have one of the Floys best releases IMHO. I'm guessing that post Syd though the band needed money, it wasn't until Atom Heart Mother sold well that I think they were really masters of their own destiny.

You could actually argue the same for The Wall, its release was rushed and Waters given too much dominance because the band needed money for tax issues after their investments fell though.

Yer correct, that track listing would have made a fine album (though More is pretty damn good as it is). I think the Ummagumma live album should have been released on its own- no, it's no Live At Leeds, but it is a pretty good representation of the Floyd as a live band in that era.

I don't think Ummagumma came down to financial considerations, really; by all accounts it was an attempt to appease the individual band members (particularly Richard Wright) own sense of artistic expression...even that early on in their career there were already power struggles and battles of ego going on within the band that would of course explode by the time Animals and particularly The Wall came around. I believe the only reason The Wall was a Floyd album at all and not a Waters solo project as it rightfully should have been was due to finances and contractual obligations (as is the case with The Final Cut as well).

[kenog]

My all time double album is, of course, Physical Graffiti, not just because it is Zeppelin - it was outstanding at the time of its release, and has stood the test of time.

One live double album which has pride of place in my collection is Joni Mitchell's 'Miles of Aisles' which was recorded on the Court and Spark tour of 1974 with the LA Express. Nice to hear Joni talking to the audience and proving she has a sense of humour.

[Anjin-san]

My all time double album is, of course, Physical Graffiti, not just because it is Zeppelin - it was outstanding at the time of its release, and has stood the test of time.

One live double album which has pride of place in my collection is Joni Mitchell's 'Miles of Aisles' which was recorded on the Court and Spark tour of 1974 with the LA Express. Nice to hear Joni talking to the audience and proving she has a sense of humour.

[greenman]

Yer correct, that track listing would have made a fine album (though More is pretty damn good as it is). I think the Ummagumma live album should have been released on its own- no, it's no Live At Leeds, but it is a pretty good representation of the Floyd as a live band in that era.

I don't think Ummagumma came down to financial considerations, really; by all accounts it was an attempt to appease the individual band members (particularly Richard Wright) own sense of artistic expression...even that early on in their career there were already power struggles and battles of ego going on within the band that would of course explode by the time Animals and particularly The Wall came around. I believe the only reason The Wall was a Floyd album at all and not a Waters solo project as it rightfully should have been was due to finances and contractual obligations (as is the case with The Final Cut as well).

I'd rank Ummagumma more highly than that personally, I wouldn't say its the "ultimate early Floyd live album" as there are many great more "robust" shows featuring similar material in the 70-71 era, rather I'd say its a chance for the Floyd to effectively re record(its pretty overdub heavy) earlier material to a standard more inline with that we heard from their post 69.

To me the pattern seems to be pretty clear with the Floyd, most of the best material benefited from being tested out in concert first, both the Ummagumma studio recordings and The Wall are notable IMHO in that they didn't devolp this way.

I'd agree with your point about Wright, he did seem to be pushing for the band to move in a more "prog jazz/classical" direction in that era and I think the failiure of his solo piece helped keep them on the path of sticking to deconstructing rock instead.

[Nutrocker]

I'd rank Ummagumma more highly than that personally, I wouldn't say its the "ultimate early Floyd live album" as there are many great more "robust" shows featuring similar material in the 70-71 era, rather I'd say its a chance for the Floyd to effectively re record(its pretty overdub heavy)

I'm not sure if you've heard the actual soundboard recordings for the Ummagumma shows, Greenman, but there actually aren't many overdubs to be had, especially compared to 99% of official live albums that were effectively re-recorded in the studio...if anything there seems to be more editing than anything else on the official Ummagumma tracks.

[greenman]

I'm not sure if you've heard the actual soundboard recordings for the Ummagumma shows, Greenman, but there actually aren't many overdubs to be had, especially compared to 99% of official live albums that were effectively re-recorded in the studio...if anything there seems to be more editing than anything else on the official Ummagumma tracks.

I have, there seem to be quite a few vocal overdubs to me and perhaps some keyboard/organ work as well. Its really more the result I'm talking about though, the versions of Ummagumma seem pretty close to what I can imagine the Floyd re-recording in the studio circa late 69/70. I think there are better performances of all the tracks out there but they tend to be more obviously "live" in the level of energy displayed.