Very cool compilation.....thanks!!!



No to defend my boy, Nick Mason!!! I think the first half of the first song (Astronomy Domine) on the first Pink Floyd album is more than enough to prove wrong that he is a bad drummer.....let alone the worst drummer ever! Sure, he doesn't have anything on Keith Moon, John Bonham, Ginger Baker etc., but his classic tom fills (dat, boom, dat, boom, boom-boom, boom-boom....you know the ones!) are great. He is much more concerned with playing trance like (and at times borderline tribal....like on Set The Controls For the Heart of the Sun) rhythmns on the skins than filling up space with a bunch of cymbals....which I love. Much of the time Nick is just keeping the light "dream like" pulse of their songs....it's not like Pink Floyd (as a whole) really rock. He did his job! His fills which might come off as "repetitive" (like on the first track of Atom Heart) work well with creating the overall ambiance/pulse of the song.....plus said fills are actually not bad at all. Finally, their music is a bit different to most "rock bands" that would warrant a more blatantly awesome drummer.


It's funny how Blatherskite mentioned how Live at Pompeii as a reference to Nick's crappy playing......I was going to suggest watching it to check out his awesomeness:D. Maybe give it another try.....I might be a bit partial though as a drummer and by how much his playing has influenced me over the years. Also, Atom Heart is prob. the worst album to look at Nick's drumming on....it's mostly just weird sound collages or slow quite dreamy songs where an abundance of drums would really fuck up the song. Quite a few Floyd songs don't have much drums on it or the rythmns are very quiet/dream like, but that's because they are what fit the song. I don't think that should take away from his drumming on other songs (with more obvious skillfull playing)which are actually really great. It's not like he just played the same 1-2-1-2-1-2 Chuck Berry beat (which rules and is the foundation of not only rock drumming, but the pulse of rock music really) on those Floyd songs.



.....which leads us nicely to RINGO!!! Again, sure he didn't really do anything to really blow anybody away, but how he played fit The Beatles music perfectly. Having a Keith Moon type (or any like drummer that displays more "technical/difficult" skills) drummer in The Beatles just wouldn't work......especially post-Help era Beatles. I mean, would we say that Charlie Watts was a bad drummer? Hell no!!! We also need to remember that drummers like Ringo and Charlie Watts were some of the o.g.'s of what we consider to be modern rock drumming. Their styles (which were quite a bit more heavier and "erratic" on the floor toms and cymbals than the drumming on "Chuck Berry era rock n' roll") were really expanded by the next influx of drummers/bands.....the music got heavier and the drums got more complex.


That said, I'm pretty sure that John said, "Pete Best was a better drummer, but Ringo was a better Beatle."

Thanks. Anyone interested in a "Stairway to Heaven" compilation?

I do believe he's not playing drums on Mother, from the Wall, as well because of the rythm.

On the other hand I agree that his more "tribal" beats are a better indication of his abilities - like some of the stuff on the More soundtrack such as Up the Khyber, among others. But again, it's all in 4/4

great. i love piper, fantastic album and in fact the only flod album i own or care to own. interstellar is a fantastic journey!!! nice one atari!

absolutely amazing expamsion of an already expanded tune... this vies for the best atari comp so far.... the goo picks included!!!!!! excellent work again, cant believe so few are grabbing this.....

A "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun" compilation would be much appreciated, if you're looking for requests.

man im awaiting ataris ultimate beatles compilation!!!!!

http://www.uncut.co.uk/news/syd_barrett/news/9748
A rare Pink Floyd promo video for "Jughead Blues" is to be screened on TV for the first time, as part of a new BBC documentary series "The Seven Ages Of Rock."

The promo video was made by the Central Office of Information (COI) primarily for North American, Canadian and Australian television and is made up of small shorts including talking computors and see-through teapots.

"Jughead Blues" was the final video that Syd Barrett was included in before he was replaced by Roger Waters.

The new series will also feature a multitude of rare and never-seen-before film footage, including the first known broadcast of an alternate promo for the Floyd single "Arnold Layne" as well as home-made film footage of the band in 1967.

Previously unknown to Pink Floyd collectors, there is also a clip of the first film in colour of the band with David Gilmour.

The Floyd material will be part of episode two, a special on art rock - entitled "Between Rock And An Art Place."

Other rarities that "The Seven Ages Of Rock" have unearthed include a first broadcast of the Velvet Underground performing at the Annual Dinner of the New York Society for Clinical Psychiatry on January 13, 1966.

There will also be swathes of never-seen-before clips of David Bowie, including his show at the Rainbow Theatre on August 19 1972 and a perfomance of "Space Oddity" at the Ivor Novello Awards in May 1970. Both are being broadcast for the first time.

You can watch "The Seven Ages Of Rock" from Saturday May 19 on BBC2 at 9pm.

Cool. You guys are getting a good doc series...I wonder if I'll be able to download or watch it somewhere or if it will run on bbc america later.
(i'm sure they meant dave gilmour and not waters).

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There was an interesting article about his life in Cambridge post-Pink Floyd on the uncut magazine, last year. Atari, you must get the book 'Songs They Never Play On The Radio' about Nico. It's a must-read book.