In case you did not know, The Dark Side of the Moon is an LP by the English band Pink Floyd. Also, in case you didn’t know, it has been certified 14-X platinum and has spent 950 weeks on Billboard charts. This popularity is easily explained by the album’s show-stopper themes such as greed, time, death, and mental illness…it’s got it all ..and with synthesizers and bluesy hooks to boot.
Originally, the album title was already in use by a band called “Medicine Head’ but when that album was destined to commercial failure, the title was dropped and picked up immediately by Floyd. It never fails how one’s lousy luck is another’s opportunity.
The five tracks on each side represent the various life stages. Side A opens with a heartbeat and Side B closes with the psalm-like “Eclipse”, …”which espouses the concepts of alterity and unity, while forcing the listener to recognize the common traits shared by humanity”. This from high school drop-outs in their mid to early 20’s. Today’s twenty year-olds Twerk.
The album really needs to be listened to from start to finish in one sitting…only in doing so can you appreciate the entirety of the package…song writing skills, musicianship, and production. For me, this is where Gilmour begins to stand out and establish himself as a featured rock guitarist.
But there is so much more than bluesy guitar. Lush jazz chords arpeggiated and reverbed. Immediately recognizable backing vocals and melodic piano fills that continue to make this a musical masterpiece within the confines of rock music.
“Money” was the single, but Us and Them, Brain Damage/Eclipse, and Time are the all-time classic masterpieces.
I was fortunate to see Pink Floyd at Yankee Stadium and the O2 arena in London…where they performed both “Dark Side of the Moon” AND “Wish you Were Here” in their entirety.
Both Waters and Gilmour deny any truth to the rumor that there was a connection between this album and the Wizard of Oz. But there is plenty to the rumor that the Wizard of Oz is a hint for my next pick.
“Everything under the sun is in tune, but the sun is eclipsed by the moon”. I don’t know what this means, but it is very true.