THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

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.