“The Dark Side of The Moon,” is one of the best albums of all time. This album was the Pink Floyd’s eighth studio album, it was released on March 1973. This album is an amazing spectacle of the bands ability.
This album explores themes of greed, mental illness, conflict, death and time. The band used snippets of interviews of their road crew and philosophical quotes in the album. The theme of mental illness was explored because of former member Syd Barrett whose mental state was deteriorating according to the other members.
This album is glorious, showing a change in the band; they went from “psychedelic noodling” to more experimental rock. They are well known for their progressive rock and trying to do things to make themselves unique.
The best songs on this album are the two songs chosen for promotion “Money,” “Us and Them” and the song ‘The Great Gig in the Sky”. These songs are great on their own, but each one exemplifies a theme that the album represents.
“Money” is all about greed and consumerism, playing the sound of cash registers and coins falling. The style of this song is bluesy, starting with dry sounds (no echoes or reverb), but towards the end during the guitar solo, the band turned all dynamics up, producing wet sounds (echoes and reverb). The sound effects heard throughout the song were made to give a “walk around the room,” vibe.
“Us and Them” is about the isolation of the depressed, using simple dichotomies (conflicts) for personal relationships. The song goes along with “Money,” with some slower blues styles, but the opening gives off feelings of a church when walking in the door.
‘The Great Gig in The Sky” is the final song on the first side of the album and is symbolic of death. The wordless vocals were sung by guest singer Clare Torry. The sounds that Torry make give listeners chills, as if she were just another instrument on the track. The band interviewed people about life and death, some snippets were used like “I never said I was frightened by death,” said Patricia Watts, their road manager’s wife.
The overall feeling of this album is depressing, taking all these themes and combining them into one amazing album. The second side starts nice and smooth, but soon continues to slow down and bring the main ideas of each song out through the lyrics.
The sounds this band have created were ahead of their time and were very experimental. This album could have been a major flop if not handled correctly, but it was handled wonderfully by the band and studio engineer, Alan Parsons.
This album is timeless, it can be listened to over and over again. This band is one of the greatest in rock history, they are the inspiration behind so many bands and artists. The vocals, music, and meanings all come together to create a masterpiece that shook the foundations of rock for generations.
Fast Facts
- This album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London in two sessions
- Clare Torry didn’t know her vocals were used until she saw the album in the store, saw her name in the credits and purchased it.
- Torry was only paid £30 for her performance.
- “Dark Side of The Moon,” went Platinum 15 times in the United States and 14 times in the United Kingdom.
- This album pairs up perfectly with “The Wizard of Oz,” and makes a pairing fans call “The Dark Side of Oz,” or “The Wizard of Floyd”.
