If there's a single source that one could point to as the origin of cosmic Krautrock, I think Ummagumma may very well be that album. Along with their Dutch counterparts Group 1850 - and a shoutout to Frank Zappa's Hot Rats - you can hear the sounds that Germany took and ran with in their earliest days, especially the bands circling the Ohr label. Depending on one's view, Ummagumma is a live album with bonus tracks - or one cohesive album with a completely different focus for each disc. I think it's best to take the former approach, and it's the live album that is significant here.
There are very few albums that possess two bona fide monster tracks, but here we have what I consider the definitive versions of both 'Careful With That Axe, Eugene' and 'Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun'. The former is a textbook example of how to build a solemn mood and then absolutely destroy it with one of the most intense climaxes in history. 'Set the Controls...' is about as trippy a number as you can find on any album, anywhere. If Pink Floyd were some obscure group that few had heard about, and these numbers were played back for the first time, it would be a natural reaction to think it was German made. 'Saucerful of Secrets' is no different from an atmosphere perspective, and in fact one could point to none other than Ash Ra Tempel's Schwingungen side longer as but one follower. The opening track is 'Astronomy Domine', the Syd Barrett composition that makes one wonder what direction would have the Floyd gone with him still at the helm.
The other album could best be described as "guys dickin' around in the studio". Which is not to say the album is worthless, as there's some good moments to be found from all 4. They would have been better served to distill the best parts (if they would even know what those were) and disperse it evenly around the album. Similar to what Yes did on Fragile a few years later. Because it's separate like this, and the very nature of the type of music being presented, this is why I think it's best to view them as bonus material versus a part of the main album. Otherwise my score would be lower in aggregate.
Ownership: CD: 1986 EMI/Harvest (Germany). Fatbox original 2xCD pressing. One of the first LPs I replaced with a CD, and even today, that decision makes total sense to me. Some albums were meant to be on CD, and this is one of them. The LP that I first purchased was the commodity release that I first bought around 1985 or so. The music didn't really click with me until I heard my cassette dub over and over in the car. Hence it's allure for me to own in this format once I had a car with a CD player (1991). Otherwise it's just a basic reissue, but it will likely remain my primary copy. Looks like my copy doesn't have photos on Discogs (though the entry is there). Similar to this one except Disc 1 has Gema in the box and it doesn't have the words Digital Mastering.
LP: 197? Harvest (USA). 2xLP gatefold. Picked this up at a garage sale in 2019 for $2. Hadn't had on vinyl in almost 30 years. Always fun to find albums like this in the wilds. And it is a favorite album, so I probably will keep it, though I prefer the CD in this case.
8/7/22 (new entry)
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