THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

What exactly led to the almost unspeakable success of this album? There is probably no definite answer, but rather an indeterminate zeitgeist at the time of its release. The Apollo moon missions had just ended in 1972, Nixon had just been re-elected, the anti-war movement was at its peak, the "acid" culture was still thriving, and America was in the throes of a post-60s re-self-assessment and as "polarized" as it had been in quite some time. Most importantly, as was true immediately after the assassination of JFK - when the youth of America was looking for something "upbeat" to "fill the hole," and The Beatles materialized almost magically to fill that void - the youth of America in 1972 was looking for something to latch onto. Dark Side became that "thing," for reasons which may never be understood. Yet even bearing the burden of so powerful a "symbol," Dark Side stands on its own as a musical and production achievement with few equals, either then or since. For prog-rock to become not only cross-musical but cross-cultural was something none of us who were around at the time could ever have conceived of. Yet happen it did. Was it just the "commercial" quality of some of the "songs?" Personally, I doubt it. There was an "experience" in listening to Dark Side in toto that could not be gleaned, even minimally, from hearing "Money" or "Us and Them" on AOR radio. What made it so "special" was that it was a "shared" experience - like the first time we listened to Sgt. Pepper, Electric Ladyland or other "shared" musical experiences in the 60s and early 70s. Ultimately, Dark Side has both a "metaphysical" quality to it - vis-a-vis its place in time - and a broad-based compositional-musical quality that all but defined much of the music of its time. And although one can quibble over its internal flaws (assuming it has any, which I do not believe), or its place in Floyd's oeuvre - especially its alleged "commercial" qualities - it is the very impossibility of pinning down its brilliance that makes it a "masterpiece," and, along with Pepper and Court, one of the three absolutely quintessential albums of the genre.

The Bright Side Of The Sun

What can one possibly say about this superlative album, the reference of the rock culture for now almost 40 years, the album whose perfection is constantly brought back to measure each and all other prog rock albums mercilessly pitted against it, to the point that it became THE reference in Hi-Fi stereo stores. This is also the album that will propulse Floyd's relative small fame in counterculture circles to international (but faceless) superstardom and push the rock industry to new heights, not only in sales expectations, but also in technical sophistication both in the studio and on tour; both in terms of sonic progress as well as the visual aspects, with an impressive lightshow and animation and other props.

The quartet themselves started to realize that they were working on something that would be quite special and bound to success, but not quite to this extent. The album's genesis was not as laborious as expected, as Floyd took some old ideas and reworked them. Water's Brain Damage was written at the time of Meddle and Wright's Us And Them's basic idea had been rejected by Antonioni for the Zabriskie Point soundtrack. While most of the album's frame was presented or tested during the early 72 tour, the album would finally see its release in March 73, but Floyd had been working on different projects in beteen - including the Pompeii show/film, the La Vallée film soundtrack and the music for Roland Petit's ballet.

The album's general concept is a fairly depressive (but unfortunately very lucid) look at humanity, underlined Roger Water's awesome and beautiful lyrics; and it is often viewed by fans as a first appearance of Syd Barrett's spectre in Floyd's preoccupations ("And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes"). Musically DSOTM is a bit of a change: lots of shorter more standard songs (everything being relative, of course) and unusually wordy (for Floyd) and not really allowing lengthy instrumental passages like Echoes or Eugene's Axe. The album's black cover relates to the Dark Side (the reverse of the medal) and the Any Colour You Like light spectrum being transformed by Hypgnosis in the inner gatefold into the heartbeat of Speak To Me. The vinyl came with posters and stickers of pyramids (the prism of the cover) to really create a world that was fascinating to enter and dreading to exit it.

The A-side seems concentrated on man's relation with time and its alienation in fulfilling its happiness. The album opens a highly symbolic heartbeat to verse on the album's weakest track, Breathe. As time goes on through that fantastic stereo effect of On the Run (isn't that what most of us are always doing?) with Mason's tape effect and the group's use of VCS-3 or the amazing alarm clock sequence leading to the flabbergasting roto-drums passage or a bit later some blood-curdlingly beautiful lyrics of Time (the first peak of the album) and the race against lost time. This lost-in-advance race of course can only end up in death and Wright's immense piano in the Sky Gig is accompanying a moving female improvised vocalizing that symbolizes the eulogy and pain of the departed's family. Simply awesome first side.

The other half concept fills up the flipside is concentrating on man's greatest flaws (Waters' future obsession) including greed and materialism (Money and its 7/4 time sig), violence (Us And Them), inconsequence (Any Colour You Like) and authoritarianism and its condemnation of deviancy from the "norm" (Brain Damage, the second peak of the album and Waters' only ? but poignant - vocals), provoking mental reclusion from society (the superb finale Eclipse) for the most fragile of us. No less awesome than the A-side. Musically Floyd also evolved, adding a now-famous sax and female vocals, but the most spectacular is Rick Wright's role: he's the album's unsung hero. In previous albums, he played mainly piano, Farsifa organ and sometimes a mellotron, this album is filled (but not over-flooded) with his new array of synthesizers such as clavinet, minimoog, VCS-3 and finally the great Fender Rhodes lectric piano.

This stupendous album was not only perfectly written, but also masterfully produced by Alan Parsons (who would build a career on that album alone); it hasn't aged at all (especially lyrically) and it is little wonder it spent some 20 years on the US billboard top 200 charts, sometimes popping its head inside in the following 20 years. Speaking of 20, avoid the XXth anniversary remaster, coz it's pretty over-mastered and catastrophic. Go for the 35th 5.1 version.

This has always been one of my richest music treasures in my collection. This album lives and breathes Progressive Rock all the way through. Dark and conceptual, "The Dark Side of the Moon" delves into the vast regions of the human brain leaving lots up to the imagination of the listener. FLOYD deploy a wide range of moods here from the tranquil beauty of "Breathe" to the stunning and operetic "The Great Gig In The Sky". This is one of the most influential and essential prog recordings of all time... never to have been duplicated since.

This record contains more or less mellow spacy/experimental progressive rock tracks. Many people from any social class like or love this record. Actually, maybe it is the most popular progressive album. With the help of Alan Parsons, Pink Floyd was able to produce one of the most state-of-the-art recording in the progressive music history. The tracks are not fast nor complex; the catchy airs are addictive enough to please many people. The record contains MANY delightful sounds, like old man voices in the background, existential laughs, mechanical clocks, ringing clocks, heartbeats, cash machine operations... There are some excellent catchy female backing vocals, like on "Time". David Gilmour plays some excellent guitar solos like the sluggish one on "Time" and the VERY heroic & flashy one on "Money", even sounding better than the best Jimi Hendrix's solo! David Gilmour's lead vocals are, as always, EXCELLENT. Dick Parry plays a moaning sax solo on "Money".

The album starts with a desperate human cry, followed by the smooth and relaxing "Breathe", having some Hawaiian guitar soundscapes. "On the run" is the weakest track of this record: there are very repetitive and experimental keyboards, sounding a bit like the Vangelis' Spiral track: it ends with crazy laughs before a plane crash! "The great gig in the sky" has an OUTSTANDING hysterical female vocals performance, well supported by a visceral floating organ, followed by a tender combination of rhythmic piano and the same but less intense orgasmic female vocals, performed by the enigmatic Clare Torry. "Us and them" is the relaxing one, which should relieve your bad emotions: Gilmour's soothing voice and delicate guitar notes, Parry's tender/brutal sax parts, Wright's uninterrupted background organ, everything form an unforgettable song, universally accepted as a classic one, even among non prog communities. "Any color you like" has Wright's psychedelic moogs and Gilmour's guitar sounding like a dirty organ. "Brain damage" and "Eclipse" have excellent female backing vocals, visceral & dirty organ textures and clean guitar notes. Some unnecessary experimental parts justify the removal of 0,5 star.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Seminal

"Dark side of the moon" effectively introduced prog rock to the masses. It is all too easy 30+ years later to forget the impact this album had at the time of its release.

My own recollections are that I first heard side two of the album late at night on BBC radio one. While at the time, I enjoyed "Meddle", I found "Ummagumma" and "Atom heart mother" a bit too challenging for my teenage ears. I was however optimistic that I would find something to enjoy on "DSOTM".

I, along with the rest of the population, was not however prepared for the masterpiece Pink Floyd had created. The first thing I heard was the opening jingle of the cash register on "Money", probably the most commercial (sic) track on the album. This was not Pink Floyd as I knew them, this was wonderful. Somehow, the album got even better as it went on through "Us and them", "Any colour you like" and "Brain damage" to the sensational "Eclipse" finale. I had never heard music like this before, and I was just amazed.

The music on "Dark side of the moon" is the most accessible Pink Floyd have ever created. There are strong beats, sing-a-long songs, and wonderful synthesiser soundscapes. There are sound effects, a virtuoso female vocal performance, and beautiful sax.

"Dark side of the moon" created a template which many others have used since to create there own Magnus opuses (opi?). It stands as a turning point in the history of prog, and in fact music in general.

The "Classic albums" series DVD on the making of this album is essential viewing too, there are many interesting stories about how the sounds and music came into being. The "Director's cut" of the "Live at Pompeii" film also has some early recordings of tracks from DSOTM.

Heartbeats, mad laughs, machines and screams. Such are the opening moments of "The Dark Side of the Moon", ushering in a unique musical world where strange sounds, mellow music, bits of biting guitar and ROGER WATERS' cynical observations coexist in a disturbingly natural setting. Unlike "Meddle", which separated the actual songs and instrumental music by "Sides", "Dark Side" mixes them together, songs encased in instrumental sections that glue everything together into a solid, powerful mass. It's a great leap from their last studio album, calculated as commentary rendered in a dream state, from WATERS' laconic lyric delivery to RICK WRIGHT's spacey keyboard passages. The record opens with "Speak To Me", featuring the voices-in-your-head dialogue for which the album may be best remembered. The sleepy, subdued "Breathe" follows, the first of several songs from here that remain classics in the Pink canon. "On The Run" is an instrumental tunnel (similar to TANGERINE DREAM's music) that takes us to "Time", in which the music seems to crystallize around DAVID GILMOUR's guitar work, closing with a vocal workout from guest CLARE TORRY on "The Great Gig In The Sky." Side two opens the wallet for an honest-to-goodness hit single, "Money", with Waters' wit as cutting as ever. "Us And Them" returns to the dreamy world of "Breathe", with only DICK PARRY's saxophone to rouse listeners from its sleepy calm. "Any Colour You Like" is mostly a guitar-led jam built off of the last song (the kind of music that went unnamed on Animals), leading into the chilling resignation of "Brain Damage" and "Eclipse", which in effect brings the album full circle from the momentary madness of "Speak To Me." Dark Side of the Moon is PINK FLOYD's milestone, a musical spacestation that served as a launching point to artistically adjacent works like "Wish You Were Here", "Animals", "The Wall" and "The Final Cut". Though it is one of the great musical achievements of the 20th century, its influence was of an indirect nature (save for ALAN PARSONS PROJECT), a concept album where the concept was the music rather than a particular storyline. That the album remained on the Billboard 200 charts for 741 weeks (yes, almost 15 years) is incredible, but perhaps more a testament to a thriving drug culture (albeit one underground) than any far-reaching musical vision the band might have had.

It is the quintessential PINK FLOYD album, handily one of the ten greatest progressive rock albums ever recorded. Due to its popularity and pristine feats of engineering, the albums has since been issued on myriad occasions, including original master recordings from Mobile Fidelity and, in 1993, a 20th anniversary edition.

Masterpiece that proves it's possible to combine good music and commercial success, Dark Side of the Moon is still one of the best sold albums in history, and it's amazing because it's not a piece of cake for everybody.

Floyd was starting to leave behind the very complex and ultra aggressive early sound when they decided to do something special, softer but musically complex and transcendental, a space album oriented, full of sound effects with reminiscences of the late 60's sound and explosions of madness typical of British psychedelia, a perfect combination of modernism and melancholia.

The band is perfect, Gilmour's voice is precise for the album and his guitar is outstanding, he creates a dark mysterious atmosphere much more common in very early Genesis than in Pink Floyd, but also aggressive is some parts. Waters is also perfect, his bass is strong but delicate when needed.

Wright works in team with Gilmour because his keyboards help to create the atmospheric sound I mention before, last but not least Nick Mason, never before so powerful as in this album, the drums at the opening of Time are amazing, in a low tone but with a strength that is unique.

Who deserves a special mention is Alan Parsons, his work as a producer is impeccable, there's not a single mistake or weak point in his area. Also must recognize the good vocal work in "The Great Gig in the Sky" by Claire Torry very well backed by Doris Troy, Leslie Duncan, Leslie Strike and Barry St. John.

The first four songs "Speak to Me/Breathe in the Air", "On the Run" , "Time" and "The Great Gig in the Sky" form a semi epic, the strongest section of the album.

The next track "Money" is IMO the weakest of the album (without being bad), sounds very different to the rest of the album. The jazzy "Us and Them" with a melodic saxophone and a beautiful piano section is another highlight. It's followed by "Any Color you Like" in which the keyboards are weaker than in the rest of the album, but possibly the only almost pure psychedelic song in this album.

"Dark Side of the Moon" is closed by "Brain Damage" supposedly dedicated to the politicians even when some people believe it's a tribute to Syd Barret and the splendid but somehow depressing "Eclipse".

Still I'm not sure if Dark Side of the Moon is a concept album, or if the first four songs are a long epic instead of separate tracks, but....Who cares? It's a masterpiece that has to be in a preferential place in any musical collection.

So album sales give a strong indication of how good an album is,right? No, wrong! I have this and listened to it many times to try and understand the obsession or fixation people have with this album.I'm afraid I don't get it at all.What I hear is a nice easy middle of the road rock album with some pretensions of prog and lyrics about how terrible life is and the like.To me though it lacks any real drive or passion and it is very easy to drift off to sleep when it on.In my view it's just an intellectual exercise in being clever and nothing more.But Gilmore can really play a guitar and that my friends is the only reason for getting it.I'm sorry but I just have to provide a dessenting voice but no doubt there will be several reviews to follow saying what a great masterpeice it is.

Has anyone mentioned that the lineup includes the same Doris Troy who gave us the classic pop soul hit "Just One Look"? Anyway...

Even at my most critical and objective, it is difficult to understand those who do not see how important this disc is; when I was deepest into my punk-rock anti-prog period I could still recognize the once-in-a-lifetime achievement this album represents. The contrarian impulse is difficult to master sometimes; it's pretty tempting to criticize something that is popular or well-loved to counter your own misgivings about your individuality and uniqueness. It's also easy to mistake evaluation with opinion- you can say that James Joyce's "Ulysses" sucks rather than reading it and saying "wow, that was really something special, but not how I want to spend my reading time". "Dark Side" does suffer from the same ubiquitousness as "Sgt. Pepper"- when everyone tells you how much of a revolutionary classic it is, you get tired of it and pretend they're mistaken. This says more about you as a person than it does about "Dark Side of the Moon" as an album, and perhaps it's that kind of attention that you want.

I agree that, after "The Wall", this is the most over-played album; unlike the later work, however, it generally stands the test of time due to the wider range of textures and ideas expressed. I also agree that this is not anywhere near as 'progressive' as many other works out there- the band sticks with stright time and key signatures throughout (ironically, the most heard single "Money" is one of the few songs on any PF album to stray from this, featuring a 7 beat bar). The real exploration on this album is not in the intricate musicianship, but in its meditations on personal sanity coping with the weight of social, political, and economic influences. There are a number of PF works which I could criticize for lack of emotion, but never "Dark Side". I do NOT agree that "Us and Them" goes on too long; the beautiful piano playing, saxophone solos, and vocal harmonies have just enough time to establish the full dynamics of the piece. My only misgiving is "Any Colour You Like", which seems like a jam they liked enough to fill some space, except it does make a necessary transition between the laidback-but-intensely emotional "Us and Them" and the neurotically mischievous "Brain Damage".

The simple truth is that this album (even if you don't personally care for it) belongs on the extremely short list of history-making rock discs, as well as being one of the fundamental works of the progressive genre (even if you think there are better prog albums). I could see dropping a star because it doesn't achieve as much within the genre as other albums, but to rate it below four stars is a contrarian expression of willful denial of its rightful place in the history of music and the prog genre.

Here it is lads, the masterpiece, the bestselling british album of all time and the most difficult of pink floyds album to review (because i have reviewed all the ones before this). Dark Side of the Moon is the most memorable album by the band but it is NOT the best album as many floyd fans would agree. Still it is probably the most inspirationable and easiest to get into.

This album can also introduce people into prog rock and concept albums. The lyrics, although simplistic at times, are flawless and Roger has started to show that he can write about deep feelings and emotions and subjects that really matter rather than having lyrics about bikes, a dog named seamus and corporal clegg. The album shows ways of life, different emotions and fears, society and fame and lots more. These are most evident in songs like "Breathe", "Time", "Money" and "Us and Them". Another reason why many people including myself love this album is at sums up how boring and deppressing the british people("Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way"), and the band can be. And i would know! The album represents the flaws we make as humans and the dark side of life, the dark side of the moon. This is evident musically and lyrically and shows off some of the best guitar skills, uses of synthesisers, progressions, concepts, you name it, this album has it. Now to look at each track individually.

"Speak to Me" is an introduction to the album that is an allusion to the rest of the album by combining snippets from each track (The heartbeat from eclipse, the clocks from time, the laugh from brain damage, the mad man from on the run, clare torry's voice from great gig in the sky and the cash register from money). If you loop the album over the heartbeat carries on perfectly in time. This explodes beautifully into some of Gilmours best guitar work which feels like heaven as the short but sweet "Breathe" comes into play (some versions have speak to me and breathe as one track whilst others have them separate). Breathe is similar to time but good enough not to be too alike to it.

The next track, "On the Run" is very trippy and appropriately titled as the rushing sped up sounds and explosions feel as if you are travelling at high speed and can be a challenging rush for your mind to take in, and great for the stoners. This is very futuristic and some could say it paved the way for techno a decade or two later. Never mind, it's still great stuff.

"Time" is the first progressive piece here (although it is technically just a progression from the previous tracks). The classic introduction can confuse and destroy your mind as the rush of "On the Run" leads into an explosion and an alarming array of chiming clocks. This is brilliant stuff. The "Breathe (Reprise) manages to blag on at the end of time and is pretty sweet to see the third verse of the song.

The end of side one see's one of the most powerful and moving instrumentals of the bands career, "The Great Gig in the Sky". Here Clare Torry's improvisated overblown vocals weave in an out of a stunning piano piece by Richard Wright. Pink Floyd have once again shown the best in experimental and emotional music.

Side two kicks off with the most famous floyd song (or is it another brick in the wall?) "Money", which has the classic bassline and the lyrics are a real treat from Roger. He did very well here. Dick Parry's saxophone solo is the real wonder here as it bridges between the brilliant basslines and Gilmour's guitar solo.

"Us and Them" delivers beautiful piano pieces and gilmours best vocals since Breathe earlier on. This is an epic on the album and another masterpiece that flows gently and progressess superbly. "Any Colour You Like" is just a filler guitar solo and perhaps the worst song on the album but then its not expected to be a masterpiece and it is a rather good (and colourful) guitar solo. "Brain Damage" uses acoustic guitars and refers to "loonies" which is always good to hear. This is a brilliant piece which leads into one of the best outros on any album ever made "Eclipse" which sums up the whole album and shows power in music, words and vocals.

So does Dark Side of the Moon deserve to be one of the bestselling albums, most influencial and one of the best albums ever made? in a word...yes! in two words, [%*!#] YEAH!

Everything regarding this masterpiece has already been said. Every possible critic surrounding the inner context of this almost mid-seventies gem has been made already. Every imaginable review, article or headline has already been written and read. There's nothing left to be added up to the list of incommensurable wonders and never-ending fantasies that describes the complexity of "The Dark Side of the Moon". Nothing but the journey from inside out your mind transformed into vivid experiences when discovering this thirty years old creation. Mine was absolutely revealing not only because "The Dark Side of the Moon" was my first prog album ever, but for the way it turned my perspective upside-down making me understand much of what surrounded my environment back then. It was 1990. I was barely 12 years old and supposed to be riding a bike, kicking a soccer ball, acting mischievously strange and doing some homework. Instead of doing so, I used to spend many hours sat in front of the record player listening to disturbing odd sounds of hearts pounding incessantly and clocks ticking aguishly, to intriguing clattering drums and hypnotizing voices, all coming out from the same record.

Without considering the wit or the abruptness disseminated all along this album, every single composition contained in here deserves to be described with such overwhelming eloquence that all the possible words to be written would be incomplete and indescribably erroneous, and the resemblance to perfection will always lack of greatness. So, instead of looking through the entireness of the track listing featured and performed on "The Dark Side of the Moon", I'd like to dig up the verisimilitude emerging incessantly from within.

"The Dark Side of the Moon" is the determinant pinnacle of prog rock. Not that I'm comparing the accomplishments carried out by KING CRIMSON or FRANK ZAPPA in the early years of prog with such things as "In the Court of the Crimson King" or "Freak Out!" to what the English band achieved in 1973 with "The Dark Side of the Moon", I'm just saying this is the best prog rock album ever made. Ever. A successful album is not conformed of a hit that stands up for the rest of the recording; a remembered breakthrough album is the one arranged so majestically and intrepidly that combines not only the best saxophonist and the world's most acclaimed bassist of the time, but the one that contains the essential structure (art work, instrumentation, interactive lyrics) to be considered as a mythical point of comparison to tell an era from another. PINK FLOYD went to the moon and back with this musical relic in such biblical proportions.

There will always be a proghead rocking to "Money" from the intro bass twanging off superbly to the last tune of the song, there will always be a helpless self-questionable person arguing whether "Breathe" is a reprise of "Time" or not, a nice pair falling in love while the smooth sax of Dick PARRY on "Us and Them" lingers inside of them to the dance floor and a true mental case represented from head to toes in "Brain Damage". To my concern, "The Great Gig in the Sky" is the most relaxing and exuberant suite I've ever lent ears to in my life. The backing vocals by Clare TORRY are the reminiscences of a simpler time, accompanied marvelously by Rick WRIGHT's piano. "The Dark Side of the Moon" is indeed a spotless masterpiece, impeccably executed and amazingly instrumented. The lyrical interpretation by Roger WATERS will always remain as one of his finest works ever orchestrated.

An outstanding album that needs no recommendation at all since it entirely speaks for itself. A recognizable milestone that could easily take on thirty more years. A definite must to any respectable progressive rock collection.

Unless you've been in a coma or living a hermit's existence on some mountain in Outer Mongolia for the last 32 years, it's almost certain that you have already heard some or all of the music on "Dark Side Of The Moon". What more can be said about an album that spent 11 consecutive years in the Billboard Top 200 and has sold tens of millions of copies since its release in 1973? Well, I'll try anyway.

In my opinion "Dark Side Of The Moon" marks the pinnacle of the FLOYD's career musically; their previous albums almost seem to have been a subconscious preparation for this one. This album is where the FLOYD lost their rough edge - which I happened to like, by the way - and produced a polished, commercial oeuvre which turned them from a psychedelic avant-garde rock band, known to the longhaired youth of the 1970s (and their elder brothers and sisters of the 1960s), into worldwide superstars. In an age before the Internet, for the band to become a household name on the basis of this one album makes it all the more of an achievement. This is where the band got just about everything right - it's as if they discovered the music on this album, rather than created it. Even the album's minimalist cover has become an icon. The tinkering with the front and back covers for the re-mastered CD was unnecessary in my opinion, particularly the overkill on the new back cover: the original, simpler, back cover of the LP was superior.

The music *is* good. It's all very melodious and very professionally produced (engineered by Alan Parsons, who went on to cut a few albums of his own and make a name for himself). There is a sort of theme running through the album, which I read as the madness of the modern world: commercial and time pressures (on the band?); the Church; politics; State aggression. But I wouldn't say this is a strongly cohesive concept album in the same way as, say, LE ORME's "Felona E Sorona" or BANCO DEL MUTUO SOCCORSO's "Darwin!".

Apart from the music sounding more commercial than their previous albums, "Dark Side Of The Moon" also marked a noticeable change (at least to me) in the band's musical style, and was the last PINK FLOYD album that I found interesting and pleasing enough to own. Although I'm sure most will vehemently disagree with me, I do not like sufficiently to buy them any of the FLOYD's later albums. To me, it was downhill from hereon in.

Now, for those of you who have just emerged from your 32-year solitary confinement on that mountain in Outer Mongolia, here's a brief summary of the album's tracks, all of which flow one into the other to the extent that the album could almost be considered to be one long single track.

The introductory 'Speak To Me' is a short instrumental, starting with a heartbeat and some maniacal background talking and laughing, clocks ticking and machines clattering, leading into some dreamy guitar and organ, very much in the FLOYD's trademark twangy guitar style, to start off 'Breath'.

'Breath' is a melodic, subdued song segueing into the hyper 'On The Run', a frenetic electronic piece complete with PA announcement, pulsing synth emulating the Doppler effect as it crosses speakers, maniacal talking and laughing, culminating in what sounds like an air crash followed by sounds of panting and running, introducing...

'Time', with ticking clocks striking the hour, tick-tock beat and an existential ballad with depressing lyrics that remind me of the lyrics of 'Free Four' on "Obscured By Clouds". 'Time' has the FLOYD's trademark twangy guitar (bliss): air-guitar music par excellence, but - as is the case for all the tracks on this album - I must not fail to mention Roger Waters' solid bass holding it all together and Nick Mason's understated drumming.

Then comes 'Breath Reprise' with its calming melody and soothing yet cynical ending: "Far away across the field, the tolling of the iron bell, calls the faithful to their knees, to hear the softly spoken magic spells." which in turn segues into 'The Great Gig In The Sky' with the famous improvised vocalisations of Clare Torry (my wife thinks it's just wailing but I think it's just amazing!). I love the track - particularly Wright's piano playing (which is good elsewhere on the album too). To me, Torry's vocalisations have an almost Afro-American sound, which I like very much.

