THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Well, there's nothing that I can say that already hasn't been said. Dark Side of the Moon is a masterpiece, in my opinion, Pink Floyd's greatest album, and probably in the top 5 of greatest albums of all-time, not just prog albums. Dark Side of the Moon was that long-awaited trans-Atlantic success from the Floyd. While they had been big in the U.K. for quite some time, they hadn't made it in the U.S., but Dark Side would change all that. The international success of Dark Side would change the band's fortunes forever, as well as each of the band member's, for better or for worse. Was Dark Side of the Moon the album that started sending Roger Waters on his ego-trip that would eventually destroy the band? We can't tell. For the time being, Pink Floyd was still a "group", with each member contributing to the album's sound, a true collaborative effort that each member could be extremely proud of.

Dark Side contains a handful of Pink Floyd's best compositions, some fantastic sax playing and backing vocals, and is held together by random clips of laughing and talking, as well as a few screams. Dark Side was a concept album which explored different aspects of human life and psyche, and as the album nears its end, it delves deeper and deeper into mental deterioration, a common theme among later Roger Waters compositions. Dark Side is probably the first album in which David Gilmour gets to showcase his fantastic guitar-playing chops, as he reels off several extended standout solos on tacks such as "Time" and "Money". Richard Wright also gets his fair share of time to shine, with fantastic organ playing on many of the tracks, most notably "Breathe", "Any Colour You Like" and "Eclipse". Perhaps the most unsung heros on Dark Side, however, are the guest musicians. Doris Troy, Lesley Duncan and Liza Strike deliver fantastic backing vocals on most of the tracks; Clare Torry delivers a stunning performance on "The Great Gig in the Sky", a title in which she gained a rightly-deserved songwriting credit more than thirty years after the album was released. In my opinion though, the best performance on the album is that from guest sax player Dick Parry, who delivers absolutely showstopping performances on both "Money" and "Us and Them". After the success of those two brilliant tracks, I wonder if Pink Floyd had thoughts about having Mr. Parry on full-time with the group.

Dark Side of the Moon is one of the most brilliant albums of all-time, that rare album where all of a group's ambitions and goals are met on a single record. Dark Side introduced the world to what would become Pink Floyd's most well-known and recognizable songs, including "Breathe", "Time", "Money", "Us and Them", "Brain Damage" and "Eclipse". The massive international success of Dark Side would leave a bad taste in the mouth of the band however, who now could never comfortably record an album again without heaps of unrealistic expectations laid upon their backs. This sudden rise to superstardom would affect Roger Waters the most, as his lyrics would grow increasingly dark and pointed at the recording industry (on "Wish You Were Here"), at the capitalist economic machine which now dictated their agendas (on "Animals"), at the emptiness of fame and excess (on "The Wall"), and the disillusionment of war (on "The Final Cut"). Dark Side would also mark the point where the band would start to splinter as Roger Waters grew more and more absorbed in himself and alienated from the rest of the band. Dark Side of the Moon would change the lives of all involved, for better or worse. In closing, I find it most appropriate to quote the final line uttered at the end of "Eclipse": "There is no dark side of the moon really. It's all dark."