The Two Soundtracks That Divided Critics But Found Second Lives

Film critics mostly ignored More (1969) as a movie—it was a low-budget psychedelic drama that barely registered. Music critics, however, noted that the soundtrack was a departure from the space-rock of A Saucerful of Secrets, leaning into acoustic textures and experimental snippets. Zabriskie Point (1970) got more attention on both sides: Michelangelo Antonioni’s film was a mess to most reviewers, but the Floyd’s contributions—only three full tracks made the cut—were praised for their atmospheric sense of place.

Decades later, both soundtracks have been rediscovered as crucial transitional works. More contains early versions of what would become Atom Heart Mother’s pastoral side, while Zabriskie Point’s unused material later surfaced on The Dark Side of the Moon sessions (e.g., “Us and Them” started life as “The Violent Sequence”). Now fans and critics rank them among the band’s most experimental and underrated releases.