Then comes 'Money', the most famous track on the album (possibly ranking amongst the most famous rock tracks of all time?). It's funky, upbeat and melodic, even if the lyrics are cynical. In my opinion the lyrics are facile and the first part of the track is not that great, but the second part has some funky sax playing by guest saxophonist Dick Parry plus some fabulous guitar work by Gilmour (get your air-guitar out again), which more than rescues the track. The superimposed chatter at the end of the track spoils it somewhat for me ("I certainly wasn't raped"; ".cruising for a bruising"; "I don't know if I was really drunk at the time", etc.): it's just superfluous in my opinion, even given the album's theme.

Then comes the calm, existential ballad 'Us And Them' with Dick Parry's mellow sax and some good backing vocals .and depressing lyrics. The short burst of superimposed chatter between the two verses again irritates me - it detracts from the music in my opinion. A bit of useless information: 'Us And Them' was originally composed in 1969 for the 1970 counterculture film Zabriskie Point, but was not used (although other PINK FLOYD music was used in that film).

The guitar and bass on the instrumental 'Any Colour You Like' are both excellent (but then the synth and drums are great too!). This is also one of my favourite tracks on the album, and segues perfectly into the song 'Brain Damage' which apparently comments on the madness of it all (life, the Universe and everything, I suppose). Such a good song and, again, good backing vocals. Given the song's title and the lyrics, the superimposed laughing and chatter in the background *are* appropriate on this track. 'Brain Damage' leads straight into the final song 'Eclipse', which also has great backing vocals. The track finishes with the heartbeat that started off the album, and a little more inane chatter (if you turn up the volume).

By the way, the guest backing vocalists on some of the tracks remind me just a little of an American gospel choir. Nice.

I was already a FLOYD fan and had most of their LPs by the time "Dark Side Of The Moon" was released. Needless to say I added it to my LP collection as soon as it was released. I can remember playing it for the first time and thinking how polished and how different it was to the FLOYD's earlier albums. I also remember wondering how on Earth they could top it. I bought the re-mastered CD some years ago, and it gets played from time to time and I still enjoy the music. Perhaps the album has suffered from overexposure, or perhaps it's just that I've changed over the years, but it no longer sounds quite so exciting to me now: I find tracks such as 'Echoes' ("Meddle") and most of "Obscured By Clouds" give me more of a thrill. It's almost as if the music on "Dark Side Of The Moon" is just a bit too polished. I sometimes wish that I were hearing this album again for the first time to see if I would feel the same way. Anyway, I feel I can criticise a little an old friend without dinting its status, and it's still unquestionably a masterpiece of rock music, let alone Progressive Rock (how many albums do you know have their own official Web site?).

The most famous album of all progressive rock. When I first listened to it I was immediately captured by the cautious madness and ambience of "Speak to Me," which built into the soft, sighing music of "Breathe." This album is about things that make people go mad. "Breathe" is about life itself and the work that comes with it. Brilliant.

Next up is "On the Run," a high-tech song for its time but now is less amazing, but is just as musically entertaining as it was back then. This is the travel portion of the album, showing the rushing stress of today's world. Then its "Time," which is the song I best recognized from the radio, and also one of the best. The ticking pendulum synched with the heartbeat and the warning bass brings to mind a death clock ticking, shifting its focus from victim to victim of time.

Then it's "Great Gig in the Sky." The religion/fear of death track. If you dwell on that too long, you will go mad. But the song is different. The vocals of Clare Torry are amazing and they are the heart of the song, backed by the airy, spaced country chords on the guitar. Then "Money" comes in with the cash registers and bass line in the weird time scale. Another song I heard on the radio long before I knew what Pink Floyd was. It's very good, a great single for radio, but not my absolute favorite. The bass line is great for practicing bass with.

"Us and Them" seemed like a boring song at first, far too slow. But as with most very good songs, it required more listening to understand. It's about war, divisions, hatred and differences. All of these are the most likely to drive you mad. Then it enters the nice, jazzy instrumental "Any Colour You Like."

But my favorite song is "Brain Damage." It's the first acoustic song I learned, about "defending the notion of being different" as Waters put it on the Classic Albums DVD. The lyrics are amazing, peaking at the chorus. By "lunatic" in the lyrics, it means one who is different. Society molds "lunatics" into sane people through school, TV, and anything else it can. This topic is revisited on "The Wall."

Finally, it closes with "Eclipse." Another masterpiece song to end a masterpiece album. The heartbeat closing is the first of Waters' many cycles. If you put the album on repeat, it'll just keep going and going, a cycle of madness and vice that will never end.

Overall, this is the best album to use if you want to introduce someone to prog. If they don't like this after a few listens, then prog is not their thing.

I find it amazing when one reads negative reviews on Dark Side of the Moon. Clearly those people are lacking something..period! Sure we all have difference of opinions that is what makes this site such a refereshing place to be BUT when we are talking DSOTM I personally have to draw the line and implore those people to revisit this ageless masterpiece. The fact that it remains as one of the biggest selling albums of all time must speak volumes for the masses out there. I never reeally got into earlyJethro Tull but thanks to this site I am now enjoying some great ' NEW' prog rock. Give DSOTM more respect you will not be disappointed. Most of the reviews have done an excellent job reviewing this album but I will say the best songs IMO on DTOTM are ' The great gig in the sky' ' Us and Them' and ' Breathe, Time/Breathe reprise'. It is though a conceptual miracle in it's entirety.

I like this album...I don't love it, but I like it. I do find it to be slightly overrated; due to its massive success, but at the same time I think it deserves all the press and fame it has. Personally I don't consider it to be that groundbreaking either, musically speaking, because if we should talk production wise. then it's not just groundbreaking, it´s a "before and after". Getting back to the music, it seems Floyd got less epic than their previous "Meddle" and the change is for the best, as I don't think they where mature enough to try such epic stuff, they needed of this album to "find themselves" in that sense, which of course would bring the marvelous "Wish you where here" and the dark "Animals" long tunes. Floyd really needed this album, to be able to expand latter on. In a way, this is a transition album, it´s not quite there with "WYWH", but it's a strong step in the right direction.

An absolute classic and a MUST have in any album collection, be it for prog fans, straight rock fans or whatever, this album can not not be in your collection!

There is a good reason that Dark Side of the Moon is considered one of the best rock albums of all time. At the same time, the band gives us both excellent music with input from all members, and also provides an accessible, universal concept. That is what sets Dark Side apart from all of the concept albums that would follow this one in the PINK FLOYD catalogue--while the others grew more and more specific to one man, ROGER WATERS, the themes of Dark Side are something that everyone can identify with easily: time, death, money, war--all of these are a part of the total human experience that all of us are living. And, while the lyrics here are related to each other, there is enough room for the listener to interpret, imagine, and take from this album what he or she wishes. That, more than anything, is what sets Dark Side above all of PINK FLOYD's other concepts.

The music of Dark Side is nothing short of superb, and incredibly innovative for its time. The warped synth piece "On the Run", in fact, was the song that first signaled to me that something about this band was different, and drew me into the work of PINK FLOYD. There is input from all four members, including the marvelous roto-tom solo from drummer NICK MASON at the beginning of "Time". Guitarist DAVID GILMOUR has wonderful vocals and guitar playing to contribute--for the former I suggest "Money", and for the latter, "Breathe". Lyric writer ROGER WATERS has a part in the music, too, including vocals on "Brain Damage" that suit the song very nicely. But the album's most stunning songs, from a musical perspective, were either authored by or influenced by ROGER WATERS, who in many ways is probably PINK FLOYD's greatest "composer".

"The Great Gig in the Sky", also featuring superb vocals from Clare Torry, has a strange, mesmerising, but still very listenable chord progression, and is probably among WRIGHT's greatest accomplishments as a music-writer. "Breathe" is another song where he had input, as proven by his comments on the recent DVD where the band is interviewed about this album, contributing some of its most distinctive chord changes. "Time" and "Us and Them" both feature WRIGHT's fascinating vocals--the last that PINK FLOYD fans would hear until "Wearing the Inside Out" on The Division Bell. But it is "Us and Them" that is perhaps one of the greatest masterpieces in the PINK FLOYD catalogue. This is the only other appearance of the powerful WRIGHT-WATERS songwriting team heard on Obscured by Clouds, Dark Side's painfully underrated predecessor. Some of the most majestic music RICK WRIGHT has ever created, coupled with the lyrics of ROGER WATERS, make this song completely unforgettable. There is simply nothing like it.

In modern times one can no longer rely on popularity as a measure of quality...except perhaps in the inverse: "The more popular it is, the lower the quality is." Back when Dark Side was released, though, it was the other way around. Believe me when I say this--this album stayed on the Billboard charts for as long as it did for very good reason. If your record collection is missing this masterpiece, you need to put that right immediately.

One of those albums you HAVE to have in your collection to make it perfect. This is a milestone of modern music, and definietly the most essential Pink Floyd album besides Wish You Were Here, which is nearly as good. This album features such amazing production techniques for it's time that it turned out being far before it's time, and musically it flows well without losing energy and keeps the listener interested throughout the whole album in a way rarely experienced before to me. A very unique and great listening experience, use your best speakers or headphones for this one. Highly recommended!

Yet another review of 'Dark Side of the Moon'? . Whatever can be said about this seminal work of progressive rock has already been said.

The best way to describe what the FLOYD accomplish here is: 15 years. For 15 years this album was continuously on the Billboard charts, that has to tell you something! Commercial success in terms of units sold is NOT indicative of quality. Case in point: (insert modern pop artist here). Longevity is what is important, and in these terms 'Dark Side' is eternal.

This album probably has a lot to do with you being on this site in the first place. Whether because you grew up listening to it, or maybe your parents did, or because it influenced not one, but more like two subsequent generations of musicians to come. 'Dark Side of the Moon' transcends musical genres, defies labelling, and is the best starting point for any lover of music to begin his/her collection. This is where prog really crossed over into the mainstream. In a word: revolutionary.

This is one of the great albums of our time. I really cant write anything new that my fellow reviewers havent mentioned. The best songs are: Time, money, Brain Damage, Eclipse, and Us and Them. All of them are solid but those are the best. Experiemental, rocky, spacy...everything about Pink Floyd is in this record. They certainly knew what they were doing on this one. One of thier best, even if its a little less proggy than previous efforts. Certainly to be owned even if just for the historical sense.

Pink Floyds most successful album of all time, Dark side of the moon was a turning point for Pink Floyd, with David Gilmour taking a front seat in the creative process. Alongside Roger Water's Brilliant writing, David Gilmours guitar work shines throughout, exceptional on tracks "Time" and "Money." Their first conceptual floyd album, and argueably their finest work. Its unexplainable success (staying on the billboard charts for close to 15 years) shot Pink Floyd into the heart of the mainstream. It has stayed one of the highest selling records of all time, and its success is no mistake. Quintessential to any fan of Prog, it is one of the most important albums since the genre's conception.

IMO, this is the last "real" album by the Pink Floyd`s quartet of Gilmour, Mason, Waters and Wright. It is their last album which has songwriting credits for the 4 members. IMO, again, it was Pink Floyd`s peak. With all lyrics written by Roger Waters with a concept: "the tensions caused by everyday life in human beings and the ways people try to live it". In this album, the years later underrated Rick Wright shines with his keyboards and also in the songwriting credits. David Gilmour sings almost all the lead vocals (with the exception of "Brain Damage" and "Eclipse" which were sung by Roger Waters, and two verses of "Time" which were sung by Rick Wright, plus the vocals of Clare Torry for "The Great Gig of the Sky").Waters had the idea to interview some people and to include their answers in this album, so there are some voices and laughing in the background. The lyrics are very good, maybe the best lyrics that Waters wrote for the band. Nick Mason plays the drums very good. David Gilmour sounds inspired with his guitars and his vocals. The recording of this album is very good too, done by Alan Parsons.Every song in this album is very good, but my favourite are: "Breathe", "Time", "Money" and "Us and Them". I have two versions of this album: the old L.P., and the "20th Anniversary Edtion" CD from 1993. The CD version is very good. This album is the best example of Pink Floyd AS A BAND, with every member giving their best to an album with an unified vision. This album also is one of their most accessible albums.

This is probably one of Floyd's most consistent albums in that all the tracks are worthwhile and some (Breathe,Time, Us and Them, Money) are classics. There's a huge variety of styles from the synth sound effects on On the Run to the glorious female vocal effects on The Great Gig in the Sky. VCS3 synths are used widely and to good effect. The sound quality is superb too; the chiming clocks at the start of time are a test for any hi-fi. The only reason it doesn't get 5 stars is that the whole album has a slightly emotionless feel about some of the tracks and it doesn't quite engage you as it should; there is a certain sterility about it as if it was recorded in an operating theatre. Certainly it isn't the best album of all time, nor even of 1973 for that matter (Wishbone Ash's Argus took that by a country mile) but it is still a very important album in the history of prog rock and really should be in everyone's collection.

The most classic of the classics, but still the weaker album than "Wish You Were Here" or "Animals". A worthy investment still, pleasing both fans of proggressive and classic rock music. My favourite track is "Time", as it has so great intro and a pretty guitar solo. "Money" is a bit duller hit then in my opinnion. Some people find a deeper meaning by listening this and watching "The Wizard of Oz" simultaneously (?!).

Essentially the gateway album to progressive rock. The younger generation love to start their progressive journey with this album. Now, I like this album, I can listen to it, but that's it. There is filler in between the meatier tracks, filler like On the Run and Any Colour You Like (But I like it).

The album starts with heartbeats and the lunatic who's saying, "I've been mad for f***ing years." Then all of a sudden, the mellow sound of Breathe kicks in. With it's slide guitar and mellow keyboards, anybody can doze off during the somber sounds. As Breathe comes to an end, the next track "On the Run" begins. This track is unfitting for the album, I really dislike it. It doesn't add anything exciting and it doesn't sound too good, too. But after the 3:30 of nonsense comes one of the highlight tracks "Time". Opening with ticking clocks that all go off at once, the guitars then come in, and Nick Mason unveils some of his drumming skills. Soon the song kicks into full gear, and Gilmour unleashes one of his most memorable solos. As the song winds up, the Breathe Reprise comes into the speakers. After the 7:00 minutes in heaven, the Great Gig in the Sky comes. This Rick Wright driven piano tune is another highlight of the album. Female backing vocalist Clare Torre also gives an A+ performance giving one of the greatest vocal solos I've ever heard. The 2nd side opens with the most recognizable Floyd tune, Money. Now after hearing Money so many times, you get tired of it. It is one of the most overplayed songs I've ever heard. After Money, another Rick Wright driven tune plays, Us and Them. After Us and Them, comes the instrumental Any Colour You Like, which has many textures to it because of another stellar Wright performance. After this last instrumental, the two best tracks on the album come. Brain Damage and Eclipse sum up what is known as the greatest album of all time. With it's organs and it's stellar vocals, the entire theme of the album is summed up in 5 minutes of unforgettable music.

Overall, the album is very good. The production is great, the lyrics are great, the music is great, the musicianship is awesome. It is such a great album, marred up by mindless filler. 3.5/5.

This album is so well known that I won't even try to review it track by track. People who know it will have their own opinions, those who haven't heard it should beg, steal or borrow it and find out what all the fuss was about. For its age, it is still remarkably fresh sounding, not dating, for instance, in comparison to Crimson's early music. The remaster is well worth having and is one of the few cds I would say should be in every prog fan's collection. Easily one of the best three Floyd albums, along with Meddle and The Wall, it flows effortlessly from start to finish, with exceptional, pyschedelic melodies, and interesting if, at times, off the wall lyrics. Gilmour in particular shines here, but the whole band play as one solid unit. This was the last album they did before dissention set in, and it shows. They are actually enjoying themselves here! No stand out tracks for me, as they are all of a high class, although I have always had a soft spot for 'Any Colour You Like'. One of the yardsticks of the genre, and deservedly so. I still don't know if it is my favourite by them though! That one is a hard choice!

This album has often been called an 'audiophile's wet dream' or 'hifi for snobs' and it's known as the best selling progrock record ever! For me this is an album that still manages to sound exciting after all those years and after hundreds of sessions on my hifi-set: the spectacualr work on the VCS-3 synthesizer during "On the run" (watch that great dvd from the classic albums serie about Pink Floyd and this album), the stunning femail 'voice solo' in "The great gig in the sky", the raw but compelling sound in "Money", etc., etc. In fact I can mention all the tracks because this album has no flaws. Especially late in the evening, while drinking a good Belgian beer and eating some nice French cheese, this is progrock heaven!

DSOTM was one of the first LP's I listened too.A friend of mine got it as a birthday present from his older brother and we listened to it over and over again. I always liked DSOTM, but it has never been one of my favourite Floyd records.Now, looking back I would say it was the first Floyd record where the production became more important than the music itself. The songs are nice, but the sound is too 'perfect'.I have some Boots of the Tour and IMHO the same songs are more interesting on these boots, with a rougher edge.Gilmour plays interesting solos, Wright plays more funky, the entire band is tighter.Alan Parsons did a great job on this record (BTW, DSOTM served in many shops as show-record for HiFI systems),but some of the spontaneity got lost on the way.

It is impossible not to give this album 5 stars. It started a revolution in music, and it is also impressive on its own.

1. Speak to me : I never understood why this is included, but oh well.

2. Breathe : 9.5/10 : It is short, but so beautiful and warm that you can't help but love it.

3. On the run : 7.5/10 : Might have been better on the past for its originality, but now, I've heard better instrumentals like this one by Vangelis. It still is a very fast electronic piece that sounds exactly what the title says.

4. Time / Breathe 9.5/10 one of my favourite Pink Floyd songs. The introduction with its electric percussions show Nick's best performance. The rest is also impressive, with female backup singers, a mesmerizing guitar solo, top notch instrumentation, and some of the best lyrics I ever heard in a song. The 'Breathe' theme is reprised later in the song and sounds great. My only problem with it are the clock sound effects that kills any flow the album had and is disturbing to my ears.

5. The great gig in the sky 10/10 : Can you actually find criticism of this song? It is a perfect short piece showcasing a great female vocalist with a perfect piano counterpoint.

6. Money 8.5/10 : The song is very solid, with its catchy bass line, great saxophone, great lyrics about greed, and a amazing guitar solos.

7. Us and them 10/10 : Another perfect song, much mellower and longer than the rest. The echoey Vocal style is very unique, and as always, the band creates great instrumentation making this song a gem. The song ends with one of the best keyboard solos of Wright. 8. Any colour you like 10/10 : Well, its basically the band showcasing their talents without sacrificing melody nor sounding pretentious. 9. Brain damage/Eclipse 10/10 : Containing beautiful Chord Progressions and vocals, this song is also a highlight in the album. Eclipse is the ending of it which sounds majestic.

Go and Get it, so that you can realize that commercial prog can also be good! This is not mainstream! (except for maybe 'money')

My Grade : A+

A Phenomenal album!

Why bother reviewing this album where there have been 182 reviews in this site? Couple of reasons:

1. The album has been part of my life since I knew it at the first time sometime in 1975 when I was at my 9th grade. Looking back those days, it seems funny now about the situation when I knew this album with all other classic rock groups like Black Sabbath, Bad Company, Queen and Bachman Turner Overdrive (BTO). Yes I think those were the days when I was searching rock music without any category whether it's prog, hard rock or what. I just enjoyed the music. In fact, at that time my favorite rocking song was "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath", "Snowblind" and Queen's "Tenement Funster". When I listened to Pink Floyd "Dark Side of The Moon" I could only enjoy were "Time" and "Money" because they rock! I did not even enjoy "Us and Them" or "Brain Damage" because of slow in beat. Pink Floyd was not my favorite band and I was more inclined toward Genesis "Nursery Cryme", "Selling England By The Pound", Yes "Fragile" , Jethro Tull or Led Zeppelin. But with the passages of time I could finally enjoy the album in its entirety and it took me roughly two years to absorb it. It's not because the music is complicated even I had the opinion that the music was too simple. Of course I had that conclusion because I played it from cassette using National Panasonic (mono) cassette player. What do you expect with this kind of equipment enjoying the soundscapes of Pink Floyd music?

2.) The recent edition of Guitar World magazine has a special feature on Classic Rock Special that covers the making of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of The Moon" album. The article is excerpted from the book by John Harris: "The Dark Side Of The Moon - The Making of The Pink Floyd Masterpiece" copy right 2005. Man. I tell you honestly: I have been reading some books about the band, including the one by Nick Mason titled "Inside Out" and also "A Saucerful of Secret - The Pink Floyd Odyssey" (which I already reviewed in our national newspaper Koran Tempo - thanks to mas Pur for allowing me to put some words about the book and the band). But, when I read the article last night, my pulse was racing very rapidly and I had a bit of tears in my eyes .. It's not about the glossy and wonderful pictures of the band (in full colour) nor the music (because when I read it I was not listening to the album). It all boils down to one thing: emotion! Yup, it sounds silly but that's true - that what really happened. I don't make up story or exaggerate the thing to make you read my writing. No man . The emotion that I experienced last night was like a thunderstorm. It's a blend of many things: passages of music the band create, my 30 years walk of life with the band's music, the joy of enjoying this album, all of them lumped together into that emotion. Especially when it's combined with the following fact (reason no 3 below) ..

3.) Yesterday (11 Aug 2005), I received two short messages in my mobile phone informing me about the defunct of the only one classic rock radio station we have in our country: M97 Classic Rock Station by next week 17 August 2005. What a sad news really. The radio has been the only one that I regularly tune in my car and I never switched to other station. In about couple of days they will change their format due to change of ownership. And the new owner is not willing to serve the classic rock segment. This is the death of classic rock media in Jakarta. What a sad story. So . what is the relationship with Pink Floyd "Dark Side of The Moon"? There is a strong relationship - for me personally and for some prog mates in my country. I knew the radio station the first time sometime in 1995 when my rock mate Riko informed me about the radio. I was surprised that the radio aired Dark Side of The Moon regularly in their play list. So, I was so happy with it. It's a joy. But now, I'm facing tears as the radio will close down the business with classic rock. Yes, I can play my CD but I can no longer send messages to my progmates about tune being aired at the radio and check whether he is listening also or not. The radio is also my media to promote prog music to other friends who are new to prog music.

So, with all the three reasons, it suffices to say how phenomenal the album is - at least for me personally as the band has been thirty years (wow! in coincidence with UK's beautiful track :"Thirty Years" - ehm, I'd better play it now to commemorate) with me through my walks of life: the ups and the downs. For musical review, you can pick some of the excellent reviews by the other 182 reviewers in this page. Sorry for being too personal because at the end of the day is we, individually, that can sense the pulse of the music. Last night I also enjoyed "the making of" DVD for this album which I wrote a long review right a way. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Should I really say anything...?

OK, but I don't think I can come up with any revolutionary statement. One of the all-time classics of the popular music and the contemporary music of XX century that can go alongside the classical music of the past ages. If you never heard it, you are probably an alien of outer space stumbling across this web site. One of top 5 music bestsellers of all time! Alan Parsons was sound engineer here and he did a marvelous job so as to skillfully emulate the sound of this album, making just a thinner texture and cheesy production, for his subsequent ALAN PARSONS PROJECT releases. Do I need to recommend "Dark Side of the Moon" at all?

The following 3 albums in PF life are their pinnacle IMHO!! Tis one, in spite of achieving worlwide success, and be the most selling album of all times...is not my favorite. I do have a soft spot for Time!..since it guided changes in my life of amazing personal significance...I still listen to it very frequently and will do so, for years to come until the day I die.... I do not know Why?, but I prefer to listen this album on rainny days..... 5 solid stars!!

DSotM is not so much a record as a part of my life. Though it's not my favourite Pink Floyd album, I cannot fail to recognise that it is a landmark in the history of rock music, nor forget that it was the soundtrack of many happy moments in my past. How times have changed... When I was a teenager, back in the '70s, we used to dance to the tune of "Us and Them". This might mean that the album was (and still is) seen as more mainstream than progressive (after all, no one danced to "Epitaph" or even "I Know What I Like"!) - but for a record such as this there are many other levels of interpretation.

For one thing, it shouldn't be forgotten that DSotM was groundbreaking at the time, for its use of various kinds of noises, for its state-of-the-art production, even for its minimalistic cover which did not mention either the band's name or the album's title. Then, it will forever be associated with a very particular historical period, that of the 'conquest' of space by humans. It may be true that the music is at times much closer to mainstream pop- rock than to other Floyd records, which is obviously one of the explanations for the album's enduring popularity. However, the lyrics are much darker than anything the music may suggest, dealing as they do with madness, death, violence and (of course) the power of money. The beautiful "The Great Gig in the Sky", with Clare Torry's soaring vocals (unequalled by any other vocalist who's ever performed on this track) and Rick Wright's romantic piano, is a wordless hymn to death. "Time", introduced by the sound of a ticking clock, boasts one of the best-ever lyrics by Roger Waters, with the immortal, all too true closing words "The time has gone, the song is over - Thought I'd something more to say."

The individual members of Pink Floyd may not be as virtuosic as their counterparts in, say, Yes or ELP, but they make the most of their instruments and of the technology at their disposal. The success of DSotM is also a question of chemistry, of the perfect blending of many elements. Two years later the band would go on to record what is perhaps their masterpiece (and my favourite), "Wish You Were Here". However, for those who are not familiar with PF's output, I think DSotM is an excellent starting point - provided one is able to go beyond the surface of an album that may sound easy on the ear, but is definitely not easy on the mind.

Defiantly an excellent album but not quite the classic most people make it out to be. Speak to me opens with memorable lyrics before sending you into a dizzying cycle of spaciness in On the run. Don't relax because the alarm clocks on the track "Time" send you spiraling back to earth where some of the best vocals in floyd history await. For me the great gig in the sky was a let down and I found the female guest vocals offensive to my ear and quite annoying, which is where the album loses half a star. Fair enough..nine tracks..each track about a half star each. Money is a classic song once it gets going, not digging parts of it but overall, once you get to the guitar solo it is amazing. US and them seems like filler which is where the album is forced down to 4 star territory. It was simply a boring song for me. Though the climax at the end earns it some points. At this point the album closes with 3 very touching/psychotic (however you want to look at it) tracks and a perfect climax One of These Days, one of the best closing songs ever. I can see why many people would give this 4.5 or 4.75 or even 5 stars. I remain firm in my 4 star rating and even explained myself a little. Still, pick this album up folks!

"Dark Side Of The Moon" by Pink Floyd isn't only one of the top achivements of progressive rock to this very day, but for music in general. I've waited long to give a review to it, what I consider to be my favourite record of all time, now as I've seen the misplaced one star review by this strange guy I decided to give a statement.

