[4] The first disc consists of live recordings from concerts at Mothers Club in Birmingham and the College of Commerce in Manchester that contained part of their normal set list of the time, while the second contains solo compositions by each member of the band recorded at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios).

[5][6] The artwork was designed by regular Pink Floyd collaborators Hipgnosis and features a number of pictures of the band combined to give a Droste effect.

Although Ummagumma was well received at the time of release, and was a top-five hit in the UK album charts, it has since been looked upon unfavourably by critics and by the band, who have expressed lukewarm opinions about it in interviews.

The album's title supposedly comes from Cambridge slang for sex,[7][3] commonly used by Pink Floyd friend and occasional roadie Iain "Emo" Moore, who would say, "I'm going back to the house for some ummagumma".

[11] Wright's contribution, "Sysyphus", was named after a character in Greek mythology, usually spelled "Sisyphus",[15] and contained a combination of various keyboards, including piano and mellotron.

[17][13] His other track, "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict", contained a variety of vocal and percussion effects treated at various speeds, both forwards and backwards, and was influenced by Ron Geesin,[18] who would later collaborate with both Waters and Pink Floyd.

[13] Gilmour has since stated he was apprehensive about creating a solo work, and admits he "went into a studio and started waffling about, tacking bits and pieces together",[19] although part one of "The Narrow Way" had already been performed as "Baby Blue Shuffle in D Major" in a BBC radio session in December 1968.

[13] Mason's three-part "The Grand Vizier's Garden Party" featured his then wife, Lindy, playing uncredited flute on the first and third parts.

The British version has the Gigi soundtrack album leaning against the wall immediately above the "Pink Floyd" letters.

[12] Storm Thorgerson explained that the album was introduced as a red herring to provoke debate, and that it has no intended meaning.

This concept was proposed by Mason, with the intention of replicating the "exploded" drawings of military aircraft and their payloads, which were popular at the time.

[30] In 2009, to mark the 40th anniversary of the album's release, Thorgerson sold a limited number of autographed lithographs of the front cover.

[38] In his review for the Pink Floyd album Atom Heart Mother, Robert Christgau suggested that Ummagumma's "hypnotic melodies" made it "an admirable record to fall asleep to".

However, he praised both of Waters's solo contributions and the editing and splicing techniques used on "The Grand Vizier's Tea Party".

But I still feel really that that's quite a good example of the sum being greater than the parts ..."[48] Later, he described it as "a failed experiment", adding that "the most significant thing is that we didn't do it again".