THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

I think it's really hard to say that this album is non essential. If someone has, then I have yet to see it. To add, there is not a single album that ages as well as this. Sure, Wish You Were Here is definitely something, but this album is a perfect mix of what everybody wants: road trip, hiking, sleep, rainy days inside, even sitting on a bench contemplating the clouds. All of these thinks can be narrated by Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. There are very few albums that can live up to this albums gravitational pull. It was popular back in '73, and it still is today.

I've had this album for awhile now. In fact, it was one of my earliest purchases to my collection. I had obviously heard of it prior, and I had even sampled the album before and heard songs on the radio dozens of times. Even though I wasn't one that listened to it constantly, I did find the album highly enjoyable. In fact, it was right next to Gentle Giant's In A Glass House (which happens to be my second favorite prog record of all time) in my list of wonderful masterpieces. (Coincidentally, these two albums were released in the exact same year.) This was also before I listened to Animals , and it had been a very long time since I had heard anything from Wish You Were Here. So this was one of my absolute favorite albums at the time. I am wholeheartedly ready to review it with full gusto.

The album has some great rocking tracks, especially the huge hit of 'Time'. In fact, for awhile, it was my favorite Pink Floyd song. It includes a reprise of the opening song 'Breathe (In The Air)', which is pretty neat because the original song was a little too short-lived. 'On the Run' is a cool, tech-based instrumental, but I would suggest that you listen to this while you're exercising or something along those lines, because you won't be prepared for airplane crashes while you're taking a snooze. 'Money' is a funky hard rock jam that opens up with what you'd expect: money. It's pretty commercial, but I suppose it's just the same amount as 'Time', maybe even less. 'Great Gig In The Sky' never got me. I always thought the whole soul edge put on the great Pink Floyd sounded terrible, like experimentation gone wrong. I know a lot of people love it, but I just don't. 'Us and Them' is perhaps Wrights greatest achievement of all time. It is just a simply wonderful, flowing epic. 'Any Colour You Like' is a pretty neat instrumental, although it never really got me very much. The outro song(s), 'Brain Damage' and 'Eclipse' both follow along the same sound, but are both really good. The former is a great outro, and 'Eclipse' sort of is just an extended ending of it.

It's a pretty great album, obviously essential. If you haven't heard it already and you're reading my review, you better hurry it up and listen to it tenfold, because this progressive rock masterpiece is something not to miss.

Go give it a listen.