"You don't have to be stoned to enjoy our stuff. But it can help."1
--Roger Waters, Rolling Stone Magazine, 4/24/03
Pink Floyd's
Dark Side of the Moon is one of the most successful albums of all time -- #3, to be exact -- and for good reason, as it is perhaps one of the most mindblowing audio performances ever recorded. With amazingly rich texture and songs that blend seamlessly into each other, despite a variety of
tempos and
rhythms, it is a true
sonorous treat. It still sells an estimated
250,000 copies each year, this after it finally fell off the
Billboard Top 200 charts in
1988, 14 years after release.
Some additions and updates to the
DSOTM writeups above:
* As clarification regarding the
Eclipse discussion above, here is a quote from the 4/24
RS article:
"Initially, the new music was given the title Eclipse (A Piece for Assorted Lunatics), and it premiered during a series of London concerts in early 1972"2
* The "spoken parts" of the album were the responses recorded by a number of various
participants, which were responses to assorted questions. One well-known participant's answers did not appear on the album, however:
Paul McCartney.
* Although the album has been released in numerous versions, across a variety of mediums, there have been three major releases. The first, in
1973, is what set everything in motion. Recorded with a then state-of-the-art
16-track setup, It was released in the traditional formats of the time (
vinyl,
8-track, etc.), and all future pressings came from this recording, until
1993. At this point, twenty years after the original recording, the album was re released with a slightly different cover, a more
substantial CD booklet and, most importantly, in
digitally remastered stereo. Finally, in
2003, to celebrate
Dark Side of the Moon's
30th anniversary, it was re-released once again, this time remastered from scratch, and recorded in
Dolby 5.1 surround sound. It is pressed on
hybrid SACD disks, allowing listeners with capable equipment to listen to this new format, while still allowing those of us with
traditional CD players to hear it as it was originally recorded. With the third release, it has also been pressed on vinyl once again.
* Regarding the cover art, the first pressing featured the simple-yet-elegant prism artwork by
Hipgnosis and
George Hardie, that became Floyd's
trademark. The 1993 re-release featured similar artwork, whereupon
Storm Thorgerson alone was commissioned. The cover is very similar, but has an
opaque, rather than
translucent prism. Finally, for 2003's release, the artwork was dramatically changed, with the standard "light-and-prism" motif being redone in
stained glass. Again, Thorgerson was involved in this design, along with
Rupert Truman.
Finally, on a subjective note, have you never heard this album before, or have you heard it and been ambivalent, be sure to listen on headphones, for a whole different experience. Finally, if you have a fully configured
Dolby 5.1 system, be sure to let the rest of us know just how good it really sounds.
Updated, December 17, 2003: Well, I bought the 30th Anniversary album not too long after doing this writeup, thinking my DVD player would handle
SACD.
Oops. It was at that time I learned about the differences between SACD and
DVD-A. In any case, I shortly bought a new player and configured my surround sound system.
The new remaster is
fantastic.
The voices are clearer, the
Hammond Organ is deep and rich, and the effects are terrific. Most striking is the remaster of "Money", which has each of the different sounds in the beginning coming out of each individual speakers. Just amazing. If you have the capability to play the SACDs, then by all means, purchase this album!
Works Cited:
1 - "Thirty Years of Darkness" (
Rolling Stone), p. 48.
2 -
ibid., p. 46
Works Referenced:
"Thirty Years of Darkness", by John Harris.
Rolling Stone, 4/24/03
Pink Floyd Website: Dark Side of the Moon -
http://www.pinkfloyd.co.uk/dsotm/content/setup.html