 |
Overview |
 |
 |
Release Date: March 17, 1973 (U.S)/March 24, 1973 (UK)
Running Time: 42:59
Sales: Between forty million and forty-five million copies worldwide. As of 2004, it was estimated that approximately eight thousand copies are sold weekly.
Chart Position: One thousand and five hundred weeks on the Billboard Top 200. This is the longest stay on the chart for any album in history. Strangely, it only spent one week in the #1 spot. |
Tracklist
1. Speak to Me/Breathe
2. On the Run
3. Time
4. Great Gig in the Sky
5. Money
6. Us and Them
7. Any Colour You Like
8. Brain Damage
9. Eclipse |
 |
In June 1972, the British band Pink Floyd entered famed Abbey Road studios in London with staff engineer Alan Parsons. The album that they completed in January 1973 has become one of the top five bestselling albums of all time … The Dark Side of the Moon.
Bassist Roger Waters created all of the demos for The Dark Side of the Moon in his gardening shed turned recording studio. Waters also wrote all of the album’s lyrics, which ambitiously tackle the theme of stages and experiences of one’s life, from birth to death. Waters credits the album’s longevity partially to its expression of concerns “about basic fundamental questions about human existence.”
Musically, The Dark Side Of The Moon shows experimentation far beyond that seen on Pink Floyd’s previous album, Meddle. In addition to being one of the first albums to fully utilize surround sound technology, a quadraphonic mix of The Dark Side of the Moon was produced by Alan Parsons—who, being unhappy with the results, shelved the mix.
In order to achieve the sounds that they desired, Pink Floyd and Alan Parsons resorted to unconventional means—an assistant engineer was recorded while running around an echo chamber for “On the Run,” and recordings of cash registers, counting machines, and tearing paper were spliced together for “Speak To Me” and “Money.”
Perhaps most famously, interviews were conducted with various people gathered from around Abbey Road, and snippets of the interviews were used between and during songs. Roger Waters explains, “I felt a need to include the human voice on the record, so I devised this way of asking people questions in a particular order that would elicit responses that were interesting.” The unique interview method involved the subjects being seated in a darkened studio, while speaking on subjects related to the main themes of the album, such as death and violence. Paul and Linda McCartney were interviewed using the flashcard process, but their answers were not included on the album as they were deemed “too cautious.”
The cover of the Dark Side Of The Moon gatefold LP was the first product to feature the “refracting prism,” which is now easily identifiable as Pink Floyd’s logo. Waters reflects, “Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powel designed it at Hipgnosis. They came in with like six or seven ideas for album covers and threw them on the floor in the control room and we all as one man went, "That one!" There wasn’t any conversation. There is just something so cool about it. I think it’s so great that there’s no writing on it, there’s nothing on the outside of the cover,”
Inside the sleeve of the LP were two images—a collage of photographs of Pink Floyd in concert, and a somewhat psychedelic picture of the Pyramids of Giza. A sheet of stickers of the Pyramids of Giza were also included in the LP release.
|
Song Spotlights |
|
The first single from Dark Side Of The Moon, “Money,” is one of Pink Floyd’s best known songs. Everything from the intro, to the saxophone solo by Dick Parry, to the improvised drums and keyboards, to the vocal melody are instantly recognizable to rock fans around the world. It’s uncommon 7/4 time signature is another element that makes it unique from almost any other classic rock song.
Richard Wright originally wrote “Us and Them” to be used in the movie Zabriskie Point, but the director of that film said that the song was “too sad.” The reworked version that appears on The Dark Side Of The Moon is sung by David Gilmour, with harmony by Wright, and its lyrics speak of the universally present concept of conflict.
“Time” is commonly considered a “double a-side” along with “Us and Them.” The famous intro of clocks chiming and alarms ringing in unison was recorded by Alan Parsons as a test of quadraphonic mixing. During the chorus of “Time,” the drums play sixty beats per minute, which is, of course, the same as the beat of a clock ticking.
