DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Dark Side of the Moon needs no introduction. It is one of the most popular albums of all time, and without a doubt the most popular progressive rock album ever. Why is it so and what is that magical formula? Though not my favorite Pink Floyd album, it certainly is up there somewhere, and it holds quite a lot gem tracks, and one of my personal favorites from the band, which is Time.

The album has another genius Roger Waters concept, revolving all about things that will help you on your way to madness, opening and closing album with heartbeats, in a circular fashion (some more of this can be found on The Wall, where the opening track begins with a question ... we came in? while the last track features Isn't this where...). Lyrics are well thought out, somehow simple but very effective, like it is expected from Mr Waters. Dark Side of the Moon is very melancholic and in some cases (it depends on listener's mood) depressing, thanks to the instrumental and lyrical fusion it creates. About Roger's bass I have nothing to say, because he has never been an excellent bassist, but rather a lyricist and singer who plays bass because everyone else in the band has their hands full (on a several occasions, like on The Wall's Hey You, David actually plays bass, and also Richard Wright used to tune Roger's bass sometimes). There is, however, a catchy bass riff in Money (one of the most well-known bass riffs) which is is 7/4. Roger also contributed vocals on Brain Damage and Eclipse.

David Gilmour's playing is surely one of the highlights of the album, especially those emotionally infused solos in Time and Money (the one in Time might as well be one of my favorite guitar solos). Apart from guitar work, David does vocals on most of the tracks, and he does them well, fitting the style of the album perfectly. It's a shame that, on the albums that followed, Gilmour's vocals seem to be less and less present (not to say Roger's voice is better, but some balance should have been found.

Richard Wright, on keyboards, gives, as always, excellent sound and amazing contributions. His style of playing is not as bombastic as Emerson's (for example) is, but rather mellow and atmospheric. Of everything he did on this album, The Great Gig in the Sky stands out the most as a beautiful piece of music. The Great Gig in the Sky is a piano and voice driven track. Piano is very beautiful and fits Richard's playing, while Clare Torry delivers magical vocals. There are no lyrics here, not at all, but Clare rather screams, revealing the story of the song, about dying, and she does it beautifully.

Nick Mason's drumming was never the thing that dragged someone into the band, but it always did the trick. Mason let other members have their moments, while sitting back and drumming steadily. Drum part that I particularly like is the section before the vocals kick in on Time. Great.

The most important non-Floyd musicians here are above mentioned Clare Torry, and Dick Parry, the saxophonist. His main contributions are fantastic solos on Money and Us and Them, where I prefer the latter. I may say that, in my eyes, saxophone turned this album from excellent to legendary.

If Dark Side has any weaknesses, those are instrumental tracks, On the Run and Any Colour You Like. They just don't seem to keep up with the other tracks. All in all, this is one of the most important and popular albums ever, and rightfully so; it deserves no less than 5 stars.