Finally we’re getting into the ones I mostly have positive stuff to say about.

A lot of Floyd fans don’t really like Ummagumma. The band themself don’t really seem to like it much, no tracks from it appear on subsequent best-of compilations, although a few years ago the peaceful pastoral track “Grantchester Meadows”, which spoiler alert is the highlight this time out, got a release as a single and did alright for itself. Like most of the records from the latter part of the wilderness era, the studio disc contains a solo composition from each member to create something uniquely them with the rest of the band’s support (“Grantchester” is one of two contributions by Roger Waters.) Look closely at the Droste effect on the album cover, in each iteration the band members have swapped places with one another!

This one’s another double LP, with disc 1 consisting of a live set. While the second, studio-recorded disc is often underappreciated, the live disc has a pretty good reputation among serious Floyd fans as one of their better live albums, and certainly for many years the only one that featured them playing any of their earlier material. It’s good enough that even if you don’t care for the second disc this ones worth a listen.