THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Pink Floyd had started to record The Dark Side of the Moon in mid-1972, and they released it in March 1973. To say this album was a commercial hit would be a gross understatement. It spent seven years on the British charts (despite never hitting number one) and twice as long on the American charts. Depending on the source of the numbers, Dark Side is somewhere between the twelfth- and fourth-best-selling record of all time.

It's not difficult to see why this record was such an immense hit. Every little aspect of this record works in perfect harmony with everything else. The songs are smooth yet powerful, and the frequent integration of jazz and soul influences are seamless and sublime. This album is right up there with Revolver and Thick as a Brick as contenders for my personal favorite album of all time. I find no flaws in this release.

The Dark Side of the Moon also represented the beginning of Roger Waters's increasing domination of Pink Floyd's songwriting. The overarching concept of Dark Side was his idea, and he penned all the lyrics, though the music remained a group effort.

The brief instrumental "Speak to Me" opens Dark Side with a gradually-building collage of sound effects and voice recordings over an insistent rhythm reminiscent of a heartbeat. This resolves in a soulful scream and a segue into the mellow, flowing "Breathe". "On the Run" follows. It's a nervous instrumental which highlights the looping sequences of the VCS 3 synthesizer.

"Time" is one of Pink Floyd's best-known songs for good reason. The opening cacophony of clocks and ensuing slow build to the verse are perfect. The verses have a biting, bitter edge to them, and Rick Wright's soothing vocals contrast to Gilmour's harsher tones. This song's guitar solo is yet another of David Gilmour's many highlights, and the reincorporation of the theme from "Breathe" is nothing short of masterful.

"The Great Gig in the Sky" closes out Side 1. Richard Wright's jazzy piano chords and swirling organ provide the instrumental backbone of this track. The true star, though, are the magnificent, wordless vocals provided by Clare Torry. Her wailing is at once soulful and sorrowful. They are some of the most evocative vocals in all of rock music, and this is accomplished with zero actual words.

Torry was initially paid £30 for her contributions (approximately £400/$500 in 2021 money), but she sued for co-authorship credits in 2004. The case was eventually settled out of court, but all pressings of the album since 2005 have listed "The Great Gig in the Sky" as a Wright/Torry co-composition.

Following the one gap in the music on Dark Side, "Money" opens up side two. Likely the best-known song written 7/4 time, this track has a strong blues backbone. The twangy bass, bright electric piano, and striking sax solo all add to this track's character. Gilmour's guitar solo is played in the more-straightforward 4/4 time signature, imbuing this section with a more driving, hard-rocking feel. (Gilmour self-deprecatingly jokes that Waters had to "dumb down" the time signature to something easier for him.)

"Us and Them" is a slow-moving, jazzy cut. It's too densely layered to be described as "airy," but that descriptor isn't far off. The chorus is immensely dramatic and dark in sharp opposition to the light verses. The segue into "Any Colour You Like"?a criminally underrated instrumental?is sudden but welcome. Rick Wright's many layers of delayed synthesizers glimmer and slither over a funky backing beat. All the while, Gilmour's guitar is somehow both watery and sharp.

The closing "Brain Damage/Eclipse" is six of the strongest minutes in the history of rock music. The guitar in "Brain Damage" is slightly askew, and the gently-uttered lyrics are brilliant. "Eclipse" takes the slightly-off, dreamlike atmosphere of the preceding song and explodes into impactful, tumbling, eruptive climax.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2021/03/01/deep-dive-pink-floyd/