by Pink Floyd
1969, Capitol Records

the sounds: Despite giant leaps in sonic technology, few recorded sounds have approached the terrible eeriness of Roger Waters shrieking psychotically during a live cut of “Careful With That Axe Eugene.” It comes as a bit of a shock, arriving after the bassist ominously whispers the song’s title. Like the rest of the double album’s live disc, the song establishes a gloomy atmospheric mood that presaged the goth craze by decades. “Astronomy Domine,” “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun” and “A Saucerful of Secrets” are equally sinister and darkly psychedelic. The studio disc of “Ummagumma” includes elaborate instrumental experimentations, with guitarist David Gilmour, drummer Nick Mason and keyboardist Richard Wright each retreating into their introspective musical laboratories. One of the album’s highlights is the laboriously titled “Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict,” a frenzied collage of small mammal noises sounding at times like a children’s cartoon in fast-forward. It also features Waters orating in a thickly exaggerated Scottish brogue. Highly recommended for early dabblings with cannabis.

the background: The CD of “Ummagumma” is divided into two discs, the first including four live songs recorded in 1969 and the second consisting of four studio compositions divided into 12 tracks. Each band member wrote a lengthy solo piece for the studio disc, creating a series of individualistic efforts. Wright composed the four-part “Sysyphus,” while Waters wrote “Grantchester Meadows” and “Small Furry Animals.” Gilmour contributed the three-part “The Narrow Way” and Mason pitched in the three-act “The Grand Vizier’s Garden Party.” By the time the album was released in the U.K., Pink Floyd was already a British sensation, although much bigger fame would come. But “Ummagumma” was a debut of sorts for the group’s core foursome, and although the album achieved modest popularity, it would not produce any of their lasting radio hits.

the significance: Floyd’s sound was initially fueled by the esoteric songwriting of rhythm guitarist and singer Syd Barrett. But he only worked directly on the band’s first two records, “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” and “A Saucerful of Secrets.” As Barrett’s mental health declined, he left Waters, Mason, Gilmour and Wright to forge ahead without him. That lineup would prevail throughout the next 15-plus years, constituting Floyd’s most celebrated achievements, like “Dark Side of the Moon,” “Wish You Were Here” and “The Wall.” “Ummagumma” represents the band’s first studio project without Barrett’s madcap touch, and although the founder’s influential presence can still be felt, the album finds Floyd evolving in a new direction. It would also include the group’s first commercially available live recordings, demonstrating the brooding intensity of their pre-“Dark Side” concerts. Hacking a path for the British progressive rock pioneers that followed, Floyd flashed its experimental genius with this late ’60s recording.