"Dark Side..." is the album, that changed the whole music world. A brilliantly produced concept album, which contains not only music, it's an experience to remember to the rest of your life. The definitive soundtrack to the galaxy, the sun- system, the inner self of the human nature and our material world. Mastermind Roger Waters wrote all of the lyrics, and composed a big part of the pieces, that seem to be like a musicianal tour-de-force dedicated to the moon and the universe. About the single pieces on the record I think I don't need to say anything more, that was already done by some of other collaborators. I only want to add, that this album inspires whole generations of young musicians and those, who are abled to make it big. For my personal situation, the record is a part of my life since I was a little child, it introduced me to become a highly interested person to the big world of rock music. I know that I'm not the only one, who feels the same about this experience of an album. Still today this record introduces young people to "real" music, who don't give a s**t to the nowadays chart oriented, cloned and more and more often casted plastic-pop crap, which is played in radio and music television (hello MTV, how are you?) on a wide base. I feel, that I am getting very direct and concrete in this, so please understand my point as a reaction to the lost sense of innovations in the music world of today. Music is still about personal taste, so it's for anybody the decision to make, what wants to be heard. I know, that there never will be a band again like Pink Floyd, which sets such innovations and standards for the whole music scene. Specially a group of musicians, who makes progressive rock music on such a huge floor. The boys of Pink Floyd made progressive music with "Dark Side Of The Moon" fit for society back in '73, which still has huge impact on this very day. How important the music of "Dark Side Of The Moon" is, shows the bound it makes between the people. Listen to a song like "Us And Them". Who doesn't feel belonged together with the nearest people in her/his life on a emotional side by listening to this and also understands the lyrics, can't be helped.

If there is only one cd I could take with me on a desert island, this would finally be it. Harsh but true! That this album is flawless for what it is, mustn't be said again. No other music album stands higher in my humble oppinion, not even "Sgt. Pepper" or "The White Album". My highest recommendation to all people who have ears, that can listen (and for addition a heart to feel and a brain to think).

10/10 points = 100 % on MPV scale = 5/5 stars

point-system: 0 - 3 points = 1 star / 3.5 - 5.5 points = 2 stars / 6 - 7 points = 3 stars / 7.5 - 8.5 points = 4 stars / 9 - 10 points = 5 stars

Essential: a masterpiece of progressive music

And here we go... the most known, popular and probably well succeeded (comercially speaking) work of the entire porgressive universe (ufff!!!). Dozens of people say they like prog-rock or that they are prog-fans only for counting with this LP/CD in their collections. Among prog-fans passion flows (and sometimes blood too) with fierce defenders and phleugmatic critics placed in opposite sides (not of the Moon, indeed) and the moderate ones being fired by both contenders in several occasions.

Unquestionably a great work and the success it gets is really deserved but after hearing works from many other prog bands including Pink Floyd there is a certain feeling of pretentiousness or even affectation. The album was made as if it were a conceptual work but songs seem much more a bunch gathered randomly with few connections among them except for the duo 'Time/Breathe'.

The songs:
1) Speak to me & 2) Breathe - not a spectacular opening but the seesaw effect between the afflicted crying and the calmness that follows calls for our attention.
3) On the run - only a synth experience - no singing, no playing; it smells like a filler.
4) Time/Breathe (reprise) - here things start to happen and in a great mood; one of the album's peaks. The fusion between two different tunes ('Time' & 'Breathe') does a connection that even not intentionally makes the songs a kind of xyphopagus siblings.
5) The great gig in the sky - another peak; a marvelous one undoubtedly.
6) Money - musical time changing is worhty; singing and playing are outstanding.
7) Us and them - best track in the album, one of the best Floyd's songs. Saxophone (an instrument I don't like too much) supplies a perfect backing and impressive solo segment.
8) Any colour you like - a relax after the emotional previous track.
9) Brain damage - dramatic and funny too, a very amusing song.
10) Eclipse - an ok ending, a sum of all album effort.

A great production, clearly an excellent addition to any prog (or music) collection. Total: 4 stars.

One of Pink Floyd's greatest works, DSOTM shows how this band deals with the human emotions on the great lyrics written by Roger Waters in a concept album that marked PF's carrer forever. Musically and lyrically mesmerizing, this album managed to atract a huge audience from all over the world, which is explained by the simple fact that it is one most sold albums ever. Prog or not prog, it doesn't matter. What matters is how it touches you, how it makes you think about your life in general. This is what music is about. I won't comment the Oz thing here, but if Floyd managed to make such a synch, then all i can say is "they are more geniuses than i thought". One can recognize how hard it is to produce an album this consistent and great and make it synch with a movie being played three times, right? Absolutely essential, but they still managed to make even better stuff!

4.3/5.0

This is a great album, a milestone of music in the seventies. That said, I don't believe it is a progressive masterpiece as I don't even think this is pure progressive music. The album is good, with great songs, however "Money" just isn't prog music: this is rock, or maybe pop-rock. It does not mean it is bad, no... It just isn't prog.

The great thing about "Dark Side of the Moon" is probably the fact that it is aging so well. It was recorded more than 30 years ago, still the music is somehow very 'modern'. I can understand that many people say this is a masterpiece and put 5/5, and I would agree if we were only rating the importance an album had on its era, however I believe there were much better albums, musically speaking, than this one. 4.3/5.0 seems fair to me.

This will be a quick review, on which I will not dabble about describing each song and what instruments are played and how, but on my general view of this album. Dark Side of the Moon took some time to grow on me, having heard before all albums that followed it. At first I did find it flawed, with periods of perfection inbetween what looked like helpless fillers. A few years after listening to it, and with time to grasp it's full meaning after being explained like a 6-year old what it was all about, I cannot cease to praise it's brilliance. Dark Side of the Moon is a masterpiece of studio production, with dozens of people involved in its conception, all of which did a superb job. Such a symbiosis of brilliant minds working towards the goal of becoming rich and famous, leaving, as a bonus, a masterpiece not only of prog, but music in general. With this album, Pink Floyd and Company own nothing to other prog giants, or, for that matter, to the great musicias troughout History.

Dark Side Of The Moon

It is funny that the ratings of Pink Floyd's albums are the same with my likeness, this is my second favorite album after Wish You Were Here. Dark Side Of The Moon was released in 1973 and is Pink Floyd's eight studio album. Also, I'm happy that seems my favorite band has the same taste with mine, since Dream Theater has recorded their Dark Side Of The Moon : ).

I will serve you with some other facts related to this album to show the greatness. The first one is Dark Side Of The Moon was on the Billboard 200 for 714 weeks, that equivalent to 14 years. Just imagine, 14 years on the list, at which my dad listen to this album when it was released for the first time. So its like a generation to generation album, lets hope it to stay popular longer. The second is, Dark Side Of The Moon has 15 platinum, yes that is 15, and its not gold, but platinum, such an amazing album. Last but not least, the cover for the album is considered as one of the best CD cover of all time, there is no doubt for me.

The unique thing about the album is, Pink Floyd used many different varieties for the sound effects, from On The Run's scary sound to Money's money "clinging" sound, of course. The album is considered as a concept album, tells us a story about human and the relation with others, other humans and things around us, like Time and Money.

The songs are not that long, in fact, many of them are in "radio length" song, about 3 to 5 minutes. This is probably what made this album so popular, that the songs were (maybe they are still) played on the radio. Other thing to notice is, and just like I have said above, is the use of synthesizers, which is really great at that time, 1973. One of the best song with a synthesizer is On The Run. The sound supposed to be like an airplane crash in the end of the song, and it represents the human's fear about flying. Other thing is, the guitar solos are quite obvious on the songs, and pretty dominate the songs. The style used was kinda blues and jazzy with (of course) progressive rock element.

I just want to highlight some songs here as the songs on this album are rather similar one another, yet each one has different story. On The Run, is the song which has the most sophisticated synthesizer I reckon, an instrumental song, ended with a sound like an aircrash. Time is absolutely a great song, with a really deep feeling, not my number one favorite though (my favorite is The Great Gig In The Sky). The song has a choir sound, and a very beautiful guitar solo with cool drum lines. The Great Gig In The Sky, really a beautiful song, Well its just an instrumental song with a beautiful choir-like vocal, just like Dream Theater's "John And Theresa Solo Spot", but its just simply beautiful and amazing. Us And Them, is pretty a calm song, with a nice sax passage for the intro. "Us, and them. And after all, we're only ordinary men", really nice lyric.

Five stars for this "more than incredible" album. And I believe I don't have to explain it again (read the whole review!! : ). )

Keep On Proggin' In The Free World!!!

I've felt in my time here that thisis by far the most overrated album on this site. That being said, it's still a great album and certainly doesn't need any kind of title to it, because everyone already has it or has heard of it in some form. Many people consider WYWH a step down, while I consider it a great leap.

So much of this album screams "fake" to me. Fake not as in they didn't write the music, but rather cheesy with the often disdainful lyrics, no matter how "real" people may perceive them to me. It's not a very complex and in depth album, and only seems to explore things on the surface. While the exploration on the surface is great, it's not enough for me. I don't even know why I would bother to explain the music, as everyone who's on this site has heard it before, but here goes anyway.

Lot's of samples are found from everday life, from ticking clocks to cash registers. This usually servers more as a "side attraction" and is not the central focus of the music. Gilmour plays pretty bluesy in many areas, but the vocals are top notch. And of course, what hasn't been said about the producion, which was so far ahead of its time.

A great album, essential in the sense that every person in the information world has heard about it, but not a great prog album, and certainly not Floyd's best work.

Interesting to note is that the first time the band played "The Dark Side Of The Moon" without technical difficulties was on January 21st 1972 at the Guildhall in Portsmouth. By the time the album was released some 14 months later the bootleg for that live concert had already sold 120,000 copies. The very first time I remember hearing about PINK FLOYD was when I was about 12 years old and in school. One of the guys in my class had a "Dark Side Of The Moon" sticker on his binder. The last name of this student happened to be Floyd, so i figured that was why he was into them. I never even heard their music until I was in high school, and it was this record that began my journey with PINK FLOYD. This was an album that most parents could actually tolerate, unlike the music from LED ZEPPELIN, BLACK SABBATH etc. They may have thought it was weird, but the dreamy sounds were easy on their ears. Of course this music has always been associated with drugs. I remember a guy in his fifties with Elvis-like side burns, scoffing at my "Dark Side Of The Moon" t-shirt I was wearing, and implying I must like getting high. Whatever dude. The album really plays out like one long piece, with the songs blending together. Roger had approached the band about doing a themed album about mortality, madness and the need for universal human empathy. He proposed writing emotionally direct lyrics in suitable simple language.This album was Roger's idea and he was responsible for all the lyrics. He admits that Gilmour's input was crucial as David created almost all the music with Wright also helping out too. So like the "Meddle" album this too was a band effort. It was Roger's idea to record samples of people speaking and sprinkling them throughout the album. Roger asked questions to random people on Abbey Road and in the Abbey Road Studios for hours, all the while taping their answers. I'm surprised that after all these years Syd barrett is still on the band's minds as the title of the album comes from something Syd said after the band let him go as in "They've left me on the dark side of the moon". And also the song "Brain Damage" which unfortunately was inspired by Syd's mental problems. Maybe i shouldn't be surprised though as Syd was their leader and an incredible talent. There are two significant guests on this record, Clare Torry of course with her amazing vocals on "The Great Gig In The Sky", and Dick Parry who adds some very important sax melodies on this recording.

"Speak To Me" opens with the sound of a heart beat as mechanical and vocal samples join in. "Breathe" is like a dream. Wright and Mason lead the way before the vocals join in before 1 1/2 minutes. Love the organ work after 2 minutes. It blends into the instrumental "On The Run" which is so cool. It's like we're running from something and there's that feeling of panic. The sound builds and collapses all the while we keep running. An explosion comes in late but we're still on the run. It blends into "Time" where we can hear the clock ticking in the distant so we turn it up louder and then boom ! It's like a thousand alarm clocks just went off ! I love the drumming and organ work that follows. Aggressive vocals come in after 2 minutes that we're so unlike FLOYD back then. I like the guitar work of Gilmour here. The spacey section after 2 1/2 minutes is incredible, followed by Gilmour just lighting it up on his guitar. Fantastic solo ! It's spacey again after 4 minutes and again a minute later. Nice. The lyrics are so true. "Breathe Reprise" comes in before 6 minutes. Wright offers up some great spacey organ late.

"The Great Gig In The Sky" is an instrumental except there are those female vocal melodies from Clare. She puts on an incredible show here. This is just so emotional. Piano and a spacey soundscape as she comes in vocally. Organ joins in too. The drumming is worthy of a mention here as well. A calm 2 1/2 minutes as piano comes back to the fore. "Money" opens with those cash register sounds followed by bass and a full sound. Vocals follow and check out the sax solo 2 minutes in. Guitar follows that up with a solo as well. Ripping guitar 4 1/2 minutes in followed by vocals and samples to end it. It blends into "Us And Them" the longest song on the album and my favourite PINK FLOYD song. Thankyou Richard Wright ! Organ to open as sax comes in. It's all so laid back as the reserved vocals come in. The lyrics are so emotional as he sings "Forward he cried from the rear and the front rank died." It blends into "Any Colour You Like" which is a spacey, psychedelic jam. An outbreak of sound before 1 1/2 minutes, and it later blends into "Brain Damage". Great lyrics on this one too. It kicks into gear after a minute. Love the crazy laughter before 2 minutes and later 3 1/2 minutes in. "Eclipse" features some great organ runs from Wright early on. It ends as the album began with heart beats.

In my opinion this is the greatest recording ever made, and the only album I would give a perfect score to. 14 years on Billboards album charts means that it is the most popular progressive album ever made, and I know we've all played it to death but...this is the holy grail of music.

This album's been discussed over and over, let's do it one more time. BEST Pink Floyd album? On the odd day, I might prefer Meddle (for Echoes), Animals (for Dogs), The Wall (for being such a weird creature of an album) and even Atom Heart Mother(for influencing Pink Floyd's sound in their subsequent albums). But 9 out of 10 times, I would say without a blink, Dark Side of The Moon.

It's the one Pink Floyd album that blends variety with unformity. There's the mid-tempo pensive rocker-turned-ballad Time, there's the catchy-as-hell Money, candlelight dinner table mood of Us and them and the brooding finality of Brain Damage and Us and them. Each of these songs entirely different moods and at the same time seem to flow from and into each other. Why, even the 'vocal instrumental' The Great Gig in the sky and the Gilmour-Wright jam session Any colour you like blend perfectly with the overall atmosphere of the album. Needless to say, all members of the band are in full flow, though they have had their best moments in different albums and at different times. Roger Waters gets his point across without any of the bombast and self-importance of The Wall and still sends shivers down the spine when you actually stop floating in the pleasant music and take a deeper look at the lyrics. All in all, it's as perfect as Floyd can get.

This impossible perfection of the craft in turn has brought with it the commercial labelling. I would label WYWH commercial, so too Division Bell and even The Wall (sure the topics are too depressing for the average pop buff, but Another Brick in The Wall Part-2 was written for and only for the charts). But this? Naah! The musical concept and execution of it are just pristine and precise. The fact that it was accessible to a mainstream audience doesn't make it commercial-oriented. I like to think it was one of those few moments in the annals of rock music when genius won the day and great music managed to win the selling game as well. I would give anything for those times to come back again - when stuff like Dark Side and Led Zeppelin IV actually won over both armchair critics and the general public and it wasn't necessary to do pop to rule the charts. After all, a band has to feed itself at the end of the day and the only way to do it is to push the copies off the shelves fast and for as long as possible.

Dark Side has achieved that by continuing to sell more copies to this day. And when an album of a bygone era wins new fans for itself and the band, I believe it cannot be due to its 'commercial' qualities - anything commercial has a woefully short shelf life. Just as bookworms dig out classics written centuries ago, prog fans of times to come will continue to discover Dark Side and in turn Pink Floyd.

Dark Side Of the Moon is almost without a doubt the most enduring and popular progressive rock album of all time, and perhaps even all rock. The album originally charted number one in the US and 2 in the UK and only remained #1 in America for a week, but that was only the beginning. The album went on to remain on the US charts for over 730 weeks, that's 14 years breaking all records by over three-hundred weeks. The album has gone on to sell over 25,000,000 copies which makes it one of the highest selling albums ever behind albums such as 'Led Zeppelin IV' and 'The Wall' (also by Pink Floyd.) I didn't need to know this to find "Dark Side of the Moon" a very good album. I knew it was popular but I had no idea it had sold 25 million copies, so it was a new experience for me, needless to say I had high hopes for it. Strangely enough at first I really disliked it, and I remember getting to "The Great Gig in the Sky" and just giving up. The album slowly grew on me, and it is now one of my favourite albums.

"Dark Side of the Moon" was not only the breakthrough album for Pink Floyd, but it also helped define Psychedelic rock through sonic experimentation and the use of tape effect which are spotted throughout the entire album. For these reasons "Dark Side of the Moon" is one of the most influential albums ever released and many bands have taken a page for Pink Floyd's book.

The album opens with "Speak to Me/Breath" which begins gradually with a heart-beat that builds in intensity until a mellow tune comes in. With this tune comes the second section of the song "Breath." The song is very mellow and features some nice synthesizer effects and guitar as well as vocals from Waters.

Next is "On the Run" which is a classic Pink Floyd psychedelic experience, complete with tape effects and everything. The song features tape effects of, someone running from aliens probably. This is one song that really grows on you and will probably be the last song to click. Unbeknown to the members of Pink Floyd, this song and related songs would eventually lead to the creation of disco.

The fantastic "Time" is next which opens with the sounds of many cloaks ticking, before they all hit mid-night (at different times) and many bells begin to ring. This section is followed by an eerie ticking sound backed by other instruments. The song really begins after this when the vocal section and best of all the guitar solo which is one major highlight of the album. The song winds down well and makes as a good introduction for the next song.

.Speaking of which, the next song is called "The Great Gig in the Sky" and is, from what I've heard the most hated song from the album. I too hated it but eventually got used to it. The song consists of a mellow piano tune with tape effects, until the scream- singing begins which is what deters people from the song. Seriously though it just takes a little getting used to, trust me.

"Money" is next which since the release of "Dark Side of the Moon" has become one of the most famous Pink Floyd song. It begins with sounds of a cash register and money being thrown around before moving into a very catchy rhythm spearheaded by the bass and drums. There is an especially good instrumental section which begins at around minute 2 with an excellent saxophone solo which is immediately followed by a guitar solo from Gilmour. The song gradually gains intensity until about the 5th minute when the closing set of memorable vocals chime in.

"Money" eventually leads on into "Us and Them" which is about humans (us) and aliens (them.) The song is quite mellow, but features some louder sections and great saxophone by Dick Parry who, for me really makes this song great. The song opens with a mellow organ played by Wright which is soon accompanied by a soft drum beat and arpeggioated (is that a word?) chords from Gilmour. The vocals and blending piano chords come in and the philosophical lyrics take over until Dick Parry comes in with the sax and a loud part takes over. Rick Wright has, what I think to be a very good piano solo during the song which is followed by a sax solo which eventually leads to the next number.

.which is called "Any Colour You Like" and is 3 minutes of top-quality of instrumental music. It opens with very fantastical layered synthesizers with band backing. Soon after the synthesizers comes the guitar solo from Gilmour which is again fantastic and really makes for an excellent listen. The three minutes the song runs for seems to pass way too quickly as the next song beings.

The penultimate track to "Dark Side of the Moon" is "Brain Damage" which is yet another all-time classic. The song is written for all the lunatics in the world and during live Pink Floyd shows world leaders are shown smiling on the big screen. This gives the song a comical feel, but in truth the song addresses a serious issue. The song is similar to "Us and Them" in that it varies in loudness.

Last of all is "Eclipse" which is really the icing on the cake for me and ends the album on a truly legendary note as its lyrics are very moving and gives one the impression of seeing the moon, if you understand what I mean.

1.Speak to Me/Breath (4/5) 2.One The Run (3/5) 3.Time (5/5) 4.The Great Gig in the Sky (4/5) 5.Us and Them (5/5) 6.Any Colour You Like (5/5) 7.Brain Damage (5/5) 8.Eclipse (5/5) Total = 36 divided by 8 = 4.5 = 5 stars!!!!! Essential: a masterpiece of progressive music

"Dark Side of the Moon" is one very essential album, everyone must own this album, it's easy to acquire so get it if you don't already have it! This album sums up all that is Pink Floyd and psychedelic rock in 40 minutes of bliss, great stuff right here.

Pink Floyd - DSOTM

Almost everything has already been said and written about this album, so I'll keep it brief. This is probably one of the most influential albums in progressive music ever and it is my personal favourite Pink Floyd album together with "Wish You Were Here". It's difficult to argue which one of those two albums is better, if there is one?

Pink Floyd got me interested in progressive music. Before that I was listening more to The Beatles, U2, Radiohead and more "mainstream" music. I think by discovering Pink Floyd I discovered progressive music! Now at least half of my CD collection consists out of prog- rock albums. Why this little "of subject" note here? I just want to make clear that Pink Floyd has not only influenced a great number of other bands, it has also influenced my taste in music! And I think only for the better.

Despite a few flaws in the album (I particularly don't really like the poppy track "Money" which sounds a bit like they were trying to make a hit single) I give this album the full 5 stars that it deserves because of its great importance on the entire progressive rock scene!

The female vocals are the highlights, really...

Special sound effects and atmospherics were their forte, not the composition ability nor the soloing. Each member provided a minimalistic yet effective effort, whilst they never did merit all the high praising nor the top 10 categorization this album gets among other progressive monsters.

The album stars with special effects (what did I tell you) and thus begins, taking you to a tour through the entire album in just 45 seconds. Then a song begins. "Breathe" is the typical Pink Floyd song, in the vein of Graham Nash. On the run is an interlude of yet pure special effects. "Time" is highly overrated, but not so horrible; it begins with sordid clocks and bells and the chorus is the best part of it, with female vocal harmonies in the background and interesting melody. "The Great Gig in the Sky" is another overrated song, with rather simplistic piano chords which are supposed to be Rick Wright's spotlit moment; without Clare Torry's wailing the song would have a good place in the trashbins; it's just an average piano chord exercise. "Money" is the break from the constant 4/4 meter that's abundant and crosses it with 3/4; the sum is a 7/4 song, but apart from that, this is another banal blues rock song with special cash register effects. "Us and Then" is a simplistic ballad, very andante, and a bit overlong; followed by "Any Colour You Like" which is yet another reprisal of the "Breathe" theme to bring the idea of a concept album. "Brain Damage" is the epitaph of what would be "The Wall" with Waters and his psyco-obsessed imagery, as usual. "Eclipse" is nothing more than a childish poem dubbed on an anthemic yet non-memorable instrumental track; but any other closer would be uneven, so the best way to end it is with another simplistic track.

To put this album in the Top 10 is a joke, apart from the commercial success this one generated. 2.5 stars really, because it's probably the most creative thing that Pink Floyd could had done.

Dark Side of the Moon is one of the top ten albums in music. End of discussion. Every song is a gem of psychedelia. Dave Gilmour plays his guitar with as much emotion as any Mississippi Delta bluesman, Roger's bass is solid, Rick's keyboards give trhe album a lush texture without taking center stage like they do with Yes or ELP, and Nick's drum complement Roger's bass to cement a great rythmn section. This album stayed on the Billboard Top 200 for over a decade. That is simply stunning. The album goes from paranoia to hilarity at the drop of a hat. The album is a concept piece that chronicles a man's devolution to insanity. It is partly inspired by Syd Barret's burnout (the follow up, Wish You Were Here, also touched on their fallen comrade).

Speak To Me/Breathe opens with a scream and the standard spacey fare. It sets the mood for the album.

On the Run is an amusing track that cobines serious parnoia with a light hearted mission to catch a plane.

Time leads in with a cacophony of clocks chiming. The lyrics are, in my opinion, Waters' best. David Gilmour's solo is breathtaking.

The Great Gig in the Sky follows up on the plane that the character missed. It crashed, which only adds to his paranoid nature. Fantastic guest vox from Clare.

Money is one of the most played Floyd tracks on radio. It has great lyrics, an infectious bassline, and a fantastic solo.

Us Or Them is a unique anti-war song for the time, because it it presented throught the eyes of a soldier. He doesn't understand his orders, doesn't particularly want to carry them out, but end the end does so because it is his "duty"

Any Colour You Like is a great instrumental piece

Brain Damage marks the slip into insanity. Whereas Shine On seemed to immortlaize Syd Barret, this song does the opposite by indirectly attacking him for quitting just becasue the band wanted to experiment, which is how they got started in the first place.

Eclipse is a great outro with its haunting heartbeats to close the album. The only creepier sound effects I've heard is the hospital noises and spoken word on the intro to Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime.

DSOTM is essential for any fan of music. It, like AC/DC's Back in Black, is an album that belongs in your CD collection and probably already does. Simply stunning.

For those who know a little bit of history, those will know that this album has changed completely the world music panorama. This album has put progressive rock music and experimentation where they never would be again - it has made people to love and respect progressive music. And for almost 10 years progressive music was at every people's mouthes, this album marked deffinitely the beginning of a new era.

What Pink Floyd did, particularly producer Alan Parsons, was transforming the band's experimental ideas in the form of superbly produced sofisticated songs. In fact, the album is so well produced that is astounding, almost unbelievable, to know it was edited in 1973 (!). The album shows so many variations, from all sorts of atmospheric sounds to gospel overblown singing, blended in a very delicate and high sensible way, creating a magnanimous piece of art - a true movie for the ears - with its several different pieces. Pink Floyd surely have moved towards pop, in the sense they put a fantastic effort in a way people would not find difficult to accept it. But in no way this is pop music. It influenced and still influences hundreds of bands, one of the most influentional albuns of all times!

Every progressive rock fan should have this in his/her collection. A classic.

Let me start off by saying that I much prefer the Barrett era of Pink Floyd, seeing as how my favorite track is Vegetable Man which was recorded in 1966 and never released! Most of the Floyd fans nowadays would look at me like I'm crazy. Posers.

