THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

There isn't much that I can add to the reviews above. Its a classic LP even if its not one of my favourites. It's almost like the ABBA of prog. Excellently preformed and conceived, with ground breaking use of studio technique. The songs are mostly of a reasonable high standard, but are really pop songs in nature. For me the best part is the use of the EMS synths as in "on the run". The lyrics are like far too much later Floyd depressing but not quite so deeply disturbing as on later outings. It is quite rightly considered a classic and probably is the peek recording of Pink Floyd. Unlike ELP the Floyds demise was slow and only evident in retrospect. There are no filler tracks unlike most Floyd albums before this record. The legacy of Syd is not really in evidence, and this is very much a Roger Walters record. The sound recording is excellent and was breath taking when it came out. It has some intresting musical touches like the odd time signature of "Money". This LP demonstrates the quickly maturing musical skill of the band. Although there is nothing here that is technically complex for its own sake. It is an entertaining record, and one, which unfortunately was played to death, by far to many people. It is right up there with Sgt Pepper as being a strong contender for the most important record of all time, and it is certainly the most important Progressive music LP, defining the movement. Saying all of this it is not a record I return to often these days. For me it will always be associated with the long summer of the year 1973, and sounds somewhat dated to my ears these days. The Pink Floyd's great strength was to be found in the band working together and outside of the Floyd none of the members have produced anything as good as inside the band. It was really nice to see the lads together for the Live8 concert, but I think it's unlikely we will see a new record from this band. Times have moved on and there doesn't seem to be room in music for bands like this anymore. In that respect I miss their records coming out now and then but towards the end they had become a rather predictable unit endlessly rehashing the Dark side of the moon concept with ever more depressing lyrics. No my favourite LP by this band which is Relics, and the Pink Floyd themselves are far from being my favourite band. However this record has to get all 5 stars simply because in the public eye it is a classic almost beyond the reach of the critics.

The latest Cd releases have added considerable to this record. The live set on the Experience addition, is well worth buying and gives a fresh sounding version that helped to un-jade my view of this record.

A Classic in every sence of the word.