Although it was never released as a single, “The Great Gig in the Sky” is legendary—at least partly for the wordless lead vocals of Clare Torry. Called into the studio because Pink Floyd didn’t know what to do with a certain instrumental track, Torry struggled herself in coming up with an idea. The singer reveals, “I thought, ‘Maybe I should just pretend I’m an instrument.’ So I said, ‘Start the track again’ …”
|
Trivia |
|
When Pink Floyd discovered that Medicine Hat were releasing an album called Dark Side Of The Moon in 1972, they changed the working title of their own album to Eclipse: A Piece For Assorted Lunatics. When the Medicine Hat album flopped commercially, Pink Floyd returned to their original title idea.
Many have noticed synchronicities between the images in the movie The Wizard Of Oz and the audio of The Dark Side Of The Moon when the two start playing at the exact same time—this is commonly referred to as “The Dark Side Of Oz.” However, almost everyone involved in the making of the album have firmly denied the rumour that this was intentional.
Some of the profits from The Dark Side Of The Moon were invested in the making of Monty Python’s Quest for the Holy Grail. Pink Floyd are reportedly big fans of the comedy troupe.
The Dark Side Of The Moon ranked #43 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
|
You said: |
|
"i love this album" - Jim from Burlington
"if you listen to it while watching wizard of oz it matches up" - Carol from Sarnia
"If I was to pick only 1 -Dark Side of the Moon would be it! I will never be tired of this Album . Class act. PF fav. band. cheers." - debbie
"Pink Floyd is one of the best bands of all times, and this is one of the best albums." -Elizabeth
"My early memories of D.S.O.T.M. is putting it in my 8 track player in my 72 Toyota ...... & I never took it out ! I was so blown away by the incredible feeling of the whole tape... song after song..... volume cranked up to 8-1/2... that I just never took it out. or allowed anyone else to. It lasted around 11 months until the tape finally dried up & snapped inside the player. It was an incredible release that has never been equalled in my mind." - Dave Martin
"It's more than an album. It's a bloody masterpiece. When people think of a 'rock opera', they usually think of The Who's 'Tommy'. But they forget about 'Dark Side of the Moon' and 'The Wall'." -Samantha
"If you only make your kids do one thing that they think is lame from your generation; make them listen to DSOTM from beginning to end with headphones. I'll bet they won't think you're so lame ever again." - Dave
"have an original LP framed in my office. Great Album, will never get tired of listening to this album." - Kevin
"Dark Side of the Moon is like the story that needs to be told to everyone." -Dale
"I'm on my sixth or seventh copy of Dark Side - vinyl to cassette to CD. I have one that is unopened just in case they become extinct one day. Best album ever!!" - Snea
"After 30+ years, not a week goes by that I do not play it. The greatest rock album of all time in my books." -George
"I have a copy of DSOTM on quadrofonic 8-track[groovy] . I doubt it's worth much on e-bay but it's worth a lot to me . Pink Floyd's DSOTM has become a necessity of life. peace and love" - Kevin
"Get The Led Out !!! good album but it's no Vol 4 Led Zeppelin that's for sure... Have a good one :)" - Steve M
"There is a high note in the guitar solo from Time that is just about my all time favourite moment in all recorded music." - Paul
"Lest we forget Richard Wright 1943-2008" - Mike
"i have the original LP 8-track CD mp3 DVD" - alex
"Proabably my ultimate concert experience was hearing Pink Floyd perform Dark Side of the Moon at Maple Leaf Gardens. The Quad sound of the lunatic laughing rolled around the upper decks of the gardens was almost spooky it seemed so real. Its difficult to think of many other albums that come close." - Malcolm Watts
"Pink Floyd's 1973 masterpiece, The Dark Side of The Moon, is an album that is timeless. After 35 years, it still is the band's greatest studio album by far." - Victor Mirabelli
"my first quad concert at ivor wynne stadium in hamilton. concert was fantastic, and on the unbelievable side, a Mc Donalds and brewers retail store were sold out of food and beer respectively.the atmosphere was electric 1973." - :wayne
"Only 43rd... shame!" - Michael deSousa
|
Have your say!: |
|