Now onto music! This really didnt do much for me. I felt that "The Great Gig In The Sky" was the best on the album, as Clare Torry's vocals sound tortured and helpless yet they remain majestic at the same time. "Us And Them" is a good mellow track with nice brass section touches.

Now onto the bad. "Breathe" is twisted and demented and 'Money" is a pointless childrens poem read over rather interesting time structures. I did enjoy "Any Colour You Like", however I wish they had made it a smidgeon longer. Also whether he knew it or not at the time, Storm Thorgensen had created the biggest poser symbol in the history of the planet with this prism design. People that wear Pink Floyd 1973 tour tee-shirts have probably never even heard of Syd Barrett or any Floyd music as a matter of fact.

Yes, Roger Waters used to be the rythm guitarist! Rick Wright used to play chimes! Bob Klose was the lead guitarist! and Chris Dennis was the lead singer! Clive Metcalfe was the bassist! Hahaha take that kids =]

One of the biggest selling rock albums of all time, a pioneering and innovative album in many ways and the moment it all finally came together for the Floyd after a few years thrashing about looking for the key. Who is not already familiar with the sound of the heartbeat, or cash-registers picking the beat for Money, or Clare Torry's orgasmic vocal performance on Great Gig In The Sky. Or the iconic album cover from Hipgnosis. Or Roger The Hat's "Live for today, gone tomorrow, that's me" and others. A favourite to make love to, but if you'd rather just listen, well that's perfect too. This album set a new standard for rock musicians to aspire to and its effects are still felt today. Undoubted masterpiece.

Almsot 500 reviews for this one. Is there anything more to say about it ? I quickly scanned those reviews and I decided to present this album with an different insight than usual. Let's see (and hear).

The genesis of this jewel started as soon as end of 1971 in Nick's kitchen. Fortunately they will produce something else than "The Psychedelic Breakfast" ! Roger started with the lyrics while Rick and David concentrated on the music.

Roger will say : "It had to be quick, because we had a tour starting. It might have been only six weeks before we had to have something to perform. We went somewhere in W. Hampstead for a couple of weeks and we got a lot of pieces together."

The first name for it was "Eclipse" because a band called Medicine Head had released an album titled "Dark Side of the Moon" in late 1971... so the planned title was changed to "Eclipse". When the Medicine Head album flopped, the original title was revived by Pink Floyd.

The Floyd started a pre-DSOTM tour as early as January 1972. The first attempt to play it as a whole was at Brighton (January 20, 1972). They had to stop at "Money" due to some technical problems. During their first short UK tour (one month - 16 dates of which one was cancelled (in Manchester) after twenty-five minutes. They will reschedule it in March. The whole pre-tour featured ninety-four concerts while the effective tour will only have 35 dates. They will go on playing it in full lenght during the WYWH tour.

Four of those concerts took place at the Rainbow Theater in London. One has been recorded brilliantly and is available. Apparently it is the the last one on February 20, 1972 - which makes sense since they had performed it already several times).

It is a wonderful document because it shows how the project has evolved between January 1972 and March 1973 (date of release).

"Breathe" is only one track (combined with "Speak To Me") There is still no sign of "On The Run" (instead we have a track called "The Travel Sequence" which is also an instrumental but longer - over six minutes) "Breathe Reprise" has been called "Home Again" later on in this tour (during the second leg of their North American tour) and then will return to its original name. "The Great Gig" has of course nothing to do with the wonderful final version we all know (the music is already there though).

B-side of the album was really close to the final one although "Us & Them" has been seriously cut (but I think it was due to ... a technical problem more than anything else).

The pre-tour featured the whole rendition of DSOTM (with no words nor aplause as usual). They played it in the first half of their set. After a break, they played "One Of These Days", "Set The Controls", "Careful", "AHM" (very few times), "ASOS" and "Echoes". Not all of these tracks were palyed at the same venue but it was the core of songs they had chosen for what was called "A Best Of Tour". I bet you !

Rick will say the following about the tour, I quote : "Sometimes I look at our huge truck and tons and tons of equipment and I think 'Christ, all I'm doing is playing an organ" !

Sorry to have been a bit extensive so far, but I thought it might be of interest to know these details (you know, I like details and I spend endless hours to do research to find these).

So, finally, let's go back to the original album (and a more classic approach of this marvel).

Oh boy ! How many times did this one spin on my pick-up ? Can't tell !

They recorded it at the Abbey Road studios with Alan Parsons as engineer (he will definitely do a superb job). It will miss the Nr. 1 in the UK charts (peaking at Nr. 2) but will do it in the US (only for one week). In total it will remain 724 weeks in the Bilboard Top 200. They sold more than FORTY (40 ) million copies of it.

About the success of the album Rick tells us : "No idea at all, after we'd made it, actually sitting down listening to it for the first time in the studio, I thought 'This is going to be big. This is an excellent album'. Why it goes on and on selling, I don't know. It touched a nerve at the time. It seemed like everyone was waiting for this album, for someone to make it."

DSOTM is the type of album that you mostly listen to in its entirety than highlighting some tracks out of it but still, one song left me breatless at the time of release and purchase (in 1973) : "Time". It is still one of my all time Floyd's fave. The intro is just fabulous : the clocks in the intro of were originally recorded at an antique store by Alan Parsons. A great, great piece of music. Powerful and catchy. Great guitar solo from Dave (lots of more to come, fortunately).

"On The Run" on the contrary is probably the sole filler (although that the last two numbers are also weaker).

What to say about "The Great Gig" ?

One take man ! Clare Torry does a stunning job although she was not quite satisfied of her performance and was willing to do it again. It was, of course, not necessary. In 2004, she sued Pink Floyd and EMI for songwriting royalties, on the basis that her contribution to "The Great Gig in the Sky" (she "wrote" the "vocal" parts). She was paid 30 £ (Sunday studio work basic allowances) for the recording! She won the trial in 2005 but the terms of the settlement were not published. It won't be the unique trial of that type (the school boys from "The Wall" will do the same ... and win again).

Their hit "Money" is not my fave but the sax and guitar solo are quite nice (it is the most played song in their live sets : more than eight hundred (800) times so far ! (Dave and Roger still playing it during their tours).

Same fabulous sax effort from Dick Parry on "Us & Them" : very emotional track. With the years passing by, I appreciate this song more and more (specially live).

"Brain Damage" was written during the "Meddle" sessions (the suggested title at that time was ... "The Dark Side Of The Moon"). It is also said that this song refers to Syd. Madness will be one of the DSOTM's theme. Nick will say : "The album was intially about the pressures of real life-travel, money, madness-and then it broadened out a bit."

The whole album flows so easily from one number to the other that when it comes to end, one says : already finished ? My only regret is that there should have been a grand and epic finale for this masterpiece instead of "Eclipse". This album will create the Pink Floyd sound for the rest of their carrer (up to "The Division Bell"). I would not say though that this is the best prog album ever (even not the best Pink Floyd one). But this album definitely deserves five stars of course.

Hey everybody, look at me – I’m writing a Pink Floyd review! Go figure.

This is one of those albums where the memories and social and cultural significance probably matter as much as the album itself. It’s hard to imagine that anyone who is reading this right now does not have many, many fond memories of special events or times of their life or relationships or epiphanies where this album played a part. It’s been re-released God knows how many times in different formats and on different media. It set an unbreakable mark of more than fifteen years on the Billboard top- selling albums charts. Let’s put that in perspective: when this album released and first hit the charts it was the spring of 1973. I was just approaching puberty and hadn’t yet discovered facial hair or girls. By the time it finally dipped just below the charts, I had been through college, a tour in the Marine Corps, married, and brought my first son into the world. And that was nearly twenty years ago. It is still one of the top-selling albums for EMI and on Amazon.

We had gone from Richard Nixon being reelected U.S. President to George H.W. Bush succeeding Ronald Reagan in that post. The Vietnam War was winding to a close in 1973; by 1989 the Soviets were rolling out of Afghanistan and the Americans were rolling into Iraq (the first time). The week after this album released the World Trade Center officially opened in New York City, and the U.S. and China had just agreed to establish formal relations. Today the towers are gone and the U.S. and China are the largest trading partners in the history of the world. The laptop computer I’m typing this review on is 1,200 times more powerful and has 1,000 times more storage capacity than “supercomputers” used by NASA in 1973 that took up an entire floor of a building and required a whole team of engineers to maintain it (and which are now on display in the Smithsonian Institute’s science museum). Bruce Lee was still alive, and Sam Tyler had appeared.

In the latter seventies my friends and I flocked to “laser-light” shows at our local planetarium, which were nothing more than crappy laser lights fixed to an analog turntable and spun around while being flashed through paper plates with oddly-shaped holes cut in them, all while we sat in the dark and listened to this album being blasted over the P.A. system. This was high art, in every sense of the word. (I'm a first-roar guy myself, by the way - it's much more clear than the third one).

I still have my old Harvest vinyl edition, purchased in the summer of 1973 as a daring challenge to my Anabaptist parent’s authority. I kept it hidden in the garage for the most part, and mostly only got to listen to it when I could sneak it over to a friend’s house. There was no way in hell Pink Floyd ever heard of Montana, U.S.A., let alone ever considered touring there, so this was as close as I would get.

The foldout cover has held up well all these years, wrapped in a sturdy plastic sleeve and carted around these thirty-four years through family moves across the Midwest; back across the Heartland when the time came for college; into my brother’s closet while I toiled through boot camp; in a footlocker during a twelve-year military career; and across five states and three moves nestled in an apple crate since then. I’m playing it now for the first time in years, although the Mobile Fidelity CD version I purchased several years ago gets rotated a fair bit, especially on driving trips. That son who was born around the time this album left the charts? He’s now off to college himself, and has his own copy tucked away in his collection. The next son after him has it on his iPod, and the little one will get his copy soon. How many albums can you say that about?

This music requires no introduction – every single soul reading this knows it by heart. My favorites? There’s no such thing with this album. But I know that “Us and Them” changed my life when it opened my smoke-filled eyes to the possibilities in the world around me more than thirty years ago. Is this an anti-war song, or something more? Yes and no, of course; it’s what you make of it, as is the rest of the album.

“Brain Damage” is almost certainly Syd Barrett-inspired, and it introduced a whole generation of us naïve suburban-types to the concept of strife and anguish and madness. And we thought everything was fine beyond our trimmed green lawns…

But “Time” is the one that blows me away still. The others were larger than life when they were new, helped of course by plenty of testosterone and adrenaline and recreational stimulants. They’re still amazing, especially when compared not only with their contemporaries, but also against anything being put out today. There is no comparison. But “Time” is still as relevant and poignant and powerful and thought- provoking to this middle-aged dreamer as it was to a barely-teenaged dreamer all those years ago. Maybe the “dreamer” part accounts for the continuity. It’s probably even more relevant today, as time has become so much more significant then back when there was plenty of it to spare. David Gilmour is freaking amazing on this song, by the way.

And “Breathe” pretty much wraps up the story for all of us. Kind of makes you wonder what kept these guys inspired to go on with the rest of the album after summing things up on the first track.

I don’t need to actually state where this album ‘ranks’. Just everyone who reads this go look in your collection. Then go look in the collection of everyone you know. If any of those people doesn’t have this album, check them for antennae and green blood. Maybe suction cups on their fingertips. They are not one of us.

peace

So, as I understand it, Rick, Nick, David and Roger were sitting around in the den one night watching "The Wizard of Oz" on TV, trying to find inspiration for their next album. True story. Okay, okay, I'm just yanking your chain. So sue me. But seriously, folks, how does one go about writing a fresh review of the record that spent an unimaginable 741 weeks on the Billboard Top 200 album chart? That introduced songs heard countless times by everyone alive in the civilized world and probably a couple mil in the uncivilized one? In this it's-all-been-said-before situation I can only give you my personal impressions as I focus on the insightful lyrical content and reverently give homage to the work of art that gave progressive rock respect for all time to come.

Taking the project as a whole, the true secret to its astronomical success is found in its patient, never-in-a-rush attitude that is so very rarely experienced in modern music. The entire album flows so easily, so naturally and you probably can't even recall the first time you heard each individual song. Like many of the Beatles' tunes, it's as if they've just always existed.

The album is about being alive and "Speak to Me" appropriately starts things off with a mini overture of sound bites discretely suppressed underneath an overriding heartbeat. The words to "Breathe" simply state that whether or not you asked to be born you are here nonetheless and "for long you live and high you fly/and smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry/and all you touch and all you see/is all your life will ever be." That may be simplifying a very complex philosophy but it is the basic truth of existence. Next is "On the Run," a somewhat old school programmed synthesizer piece and the most dated segment of the album. However, if fairly judged with perspective, it was a lot more compelling in 1973 when that instrument was still a novelty. The message of "Time" is as relevant to the youth of today as it was over three decades ago. For it is during your twenties that you have the freedom to explore the planet, take intelligent risks and go on adventures. But laziness and unfounded fear are disabling afflictions that can put you in the position of endlessly "waiting for someone or something to show you the way." Immaturity and short-sightedness will mislead you into believing "you are young and life is long/and there is time to kill today" but "then one day you find/ten years have got behind you/no one told you when to run/you missed the starting gun." (Be bold; don't let this happen to you.) Rick Wright's "Great Gig in the Sky" is a beautiful piano/guitar-based tune that demonstrates the growth and maturation of Pink Floyd as they ventured outside of their own membership to utilize the utterly orgasmic voice of guest vocalist Clare Torry. It was a stroke of genius as she gave the song its soul.

Whether you are an elite businessman or an aborigine in the outback "Money," in whatever forms it takes, will be a huge factor in everyone's life. Roger Water's sarcastic lines have become modern catch phrases about the subject with "I'm alright Jack/keep your hands off my stack" and "don't give me that do goody good bull[&*!#]." Shun it or idolize it, money will be a necessary evil you must deal with on a regular basis. Your role in society is addressed in the serene yet poignant "Us and Them." No matter which country you live in it will insist that you take their side on every issue even if it means going to war because "down and out/it can't be helped but there's a lot of it about/with, without/and who'll deny that's what the fighting's all about." Another instrumental, "Any Colour You Like," serves as a pleasant bridge leading to the last two songs. It features some excellent synthesizer work from Wright and guitarist David Gilmour shows that as of this album he had joined his peers on the A list of rock guitarists. "Brain Damage" raises the sensitive topic of mental illness or, as the late great writer Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. expressed, being born a "bad machine." As he does in other tunes before and since, Waters seems to be speaking to his dear friend Syd Barrett as he sings "and if the dam breaks open many years too soon/and if there is no room upon the hill/and if your head explodes with dark forbodings, too/I'll see you on the dark side of the moon." To me they saved the best for last, though, with "Eclipse" wherein the operative word is "All" as in the key to happiness lies in your willingness and courage to fully embrace and experience "all that you touch/all that you see/all that you taste/all you feel" throughout your life. This includes "all that you love/all that you hate/all you distrust/all that you save/all that you give/all that you deal/all that you buy, beg, borrow or steal." It's the sagest advice you'll ever hear.

There will always be differing opinions about which album is this band's greatest but nothing will ever convince me that this is anything less than a masterpiece. Yes, I have long since grown tired of radio's insistence on playing "Money," "Time" and "Us and Them" ad nauseum but I still have to stand in awe of the universal adoration of this record that doesn't fade away. As I alluded to earlier, because of this album we proggers can instantly enlighten anyone on earth if they ask you what progressive rock is, exactly. You simply say "Dark Side of the Moon." They will understand without you having to say another word.

Pink Floyd on the dark side?

A great effort, yes indeed! Skillfull because it is open for both directions, moving on the border between Space/Psychedelic and Mainstream Rock with great safety. So PINK FLOYD manages to get many people closer to the Progressive Rock genre (and not only with this release). This must be credited to Gilmour, Waters and Co by all means.

Breathe in the Air, Time and Any Colour You Like are in a wellknown PF mood with psychedelic ingredients of former times. Money for example has a strong hit character and mainstream rock fans also can enjoy this one very much. The Great Gig in the Sky is my prefered song because it contains incredible female vocals combined with excellent piano/keyboard playing by Richard Wright.

This might be the most successful album of PINK FLOYD - not my favourite, but an excellent addition anyway.

Waters was pissed.

After trying his best to deliver more direct, straightforward, and meaningful lyrics people were still calling his music "space rock" and music for stoners, the latter especially ironic since the Floyd were not druggies in those days (Gilmour and Wright admitted to occasional weed, but aside from two sixties acid trips, Roger was not into drugs. Nor was Mason. They were drinkers during this period.) He wanted to confront more human issues like death, madness, relationships, compassion, poverty, war and peace. But the Floyd would be cast as stoner party rock and it's easy (for me) to understand how this frustrated Waters to the point where he disliked doing the shows. Imagine trying to lay down a quiet piece about life and death only to have a bunch of drunks screaming "play Money, man!!!!"

I think we all tend to take DSOTM for granted because it's so familiar to us and it's always on the radio. But if you sit and pay full attention to what you're hearing it becomes obvious that this is Floyd's second masterpiece after Piper. I'm pretty reserved on what it takes to be a true "masterpiece," I don't make a habit of awarding 5 stars to albums that have been out for 15 minutes. Lyrically and musically I cannot deny Dark Side. From "Breathe" to "Time" to "Us and Them" it is just simply so easy to be seduced by this music.

Near the end of the recording Waters came up with another brilliant idea. They wrote up questions on cards and presented them to a bunch of people to get them to speak about their lives and the underlying concepts on the album. The best pieces of the interviews were laced throughout the songs to give them a very real sense of humanity. When you hear these voices, they are not the planned lyrical content of Waters but rather the off the cuff conversation of just about everyone who was present at Abbey Road on a given day: janitors, roadies, musicians, etc. One of the most memorable came from a cantankerous old janitor named Gerry O' Driscoll who was asked "Are you afraid of dying?" He replied "I am not afraid of dying. Any time will do, I don't mind. Why should I be afraid of dying? There's no reason for it-you've got to go sometime." When asked "Do you ever think you're going mad?" he replied "I've always been mad. I know I've been mad like most of us have. Very hard to explain why you were mad, even if you're not mad." But most famously, when cajoled by Waters to explain what the DSOTM means, the old Irishman said "There is no dark side of the moon really. As a matter of fact it's all dark. The only thing that makes it look light is the sun." Another character Roger Manifold was speaking about fighting when he famously answered "if you give them a quick, short, sharp shock, they won't do it again. Dig it? I mean, he got off lightly 'cos I could have given him a thrashing-I only hit him once!" These conversational nuggets interject a sense of reality and authentic intimacy to the music beyond the limits of Waters' lyrical pen, an absolutely perfect way of connecting to the subject matter of the human condition.

As Chris Thomas was finishing the mixing, they still felt that "The Great Gig in the Sky" was missing something. Alan Parsons suggested having Claire Torry come in to sing over the piece. She found the band members rather dry and was pretty indifferent about the session. After negotiating her fee of about $50 bucks she tried a few runs and was not getting much from enthusiasm from Gilmour. She was about to split when she had the thought of singing "as if she were a musical instrument" and the rest is history. She claimed she didn't even realize they used her part until buying the album months later and listening to it at home. Upon retiring a few years back Ms. Torry proceeded to sue the Floyd for partial credit of the track. She won an undisclosed sum of money and a partial songwriting credit for Great Gig.

When it was complete Dave listened to the entire album and was quoted "My God, we've really done something fantastic." Roger brought a copy home for his wife: "My strongest memory of listening to it is when I played it to Judy. She listened to it all the way through, and when it was finished, she burst into tears. She was very moved by it. I thought that was a very good sign. We've definitely got something here."

All the Floyd have commented over the years that they felt things went downhill after Dark Side. Waters: "The DSOTM finished off Pink Floyd once and for all. To be that successful is the aim of very group. And once you've cracked it, it's all over." Gilmour expressed similar feelings: "After that sort of success.you hit that strange impasse where you're really not very certain of anything anymore. It's so fantastic, but at the same time you start thinking, what on earth do we do now?"

Isn't it funny that guys who think it was over with Dark Side would go on to create WYWH, Animals, and The Wall? Not bad output for lads who considered things over!

The excellent book by John Harris focuses specifically on the making of this album and what led up to it. While I did not copy John's text in this review, I did use it as the resource for the stories in this review and for quotations of what the band members said. So I credit John for assembling this great information and thank him for informing this review. Please look for his book: "The Dark Side of the Moon: The Making of the Pink Floyd Masterpiece" by John Harris.

And so.....Dark Side of the Moon is the definition of an album deserving 5 stars. It was a grand achievement all those decades ago and more importantly, it remains incredibly poignant to this day. When you look at the bands on this site and ask yourself how many will be remembered or cared about 100 years on, my guess is that the Floyd doesn't need to worry about being challenged in the legacy department.

I see a few folks give this two stars and complain that it's over-rated and simplistic. I can't entirely disagree with some of those sentiments but keep in mind two things. First, progressive music doesn't necessarily *have* to be ultra-complex, sometimes simple slow chord progressions are perfect for the material. Second, the accessibility of DS is what drew so many people in over the years and opened their eyes to progressive music and other bands-not exactly a bad thing, is it?

This album captured the zeitgeist of its time, but perhaps cannot be effectively removed from that time, from a composition perspective. Sure it's a concept album in which songs flow into each other, and a certain bit of filler is to be expected, even condoned. But so much dross! I can only conclude that this must have been, and probably still is, good music to which to indulge in the illicit, because with very few exceptions, it doesn't pass muster with the sober mind. It also manages to be intransigent in its negativity yet devoid of genuine anguish, but I'm quite sure that's not a plus. See substances above

Only one great song, that being "Time"; a few average ones at best - "Money", which was reworked far more effectively as "Have a Cigar" on the next album, and "Brain Damage"; and one supposed classic that is nothing but a simplistic dirge - "Us and Them". The rest is best forgotten if possible, which it isn't. I suppose I should give the equally interminable "the Great Gig in the Sky" some credit for inspiring more listenable feminine wails for the next quarter century, and for that the album gets rounded up from 2.5 stars.

Not much to add to the plethera of reviews for this landmark album. I will say that I've listened to this album many, many times and it STILL gives me chills in spots; Gilmour's guitar explosions during "Money", Torry's moaning during "The Great Gig...", the lyrics in "Time", just endless remarkable music. It can be a bit sterile and unearthly, but that's what makes it unique. Also, and I think this reason is paramount, it one of the very few prog albums that cuts across age groups. The band, per se, is so influential it goes without saying. Are they actually prog in the true sense? Maybe not, but don't forget what category this band is placed under. As such, they are at the top. And for me, this album and the following two are at the apex. A triumvirat of excellence. "Dark Side Of The Moon" is the definition of masterpiece. One of the absolute must haves! BTW, I own the 30th anniv edition and its the ONE to own.

Dark Side of the Moon is a milestone in the development of progressive rock and a true masterpiece. Pink Floyd dropped the psychedelia and the more experimental parts of the space rock sound to bring us the definitive Floyd sound. While I'll always love songs like "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun" or "Careful With That Axe, Eugene," on this album all of that expansiveness is concentrated into tracks about half as long and then unleashed on the unwary listener, with the result of bringing even the casual listener to an awareness of the beauty of Floyd's sound. This is one of the few albums I've heard where I find it impossible to point at a weakness. After listening to it for so many years, I find that I sometimes wish that those cute sound effects like the cash register and the alarm bells would disappear so that I can get to the music quicker, but you can hardly call that a flaw, can you?

Anyhow, 5 stars for this album. If you haven't heard it, you are missing out on hearing one of the true cornerstones upon which progressive rock was built.

How many albums have you got at least four copies of in your collection? Not too many, I'll bet?

Yes, I have at least four copies of "Dark Side Of The Moon" - an original quadraphonic LP pressing I bought in 1975, an original CD issue, the 20th Anniversary CD re-issue, and the 30th Anniversary SACD CD re-issue. (I may still have a pre-recorded cassette tape that I bought in the early 80's, too . I can't quite remember.) And I am thinking of getting the 30th Anniversary LP re-issue I spotted just a few weeks ago as an 'investment' . perhaps. Why? Because this album is a progressive rock icon that deserves to be lauded as the great work that it is.

DSOTM is simply a masterpiece of progressive rock music; probably the first truly great space rock album; an album that has the commercial kudos to have stepped over the boundary from the 'underground' arena of progressive rock, fully into the consciousness of the mainstream music listening public; an album that may well have brought many of you reading this review into the world of Prog!

To my mind, DSOTM is one of the most complete albums around. If any one part of it was missing it would not be what it is. On this album you find Pink Floyd seriously on song, playing at its musical peak as a really cohesive unit. As for the qualities of individual tracks, "Us And Them", "Time" & "Brain Damage" are the standouts. "The Great Gig In The Sky" is also something a little special with the excellent vocal performance of Clare Torry over sparse piano accompaniment. "Money" is a great song that often gets bagged for being 'too commercial' but has its place in DSOTM and lyrically has some very witty moments. If you think "Money" is too commercial, ask yourself this: How many six and a half-minute songs featured on mainstream radio back in 1973-1974? I don't think you will find many others (if any). "Money" was the carrot dangling in front of our faces to pull us in to DSOTM's vortex for the full experience . and a great experience it is!

Do I sound like a bit of a DSOTM fan-boy? Hell, yeah! And I'm proud of it. It is from a great, accessible album like this many are lead to more challenging works by other prog artists. Without question DSOTM gets five stars from me.

Hmm...lets see. Been said...been said...been said... WAIT!...nope. (insert your own words that pretty much mean its a great album) Yes, its really fantastic. My favorite tracks are Time, The Great Gig in the Sky, Money, and Eclipse. Two things that set this album apart from the norm are, 1. The sound effects and all that & 2. The Saxaphone, almost makes me feel high listening to it. Not literally high though, i wasnt around in the 70's like the rest of you...

The production is flawless. The songs are so good that most are staples heard daily on rock radio stations. This is the album that set the world on fire. You probably own it already. If you don't... something like 1 out of every 5 people in America owned it so just go ask a neighbor for it.

A Masterpiece of Progressive music. 5 stars.

