Arguably the first album where the previously emergent greatness of PINK FLOYD became apparent and probably their last platter to feature vestiges of the ensemble’s intrepid experimentation, “Atom Heart Mother” has long been overdue for a proper reissue – and it’s finally scheduled for a deluxe edition. However, what will be out on December 8th is to differ from earlier box sets, as there are only two discs: CD and Blu-ray.
Atom Heart Mother:
Special Edition
The aural part doesn’t hold a lot of surprises, as it’s comprised solely of a freshly remastered record per se, and runs as follows:
CD:
1. Atom Heart Mother:
a) Father’s Shout
b) Breast Milky
c) Mother Fore
d) Funky Dung
e) Mind Your Throats Please
f) Remergence
2. If
3. Summer ’68
4. Fat Old Sun
5. Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast:
a) Rise And Shine
b) Sunny Side Up
c) Morning Glory
Yet the visual part is what makes this release truly special – and explains the packaging’s Japanese style. Indeed, this version of the album saw the light of day in Nippon back in 2021 – because there’s unique footage of the British band’s first concert in the Land of the Rising Sun, performed at the Hakone Aphrodite festival that took place near Lake Ashinoko in Kanagawa Prefecture on August 6th and 7th, 1971.
Atom Heart Mother:
Special Edition
Still, the only video which stood the test of time – and it’s provenance remains unknown, with the original 16mm film was discovered in a fan’s garage decades later – is the 16-minute-long “Atom Heart Mother” suite that underwent digital restoration and augmented with the audio recorded there and then – available before in “The Early Years” collection. There’s also a behind-the-scenes clip, capturing the festival headliners on the road, added to the disc.
Blu-ray:
* Atom Heart Mother (live 1971)
* Scott & Watts (documentary clip)
And, of course, the box set has usual paraphernalia in it: the replicas of Hakone Aphrodite pamphlet and ticket, as wekk as those of venue map flyer and Osaka show poster, as well as a 60-page photo book with unseen photos. All of these are inessential – unlike the album which, strangely, wasn’t remixed for surround sound to render Blu-ray truly important.
