THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

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.

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