THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

One of the most famous albums of all time, and my first Floyd. Dark Side earns its 5-stars because of the beautiful and seamless way the songs ajoin one another. But if we rate the songs individually, they are not all masterpieces:

Speak To Me/Breathe - 7

A fascinating beginning: atmospheric heart-beat drives a valley of different sounds, voices and samples before crescending into the beginning of a song. Breathe isn't that amazing as a song on its own but as an opener, it is perfectly judged.

On The Run - 9

I remember very well the first time I heard this, my ears were agog: I knew as I sinked into that hi-hat sound, that speeded-up arpeggiated synth loop, the running man, the announcer, the aaaahs, the filter sweeps....I knew this signified a defining moment for me and my love of music...confirmed by a later obsession with lock techno and darkpsy music.

Time - 7

A brilliant first couple of minutes: the shock of the alarm clocks still make me jump even after 13 years of knowing they are imminent. We also have a well-played conga drum playing over tidy red rhythms before Time starts proper. And when it does start proper, it reveals itself to be quite the chugger: I don't get too excited by it and for me it lacks those moments where music is so powerful it controls you.

The Great Gig In The Sky - 10

Now this one has those moments! In fact, the entire 5 minutes is a moment of complete surrender to the music: iconic piano plays with the most spectacular oral orgasm anyone has ever heard.

Money - 10

And another! Pink Floyd's danciest song, again with an iconic beginning: this time with cash till register sounds looped into a funky rhythm...but Money just gets better & better, culminating into an all-out party...wonderful.

Us & Them - 7

After the absolute cream of what went before, the album tails off a mite. Us & Them is full of aural dramatics but the backing vocals and sax play used appear textbook, rather than magic. The song is simply a little boring.

Any Colour You Like - 9

This is the Pink Floyd Sound I wish there was more of: futuristic and funky space jams with gorgeously fat keyboarding and complementing guitar. This piece is too short but is packed with all the colours of the rainbow.

Brain Damage - 7

The maniacal laugh from the opener returns...Brain Damage is short and infectious but doesn't really ever let you get into it.

Eclipse - 6

Another very short song...and the album ends. This is possibly the weakest song here: like Us & Them, it seems to pull musical feeling out of a textbook.

---

Dark Side Of The Moon ends fairly unspectacularly (although it thinks it it ends perfectly). Time with Us & Them can wear a little. But as a whole the expererience of this album is incomparable. It must also be up there as one of the best-produced albums of all time.

Pink Floyd are my favourite band, and Dark Side rates in at number 4 in my top albums from them.