What could I possibly add to an album that has over 500 ratings (as of August 2007) on Prog Archives? Like others have said, this was Pink Floyd's ultimate breakthrough into stardom. The Dark Side of the Moon became one of the biggest selling albums of all time and is likely to have sold more than any other progressive rock album that I am aware of (I could be wrong). My best guess is the success of this album is chiefly in its messages about life (and the fact that it is truly radio friendly, but in a prog rock kind of way). Roger Waters of course can explain it much better than me, so I must refer you to texts of his interviews if you want to dig deeper. I would also recommend reading John Harris' book "The Dark Side of the Moon: The Making of the Pink Floyd Masterpiece" (Da Capo Press, 2006).

The group chose an entirely new format, a group of shorter tracks all tied together in a much larger concept. This is one of the albums you go to if you want to know what concept albums are all about. Musically and lyrically this album surpasses all previous works by the band. The production (Alan Parsons as engineer) is vastly improved. This is also the album in which Roger Waters pretty much becomes the driving force behind the band as much of the material is written solely by him. For many listeners, this was their first venture into progressive rock. Historically important, musically a masterpiece, and an essential must have for not just progressive rock fans, but all rock fans.

Not much else to add, except that I began dating my future wife because I heard her singing along to "Us and Them" one day when we were still co-workers... such is the relevance "Dark Side" has had on lives and music from the time of its release. Utterly unique and ambitious, it belongs in every rock-lover's library. In my opinion this is the most enjoyable Floyd album, and features their finest songs and performances-- despite it not having the complexity found in other albums.

One of the all-time great albums - prog or otherwise.

Dark Side of the Moon, is there a person in the western world who hasn't heard of it? It is the archetypal rock classic topping 'best album ever' lists even to the current day. Dark Side is not nearly as progressive as many of Floyd's other works and many including myself don't even consider it their best. But what it lacks in progressiveness it makes up for in sheer cohesiveness and accessibility. It is this cohesive and clear message that what set the bar for creative mainstream rock indefinitely and led to the exponential success of the Pink Floyd brand. It has been discussed in depth before that this album had an almost tangible and measurable social impact, probably a handful of artists throughout history could lay claim to such an accolade.

This is one of those essential albums that every modern music fan must own, if only for historical importance.

There are a few events in every generation that assume an importance far above their merit. The death of Princess Diana was one such: many people can still remember what they were doing when they heard she had died. The only such 'event' in ProgArchives is PINK FLOYD's 'Dark Side of the Moon'.

It was the album of a generation, the record everyone had to have, the vinyl that justified the purchase of that shiny new stereo. Recent listeners may well wonder what all the fuss is about: after all, it's merely a sequence of competent, unadventurous songs spliced together into a quasi-concept album. Its production values have been surpassed now as a matter of course. So what is the big deal?

'Dark Side of the Moon' is the perfect example of a holistic album, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Every note, every noise has been engineered to add to the concept. There's no padding. What you've got here is four musicians and a sound engineer making the very best of what they have, and in the process making the biggest-selling record in these archives.

So of course you should get it. You already have it, I'm sure. But the purpose of reviews of well-known albums is to relive the experience, to share the excitement, and that's what I'll try to do.

The album fades in on a heartbeat. Not merely a real one; this is larger than life, deep thudding bass. Copied endlessly, never bettered. Then the mysterious voices start up, ruminating on the mysteries of life. We know that WATERS went around recording answers to pre-set questions - a prosaic method to achieve such an impressive result. The ramblings of FLOYD's roadies tie the album together, acting as the ultimate segue, warming the record with the human voice, while edging it with uncertainty and fear. Brilliant idea.

'Breathe' is a gentle start. PINK FLOYD set out their stall: they are still writing music similar to that from AHM, Meddle and Obscured by Clouds; that is, simple blues/rock. But on this album they begin to elongate the sounds, finally having discovered that they can marry their newer rock sensibilities with their former psychedelic tendencies to create something wholly different. On to 'On The Run', where the psychedelica is more obvious, but with shiny new synthesisers and wonderful stereo effects Bang! Crash! Who hasn't imagined a plane crash scenario to go with these tape loops? And whose are the running feet?

Chiming clocks lead us into 'Time', and the album lifts a notch. GILMOUR and WRIGHT sing with vigour and a growing confidence: PINK FLOYD vocals have always been restrained, taking second place to the music, but here they flow. And now we get GILMOUR's first truly defining guitar solo: the solo centerpiece of 'Time' is a stunner, sucking us up into a tornado. The best solos are set up by what precedes them, and this is no exception. GILMOUR gets his guitar to scream and wail, then drops us back to earth, wrung out, half-deaf and unsure of how much time has passed, the last notes leading back into the relentless lyrics. Ten years?

Another moment of genius: 'Breathe' is reprised. The music slows, we are being encouraged to reflect on what we've been told. Thought you'd something more to say? You've said plenty already. Clearly we are being prepared for something ...

Then it's off to the 'Great Gig in the Sky' - death, in other words. This track is beyond a masterstroke and into the realms of serendipity. CLARE TORREY's voice winds its way into my soul, yanks it out of my chest and hurls it into the heavens. This is music that hurts to listen to, so powerful is it. And PINK FLOYD know it: WRIGHT's beautiful denouement to this track lets me down gently. How fortunate they were to get far more than their money's worth (they paid TORREY £30).

See, this is the genius of the album. So few chords, such simple time signatures, yet the clarity and intensity of the musicians constantly grabs me, lifts me up and then sets me down. They do it in 'On the Run'. They do it in 'Time's guitar solo. They do it in 'Breathe Reprise'. They do it in 'Gig'. The music doesn't have to be complex to soar: it can be as simple as the cry of the gull. Yes, musically the album is rather lightweight compared to much in these archives, but that only enables it to soar more easily, unencumbered by pretension.

'Money' and those fabulous cash register effects, that trademark bass run and GILMOUR letting rip with not one, but two scorching solos. And there's a fabulous sax solo. Equally impressive is GILMOUR's vocals - is this the same man who whispered his way through 'Fat Old Sun' barely two years previously? And, most impressive of all, WATERS let him sing it. You can bet your war memories the WATERS of 1983 wouldn't have surrendered those vocals to GILMOUR. And that is what marks this period as PINK FLOYD's best: they let nothing get in the way of making the best music they could.

'Us and Them' is the nearest the record gets to the songwriting of 'Meddle' and 'Obscured by Clouds'. It's a longer, reflective piece, embellished by PARRY's saxophone work. 'Any Colour You Like' is not generally considered a highlight of the album, but I beg to differ. It's a third cast of 'Funky Dung' (following the original and the funk on 'Echoes'), and might be the best of the three, with a splendid duel between GILMOUR and WRIGHT.

WATERS brings the album home to its subtle climax. Not musically: apart from the driving climax that is 'Eclipse', we've had the best music. But lyrically the album is drawn to a close. So it is only right that he sing these last two songs.

This is why the album succeeded. It sounded so crisp, like crunching into a freshly-picked apple. It made the young listener think about important and timeless things. It was weird and startling enough to be a prerequisite for drugtaking. It gave the listener an emotional high. And, most importantly, it was compositionally flawless: all the parts in the right place, a believable concept, a song cycle one can listen to again and again.

Fade out to the heartbeat, and the inevitable closing quote ...

I will try to show every respect to this all time masterpiece by Pink Floyd but I will warn in advance. This is not my thing despite the fact that I'm a Pink Floyd fan but only concerning a few albums and certainly not early PF. I believe this is the last convulsion of early PF, that is for a (big) part of the album. It was replaced by a much more melodic Pink Floyd and that's the Floyd I love. This is shown in the famous tracks Time and Money. These tracks contain mr. Gilmour at his best doing brilliant guitar passages. Special thing about Money by the way is that I heard this song far over a hundred times by now and it still makes me go into raptures. That is a tremendous compliment for the song because I can easily get fed up with songs when I hear them too often. But not Money and same goes for Time, a less popular track played not that often on the radio but that doesn't bother me. The guitar solo is more extended on this track, slower too but almost as fantastic as the three on Money. Another nice song is Us and them, also slow but really beautiful.

Then there's the other side of the album and really I don't know what people see in that. That's a clear case of taste I think because there are obviously a lot of people loving the spacy short tracks at least as much, if not more. Good luck to them but I don't like it at all and I am glad Pink Floyd decided to head in another direction (Wish you were here, Animals).

So how about the final rating. I think I can say Money and Time save Pink Floyd from two stars but since the spacy side of the album is dominant to me I can only give three stars.

Dark Side of the Moon ages, in figurative speaking, like fine wine: the older it gets, the better. However, unlike fine wine, Dark Side of the Moon can be taken out of its bottle several times without becoming vinegar and, also unlike fine wine, can be drunk many times. In fact, the only characteristic they have in common is to never loose their magic, their beauty, their capability to amaze, and so on.

Maybe because of its ability to amaze people, and its enormous commercial success, Dark Side is considered by some as not a progressive rock album. Do not be fooled my friends, it is progressive rock, ant at its best. The problem is that here we have some unusual stuff, like a techno music, which is in fact a composition of a music of the future, what they though music would be in 30 or 40 years in time (and they were absolutely right, that kind of music does exist today) or the lack of experimentalism that people expect from progressive rock today or the lack atonality or dodecaphony, present in other kinds of progressive rock, or even the lack of virtuoso, since their music was more about mood and feeling.

The bottom line is that Dark Side of the Moon is a true masterpiece, looking from many different angles: breakthrough compositions, usage of top technology for sound producing and creation of technology for sound production and mixing, among many other aspects. No matter the angle you look, Dark side was, is and will always be a progressive rock masterpiece.

Dark Side Of The Moon? No thanks, I prefer the side from where I can see my lovely little planet.

I'm struggling really hard to focus my review on those small particles of something I can attach my attention to: it's really difficult when you're surrounded with big black nothingness.

Is that too rude? Well, this record is offending me every time I hear it, hundreds of times I was slapped in the face with this look-we-are-artists attitude, while there's nothing interesting going on under the surface.

The sad thing is, these guys ARE artists, and they had great albums in their careers - before and after this one.

Clever guys, Waters & Co. This was a huge commercial success. But how on Earth it happened? It offers nothing. There are few things it offers actually, but no, thank you.

Listening carefully to Meddle, it's more then obvious this thing is borrowing a lot from its predecessor. Guitar is slightly more chorused. Then we have the most pathetic AOR songs and the sleaziest night club sax solo. Please give me Marvin Gaye instead anytime. Lot's of ambient sounds that will fit in the producers CV.

However dishonest it might be, this record is still a rock record. I can go that far and say this is mildly artsy fartsy rock...and that's the best I can say about it, and I tried really hard to appreciate it.

Why it exists? Bands were playing progressive rock at the time (Symphonic), or boogie, or glam, or space rock or AOR, or... This one fits nowhere. Perhaps it might fit into the same artsy/simplistic drawer where VELVET UNDERGROUND are, just with much better (or snobbish) production. This is really unique record, and that's because it's so horrible. On the other hand, I see listener either love or loathe this one, there's rarely gray area.

One things stands out though, and that's the reason why I'm giving an extra star to the record. It's called On The Run and it's perfect piece of electronic music, perhaps the best non-German piece of that genre from the 70's under the 4 minutes. I can go into deeper description of the piece because I'm disgusted by its surroundings, sorry.

I'm kindly asking all the folks ready to use you-just-don't-get-it phrase to dissolve into thin air instantly. Thank you.

It would be easy to dump all over this album for its commercial success, but comercial it is not(with the exception of the single Money). Definitely an album that must be listened to in one sitting to appreciate its masterpiece status. I used to think this album was OK, but that was due to the first pressing of it on Compact Disc which I found tinny and hollow sounding. The latest 5.1 surround sound/SACD release sounds bright, round and ethereal. Us And Them/Any Colour You Like is the highlight here. Pretty much the blueprint for all good things Camel(the prog.rock group, from the albums Camel to Rain Dances).

This is the record that put Pink Floyd into mainstream, and becouse of this reason is often mistreated by die-hard proggressive fan.But as far as I`m concerned it´s simplicity does not become a major flaw on the album. This album was an amazing success becouse Roger Waters lyrics talked about issues that everyone , from the most trained musician to; lets say your neighbour,could recognoise himself . Issues like materialism , the way you use your time in life , madness , alienation etc.When it comes to the musical aspects , one can`t just recognoise a couple of songs over others, the record itself is incredibly cohesive.And lets face it progressive rock is not about who has the longest epic it is about doing something that was never done before, this is what the dark side is all about.

An album that has found its way into many a household in its 35+ years of existence. Unless you're young and not into hard rock or prog rock, then virtually everyone has heard DARK SIDE OF THE MOON at least once in their lives. It's a seminal classic of rock music...heck, it's a seminal classic of RECORDED music.

Unfortunately for me, it's TOO classic. This is more of a Sinusoid problem than a general problem as I feel the same way towards other albums like MASTER OF PUPPETS, MOVING PICTURES, PARANOID, etc. That's the main reason why I dock a star as both radio and personal airplay kind of killed repeated listenings these days.

But, it's an album that anyone can instantly get into an it'll stick in their memories for YEARS. The middle four songs (''Time'' through ''Us and Them'') are pretty much essential listening for getting into this album/Pink Floyd. The lyrical themes are very well done, a rare praising from me as I usually am not a lyrics person, and the songs segue into each other perfectly giving DARK SIDE OF THE MOON a sense of cohesion.

One of those albums necessary to call yourself a music fan, even if the classic-ness wears out.

On Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon' album the band is seriously turning down the psychedelics an drugged out progressive epics. In stead, the band focused on a mature song-writing style and a top-notch production quality, which still stands as one of the best ever. I'm quite amazed about how different this band sounds from the 'Live at Pompeii' recordings made right before this album was recorded. To me that live DVD shows Pink Floyd at its progressive zenith (together with the Atom Heart Mother suite), whereas 'Dark Side of the Moon' feels more like an iconic record for all kind of sentimental purposes that don't mean much to me. In fact, I think the first side of the record is rather slow-paced and even boring. A song like 'The Great Gig in the Sky' doesn't even sound like an effort by this band. The very 'adult' sound to me seems a bit lackluster. Furthermore, much of the choir arrangements, songwriting and use of the saxophone is clearly copied from Graham Nash's debut album of the year before. On side two I can appreciate the bluesy 'Money' and the melancholy song 'Us and Them', but then again; these are no favorites of mine. In the end, I find liking 'Dark Side of the Moon' rather difficult - not for the least because it somehow feels like its expected of me. Given the choice, I would rather have - taken at random - an odd record like Vangelis's 'Hypothesis' than this one. Or Graham Nash's debut for that matter.

Prog's greatest hit. (Okay, so the Wall was more successful... whatever)

[Unrelated side note] Looking through my own list of reviews this evening I noticed two things. 1) I've barely reviewed any Pink Floyd and 2) I have very few five star reviews. This is likely for the same reason -- these albums are predictable to review. So here we go, time to tear off the band-aid and get it over with. Everything has already been said about this album... so I'll try to add /something/

Dark Side of the Moon has become one of those albums that is so much the epitome of something that it becomes almost cliche. Being one of prog's highest selling albums and even staying on the billboard charts for a ridiculously long time there's no wonder that this is the album that most people know the band and indeed, the whole genre of prog rock by. This could also be the reason for the flak that's directed at it, many people thinking that it's too commercial or that Pink Floyd sold out. While others still may simply be frustrated that an album so highly regarded simply isn't their taste.

Such was almost the case for me. I'll never forget the first time I heard this album. After a Nightwish and Gamma Ray listening spree I decided to give this album a spin. My reason - I was tired of the band's I had brought with me on my trip to Sweden (to instruct hockey off all things) and I wanted something else. So, sitting on a foam mattress in Fredrick Norena's (yes -- I am referring to the NHL Blue Jacket's goaltender) attic in a city called Linkoping, I nabbed my brother's copy of this ''legendary'' album and threw it into my cd player which had about enough juice in it to spin one more album.

What the...? What was this...?

The metal head in me was immediately torn in two. I liked this music a lot... and I mean a LOT. But it simply wasn't my thing at the time and I almost denied liking it... until the next day when I felt the overwhelming urge to listen to it... and so I did... and soon I needed my daily dose of Dark Side just to get me through the day.

So what do they put in there? Nicotine? Crack??

Something. That's for sure.

Anyways, my liking for this album was not any kind of coincidence. The music on Dark Side Of The Moon is fantastic. From the opening riff of Breathe strait through to the closing moments to Eclipse this is an album that epitomizes everything that Pink Floyd does, if in a more accessible (commercial) way. While the tracks are much shorter and there's no 22-minute Echoes on here the music none the less runs together quite well to form one giant composition in itself. A concept album from start to finish, Dark Side Of The Moon is all about death, evolving the themes originally put forth on Obscured By Clouds on the track Free Four.

While at the time I was somewhat used to shorter tracks and at first tried to take in each song individually (something not easily done with this album) there are a number of songs that still work well as separate entities. BREATHE on it's own is a spaced out wonder-track that turns one's mind into mush at the sheer sound of it. TIME is a great rocker that will deafen you the first time around when you turn up your record player before the bells chime because you can't hear it (guilty). Likely the rockiest song that Floyd has done, this one's great. It also happens to reprise BREATHE on it. How very progressive of them! MONEY is another song that stands out on its own, but most people know this because its most common appearance is as a single on radio stations and teenager's iPods world-round.

Of course, everyone knows that the strength of this album does not lie in it's individual tracks. It's the whole that matters.

And it's well linked. Every song is connected to every other though intro-outro tracks like ON THE RUN and ANY COLOUR YOU LIKE or even GREAT GIG IN THE SKY. As mentioned before, the metal head in me before liked the individual tracks, but the prog-head that I am now discovered that Time does, in fact, reprise Breathe and therefore all of side one could be seen as one side-long track! Money becomes it's own entity and the rest of side two becomes combined (in my twisted mind anyways). Now that would be interesting. Who knows if that would have been as successful as the album as it was released?

Anyways, the point of that whole blurb was simply to state that while constructed out of shorter songs the album is still great as a whole. Dark, moody and incredibly well performed there is absolutely nothing else to say about this album that hasn't been said before.

5 stars. This album certainly deserves it for it's impact on the prog world (for better or worse as some may claim), its impact on the commercial world and simply in it's replay value. This is essential and really if you're reading this and haven't heard the album I beseech thee to go out and buy this album now. Everyone else already knows what I'm talking about.

I wanto to avoid speaking about the incredible success of this album, so I'll try to review it forgetting that it has been a milestone in the world's music history.

A heartbeat grows. Every little sound effect is in the right place. A vocalist is the connection between the heartbeat and the bass on BREATHE.

Eminor-A thos two chords are nothing special, but the combination of sounds and effects makes this song unique. Also the sound quality (in 1973) is incredible. The lyrics are very inspired. ON THE RUN is a rare example of electronic music and it's probably the origin of the typical FLOYD's style in mixing keyboard and sound effects that has its top in The Wall. It's possible to see the birth of this piece in the extended version of Pink Floyd at Pompeii.

This introduces TIME, that starts with Clocks and rings, then a tic-tac is covered with Roto-toms and percussions in a long introduction to a song that has one of the most dramatic lyrics in Floyd's story, then the BREATHE REPRISE closes the circle and finish with an unusual chord sequence that brings to the Bminor of THE GREAT GIG IN THE SKY. The legend (but Nick Mason confirmed it in his book INSIDE OUT) says that Clare Torry went to an audition and sang on the base so well that the first recording was also the last !

The second side of the Vinyl begins with Money. I remember a review in 1973 that described this song as a hard-rock piece very unusual in Floyd's music. The reviewer didn't know THE NILE SONG.... The Bass base is the most characterstic thing in this song, but what is remarkable is the strange vibrato effect combined by keyboard and guitar. Unforgettable is the SAX riff in the middle.

Dick Morrisey's sax on US AND THEM makes it special. This is another unforgettable song.

The final part is in my opinion the weakest. ANY COLOUR YOU LIKE, BRAIN DAMAGE and ECLIPSE are good songs, but normal compared to the exceptional quality of the rest.

After 35 years I still have to find another album like this

Let me begin this review by stating that I've never been a big fan of Pink Floyd. Sorry, but that's how it is. I've had my battles trying to fall in love with what so many call masterpieces of progressive rock. Dark Side Of The Moon isn't just like any other Pink Floyd Album, there's no denying to that. It's a monumental album that every generation following its release have encountered, heard and often even acquired. For many it's the definite Pink Floyd album, but most importantly, for the great deal of the population it is the quintessential prog rock album, acting as a gateway to a very different kind of music compared to what kids of today usually listen to.

And while I won't try to challenge that, when putting DSOTM in its context I just can't find the qualities necessary in making this a masterpiece. It's far from bad all the time, but where is the excitement? Where are the challenging instrumental passages? And most importantly: where is the passion? Mellow and sweet melodies, warm atmospheres and almost always pleasing and relaxing input from all the instrumentalists. Sure. I understand why some consider this great. I really do, believe me. But for me the end result is just an album that lacks edge. A lot of edge. I've used this album as a sleeping pill quite a few times. Pretty standard, slow, ambience oriented rock and thus great for that. I've felt like that since I heard the album for the first time, and I still feel that way. The same favourites I had back then remains favourites today.

Time is an amazing track, where the use of sound effects and the band's knack for creating powerful atmospheres form a perfect bond. Everything is just right. The delicate bell sounds, the lonely drumming and the space that gives every single note something extra. Now that's just the intro, and the rest of the song is just as good and I really wish that the rest of the album was of the same high quality. This is where the edge is found. On Time and on The Great Gig In The Sky, an enchanting piano/organ driven song, with a passionate, almost primal wordless vocal performance by Clare Torry. Blew my mind the first time I heard it. These two songs are almost good enough to carry up the rest of the album, but naturally, they don't. I really wish that the rest of the material had the same passion and glow. That would have been a masterpiece.

But this is what we've got, and three stars is what it gets.

//LinusW

I hesitated a little before I awarded this album a full five stars. Let's just confess the truth: it's so terribly well-known! You wouldn't tell the world that THRILLER or even AQUALUNG was one of your favourite albums, would you? As a critic, you ought to sound a LITTLE sophisticated...

But such objections are useless. No matter how I look at it, DARK SIDE is perhaps the most perfect masterpiece in prog history. Other albums, by different artists, may mean more to me, but I can think of no other sequence of songs in prog that is as famous as this and yet so flawless and gripping. As any Floyd fan will tell you, this is the album the band had longed to make ever since Syd Barrett's early retirement. Not a second is wasted; all the VCS3 synths and funny sound effects are just right (back in the seventies, DARK SIDE demonstrated the virtues of hundreds of thousands of stereo systems); the lyrics are meaningful without sounding silly (in prog, a comparative rarity); Dave Gilmour's guitar solos are majestic (particularly the one on 'Time'); and those vocals - there's no need to list them all, since each and every one of them is a delight.

I doff my hat. Classics just don't come any more classical.

This is probably the most overrated album of all time. It is a good album but I think it is not an essential addition to any prog collection. I just cannot see why anyone would want to mention this album (or any album by this band) in the same breath as Close to the Edge, Selling England by the Pound, In the Court of the Crimson King or other classic prog albums.

I think that the track On the Run is pretty representative of what I don't like about this album. What is the point of this track? It sounds a bit like a predecessor to modern dance music, with it's repetitive beat and programmed electronic meandering. I prefer the tracks where they actually play their instruments instead of relying on programmed patterns.

Another annoying think about this album is the samples; senseless spoken word passages, cash machines gone wild, insane laughs etc. I don't see the point of any of that, I'm afraid.

Dark Side of the Moon is good but hardly a masterpiece of progressive music.

Although,it's not my favourite progressive album,I think it's the most important one.Except its musical perfect quality, it is something the world will remember forever.The data about this album is unachievable for everything else in music history.Dark Side Of The Moon has sold over 42 million of copies worldwide(second only to Michael Jackson's Thriller).Since 1991 is has sold over 7.5 million of copies.Every year is sells 0.5 million of copies.You can count yourself how much copies it will sell until 22nd century.That's not all.Furthermore,It spent a total of 741 consecutive weeks, approximately fourteen years, on the Billboard list only to be removed by a rule change.Its overall chart time is almost 29 years,the first in that terms.The second album is twice less. The other side of the...story is the supremacy of this miracle called Dark Side of the Moon.It's not good album when you hear it for the first time.It became better and better with every next time.It concerns about topics we need to know what the world is,so universally!Dark Side of the Moon is flowing like the life,the natural disasters...like the time,the money,the insanity of mankind. Everything of this will help us to defeat the pop music and the foolishness.

This is the emblematic album for Pink Floyd's entrance into the stylization and refurbishment of their psychedelic rock standard, in this way, leaning a bit closer to the paradigm of art-in-rock that settles and affirms the core ideology of prog rock. Looking through various bootlegs previous to this studio effort's release but with the whole musical concept already written and presented to audiences, Pink Floyd was still convincingly focused on its blues-infected, spacey-oriented psychedelic art-rock, and even the earlier versions of the 'On the Run' section was basically a heavily lysergic bluesy jam that precisely echoed the Floydian aspect of most krautrock bands (Amon Duul II or Agitation Free) - really, that's how that sounds to me. Anyway, once the concept was translated into the studio environment, this piece's definitive version was reinstated as a cosmic multi-synthesizer journey of loops and layers on VCS3, plus multiple sounds effects eventually leading to the final crash. This mention is meant to indicate how strong were the band members' convictions to redefine its own progression and not repeat the formulas of "Meddle" or "Obscured by Clouds": with "Meddle", the band had reached a certain creative peak, and during the time that the band was writing the second soundtrack of its career (the first being "More"), the urge to renovate the Floydian rock was in the air. The pulsating heartbeat-like bass drumming by Mason that conforms 'Speak to Me' (those conversations, that helicopter, that manic weed-induced laughter, a pure classic album intro) gets things started for the introspective mood of 'Breathe', whose concept will be further explored and augmented by the more cynical manifestation of moral disappointment in the majestic 'Time'. The installment of the synthesized 'On the Run' serves as a proper intermission between the introspection and the cynicism. Once the last sung lines of 'Time' state a portrait of sad, resigned calmness, the stage is clear for 'The Great Gig in the Sky': led by the piano and ornamented by a soaring slide guitar and a dynamic set of organ harmonies, it is Clare Torry's vocalizations emulating an energetic jazz horn section that steal the limelight, even adding an actual creative input despite the fact that she had only been hired to sing some improvised backing vocals according to the piano chords progressions. Her impromptu decision to do something more impressive has meant a lot to the world of prog rock and the crowds of prog lovers through the years. cheers Clare! The album's last section starts with the catchy 'Money' (half-jazzy, half-bluesy in its basic rock scheme) and the moving 'Us and Them': guest sax player Dick Parry brings pertinent colors to both tracks, especially the latter. The sequence of tracks 8-10 brings the album the epic finale it deserves. The constraint instrumental explorations comprised in 'Any Colour You Like' exemplify perfectly a transitional symbolization between the current PF and the 69-71 one: the synth leads are awesomely evocative, while Gilmour gives us some more of his trademark style. 'Brain Damage' has a mood very connected to the aforesaid instrumental, and as fine as it is, I wish it had included some guitar lead shining in the spotlight (a documentary shows that Gilmour had a few good ides for it, but they didn't make it to the album). No complaints at all about the reflective coda 'Eclipse', which completes the album's concept and sonic strategy marvelously. While I don't find this album as accomplished as "Animals" (my all-time Floyd item), "Dark Side of the Moon" must be considered as a prog masterpiece. The best tribute that PF could pay to the good work done up to the "Meddle" album was to look beyond it.. and in this album, the band really did it.

