b o b

OK, what's with that cover (the one on display at G&S as I write this shows the familiar prism and rainbow as a stained glass window looking out on a tree-lined night sky)? The original cover (white beam of light, prism and rainbow against a stark black background) has become such an icon of rock, I can't believe they'd change it. Oh well. Anyway, as the other reviews point out, there's not much that one can say about Dark Side of the Moon that hasn't already been said many times. It's a classic album of innovative rock music. It's one of the best-selling records of all times. A local radio station once had a program called "For Headphones Only", and named Dark Side as the best headphone album of all time. After setting up my parents' expensive new 6.1 surround system, the first think I could think of to test it out was Dark Side, and it sounded phenomenal (the swirling synths and running footsteps of "On the Run" and the alarms, bells and chimes of "Time" were all over the room). Everyone, their cousin, and their cousin's mother has a copy of this album. When I first discovered it in college, I immediately went to play it for a friend who was pretty much completely out of touch with popular culture, and even he had heard it before. So there's not much for me to add, other than mentioning that it's definitely on my top 10 favorite albums list, and probably always will be. When my daughter was born, we were allowed to play music in the delivery room, which lead to the difficult decision of what the first album she would ever hear should be. My wife left the decision to me, and I picked Dark Side of the Moon. I was hoping our daughter would arrive during "Breathe in the Air", but instead she delayed until "Brain Damage". How's that for a bad omen? Fortunately, not an accurate one. Come to think of it, when the delivery was over, the doctor said "That music was nice - what was it?" So it turns out there are people out there who have never heard the album. If you're one of them, you owe it to yourself to borrow a copy from someone and give it a spin. review by Bob Eichler — 7-31-03 —

c o n r a d

Transported to a surrealistic landscape, a young girl kills the first woman she meets, then teams up with three complete strangers to kill again. Can you guess the movie? Here's another, more pertinent clue: it's a 1939 film with a soundtrack by Pink Floyd. That's right, it's The Wizard of Oz. Now, some of you may be wondering about the reference to Pink Floyd. Well, a number of years ago, there was a theory floating about that Roger Waters had edited Dark Side of the Moon so that it would align with "The Wizard of Oz". Proof cited included the fact that, if started at the right time, the words "Who knows which is which" coincided with two witches talking, and as soon as the film turns to colour, the sound of cash registers start up. The effectiveness of this is probably dependent on what substances are affecting your brain functions at the time, but the existence and persistence of this theory is nonetheless instructive. In short, this album has become a landmark work, like The Wizard of Oz itself. There are many remarkable things about this album; for instance, its unprecedented run in the Billboard charts, spurred partly by its status among audiophiles as the album to test expensive sound equipment on. Even the cover is instantly recognisable in a way that few other album covers are. The splitting of light through a refracting prism is probably even better known than the cover to Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band. The obvious question at this point of the review is "What about the music? Does it justify all this adulation?" My answer is trite: I don't think any album does, but given the quality of music and painstaking contruction evident on this album, I certainly don't begrudge its status. The album runs from the barely audible to the loud and blaring (hence its popularity amongst audiophiles), yet fits together elegantly as a single work. The songs all explore the dark side of human existence; greed, death, xenophobia, and madness all have songs dedicated to them. Excerpts of interviews in which people talk on relevant subjects are also applied in various places around the album. This is a great Pink Floyd album, unlike their other Magnum Opus, The Wall, which is really a great album by Roger Waters, with occasional assistance of Dave Gilmour. The atmosphere of the album alternates between oppressive and cynical, and yet it's an album that gets played time and again. Rarely has an album with such a dark nature been so accessible. No record collection, progressive or otherwise, is complete without Dark Side of the Moon. review by Conrad Leviston — 4-24-03 —

j o e

That the 30th anniversary edition of this CD depicts its album cover enshrined in stained glass should tell you something right there. If ever there existed a rock album that has long since transcended being a mere a rock album, it is this one. Dark Side of the Moon represents Floyd's first full-scale immersion into the art of the pessimistic symphony, an endeavor they would strive to recreate in different forms for the remainder of Roger Waters' tenure manning the helm of the band. That being said, I have always assumed the transcendence of this album to be the product of additional considerations, equal parts instant generational Hipgnosis prism icon and state of the art production for all audiophiles with headphones clutched in hand. Looking at the unique contribution of the tunes themselves, relative to Floyd's other musical output during their peak, I've always seen them as a bit overrated. Don't get me wrong, I like every song on here, just to varying degrees. On the lesser end of the scale, I'd place the legato pacing that sleepwalks into eternity on "Us and Them," and the payoff of "Eclipse," anticlimactic following on the heels of such a great buildup. But I can still comfortably listen to ye olde chestnuts like "Time" and "Great Gig in the Sky" (the only track on here that took years for me to like) should they come up on the FM radio...which let's face it, they inevitably will. Favorite thing about this album? I'd have to say it's the singing, which rings with passion in the anthemic chorus sections of "Us and Them," "Time," and "Brain Damage." Of course, this album introduced the soulful backing vocals that have become associated with the band ever since throughout the years. The ooohs, ahhs, and whoooa-whoooas of Clare Torry & company are that sublime mixture of divinity and sensuality, like being pelted from the heavens with margarita-flavored hail balls. But Gilmour, Wright, hell even Waters; they are all in top form vocally here as well. Apart from that, though, what else is there to say, really? If you consider yourself to have even a causal knowledge about rock music, are over the age of 15, and have NOT heard this yet, then it's time to get out of the dark side of the cave. review by Joe McGlinchey — 10-10-03 —

b r a n d o n

I don't think there's much more than can be said about Dark Side of the Moon. It's an outstanding work, etc, etc. Reviewing such an acknowledged classic is somewhat hopeless, especially since it's one that I've internalized over the past many years and thus have a hard time really thinking about. I will say this, though: this is a great example of an album that is far greater than the sum of its individual parts. Taken on their own, only "Time" and "Brain Damage"/"Eclipse" (and maybe "Us and Them") are real classics for me; the rest don't stand up as well. But as a whole, it all fits together amazingly well, and each track is made better by the ones surrounding it. All that said, this is not my favorite Pink Floyd album, not by a long shot. I enjoy Wish You Were Here, Meddle, and Animals more than this one, each for their own reasons. While I pull out all of those three albums on occasion, I rarely listen to Dark Side of the Moon anymore. It just hasn't had the longevity for me that the other Floyd classics do, and I'm not sure why. The fact is, though, that Dark Side of the Moon is both a landmark of modern music and an album that remains popular across several generations. That's no small feat. review by Brandon Wu — 4-28-03 —