THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Review #28. It was the March of 1973. A record with no information on the cover was placed on the record shops shelves, which was meant to be one of the most popular and successful Rock albums of all times! It was the Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd.

Entering the 70's, Pink Floyd decided to leave behind their psychedelic period, in order to follow a more Progressive "path". This "path" begun with the album 'Atom heart Mother', followed by 'Meddle'; but the real turning point in their career was 'the Dark Side of the Moon'.

The album was produced by Alan Parson (who later formed The Alan Parson's Project). The latest technological equipment of the time was used for the recordings, mixed with some really brilliant ideas; having as a result this fantastic album. The Dark Side of the moon is considered as a concept album, having as main themes the people's greed, the passage of time and mental illnesses; as a tribute to Syd Barret's mental state.

The album became a huge success immediately, and still holds an unbelievable record. It remained in the Billboard Top 100 LP chart for 741 weeks! That means from 1973 until 1988, longer than any other album in history of music. With sales over 50.000.000 pieces, is one of the most successful albums in the history of music.

Two 'hit' songs came out of this album; Time and Money. But further than those two songs, the whole album is filled with beautiful melodies, (the Great gig in the Sky, Us and Them), while in other parts the band members are obviously experimenting with the abilities of the synthesizers and consoles they had in the studio. (On the Run).

It is interesting to mention that Pink Floyd used to play whole parts of the - unknown then - Dark Side of the Moon in concerts almost a year before its release, just to see the reactions of the audience. (It was not the first time they did that. They had tried the same, before the release of Atom Heart Mother). The Dark Side of the Moon is certainly one of the greatest albums in the history of music, recorded by one of the greatest bands in Rock music. 5.0 Stars.