[I dedicate this review to my good Floydian friend Marcos S. N.]

This is a case of hype worth believing in.

We all had heard how wonderful this album was before we actually heard it. With the exception of people who were around when the record was actually released, back in 1973, everybody has been told by somebody else that PINK FLOYD's "Dark Side of the Moon" is the one album we can't die without listening to, at least once. I'd say that only THE BEATLES' "Sgt. Pepper" beats this recording in terms of universal acclaim and hype. And while I have to really force myself to surrender and agree with the general opinion in the case of the latter, I gladly follow the hordes that proclaim "Dark Side of the Moon" as one of the pinnacles of rock of all time. Even if it took me a long time and a lot of listens to actually do it.

There's no need to give much in the way of arguments in favor of what I just said. Pretty much every person that likes anything else than consumable popular music has listened to this record. And we all know the facts: Alan Parsons' production is superb, the cover is iconic, the lyrics are captivating, but in the end, all of this would be nothing if the music wasn't as excellent as it is.

And the most special of all details: it is great, simple intelligent music. No odd time signatures (with perhaps a not-so-minor exception) or dissonances or "avant-garde" feats here, no fusion, no jazz, no displays of fireworks. All it took to create this monster is the talents of a bunch of musicians who knew how to create unique sounds, music that has never since been replicated, even though it has been emulated a million times. Waters and his precise bass and voice, Gilmour with the most psychedelic colors, Wright and Mason just where they should be. All clicked. That's all we can say.

The album opens with a hiss. With a heartbeat, a living pulse. The noise gives way to a fantastic entrance of the quiet, sedated music of "Breathe". How simple yet necessary Gilmour little figures in guitar are, how everything is one simple cloud of fumes, poisoned air. Suddenly the atmosphere changes and electronic/psychedelic waves inundate our space; the production is spectacular, try listening to it with high-end equipment and you'll notice how crystal-clear every frequency-level really sounds, and how perfect the balance between them is; we travel several miles until we crash; then clocks and alarms re-start the voyage, and a pace-maker leads us through our dream to a distant place; just when we start to feel like we're really in another plane, we arrive at another beautiful place; we don't know where we are, but it's great, and we don't want to leave, even though "Time" will ultimately pass and we'll have to; after probably the best song in the album , with the best Gilmour-solo in "Dark Side of the Moon", we reach a state of mental ecstasy when even a female voice appears to help us fly the whirlwind of colors; the magic is interrupted by the greedy sound of a cash register, and we are greeted by one of the most famous odd-signature songs ever. After such a dirty moment, only a track like "Us and Them" could follow, with a great melody, a majestic chorus, we feel like we've been given some substance that we're not supposed to take, as no waking state ever feels like this; we're even shown all the colors of the spectrum in the next instrumental section; after all of this, maybe we may be suffering "Brain Damage" after all; nothing else would explain the sensations.

We finally reach the key to the enigma: we're in the other side, the one that we never see. The dark side. Our subconscious, for those ready to interpret it this way. That is how I personally feel after listening to this masterpiece. Everybody will have their own versions of what all of these means. I only can say one thing: for 42 minutes and 53 seconds, I was in another place, in another plane, dimension, in a higher level. I traveled through time and space. And all I needed was what 4 British guys decided to record one day when colors and music decided to marry together.

5 stars. It's the only possible rating. And if you start playing different tunes, I'll see you in the dark side of the moon.

What to say about this album that hasn´t already been said? I guess anyone who was living in the the early 70´s had a chance to feel the importance of this album first hand. That was my case. And a lot of people loved it, some just like it, a few hated, but none could really deny its importance. It was a grounbreaking work, like it or not. Personally I always had mixed feelings about it. I guess I heard it so much at the time I got a little fed up with it. My sister and and her friends were playing it non stop before I was hooked to music forever.

Looking back I see it as a very impressive work of art. The recording enginnering, the mixing and the production were so perfect is hard to believe. But let´s face it: it all woundn´t ever worked if the music inside was not as strong and inspired. And indeed I found it very strong and inspired. Probably the last album to see Pink Floyd working so well together (Waters was taking over alright, but it didn´t show yet). I guess it was their peak, although they did produce very good albums after this one. But even with all the fame and fortune and controversity The Wall produced at the time, it was no match for what The Dark Side Of The Moon did in rock´s history.

If you want to know about prog music, its roots, its importance and its best records ever made, this one is a must have. It´s timeless music and stands so well after all these years... I really think the lyrics are as important today as they were at the time (maybe even more so). Everything worked: from the cover to the last notes of Eclipse.

So, even if I don´t play it so much today (you see, I REALLY heard it too much), even if now I absorbed every note, I still get the chills when I put in on and pay atention to it. It is that good.

One of the best records ever made, rock or otherwise.

This really is a hard album to rate. Possibly the most influential rock album of all time, nearly everyone has heard this album at least once in their lifetime. Does it really deserve the attention that it receives?

In my opinion, no.

1. Speak to Me- Interesting prologue, but nothing more. It sets the tone for the theme of madness on this album. A difficult song to rate, really, since it contains hardly anything. 5/10

2. Breathe (in the Air)- A decent entry song, yet doesn't accomplish much. Good lyrics, but instrumentally not much is going on here. Definitely necessary for the grand scheme of the album, that is true and I won't deny it, but as a song it's not really too innovative or interesting. 3/10

3. On the Run- Better than the previous song, this has some really interesting psychedelic effects to it. It can get monotonous though. What is it trying to accomplish? 4/10

4. Time- I like the clock opening and how this song builds. Towards the end of the song the structure can get boring, but I can't complain too much here after the previous songs. This song's not absolutely perfect, but it's a really good song nonetheless! There are wonderful lyrics as well, and the instrumentation is actually noteworthy for the first time so far on the album. 7/10

5. The Great Gig in the Sky- Decent song, I'll give it that. Great piano chord playing and vocals, but it doesn't strike a particular chord with me as being something that is outstanding. The vocals can get a bit overblown for my taste though, particularly towards the ending, and it would have worked better as an instrumental song if they had composed it differently, I think. Meh. It's decent, just not THAT good and doesn't really cut it for me. 5/10

6. Money- Who hasn't heard this song? Despite the fact that it's the main reason I decided to take a break from listening to PF for a while, it's still a good song and one of the better ones on here. It's really nice to hear the upbeat saxophone playing after the half-asleep mood of the first half of the album and that definitely helps the rating of this song in these reviewer's eyes. I also like the feel to this song, especially the second half where it actually gets some instrumental steam going. I could easily go the rest of my life without hearing this again, however. 6/10

7. Us and Them- Good song, but it continues the coma-like atmosphere of this album that bugs me. Why does nearly every song on this album have to be a slow song which doesn't cover any new ground and can easily induce sleep? Anyway, the sax is good here and the piano playing isn't bad either. 6/10

8. Any Colour You Like- My favorite song on here by far. Am I crazy? Well, yes. Upbeat, wonderful instrumental song with great psychedelic keyboard playing. I wish there were more songs like this one! 9/10

9. Brain Damage- Good song with a fitting mood and the dynamics work better here than in most of the previous songs. The vocals are put to better use here as well. Enjoyable. 7/10

10. Eclipse- Wait. the album isn't over? Why not? Besides the amusing line to conclude the album, this doesn't do much besides continue the previous song. 6/10

This is definitely NOT a masterpiece of progressive rock nor is it an excellent addition to any progressive rock collection. What is it that everyone sees in this album? It's good, but not perfect at all, and a bit too uninteresting for me to hear more than once every year or two.

Good, but FAR from essential. This should not be the most well-known progressive rock album, as it is not representative of the movement; it is a rock album.

There are tons of long reviews, so I'll just write a short one. This album is very tough to score. It's PINK FLOYD'S most successful album comercially and critically, called the most important rock album ever, but somehow I think it's not their best work. The production of the album by Alan Parsons is incredible, but I'm not loving all of the sound effects. Some of them are cool, but some of them are way too long. The music itself is not Floyd's best, although parts are awesome. If you're just getting into Floyd start with WISH YOU WERE HERE or THE WALL. Don't get fooled by the reviews. It's a great album, but is not the best of PINK FLOYD'S and is a little overrated.

3 stars.

"A short sharp shock" to prog rock. Review #763 - 1097 words

Inspired by the mental collapse of Syd Barrett and often cited as the greatest album of all time, DSOTM is a bonafide masterpiece that has been more influential to prog than perhaps any other album of the 70s. The music is a soundscape of soaring mellotron, awesome lead guitar and pulsating bass and percussion. It's the ultimate prog album and has managed to transcend music itself with its heavy concept of time, money, death, renewal, and descent into madness.

"Speak To Me" begins with the heartbeat and vulgar phrase of madness and it builds to a crescendo of a screaming lunatic that finally releases into a wash of sliding keyboards and clean guitar strums. All this in the space of a couple of minutes. We hear the clock ticking as if life is slowly ebbing away, or it may be the mind becoming bereft of sanity, lapsing to madness. Bleak concepts, but the album has an optimistic, uplifting ambience throughout.

"Breathe" is a gem that packs beauty and life into the soundstream. The lyrics focus on the pointless frustration of pursuing goals but then missing out on appreciating abundant life to the full.

"On the Run" is the techno-machination sound of industry and manic laughter, signifying the lunatic brainwashed by social systems. Does industrial society mechanize us, change us into machines, or are we in control? We are on the run due to a paranoia of technology. The fear of flying is also a theme, encapsulated live with the doomed airplane as it explodes into a ball of flame in to the speaker stacks; this is a running theme in much of later PF works (notably "Learning to Fly").

"Time" is one of my favourite tracks with an excellent melody and amazing instrumental work. The clock chimes signify the alarm call where madness waits at the door, but time is wasted and we have achieved nothing. The reprise to "Breathe" is welcome and brings us back to where the album began preparing us for the masterpiece and most talked about track on the album.

"The Great Gig in the Sky" is an astral journey to the realm of death. Clare Torrys' wailing is like the moans of childbirth or in this case rebirth as we cross over to the plain of non existence into the next life, which feels like heaven mid way through the track as Torry evokes softer nuances, with angelic tones that sends shivers up the spine. Her howls and moans expressed in full voice signify the ecstasy of freedom and the agony of death. In concert three ladies took up the task of the three segments to showcase their incredible talented voices, but on the album Torry masterfully improvises the life and death pangs in such an emotive style, it is astounding. Thus ends the brilliant side one.

Could it get better? Indeed. "Money" begins side two with the ka-ching of cold hard cash, the root of all evil. This is my favourite track with one of the best bass lines in rock history, and played in a 7/8 time signature. The riff is disconcerting, complex and Gilmour's jangly guitar splashes complement the bass perfectly. The lyrics speak of money as the corruptible force that causes the filthy rich to blow millions on cars, leer jets, football teams and diamonds. The lyrics are ironic with a dark, satirical nature, but the effects of money and its misuse have never been more eloquently stated. The lyrics were read out by the school Master to tease the little boy on "The Wall" movie. Of course these lyrics and the song provided millions for the band. The money corrupted Pink Floyd too, their beliefs and values, the very thing the song was protesting. The saxophone solo is utterly brilliant and the way the song changes time signature is inspirational.

The pace slows considerably on "Us and Them" a song about belonging in a world that treats you as an outcast unless you can fit into the mould that society creates. The track relies heavily on clean guitar and mellotron and seems to float along like a stream of sound. The song's lyrics speak of those who are on the street because they cannot cope with the world, and those who are able to cope and therefore off the streets and safe in the cookie cutter mould of social integration. The song has political connotations seen in the live footage played in concert with images of famous presidents such as Thatcher and Bush.

"Any Colour You Like" has some wonderful shimmering Hammond and is a beautiful instrumental - one of PF's best. The track was named based on Ford advertising campaign 'Ford's are available in any colour you like, as long as it's black.' The album's black cover with colour prism strips could be a reference.

"Brain Damage" is about Syd, the PF relic that burned out to madness. The lyrics suggest the lunatic is within us but we manage to keep it locked up somehow, but it's like an animal that may escape its cage if we don't manage to keep a leash on our sanity.

The finale is "Eclipse" . The music soars as Waters muses about 'all that we touch', see and feel is eclipsed by the moon. The image of the dead moon, the dead conscious, is blocked out by the huge sun, the life force; the intelligence eclipsed by insanity. But there is an optimistic note amidst the dark side; everyone shares the feelings of hope amidst despair, and we can conquer over our hopelessness by embracing each other: 'There is no dark side of the moon, a matter of fact, it's all dark'. And the heartbeat that we heard at the beginning pounds and finally subsides. The heartbeat brings the album full circle and we can begin the album again and it blends seamlessly like a never ending cycle. And thus ends the penultimate prog classic that may well be the greatest album of all time. It peaked in the top 100 UK releases, the top 40 prog list in MOJO magazine and indeed on a recent television special the top Australian album of all time.

The album can be played while watching 'Wizard of Oz' and somehow works perfectly synchronized to the visuals in uncanny fashion. For more on this see the websites Darkside of Wizard of Oz. In any case, the album is the penultimate prog classic and will never be bettered for sheer volume and impact upon the prog scene. 5 stars without doubt.

The music here is some of the best and most coherent music Pink Floyd has to offer. Everything flows despite the bleak themes. What's more, every musician gets ample time to shine without being "soloists" necessarily. The bass stands out on "Breathe" and "Money," the guitar on "Time" and "Money," the keyboards on "Us and Them" and "Any Colour You Like," and the drums on "On the Run" and "Eclipse." The vocals are great all over the place, despite two instrumentals, including Clare Torry, who takes on an amazing presence in "The Great Gig in the Sky." Despite their progressive nature, almost all of these songs found their way onto mainstream radio, and I never fail to delight in hearing it whenever I put it on. It's a phenomenal work from start to finish.

"Speak to Me / Breathe" The album opens with a heartbeat, then a clock, then a madman, then a till, then laughter, then the upward section of a roller coaster, then maniacal screaming- then music. "Breathe" retains psychedelic elements of former years, but incorporates steel guitar, swampy electric guitar, a good bass riff, jazzy drumming, and Gilmour's vocals. Rick Wright's organ during the second verse is some of his best.

"On the Run" This is the most psychedelic track, featuring electronic sounds, rapid hi-hat, and the sound of an airport terminal. The voices and sound are spooky at times, probably enough to send a small child to tears. This track gave me trouble at first, but now I appreciate it precisely for what it is.

"Time / Breathe Reprise" The next song has a lengthy introduction, initially with various clock sounds, not the least of which are many cacophonic alarms. Other than that, this is an easy song to follow. Wright has one of his few vocal solos here, and he sounds amazing- it's sad he was not frequented in this capacity. The guitar solo during the first part is wild, but during the second part, it's reserved and restricts itself to the music

"The Great Gig in the Sky" This piece is Wright's major contribution to the album. It starts with introspective spoken word, piano, and steel guitar, then dives right into Clare Torry's dramatic vocal performance. She emulates the funeral wailing heard in many parts in the world, such as Africa, crying out for the recently deceased.

"Money" As bluntly as possible, this song reminds us (based on what came before) that time is money. The song starts with cash registers and that iconic bass line in 7/4. After a couple of verses, there is a great saxophone solo, followed by the most rocking guitar solo Gilmour has ever performed.

"Us and Them" A highlight of this album, this may be a simple and lengthy song, but it's absolutely amazing, full of great, thoughtful lyrics, and possessing excellent music throughout. As with earlier selections, there's some spoken word that may take some sort of source to determine what's being said. The saxophone solo is perfect, going right into the chorus, producing a powerful effect.

"Any Colour You Like" This is definitely Wright's moment to blow the listener away, and that he does, as does Gilmour. This instrumental section uses all manner of effects over a solid rhythm section.

"Brain Damage" This song features guitar on the verses, but organ during the choruses. The lyrics are closer to the more mysterious side. The background vocalists are in top shape once again. This song does make one think of madness, as is the intended effect- everything from the lyrics, to the laughter, to the synthesizer solo achieves this effect.

"Eclipse" As many of the songs before have done, the previous track runs right into this climatic ending. The lyrics sum up what this album is about, leading to some spoken word at the end.

If someone asked me what the highest-selling prog album of all time in the United States was, I wouldn't be surprised if this is the one. Everyone I know who is into rock music of any kind has heard this album at least once. However, while I do find it a good album from time to time, I still find this to be one of the most overrated rock albums of all time. To me, nothing in this album really strikes me of masterpiece quality, except for Time and Us and Them. Money and Brain Damage/Eclipse are good songs, but I've heard them played so incessantly on the radio over the years that they've unfortunately lost any and all appeal that I would have for them.

I by no means think this album isn't a masterpiece simply because of its popularity however. It's just never struck me in the same way that other Pink Floyd albums have, such as Animals or Meddle. I'm keeping this review shorter than the ones I usually do because I don't want to go off on a tangent and make people think I actually dislike this album. I don't. This just isn't the first Floyd album I go to when I want to listen to them. 3 moon craters out of 5.

This is definition of masterpiece. It is not the proggiest of the masterpieces on this site, but it is a near perfect album. Like Close to the Edge there are no lulls, no off moments. (as Genesis' best albums do, though they probably have higher high moments) It set standards in sound, concept, what an album could be as no other album besides perhaps Sergeant Pepper's. It is the climax of the first Gilmour-led Floyd era, and what a climax it is. Amazing guitar work, huge sound, sax, choruses, and more sound effects than the general public were to likely hear before or since. It sold a gazillion albums and people still talk about with fondness from ages 16 to 60. More people, both sober and not, have lost themselves into the other world that is this album than any other, including the White album. And what a wondrous world it is out on the Dark Side.

'Dark Side Of The Moon' - Pink Floyd (9/10)

Once again, Pink Floyd demonstrates their uncanny, unreplicated ability to keep dishing out masterpieces. From 'The Piper at the Gates of Dawn' to 'The Wall', a saga of remarkable music was fashioned from the creative spirits of a few young men from Britain. Of all of their works; although not my favourite, Dark Side of the Moon is admittedly their most cohesive, best 'put-together' album they have ever made.

Quite honestly, for the first two years or so I had this album, I thought it was incredibly overrated, and not worth the recognition it got. It took me a long car ride, with only the Dark Side CD at hand, to finally get me to realize all the brilliance I had been missing out on. I consider myself corrected.

To truly appreciate the nuances and genius of this album, it's absolutely necessary to play it from start to finish. Unlike some albums where songs can be enjoyed fully on their own, Dark Side is more of a 40 minute epic; each song flows into the next. By means of comparison, Dark Side of the Moon can be considered a more mellow version of Rush's '2112' epic, nonetheless twice the length.

Despite the albums generally laid back feel, there are some moments (The Great Gig In The Sky, Any Colour You Like) that get incredibly intense. The lyrics fit in perfectly to the musical feel as well.

This is an album you can either put on as background music, or delve deep under the layers of it's musical mystique and take a true journey through space and time.

Will be remembered forever as one of the greats.

This is my first review here, It's quite terrible and I'm aware of that. But I'll keep it, just for historical value (valuable only for me, but still - you know). Anyway, who needs helping with THIS album :-D

EDIT 2: I quite a like "On the Run now, or at least I'm trying to

From the first flashes of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn days to last breath with The Division Bell (not to mention early London times), Pink Floyd are on of the greatest bands of all time. Epic, truly epic songs. This one is masterpiece. Two of their albums are on the similar side for me. Dark Side of the Moon and DSot Sun, or The Wall if you want. The Moon is optimistic, beautiful and mostly positive. The Wall is negative side of same coin. And on the top of both is Waters, simply genius. Power overwhelming, huh, we all know how it has ended. But back to the 1973, with still-quite-well-getting-along-together. I have to say it now, because it can't remain unspoken. I hate

----------ON THE RUN. It's really terrible song, absolutely different from the rest of album and when I listen this album, I always skip this song. My brother keeps telling me that I'm fool, that it's part of the album and gap between second and fourth one. Yeah, there is, but better than listen to (for me) disgusting song. It's pure electronic, nothing more. Most of you will probably disagree, but I can't resist myself to compare this one with the rest of album. And as it is, this song fails for me. Anyway, first song,

----------SPEAK TO ME is quite intro-istic, just parts later presented on album blended together into short song. Due to this, this song doesn't quite interest me, themes are not finished, only glimpses of later finished ideas. So let's move to

----------BREATHE, poor brother of Time. This one has in fact same melody as Time, but different lyrics. As I listen to this song right now, I can hear it loud and clear. These songs have connection, are together (forever). Anyway, if I skip Speak To Me, this one is much better intro for my taste. Calm, peaceful (which I loves the most). Their lyrics are in general poetic in true meaning of this word. I can easily imagine being stoned when listening these slowly coming lyrics and music, due to guitar type, it seems like coming in waves. Really, I can imagine myself floating above and enjoying them a lot.

----------TIME, with unique intro (intro within album) of clocks concerto. Some will like it, some will not (I don't like them much personally, but I appreciate their quality), some will be taken by them to heights unseen before. For those who are listening this track for the first time, this can be shock. But second play, third play and you'll get accustomed to it. Then came Drums solo with two guitar tones and some piano, or synth at least. I clearly hear it, but wiki tells that only Nick and Roger plays. But every time after guitar tone/s there is this continuity to melody. And then, the greatest part of greatest song by PF came. David Gilmour with his powerful vocal style, every (sorry for this word) fuc.in line of lyrics is masterpiece. When I want to know if some song has good lyrics, I always compare it with this one. Because this is the magnum opus, these words really hit my heard a lot. And for a long time after listening this song, I still can imagine them and how well they sound & how good they are. Kicking around on a piece ground in your home town (long time I though that lyrics are not in your home town, but named your home town, so some kind of homeward bound thing, that he remains only in his home city, don't want to go elsewhere. I also see myself in this situation, so this is probably why I wanted to misunderstood the lyrics). This song is not fast. It's quite slow. Not Deep Purple, not rock'n'roll, this is the story of life and as life does, the song too slowly flows down the river. Sun is the same in the relative way, but you're older, shortening breath, one day closer to death Yeah, it's unfair comparison, about 80 years of human life and few billion years of sun. This is why it's here, this song is really relative (get off you all who're saying that everything is relative, this leads nowhere). Still comparing different parts of life. What else to say, it's epic, even it's not 30 minutes long like many others. Oh and last part, which starts with Home, home again, I like to be here when I can and ends with To hear the softly spoken magic spell, with synth slowly fading away. It's heaven on earth.

----------THE GREAT GIG IN THE SKY starts with another pleasant melody played on piano (at least I hope it's not synth), then some spoken words which (after hundreds of plays of this LP) just must be there, their meaning is clear, to provide solid intro for more stormy part, this one with powerful vocals (could be black one singing?). I hate to say, but strongest part of this song is kinda unpleasant for me, I always suffer for few seconds, till peace came again. But that's not concerning me a lot, only little bit.

----------MONEY, oh man, I disliked this for a long time, but now I feel it's the rockest part of this album, strong guitars and still presented riff. Later parts of sax solo has some kind of cutting edges (weird formulation, but it's like that) and after few tens seconds then came again interesting thing. I don't know how to say it, but it's 9 tones, from the highest to lowest (sorry, I can feel the music, but musical slang is something what I still mostly lacks, no matter how well I can speak English) and then again solo. This is recognizable part of this track. And melody itself is still going up and down, as in breathe, this waves-metaphor. Well, then song slowly came into some talking and then it blends to

----------US AND THEM. Well, this is what I call sax solo, absolutely better than Money one. And again, combination of satirical/metaphorical/symbolistic, whatever the lyrics are, they're nothing but a perfect. I'm repeating myself, but how can't I when most of the songs here has both good lyrics and melody/composition/instrument playing/vocals, simply everything. Well, this song is (except bridges) another almost quiet one, but bridges are good too.

----------ANY COLOUR YOU LIKE. Well, OK, not color, in UK they have U added in this word (or otherwise, Americans lacks U). OK, you got me, I don't like this song as others, which is caused by lack of lyrics => vocals. It's (as for sure most of you wrote already) improvisation, it sounds like that. It's not bad song, it greatly fill the gap between Us

----------and BRAIN DAMAGE with quite good riff. But if you want to hear this riff in extended (and in all cases better) version, then hear long version of Pink Floyd Live in Pompeii, this one with interviews. During third break to the studio, there is Gilmour with guitar improvising and lengthening these riffs with electric sound. It's really great, you'll understand as soon as you'll hear it. This one is catchy one. To be continued in ----------ECLIPSE, which is not shady one, but otherwise, it's the most shiny one on this album, synth has great sound and somehow shaky sound in the beginning. And Waters (& some female) vocals which are going to finish this for once. But the sun is in the eclipse by the moon. The End, thank you for your patience, it's my first review and I hope you're satisfied. Set course back to Roine Stolt (heh). Conclusion: If this is not the epic, what else is ? This is best prog rock album for me, partly due to nostalgy and long time addiction to Pink Floyd, but mostly due to overal feeling. One of the best albums ever made. Good thing that public understood it.

