THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON REDUX

This is a nice afterthought to one of the greatest albums of all time. It is not meant to replace it, and a lot of the negativity towards it stems from the idea that it somehow takes away from the original (which it does not) or from a dislike of Roger Waters due to his political views. Well, the lyrics on DSOTM are clearly his idea, the criticism of society is as present on the original recording as it is here, where RW adds spoken word passages that intensify the message, but really do not alter its essence.

Thanks Roger for having made Pink Floyd the exceptional band that it was. Ultimate greatness was achieved through the collaboration of all the members, but his songwriting and the cynical lyrics were the backbone of the major PF masterpieces.

Track Comments:

3. On the Run: Interesting and quite innovative solution of "reducing" the track (no spoilers).

5. Great Gig in the Sky: Surprisingly good, given the irreplacable nature of the original vocals by Clare Torry.

6. Money: Here the added spoken word passages are perhaps most annoying (unless you really like them). And sadly the saxophone solo from the original is completely absent - it would have been nice if at least some traces of it were left.

Originally published at awesomeprog.com

After the tortuous recording process of "The Final Cut", Roger Waters unilaterally decreed the end of Pink Floyd, claiming that they had no more to offer and that the music was part of the past, from which he wanted to move on. Not to mention his open contempt for his former bandmates.

But given the discreet results of his solo works (except for the very interesting "Amused to Death" and some sparks of "Is This the Life We Really Want?"), it seems that Waters came to his senses and retraced his steps, and for a little less than 20 years he has dedicated himself to orbiting endlessly over the same works that supposedly no longer stimulated him, to define it in some way.

I love Pink Floyd's music, especially in Waters' time, he is undoubtedly one of the great characters of the progressive genre and rock in general while he was part of the band, I have been lucky enough to attend and enjoy some of his commemorative shows in recent times.

But beyond that, the way he has found to keep himself relevant, almost desperately, has led him down a thorny path that, with this "Redux" of the legendary "The Dark Side of the Moon", closer to a common scratchy chill out recreation, does not honour the original album and I personally consider it blurs him.

Unnecessary.

1.5/2 stars

Ponderous. Oh so ponderous! Roger Waters's new fangled version of the legendary and massively selling Dark Side of the Moon is intended to be a reflection on old age, dovetailing with those themes of time and mortality that were cornerstones of the lyrics. It's interesting that while he hasn't tried to claim that this is any sort of replacement for the original - a record he still professes to love - he has tried to claim that this makes the rerecording more "indicative" of the concepts behind it, which I'd say is a far more loaded statement. DSOTM has more to its theming than death and dying, of course. It more holistically represents the challenges of life, speaking on stress, anxiety, the rat race, greed, conflict, division, and madness. The LP came from a young band and road crew who were on the rise, ambitious, familiar with the drudgery of touring and recording, and haunted by the sort of spectre of the lost Syd Barrett. It was a collective effort within and beyond the group and is suffused with an at once youthful yet fairly wise perspective. Waters is not only flying solo in one of the truest senses but is laser focused on elements of the record that naturally speak more to him at his age and after the many losses he has since experienced, which are parts of a whole and while he brings some powerful perspectives to them he fails to add to anything else, for better or (more likely) for worse. The redux also feels tired and burdened, which proves to be a double edged sword, appropriate yet taxing.

There's nothing to say about the lyrics that haven't already been said since they are exactly the same. Can't blame Waters for doing so. What's important are how they are sung and his spoken word monologues that replace the original's interviews. His singing is mostly monotonous, which is mostly an issue, failing to bring the full weight of his age to the lyricism and leaving the redux well short of the power of the original. It's the heart of the chronic fatigue of the new recording, whose whispered tones are more concrete shoes than representations of the ravages of time. The spoken word portions, on the other hand, have some promise. Certainly the most arresting part of the rerecording is "The Great Gig In The Sky" wherein Waters describes the passing of a close friend. I also came to love the spoken version of "Free Four"'s lyrics on "Speak To Me", which have evolved from some of Waters's finest and most portentous early lyrics into elderly words of wisdom. The rest of the spoken sections, however, are about as dull as the singing. There aren't sageful pearls to be found elsewhere, just some of his more half-witted and (I have to say it) pretentious sides.

Most of the music also suffers from a deep lethargy. It's quite slow and heavily understated, mainly in ways that are boring and go beyond representations of age into meaningless muzak. While "The Great Gig In The Sky" can be more than forgiven for being so musically empty as it gives space to Waters's remembrance of his late mate, the same can't be said for the majority of the album. "Time" in particular suffers from this and by comparison not only to the original but especially to Stardeath and White Dwarfs's version from their DSOTM cover LP with The Flaming Lips. Stardeath's take is similarly slow and calm, but finds unique beauty and tranquility in it in intentional counterpoint to the harried lyrics, while Waters's solo version here is empty of all power, irony, reflection, and anything else. While Stardeath's cover arguably needed an appropriate replacement for David Gilmour's guitar solo - their take just didn't have a break - this version suffers far worse for having one. At least there are some rays of instrumental hope here, however, with "Speak To Me", "Breathe", "On The Run", and "Any Colour You Like" all benefitting from some fairly unique instrumentals that don't variate from the pace of the redux but do give you *something* to listen to. Those cuts are okay.

Listening to this rerecording front to back starts you off with some good music and hope for the project but ends up sputtering out into a void. I enjoyed parts of it but I can't in good conscience recommend it outside of those few aforementioned highlights. Waters clearly came into this with some good intentions but failed in fulfilling them in their entirety, showing that for all his talent and experience he is flawed and likely weighed down by his long running biases.

OK, I didn't resist. I have grabbed a copy and listened to it few times. Probably more than needed. The lyrics of Free Four speeched during Speak To Me and the beginning of Breathe are, I think, the only relevant addition. Not that I like it, really. Free Four was a sort of a joke on Obscured By Clouds: very dark and depressing lyrics about Death on a funny and quite solar base. The same lyrics on Speak To Me have a very different flavor.

But It's quite important as that song was likely the seed of the idea from which the whole DSOTM has come from. Said so, it seems that Roger has done his best to replace Dave's guitar with everything possible as he has done previously with the rework of Comfortably Numb.

Anyway, as always, The Dark Side Of The Moon is so stuck into the minds of the aged listeners like I am, that every cover or rework is never too bad. I like the Easy-Star All Stars reggae version and I have loved the Green Side of The Moon by Greenwall, so if we treat this Redux as just another cover, it's fine.

This is the reason why I think that Free Four on the opening is the only relevant thing: it has a historical value and with this inclusion, Waters seems to admit it. For the rest, well, you can like it or not. Surely it's not an essential album. Just a must-have for hard fans (like me).