Dark Side Of The Moon, probably Pink Floyd's best known work, it sold millions of copies and was the band's first big hit. The album combines the 70's sound of Pink Floyd, which started with 1971 album Meddle, with their psychedelic roots. This album is a concept album, it's about things in modern society that can make or kill people, things as money, war and time.

The album opens with the one minute long "Speak To Me", which is just a compilation of sound effects that will reappear later on the album, like the cash machine sound and the paranoid laugh.

The first real song is "Breathe", the song features soft vocals and mellow slide guitar, it is pretty much in the style of their 1971 album Meddle, the lyrics of the song are pretty interesting. A good start of the album.

The next song is "On The Run", a synth based song with a very fast riff, on the background crazy laughs can be heard. The song is not always a pleasant one, it can make you quite nervous...

On The Run ends with the ticking of a clock, it segues into the intro of "Time", a song that starts of with low guitar notes and high keyboard notes, the drums have an important role in the intro, it almost sounds like a drum solo. After the intro heavy chords are played and David sings the powerful verses and mellow choruses, in the middle of all this is a great fuzzed and delayed guitar solo, one of David's finest solo's. The song ends with a reprise of "Breathe".

"Great Gig In The Sky" is up next, it starts out with beautiful guitar playing and is soon joined by haunting singing without words, yes, no words are used, but the feeling the song is supposed to express is driven by the singing. The song might be a little hard to get into, but is definitely a great artistic piece.

Next comes "Money". One of the band's biggest hits, Roger himself hated fans screaming to the band they've got to play money at live performances. The song is very accesible and kind of funky. Aside of the vocals the song contains a saxophone solo which segues into three guitar solo's in a row, the first one being jazzy, the second more quiet, and the third one really powerful with very high notes being played. A bit of an overrated song I think, though it's very nice.

The next song is "Us & Them", a song about warfare. It's the softest track on the album, but also the most beautiful I think. The song contains smooth guitar playing in the verses and overdriven guitar playing in the pretty epic choruses. Also, the song has a couple of great saxophone solo's. A very good song.

The next song is very different from Us & Them, it is "Any Colour You Like". The song is lead by delayed synth and segues into a very funky guitar solo. It might be a bit though to notice, but the song is sometimes seen as the second reprise of "Breathe", it just is much more funky.

"Brain Damage" is the next song, it is about lunacy. The song is lead by soft guitar playing with smooth fills on the background. Just as "Us & Them", the chorus is much more powerful as the soft verses. Because of a line which refers to the title of the album people who are not very familiar with Pink Floyd often think this song is called Dark Side Of The Moon.

The ending of the album is "Eclipse". "Brain Damage" segues beautiful into this one, as if they are one song together. "Eclipse" is menth as a powerful outro of the album, it is not a very special song, but an epic ending.

Dark Side Of The Moon is a pretty overrated album, thanks to the hits as "Money" and "Time" but is a very good album. Many people see this as the best album of Pink Floyd, but I think many albums from the band are superior to this one.

Thump... Thump... Thump... "I've been mad for f*****g years."

That is how my favorite album of all-time starts. The subtle start which grows into all of the noises we hear today: laughter, ticking clock, cash registers, screaming, etc. A decent way to start a concept album about living through the modern world. Anyways after all the sounds reach their climax, the song turns into a wonderful steel guitar intro for the greatest first track of all time: Breathe. Breathe in the air. You can't help but take a sigh after the lyrics describe what I'm sure your life feels like.

Then we burst into On the Run, a song describing the fear of travelling. A fast paced, looped synth creates the main rhythm but it is surrounded by more synths and screaming backwards guitar. Finally the plane comes crashing down in an explosion followed by footsteps. The whole ordeal kind of makes your ears sweat.

Then the ticking starts... You have to strain to hear the quiet tick-tocking but just then... The alarms sound and you jump out of your chair. You may have lost three years in the song that describes how time goes faster as we age. The lyrics are somewhat cynical for the serious subject but they have pretty much the same effect, we feel powerless. After a stunning guitar solo we realize that we must carry on in quiet desperation and that is our only hope...

We take a Breathe again, this time it winds down to a slow... What's happening now?

"I'm not afraid of dying... Why should I be afraid of dying? It's all gotta happen sometime, when you gotta go you gotta go..." The beautiful piano intro starts but then... comes the screaming. Your dying and your mind is flying across the skies. You can feel the wind rush by as the screaming continues and you know your demise is coming. Suddenly you can't scream anymore... You get out what you can but eventually you fade into silence.

Cha-ching! You awake to see millions of cash registers surrounding you and all the evils that lie within. A bluesy song fits well to describe what this evil is like, sad but upbeat. This is what you lived your life for. Then the guitar solo comes barrelling in and you are taken aback. That is some playing! The vocals come back and finally you decide to just give all that cash away.

Voices and guitar fade out into a keyboard intro that eventually includes a saxaphone. You see the people dying out there in the front, but you still don't see the reason why. You try to think about it but the dying is the only thing that fills your mind. Everytime you start to get an idea the scene bursts into more blood and gore. Then finally you just give up, accepting whatever apparently has to be...

"What is your favorite color?" -- "Any Colour You Like"

You are spiraling into madness... You can't be saved so you just laugh... You tell all your friends in a beautiful little song that you will see them all on the dark side of the moon. The lazy sounding guitar describes your state of mind and the lyrics try to keep your mind that way...

Then suddenly everything becomes clear to you! Everything! The music bursts into a climatic scene of realization... All that you touch, all you see, all that you taste, and all you feel! Every single thing in your life starts to make sense! But just then, the moon came... And everything was eclipsed...

As the heartbeat fades out we hear, "There's no dark side of the moon really... Matter of fact it's all dark..." You leave the scene feeling very unnerved...

"Dark Side of the Moon" is the 8th full-length studio album by UK progressive rock act Pink Floyd. The album was released through Harvest/EMI in March 1973. This was the release that lifted Pink Floyd from a successful act that mainly had a following in Europe to international stardom. "Dark Side of the Moon" remains to this day the best selling album in the group´s discography with an estimated sale of over 40 million copies. We´re talking an album in the top 10 of the all time best selling albums in the history of popular music. The album is a concept piece with the main theme: "Things that make people mad". The theme was suggested by bassist Roger Waters and the other members of the group were hooked on the idea.

The music on "Dark Side of the Moon" is varied and incorporates several new elements that haven´t been heard on earlier releases by Pink Floyd. Lots of studio tricks, female backing and lead vocals, and dominant sections with saxophone soloing are some of the new features on the album. We´re of course also treated with the trademark mellow vocals, but also more rocking rough ditto which is great for the variation on the album. There are 10 tracks on the album (some CD releases merge the first two tracks "Speak To Me" and "Breathe" into one track thus making the album a 9 track release). All tracks seque into each other either by short sound effect interludes or they simply sound like parts of one longer track which for example is the case with "Us And Them" and "Any Colour You Like". Tracks like "Breathe", "Time" and "Brain Damage" have always been highlightsto my ears but it´s tracks like the experimental instrumental "On the Run" with it´ss extensive use of studio tricks and the female led "The Great Gig In the Sky" that stand out as being vastly different from anything else Pink Floyd had released up until then.

There is a notable increase in the use of synths on "Dark Side of the Moon" compared to earlier releases which is also a feaure that provides the album a fresh and occasionally almost futuristic sound. David Gilmour´s guitar soloes on the album also deserve a mention as they are quite frankly fantastic. Packed full with emotion. Quite a few guitarists out there could learn a lot from David Gilmour. Putting equal amounts of great emotion into each note can sometimes be much harder that playing faster than the speed of lightning, and that´s exactly what he does. Each note he plays are given just the right bend, which gives his playing a lot more impact than more "clinical" players.

The production on the album is outstanding. The sound provides the album with a timeless quality that doesn´t imediately give away the fact that this album was recorded and released in 1972-1973 (the recording sessions for the album began in June 1972). A great audio achivement.

"Dark Side of the Moon" is a classic progressive rock album and it´s no wonder it is such a popular album. The sound production is gorgeous, the musicianship excellent and the songwriting intriguing and varied. It´s the timeless quality of the material that´s probably the album´s greatest asset though and probably the main reason why, it keeps enchanting new generations of rock listeners again and again. The fact that the band seamlessly combine mainstream oriented pop/rock elements with progressive rock is another asset. It´s not something a lot of artists have done with success. A 4.5 star (90%) rating is deserved.

It isn't easy to speak about that album: I think almost everything is said about it! I think it is one of greatest album ever, possibly second best Pink Floyd album ( after "WYWH") and one of cornerstones of all progressive rock.

Biggest part of songs included are all great hits till now. Their melodic,dreamy,dark music sounds 36 yrs yet and will sound many more. Great combination of Waters/Mason/Gilmour/ Wright songwrighting and musicanship just made this album real masterpiece.

Sometimes I'm reading review with repeating question - is this album prog at all? For sure, everyone can have it's opinion about it. But for me, this is one of greatest PROGRESIVE music examples ever. Music isn't complex enough for being progresive? Come on!

The result of musicianship is song/composition. In fact, the listener often doesn't care too much how the final product was done. He feel magic of the result, or doesn't feel it. In a case with "Dark Side..." there is real MAGIC coming from these sounds. And we have plenty of examples when technicaly complex music doesn't have magic at all. Sometimes the final product even is difficult to recognise as music at all ( audio design?).

So, I am sure, that every prog fan should have this CD in his collection!!! Without it you will never understand what is real progressive rock.

This must be one of the highest rated albums of all times. Not without reason, the song writing, the sound, the creative energy and enthusiasm of the band are of an exceptionally high standard throughout.

It's one of the few Floyd albums where everybody was looking in the same direction and giving their very best performance. Breathe, Time and Money are all striking compositions, but especially the second half of the album (from the guitar solo in Money onwards) is of an unmatched beauty in rock music. Gilmour and Wright prove themselves to be the most effective pair of musicians here. Their interplay, feel for timing and balance are simply outstanding.

I don't play this album as often as Meddle and Animals, which I would list as my personal favourites, but it's hard to find any argument against this being Floyd's most accomplished album ever and even one of the best examples of progressive rock for newcomers.

Dark Side Of The Moon is a genuine masterpiece and is one of a select group that is worthy of a 5 star rating. It has been one of my favourite albums since i bought it as a teenager when it was released in 1973. One great memory I have from that time is of listening to DSOM from start to finish when the late, great John Peel played the album on his late night radio programme. As far as I'm aware, this was the first time an album had been played in its entirety on British radio.

Some PA reviews have criticised DSOM for not being prog. That may well be the case but it is one of the finest albums of all time, regardless of musical genre. Everything about the album says quality, from the music itself to the iconic Hipgnosis cover. DSOM has stood the test of time and does not sound dated, as some '70s albums do. The concept, of various stages of human life (consumerism, mental illness, conflict and death) , remains relevant in the present age.

In summary, an essential album that should be in everyone's collection.

Good but not essential is the best way to describe it.

I'll be brief because there are too many reviews already. Well, this is one of those MOST HAVE albums in rock history and while the album is good, really, it does not make it to a wonderful, impressive achievement.

Pink Floyd has one great masterpiece (Animals) but this album and The Wall are really just good commercial albums with random good tracks and a good concept but there's nothing really outstanding to point at. Some good moments in MONEY, ANY COLOUR YOU LIKE and BRAIN DAMAGE, and that's it. The rest is just good experimentation but nothing special to be considered a masterpiece. I like their bluesy spirit and some of the experimentations are cool, but musically, it really has nothing that special or wonderful. I know this album had influenced any single band after them, but I think it's a little dated and music has progress a lot after it.

3 stars is fair for a good album but nothing more.

There's a reason why one in three households owns a copy of this record. It is, even amongst the music of Pink Floyd, unique. Light and dark, but always colourful. Cutting-edge and progressive but lodged in rock and blues. Carefully constructed yet often improvisational. Lyrically mind-blowing. Dark Side of the Moon is THE song-cycle of the century. Here are just a few reasons why:

The opening heartbeat (unfortunately, now clichéd) with it's increasing intensity and build up of sound effects (which are sourced from elsewhere on the album: excellent use of cross-referencing and an essential ingredient of any good concept album) flows cacophonously into 'Breathe', a steady, swirling, slide- guitar led overture which introduces us to the album's main theme (the Em to A chord progression). While not an especially influential song in itself, 'Breathe' effectively introduces 'Dark Side' and sets the tone for the rest of the album. Then comes any experimental fan's dream: the sensationally technological exercise that is 'On the Run'. Way ahead of it's time, this little number will take you to the psychedelic depths of your own mind, without being too long. Next is 'Time', with wonderful instrumentation (loving the electric piano from the right speaker) and a guitar solo that seems to transport the listener through a spacey tunnel of immense pleasure. The phrase "shorter of breath, and one day closer to death" is potentially the most chilling line on the album. Following a cleverly segued reprise of the album's principal theme, we are treated to Wright's epic 'Great Gig...' with contributor Clare Torry's melodic wails that send a shiver down one's spine.

Side 2 opens with the famous 7/8 cash register-led beat, which leads to more funky verses in 'Money' and some astonishingly cool soloing from Dick and Dave. 'Us and Them' is calmer (initially)and perfectly balances sweet melody with uncomfortable paranoia. The song is driven to it's close by increasingly violent choruses, immediately giving way to the third instalment of the 'Dark Side' theme, in the form of 'Any Colour You Like'. This instrumental jam is funky and as appropriately placed as everything else on here (again, not too long either- room for live expansion). And finally the Waters-led 'Brain Damage' and 'Eclipse' sum up the album's thoughts and emotions in a surprisingly brief finale, ending the cycle with more of that heartbeat.

These 9 segments of madness, together with the inordinate tape effects, overdubbed voices (I am NOT frightened of dying!), unifying main theme, and general compositional and lyrical standard, are what puts this album up with CTTE or ITCOTCK. Pink Floyd are amazing in a totally different way of course, but no two progressive bands are "similar". There will never be another insanity-themed song- cycle like it.

At the time of its release, the production, engineering, and dramatic vision of this album were breathtakingly extraordinary. This music surrounded you, placing you in a spacey "Alice in the Wonderland of Space' complete with Sci-Fi Mad Hatters and Cheshire Cats around almost every corner. In classic Floyd fashion, the lyrics are just ambiguous enough to accompany any number of different dreams and interpretations. It even transforms "The Wizard of Oz" into a surreal audio-visual treat!

So trailblazing was this album, that it remained on Billboard Top 100 chart decades after its release. As we enter the 21st century, modern recording technology, sampling, loops and a plethora of multi-tracks bombarding us from every direction have finally colluded to eclipse the engineering and production spectacle that was "Dark Side of the Moon".

But the entire package still serves as a fitting soundtrack to any number of surreal tales. Put on the headphones, relax and close your eyes, and see which movie you create as you listen to one of the most influential psychedelic space rock albums of all time.

Absolutely essential for anyone seeking to develop an appreciation for the melodic, psych and/or space rock sides of Progressive Rock in the 1970's.

We've all heard it, and we all love it--even those who try to over-nitpick it because of its special status!

(just kidding)

I'm a Wish You Were Here person, but I'm not about to dismiss Dark Side in any way. What is amazing to me is that the band really did not know what it had when they laid it down. Of course they thought it was solid, but there were just no inklings of the commercial success that would await this piece. This is a band that just laid down a minor sound track in Obscured by Clouds.

You couldn't have seen Close to the Edge, Thick as a Brick, or Court of the Crimson King coming, and the same applied to Dark Side.

Dark Side features some of the best--and by best, I mean effective relative to the piece, and not simply the most complicated or difficult to produce--sound samples, some of the best controlled improv vocal wailing, and some exemplary guitar work (Time, Money) and berry sax (Money). And of course there's the epic finale, which is one of the better of its kind out there.

And that's all without mentioning the synching with Wizard of Oz, which there is enough coincidence to justify conclusions that more is at play than meets the ear.

It's gateway prog, and it's not terribly complicated. It's just captivating, compelling, iconic and generalizable for reasons that we are still figuring out. Close to the Edge may be the quintessential prog album, but Dark Side is in my top 10 contenders.

This is one of those albums that every progressive rock fan is obliged to hear at one point or another and chances are you're already quite familiar with this release. This and the fact that Dark Side Of The Moon has received quite enough in-depth reviews is why I'll skip you this unnecessary experience and will instead concentrate on my own reaction to this material.

If you look at my profile it becomes apparent that I was obviously not alive back in 1973 and can't say much about the popularity that this record had back in the day. Still, judging from what I've read and the mere fact that the album holds a Guinness World Record for the longest chart stay should be enough to conclude a preconceived opinion of this album. Luckily my parents never bothered telling me the back-story before I heard this album around my 13th year of existence, almost 25 years after its initial release. I was met with surprisingly mellow landscape of music with quite a few sound effects which I only later learned were suppose to create a feel of melancholy and schizophrenia since, let's face it, how many kids actually think about these things (outside the illusion that Hollywood tends to create in their films)?

I was a happy and careless kid and managed to remain such even after hearing Dark Side Of The Moon. This doesn't mean that the album haven't have any effect on me, but to tell you the truth I was quite surprised upon learning how much other people seemed to cherish it. To me, this Pink Floyd release has been and will most likely remain a minor masterpiece in the already magnificent discography that the band had managed to assemble over the years. It might define Pink Floyd to some people but I personally prefer to explore the bigger picture and so far almost everything I managed to uncover suggests to me that Dark Side Of The Moon was indeed a revolutionary for its time but many other records have aged more gracefully than this effect-filled product of the '70s rock movement. I guess that the record lacks the raw genius edge that manages to transcend all of the flaws, as it did on albums A Saucerful Of Secrets, Meddle and even The Final Cut. The concept and great execution is definitely in place here but I lack the spark that would make me see and feel the complete picture. All it is to me is merely a collection of excellent songs, which is not what I expect of a masterpiece album. After all, there are enough compilation albums for that.

What I'm basically trying to say is that Dark Side Of The Moon has never really been a huge favorite of mine. Even if I can appreciate the effort from the band it still comes off short in the overall connection that I have to this album. Maybe time will shed more light on this record for me but as it stands today this is only an excellent addition to any prog rock collection.

***** star songs: Breathe (2:44) Us And Them (7:40) Brain Damage (3:50) Eclipse (2:04)

**** star songs: Speak To Me (1:16) On The Run (3:32) Time (7:06) The Great Gig In The Sky (4:44) Money (6:32) Any Colour You Like (3:25)

You know what I selfishly wish? I wish that Dark Side of the Moon wasn't such a popular album. I wish I didn't have to think, "Yeah, "Time" is good, and "Breathe" is good, and "Money" is good, but they're not that much better than *so and so track*" all the time. If I didn't have to think about how this completely overshadows most of the rest of the Pink Floyd catalogue in popularity, when the quality of the music certainly doesn't completely overshadow the rest of their catalogue, it would be easier for me to just appreciate this album for what it is: one of the greatest freaking albums I've ever heard in my life, and (by the smallest margin) my favorite Pink Floyd album. It's not perfect, but it's as close to it as the band ever got.

If I had to sum up in one word what this album has that the preceding ones didn't, and what prompted the leap from "very good" to "awesome," that word would be focus. This album isn't that different from what had come before in terms of raw materials, but the use of those materials is much more effective here than it was before (and before it was awfully nice). The group was still a fully functioning band in terms of songwriting and everyone contributing ideas to the music itself, but in terms of lyrics and concept, the album is 100% Roger Waters. Just as important, along those lines, is the improved use of sound effects, which were used pretty effectively before but now are interwoven seamlessly with the actual music in such a way as to perfectly drive home the mood and message Roger presents here. Honorable mention should also be made towards Alan Parsons, the producer of this album, who not only made all the instruments sound perfect and clear but also deserves credit for making all of the sound effects and vocal samples work so smoothly with what the band was playing. Basically, this is close to being the perfect audiophile album, and that's certainly a major reason it gets as much credit as it does.

Conceptually, this is Waters' treatise about madness and the various aspects of life that exacerbate it. It's about how there's too much work to do and no time to do it and also enjoy life; how time keeps slipping away without you really realizing it, until you and the people you care about are dying; how money and the pursuit of it make the world a worse place; how everybody is at odds with everybody else. It's a very glum outlook on life, and it's not hard to see why so many people are attracted to the concept because of that. Personally, I think it's a little overdone, and I certainly don't regard the lyrics on here as a worthy foundation for a life philosophy. I know that lots of people consider the lyrics here to be incredibly deep and insightful, but I find them a little too preachy and blunt to really work on that level. On the other hand, while the lyrics on here are hardly material for guiding one's existence, these are nonetheless excellent rock lyrics. They tap perfectly into that part of the mind that wants to think a little bit but not a lot, and a lot of the lines are awfully powerful in their preachy, banal nature (that's more of a compliment than it might appear).

The music itself is awfully nice, too. Once all of the other aspects of the album (concept, lyrics, production) are stripped away, it doesn't come close to living up to the stature of one of the best albums ever, but it's still good. One thing that's interesting is how close this album comes to being soft-rock or even smooth jazz in places, yet while the album treads dangerous ground in that regard (listen to Delicate Sound of Thunder to hear what happens to these songs when that line is crossed), it never really becomes bothersome. The melodies are all good, there's a really good bass riff in "Money," there's a lot of really pretty pedal steel guitar, a lot of pleasant piano lines, and some really moving guest performances. "Breathe" (preceded by "Speak to Me," a kind of overture of the album's sound effects) always reminds me of lying in a field on a sunny day, with a body of water not too far away, and the mix of steel guitars and Dave's mellow voice makes me understand completely why so many stoners love this album. "On the Run" (the instrumental with the doodly-doodly synth loop and a bunch of sound effects) reminds me of falling asleep in that field and having a bit of a nightmare, before the clocks at the beginning of "Time" wake me up and tell me to get working again.

The lengthy echoey drum passage (with echoey simple guitar lines and a smattering of keyboards) at the beginning of "Time" succeeds where a more complicated break might have failed (another drummer might have made it into just a drum solo, whereas Mason uses its sparseness to his advantage), and then the actual song (with a "Breathe" reprise) has solid singing from both Dave and Rick (who wouldn't sing solo on a Floyd album again for more than 20 years) and one of Dave's best guitar passages. And then, of course, we have "The Great Gig in the Sky," which combines amazing wordless torch-singing from Clare Torry with a set of simple, yet brilliantly written, piano lines and GREAT pedal steel work (and, of course, more vocal samples about people's feelings towards death).

Moving onto side two, we have "Money," which might be the best known song from the group (it's either that or "Another Brick in the Wall (2)"), and while it wouldn't make my top ten from the group it's still a nice number. There's the good 7/4 riff (with cash registers also chiming in 7/4), a decent vocal melody, and of course a guitar solo that doesn't sound incredibly impressive in terms of the number of notes played but is nonetheless rather rousing (it doesn't come close to meeting the "minimalist" quality standards set by somebody like Steve Hackett, though). Then it's onto the quiet, pleasant balladry of "Us and Them," featuring a Beatles-quality simple guitar line, a great mellow saxophone part and nice vocals (with Rick's voice working extremely well with Dave's). The instrumental jam "Any Colour You Like" is a little bit fillerish (I'll take the instrumentals on Obscured by Clouds over this ANY day), but it's got some nice parts, and it does a good job of leading into the last two tracks. Waters finally makes his grand vocal entrance with "Brain Damage," a fun piece about going insane (with more sound effects like crazy laughter in all the right spots) and with allusions to Syd's last days with the band, before breaking into the big finale of "Eclipse," with some fun, important sounding lyrics that wrap things up with another allusion to the name of the album.

And that's the best Pink Floyd album. I'll never consider it as 100% perfect, what with my issues with the lyrics and concept and the way it's not that huge an improvement over the preceding albums from a pure music standpoint, but it's still an absolute masterpiece. If you somehow don't have this album, you should really correct that soon.

PS: Somehow, I've never bothered to do the synchronicity with The Wizard of Oz. Weird.

"Dark Side Of The Moon" by Pink Floyd is one of those albums that any serious prog collector needs to own. It's not technically masterful in musicianship, and the music is not terribly compley (although Money is probably the biggest hit to ever use the 7/4 time signature), but a masterpiece it is. On this album, all four Pink Floyd members were working in perfect unison. Although all members are credited with writing credits, the music flows perfectly from one song to the next. And Waters' sound effects on the album work better here than on any Floyd album.

There are good reasons that this is one of the top selling albums of all time, and one of, if not the longest charting albums on Billboard's list. It just shows that at one time, quality did matter to the music industry.

Production! Engineering! Effects! Synths! Voices! Solos for the ages (dragon drums on "Time," guitar on "Time," voice on "Great Gig in the Sky," sax on "Us and Them," synths on "Any Colour You Like") A radio hit! ("Money") Concept! Seemless journey, start to finish! Mood! Impact! Layers! Iconic album cover! Noises (breathing, footsteps, old man grumbling, coinage/cash register, clocks ticking and alarms going off, H-bomb bomb exploding, heartbeat.) Subliminal messaging (money/greed is bad, time is passing, death is coming), the longest consecutive and total charting album in the history of Billboard Magazine (and probably all charts), and of course Pink Floyd. What else need be said?

It's difficult to write anything fresh about an album which has been reviewed so many times across the world, and is, rightly, held up as an icon of progressive rock music.

It has sold so many millions of copies, the band probably stopped counting many years ago, and its success, in my opinion, was owing to two main reasons aside from the fact that the performances were simply so good. It was made at a time of economic recession in the UK, when everything was becoming extremely bleak and the lights were, literally, starting to turn off at night. In addition, its release coincided with the boom in reasonably priced hi-fi equipment, made even more accessible to the great unwashed masses by the advent of hire purchase repayments. This, and Tubular Bells, took full advantage.

This is the first of the great quartet of albums the band released that more or less defined the progressive rock era of the 1970's, bringing that genre to the masses in a way no other artist had managed before (or since, for that matter). The compositions, at a time when the band were still fully functioning as a coherent unit, were incredible, and the lyrics, in which Waters gave a treatise on life, war, insanity, and the general unfairness of it all, touched a massive raw nerve. Forget the whoary old chestnut about lying down to have sex stoned listening to this, it was, and is, an album which demanded to be listened to, and one of those greats which brings something new each and every time you listen, no matter how many times you listen.

Although a collection of individual tracks, the whole thing moves along so seamlessly, you could be forgiven for thinking it was one whole piece. There are also far too many highlights to list, but special credit goes for the sheer bleak emotion that Gilmour wrings out in his solo during Time, the incredible vocal performance of Clare Torry on Great Gig In The Sky (Richard Wright's last great moment writing for the band), the iconography of Money and the finest sax solo ever delivered on a rock album, the sheer manic intensity of Brain damage. It goes on and on.

A masterpiece not just of progressive rock, but of rock music as a whole. An album that literally changed the world, those who belittle Roger Waters should really dig this out, give it a spin, and wonder in astonishment as to the genius behind such a lyricist.

Five stars. I won't say buy it, because surely there is nobody left out there who hasn't got it?

The soundtrack to The Wizard Of Oz is one of Pink Floyd's best albums. He made better albums like The Final Cut but this is pretty good too. His next album The Wall is even better. Nothing here is as good as "Another Brick In The Wall", his best song obviously. He smoked 5000 pounds of marijuana when he made this album...that's why it sounds the way it does. This is one of the best selling albums of all time[citation needed].

In the 1970s stereo salesmen used to play this album to customers, showing them how great a system was. I can only imagine what they said back then, probably something like: "I just randomly picked some record out and look...doesn't that sound great!" This album holds some kind of record for being on the charts for the most weeks; people just kept buying this thing. In the 1980s there was a plant in West Germany that did nothing but manufacture DSOTM CDs. The original CD version of this in North America sounded awful; lots of hiss and supposedly not taken from the masters. The music industry's attitude of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" meant that a proper sounding CD was not available in North America until the 30th anniversary edition in 2003. The record company was making so much money off of people still buying the old crappy versions, they weren't in a hurry to re- release the album.

This only made it to #2 in the UK; a compilation of '60s hits keeping it from the top spot. It was their first album to make the Billboard Top 40, going straight to #1. DSOTM was supposed to be the follow up to Meddle, but the band had already agreed to do another soundtrack for director Barbet Schroeder(Obscured By Clouds). This album was first premiered at a concert in January 1972. Then it was known as Eclipse. The main differences to the later studio version were: the absence of synthesizer, "On The Run" being a guitar improv, "Time" not having the "Breathe" reprise, and "The Great Gig In The Sky" being an organ piece with a tape of a priest giving a sermon playing.

Speaking of Obscured and synths, that was the first album where Floyd used a synth, the non-keyboard VCS3. During the recording sessions for DSOTM the band were one of the first to purchase the newest synth from the same company that made the VCS3: Electronic Music Studios or EMS. It was called the Synthi-AKS and not only had a small keyboard but more importantly was able to produce sequences of notes in multiples of 8. While the MiniMoog was the 'solo' instrument for some keyboardists, the Synthi was the 'sequencer' of choice for not only keyboardists but non-keyboardists like Waters and Gilmour as well. They still use the VCS3 here for sound effects. In the film Pompeii, during the sessions for this album, you can briefly see/hear Gilmour experimenting with an early guitar synthesizer. As far as I know it doesn't actually make an apearance on the album.

"On The Run" is the track that makes the greatest use of the band's new toy; this song must have seemed completely futuristic back in 1973. That track, along with "The Great Gig In The Sky" and "Any Colour You Like" are the proggiest moments on the whole album; the vocal songs are generally not too complicated. "Time" is the most proggy of the vocal songs, mostly due to the instrumental beginning and the reprise of "Breathe" at the end. The main song itself is not too proggy but nonetheless has one of Gilmour's all-time best guitar solos. It was Gilmour's idea for "Money" to alternate between 7/4 and 4/4. On that song, Wright put his Wulitzer piano through a wah-wah pedal. Mason's drumming is good on "Money" and this is the last album where he uses two bass/kick drums.

Waters has some of his best lyrics on this album, but it was a good idea to have Gilmour and Wright sing most of them. Speaking of vocals, for the first time there are guest vocalists here...and a sax player. Two things that a certain Syd Barrett wanted to add to Floyd's sound back in 1968. The rest of the band thought it was a bad idea, but little did they know their breakthrough album in the US would later feature back-up singers and saxophone. Apart from Ummagumma, this is probably the most democratic of Floyd's albums, with each member getting lots of input.

Some of the songs here had been around awhile: "Us And Them" began as a piano piece during the Zabriskie Point soundtrack sessions in 1969; "Breathe" was devoloped from the song with the same name on Waters/Geesin's Music For The Body soundtrack. The voices you hear on the album were taken from interviews the band did with people they knew. Paul and Linda McCartney were interviewd but their responses were not used. I still think the line "I've been mad for f*cking years..." is one of the best openings to any album. "Speak To Me" is a studio creation, a foreshadowing of the whole album.

The vocals of Clare Torry in "The Great Gig In The Sky" were improvised on the spot. That is the single greatest composition here. Although this album is less proggy than other Floyd albums, it makes up for it by being so damn consistent and seamless. A lot of time and effort went into this recording, and of course the work of Alan Parsons deserves a mention. Overall, this is a great sounding album and the balance between vocal samples/sound effects and music is perfect. However, I think the keyboards sound better on WYWH and the bass sound is better on Animals. The sound of the drums here though, are better than those two albums.

I neither think this is Floyd's best album nor is it a "Masterpiece of progressive rock". But for sheer consistency, it's hard to beat. A one of a kind album and honestly it doesn't deserve anything less than 4 stars.

I feel incredibly humbled to be reviewing one of the most iconic albums of all time. As I write this, a poster of the unforgettable prism artwork hangs over me. It's presence is threatening, as if writing a bad review of this album will make it somehow angry! However, I definitely do not intend to upset the prism, because this album is essential listening for everybody, not just prog fans. Hear The Dark Side of The Moon and learn the meaning of true musical beauty!

The two sides of the album are continuous peices of music. There are moments of effortless beauty and power on both sides. The songs themselves are quite simple in structure, and most of the music is quite easy to play, but there is still some very proggy elements to this music. Take Money, which is surely the best known song to use 7/4 time signature. The instrumental takes up most of the second half of the song, and has a fantastic guitar solo à la David Gilmour. This is probably the proggiest the album gets, but do not despair, as there is plenty of proggy goodness to be enjoyed in this magnificent album.

My other choice pick off this album is also The Great Gig in the Sky. The track is effortlessly beautiful and immensely powerful. The singer Clare Torry performs the most impressive wail I have ever heard in a recording!

I won't say too much more as there is enough praise of this album as it is. I truly believe everybody in the world should hear this album at least once, and if you're a prog fan, then you have no excuse not to have this fantastic record in your library. I have now satisfied the prism.

Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon [1973]

Rating: 10/10

Dark Side of the Moon is one of those supremely esteemed albums that actually deserves every word of the praise it receives. This is undoubtedly one of the most important albums in music history; there are many elements here that are nothing short of revolutionary. First, the album structure: DSotM is a concept album, but not a lengthy rock-opera in the vein of Tommy or the band's future album The Wall. Rather, this is more of a philosophical meditation. The first side is a conceptual sequence of songs that illustrate the cycle of life, beginning with birth and ending with death. The second side, while not as carefully structured, is a reflection on the darker sides of humanity: greed, warfare, tribalism, insanity. The best thing about this album's concept is that it's played out not only lyrically, but also musically. The production of Dark Side of the Moon is also revolutionary: the layers upon layers of sound on every track are complex and fascinatingly multifarious. What really makes this album so important and so revolutionary, though, is obvious: the quality of the music. Every song here is infinitely creative, brilliantly composed, and flawlessly executed.

The slow and slightly melancholic-sounding opener "Speak to Me/Breathe" begins with heartbeat sounds and focuses on a rather simple main motif along with Gilmour's vocals. "On the Run" features an omnipresent fast-paced high-hat beat. Wright gets creative here, displaying all sorts of crazy multilayered synth sounds. "Time" may just be the greatest song Pink Floyd ever did. The lyrics are absolutely brilliant, and Gilmour's guitar work here is nothing short of incredible: his solo is easily one of my all-time favorites. The renowned "The Great Gig in the Sky" features one of the most emotional and stunningly beautiful vocal performances of all time from Clare Torry. This is pure emotive release. "Money" is probably the most well-known Pink Floyd song, so I don't need to say much about it. Gilmour is unbelievable yet again. "Us and Them" is yet another classic. One of the most fascinating things about this track is its ability to be both a cynically sober commendation and an emotional lament. "Any Colour You Like" is a terribly underrated song, and is my favorite Floyd instrumental. Wright and Gilmour are at their peaks of instrumental creativity here. "Brain Damage" and "Eclipse" conclude this legendary album. The chorus of "Brain Damage" is delivered powerfully by Waters, and "Eclipse" is a fantastic climax.

Calling this album a masterpiece isn't a particularly original or exciting sentiment; most people who appreciate music would tend to agree. Dark Side of the Moon truly showed Pink Floyd stepping into the realm of pure musical genius. It also catapulted them into the stratosphere in terms of commercial success; it's rare that an album manages to be both an immense artistic achievement and a commercial hit. I would try recommending this album, but you've already heard it, and you most likely have a high opinion of it. Dark Side of the Moon is an indispensable musical work and will forever remain an immortal classic within the annals of music.

As an overall prog fan, I, like many critics before and after, hold Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon" with high regard as one of the most influential albums of all time.

However, I am prepared to be chomped at the bit by the mob by declaring that this is NOT the best prog album of all time.

*gasps*

Yes, it's undoubtedly one of the most iconic albums and symbols of all time. Who hasn't seen the iconic "pyramid" design etched out onto a school desk? 1972 left us with a returning Nixon into the large White building in Washington D.C., the climax of the Apollo moon missions, and a feel good atmosphere common in the '60's with the emergence of the Beatles coincides with the release of this album.

And while "Pong" began it's world domination, Pink Floyd was creating the recipe for the perfect disaster. 1972's "Obscured By Clouds" is probably the most easily accessible Pink Floyd album ever released, fully purged of the insanity (or creativity, whichever you perceive it) that was Syd Barrett. This album is the result of their transformation and the first album where that iconic Pink Floyd sound is on display. Yet you listen to classic rock radio stations today and the Pink Floyd you hear is off of "DSOFTM", "Wish You Were Here" and "The Wall". Yes, that is the 3- headed hydra of Pink Floyd's career, but some, if not most of those tracks, are too bizarre and experimental for the radiowaves. You'd be lucky to hear anything off of "Obscured By Clouds" on the radio.

So, how did this conundrum happen?

Well, for reasons explained previously in this review and in previous reviews on this very site. This album couldn't have been released at a better time, where drugs and acid were on the resurgence and the new generation needed an album, a band, to aid define them. Whereas the Beatles filled that role in the '60's with "Sgt. Pepper", Pink Floyd filled this nitch in '73.

But as always, a critic must take his place as "Debbie Downer" and look at the reverse side of every coin.

There are few tracks, maybe only 3 on this entire disc, I have never personally heard on the radio. This record gets plenty of airtime. Pink Floyd, maybe not in their personal interest, managed to create a progressive epic that actually became one of the most easily accessible prog rock albums of all time. I always thought this was a fantastic album. Yet, as you dissect this album further, you soon realize that...well....

There's nothing new about this album...at all....

Yes, there is the reflection process, where "Breathe" is reprised after "Time" and the heartbeat that bookends the album (actually helps to seamlessly loop the album if you edit the tracks on, say, iTunes), but there is nothing on this very album that I haven't heard on other, similar albums. It's not exactly a breakthrough album in the innovation and development of the progressive rock genre, but it certainly is critical on fueling that generation of musicians. How many of today's musicians list Pink Floyd and this album as a key inspiration in their music? Uh, a lot.

Simply put, this is the quintessential progressive rock album, but would I consider this to be the greatest album of all time? Certainly not, but it is the album that kids (who listen to good music) look up to. Undoubtedly the most influential musical masterpiece in the prog vein of all time.

The genius of The Dark Side of the Moon lies in one important fact: that whilst the rest of the progressive rock world was pushing as hard as it could for more complexity, more time signatures, longer songs and more obscure lyrics, the Floyd decided to take precisely the opposite approach. They didn't abandon complexity or experimentalism or prog completely, of course - the album's a 40-minute suite about madness replete with synthesisers, for goodness' sake - but they were careful to incorporate no more complexity than what a song strictly needed, and likewise Roger Waters made sure the lyrics were more direct and less abstract than, say, your average Yes composition - with the result that they had more force.

At a time when prog for prog's sake was a tempting proposition, Pink Floyd moved away from that, and therefore managed to avoid most of the backlash later in the decade, Johnny Rotten's "I Hate Pink Floyd" shirt notwithstanding. The result was the band's best album since their debut, and a definitive end to their post-Syd slump. What more is there to say?

Did you know that a blues rock group named Medicine Head released an album in 1972 with the same exact title? Because of this Pink Floyd briefly changed the name of this album to Eclipse. The Medicine Head album turned out to be a commercial flop so they decided to keep the title after all. I'm glad they did cuz it has a better ring to it :-P

Did the planets ever align perfectly for PINK FLOYD in 1973. This masterpiece delivered the perfect mix of ideas that the band had explored over the years making this an almost unanimously loved album by possibly the widest spectrum of music lovers on the planet. The music is accessible enough for anyone to understand and yet complex enough to satisfy even hardened proggers and that means that this album even today is a kind of coming of age album where kids of all ages are still blown away by its inventiveness. I have always seen this album as the perfect gateway into the greater prog universe.

DARK SIDE is so successful that it is the 2nd best selling album of all time. It remained on the charts for 741 weeks from 1973 to 1988 with an estimated 50 million copies sold! Countless lawsuits have been filed claiming creative collaborations with this enterprise and some have been successful but that soap opera is far removed from the music itself.

After years of what the group has called 'psychedelic noodling' on their previous albums they decided upon a concept with a unified theme. Syd Barrett may have only been in the group long enough to record one album before he basically lost his mind yet he provided inspiration in the form of mental illness while other themes include conflict, greed and paranoia.

DARK SIDE is both reflective and cutting edge. PINK FLOYD utilized the most advanced technology of the time and incorporated metronomic sound effects, tape loops, cross-fades of elements from other parts of the album, backward piano playing and 7-beat effects loop just to name a few. Despite all this hi-tech innovation the album has a warm soulful side. Richard Wright and David Gilmour proved their abilities to harmonize and the soulful studio diva Clare Torry delivered some of the most brilliant wordless vocalizations ever laid down on tape. And if that wasn't enough the music transitions from track to track in one stream of consciousness never breaking the spell throughout its entirety.

My absolute favorite way i've ever heard this album is when I saw it accompanied by a laserlight show on an astronomy dome. Very appropriate don't ya think?

PINK FLOYD - THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON = 5 stars

I wasn't going to review this album because it's already been done so many times and there really isn't anything I can add that you don't already know. This is a perfect album. It's not the only perfect album out there and it's not Pink Floyd's only perfect album either. But it is perfect in it's beauty, emotion, and it's total existence. It's true that not everyone loves it, but there is no such thing as an album that everyone loves and that's the beauty of us as individuals. I love the album as a whole, but I have realized also that the individual songs do not work as well alone, this album is a complete work and it is how I prefer to listen to it. Playing individual tracks off this album cheapens the songs, this is an album in it's truest sense and the way album rock was meant to be played and listened to. It just works best all together.

So, even though I would consider this one of the best albums ever (out of many by the way), none of these songs are among the best songs ever to me because they don't work for me when played alone, that distinction belongs to songs like "Starless" by King Crimson which can be played alone and still be amazing. But the beauty here is in the entire work, meaning the entire album, just like the beauty in "Pictures at an Exhibition" (the classical version by Mussorgski, not Emerson Lake and Palmer) is in the entirety of it's performance more than the individual works.

By the way, this is an essential prog masterpiece no matter what you think of it. 5 very bright stars.

Review Nº 17

"The Dark Side Of The Moon" is my second review of a Pink Floyd album on Progarchives. The first was "Wish You Were Here". "The Dark Side Of The Moon" is the sixth studio album by Pink Floyd and was released in 1973. The album was recorded at the famous Abbey Road Studios, between May 1972 and January 1973, with the staff engineer of Alan Parsons, who was directly responsible for some of the most notable aspects of the album. Parsons had previously worked with the group as assistant tape operator on their fifth studio album "Atom Heart Mother" released in 1970. For his work on that album, Parsons received a Grammy Award for "Best Engineered Album".

"The Dark Side Of The Moon" sold approximately forty five million copies, and became as the Pink Floyd's most commercially successful album and one of the best selling albums in worldwide. In addition to its commercial success, this musical work became the most popular album from the band, among fans and critics, and is frequently considered the best rock album of all times. "The Dark Side Of The Moon" would remains, more than twenty years, among the most sold albums, and definitely established the strength of the group.

The art cover of the album was originally released in a gatefold LP sleeve, and was designed by Hipgnosis. The design is a dispersive light prism. The prism design was inspired by a photograph taken during a brainstorming session. So, the art cover of "The Dark Side Of The Moon" became probably the most famous cover art from an album in the history of music. It's very interesting and curious to note that the cover of the album is in general immediately recognized, even by those who aren't usually very familiar with the progressive rock music.

"The Dark Side Of The Moon" has ten tracks. This is a concept album where all the lyrics were written by Roger Waters. The first track "Speak To Me" written by Waters and Nick Mason is an instrumental track only composed with sound effects. This is undoubtedly a very original track. The second track "Breath" written by David Gilmour, Waters and Richard Wright, deals with the frustration of chasing empty goals in life. It's quite smooth, and the Gilmour's slide guitar, contributes even more to the quiet tone of the music. The third track "On The Run" written by Gilmour and Waters had to be about paranoia. It's an instrumental track with vanguard and futuristic music. This track represents one of the highest points of the album. The fourth track "Time" written by Gilmour, Wright, Waters and Mason is about the man's fixed habits, and people waiting for their life to start. It has an introduction of clocks and is the second lengthiest track on the album. The fifth track "The Great Gig In The Sky" written by Waters and Wright is about the fear of dying. It's a very melancholic song with the participation of Clare Torry on vocals, and is one of the most beautiful songs on the album. The sixth track "Money" written by Waters is about the pressure that the money can give in the people's every day. In the beginning it has an introduction sound of a cash register and coins. It's the most successful song from the band and reached the top ten in the US. The seventh track "Us And Them" written by Waters and Wright deals with three contradictions: rich and poor, employers and workers and us and them. It's the lengthiest track on the album. It's a very sweet song with two saxophone solos performed by Dick Parry. The eighth track "Any Colour You Like" written by Gilmour, Wright and Mason is an instrumental track with synthesizers and a Gilmour's solo guitar. This is the only track on the album not co-written by Waters. The ninth track "Brain Damage" written by Waters is about a person beyond his facade that the outside world sees. It's a track with the support of backing vocals. The tenth track "Eclipse" written by Waters is the last, and represents a kind of a prolongation of "Brain Damage". It represents the contradiction, the image of the cold, a dead moon eclipsing the warm, and the life and warming given by the sun.

As a curiosity, "The Dark Side Of The Moon" is probably the most covered album. For instance, Dream Theatre covered the album several times into many of their live shows. They even released a cover album with the same name.

Conclusion: "The Dark Side Of The Moon" is one of the best albums of the world, is the best known album of Pink Floyd, has the most known cover art of a progressive album, and is also probably, for some, the best album ever. It's also probably the most influential album, of the most influential progressive rock band ever. This is a work of art where the sounds expressed by it, seem to flow naturally and ordered, yet complex and so interesting that you'll, listen to it over and over again, yet never honestly catch every last detail, about how living your life, in a so sublime piece of music. "The Dark Side Of The Moon" is undoubtedly one of the best albums ever made. However and despite that, it's not my Pink Floyd favourite album. My favourite album is and always was, without any doubt, "Wish You Were Here".

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Dark Side Of The Moon is quite possibly the most famous prog album and is one of those gateway albums that gets people into the genre. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with it on those grounds; it's a fine introductory album. But is it truly a masterpiece? Not really.

There are two camps that DSOTM will cater to, and those are the aforementioned new listeners who haven't really ventured into prog rock yet; the other are people stoned out of their minds. Sometimes both. Since most people listening to this album are in one of those two demographics, it definitely gets reflected in its very high score. But to a seasoned prog listener who's heard their way around the world and back, this album is really lacking.

The first half of side one sets a comatose pace; Speak To Me/Breathe sounds sort of like one of the Grateful Dead's less active songs. Wharf Rat, for one, comes to mind. Up next is "On The Run", which while more energetic than the past 4 minutes, doesn't do much to invigorate. "Time", the first of the album's better songs follows and after a long enough intro, leads into the verse which, while I can't say any copying was necessarily involved or intended, reminds me a bit too much of George Harrison's "Hear Me Lord" from "All Things Must Pass" for my comfort. The real high point of "Time" is the solo, though. David Gilmour's playing suits the song well; the solo comes across as well composed and is never ostentatious. "The Great Gig In The Sky" finishes side one with a wordless female vocal solo. It's nice but not especially emotionally charged.

Side 2 opens with "Money", which is a decent, more blues-oriented song that features good saxophone soloing. Afterwards is "Us And Them", a ballad that, aside from its once again marvelous sax playing, drags a bit too much. The interplay in "Any Colour You Like" picks up the pace a little bit. The album ends with "Brain Damage" and "Eclipse" which continue in the vein of the rest of the album in that there's nothing wrong with them but they aren't exceptional. And just like "Time", "Brain Damage" gives me memories of Uriah Heep's "The Magician's Birthday" more than it should for an album hailed as original.

Overall, though, DSOTM is a great introduction for new prog listeners. It's also a pretty good album if you tend to pay more attention to the lyrics than the music. But if you're coming in expecting something totally innovative (bear in mind that this came out the same year as Lark's Tongues In Aspic) and musically brilliant, there just isn't much going for it. A good but non-essential addition to any music collection.

In 1973 Pink Floyd made their bestseller by releasing an album that gave up the progressive-rock suite on a side and single pop songs on the other (the pattern of Atom Heart Mother and Meddle), in order to record a time continuum of songs alternating with noises: in fact, sometimes the songs are the development of some noises, as in the case of the most famous: "Time", whose rhythm starts from the ticking of the clocks, and "Money", whose rhythm starts from the case of a store.

With a modern and commercial sound, Pink Floyd churns out 4 great songs, of medium to long duration, with an additional 6 short fillers, which try to give a homogeneous frame to the project. It is a cunning, an operation more of facade than substance, because from a musical point of view the album has nothing revolutionary, apart from the combination of music and noises of real life, never exploited so intelligently and widespread. Pink Floyd invent a new album format, and ultimately develop the idea of Sgt Pepper by The Beatles. The conception of the record is revolutionary, the music is not, the music is quite commercial, already heard but... beautiful, original, and flows pleasantly.

The first 7'45'' are filled with an introduction of noises and music (Speak To Me, Breathe) and a sound trick (On The Run) quite banal, but ultimately boring: in fact it's not music. Rating 6.5. You have to wait for the watch "cucù" to hear music really worthy of that name, and we are already in the eighth minute of the record when Time starts, and this is a great song, with Wright and Gilmour alternating on the singing and a marvellous solo on the guitar by Gilmour. Rating 8.5.

Mixed with the ending of Time begins the piano ballad The Great Gig in The Sky, very suggestive, without lyrics but with the voice by Clare Torry that fills it with both soul and sensuality, it is another disjointed song, as well as the whole first side apart from Time , it almost feels like PFs make entertainment music while waiting to make music seriously. Rating 8.

Side B opens with Money, a very original Waters song (sung by Gilmour), with a sly rhythm that repeats throughout the duration of the piece and a fantastic instrumental deadlift with the sax played by Dick Parry. The sound is now more and more captivating but at the same time elegant and inspired. Rating 8+. Blurring Money, the relaxed ballad Us and Them begins, sung again by Gilmour in alternation with Wright, and with the presence of the saxophone as the previous one. The chorus of the song has a magnificent progression that, combined with the instrumental piece, make it the best piece on the album. Rating 8,5/9- Pink Floyd does not renounce the habit of putting noises and spoken words even inside the piece.

The great ballad fades into Any Colour You Like dominated by Wright's synths, which give life to an instrumental piece, which then switches to keyboards, rather suscipated and excited, but basically uninspired, until the guitars and the voice of Waters come, and Waters sings Brain Damage , which contains the phrase: "I see you on the dark side of the Moon." The song is another languid ballad, which improves in the singing progression with soulful voices in the background, then forcibly Waters sings Echoes, with the purpose of finishing the narration of the lyrics. Rating 7,5.

These three final pieces, as well as the three opening pieces, are fillers, their quality is lower than that of the four main songs (but the fillers on side B are good songs), and leave the listener with the impression that the album has slipped away without leaving a big mark, except at certain moments of the four major songs, as if music announced a sound event that then won't arrive and everything ended waiting. That's why I listen very willingly and easily The Dark Side Of The Moon, and I get pleasure, but it is almost an elusive pleasure, which only in some moments I feel intense and deep. In my opinion, this album is a great masterpiece for how it is conceived, for its conceptual and commercial form, but it is a small masterpiece for the music that contains.

Medium quality of the songs about 8. Rating 9, Small masterpiece, 5 stars.

Few records have marked as much a group's career as the Dark Side at The Moon for Pink Floyd. It had such relevance and significance that until 2020 it has accumulated 950 weeks in the lists of the best-selling albums. A long lasting endurance.

From its legendary cover, the prism projecting the rainbow colors on the black background, the various topics addressed (money, time, loneliness, dementia, among others), the music, the lyrics, the spectacular production, arrangements, etc., converged to make of Dark Side at The Moon a timeless rock masterpiece.

There is not much to add to the tons of writing that exists on the album. I can just join the legion of fans who constantly listens to it and enjoy it from beginning to end. I would like to make a special emphasis on the iconic Time and the deafening sound of clocks striking the time madly and the mesmerizing guitar solo of the unsurpassed David Gilmour, as well as on Torri Clark's anguished screams on the devastating Great Gig in the Sky. Also the emblematics Money (with its immortal bass line) and Us and Them (sax solos included as in Money) deserve to be mentioned, just like the incredibly intense and disturbing Brian Damage and Eclipse , which address madness as a central theme, and give an imposing closure to one of the fundamental works and pillar of rock music.

Essential.