Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon

Dark Side of the Moon

Best song: Us & Them

Worst song: you don’t mess with Dark Side by taking songs out. but, Speak To Me

Overall grade: 6

I’m not sure why I’m even reviewing this. I mean, it’s such a sidenote within the Floyd discography, and a really obscure one at that, that I doubt anyone would really notice if I were to just miss it out. But hey, in the interests of completism, I might share a few words about this rarity.

OK, all jokes aside, this record is a pretty big deal. It’s sold around 45 million copies and that’s not counting all the people who download it, listen to it on Youtube or the radio or borrow it from a friend. It’s estimated that one in five British households own a copy. It’s just celebrated its 40^th anniversary with a bunch of celebrations like a new website dedicated to it and its own radio play. It seems to have some kind of secret formula, that it later lent to Fleetwood Mac about four years later but that has rarely been seen since, that gives it mainstream commercial appeal without compromising its actual artistic merit.

I’m sure I have very little new wisdom or insights to impart about Dark Side: much like those millions of others, I think it’s pretty great, although I don’t think it’s the greatest thing Pink Floyd ever did. I mean, I love ‘Echoes’ and live ‘Interstellar Overdrive’, and sometimes I find this album a little bit too safe, with its conventional melodies and instrumentation. On the other hand, it is a masterpiece in the way it effortlessly flows from one song to the next, becoming almost one complete song along the lines of Tull’s Thick as a Brick. For that reason it’s very difficult to pick a worst song, because there are a handful of interlinking sections that you’d never put on a mix tape, but that the album just wouldn’t work in the same way without. The first of these (and most obvious example) is ‘Speak to Me’, essentially a sound collage of all the sound effects used on the album: heartbeats, ticking clocks, cash registers, manic laughs, and the candid human voices talking about madness and violence. (It wasn’t really written by Nick Mason – his songwriting credit was a gife from Roger Waters. Waters gives gifts?) And yeah, it’s just all these sounds randomly arranged, but it gives the album a real continuity when each of these sounds comes up again later and they feel more familiar, like they’re meant to be there.

Quick rundown of the rest of the songs: ‘The Great Gig in the Sky’ and ‘Us & Them’ are the two sections I most look forward to. Everyone talks about Clare Torry’s vocals on ‘Great Gig’ and they are truly breathtaking, but they wouldn’t be so effective if it wasn’t for Rick Wright’s beautiful piano. For a while it was entitled ‘Religion Section’ and I don’t know if they were trying to musically give people a religious experience or just represent one, but some people are that strongly affected by it. Wright also shines on ‘Us & Them’, where he plays a part that’s more complicated than it seems on first listen. Lyrically, Roger’s in his safe territory of anti-war slogans, and his confidence and passion show through. Plus, Dick Parry’s saxophone solo is just brilliant.

Some of the other songs are more radio-friendly (possibly down to them not having saxophone solos?) such as the mournful but lush ballad ‘Breathe’, which is the first vocal track, and is also reprised slightly later on, another moment that makes the album flow well. ‘Time’ is more of a midtempo tune with swooshing guitars and thought-provoking lyrics, and ‘Money’ provides some much-needed speed and energy to the record with its funk and blues influences and its cash registers rhythmically chiming away in 7/4 time, which is not as cool as 13/8 time, which is the most awesome time signature, but is still fairly cool.

‘On the Run’ must have been really ahead of its time when it was released, its synth sounds never heard before, but it hasn’t aged as well as most of the record. Personally, I actually really like the retro-video-game sound of it and the constant loops, but a lot of people don’t and I can see why. ‘Any Colour You Like’ is an instrumental bridge that divides side two in half and prepares you for ‘Brain Damage’, which is dark and ominous in its verses, but still manages to have massively hooky arena-sized choruses, and segues nicely into ‘Eclipse’, the day to its night, if you will, which builds up steadily and ends on the triumphant and cathartic cry of ‘everything under the sun is in tune, but the sun is eclipsed by the moon!’

So, the reason why this album has sold 45 million copies and counting? It’s got something for everyone. You can appreciate it whether you’re young or old, whether you’ve heard thousands of albums or just listen to the radio in the car, whether you prefer your songs to be conventional or totally deconstructed. ‘Dark Side’ plays with a lot of different musical styles while never embracing any of them enough to shut out people who aren’t fans. It’s welcoming and accessible, requiring no previous knowledge of the band’s music and history to enjoy, but knowing those things can only add to your enjoyment. And it feels like a journey. In the same way that people like films because they feel connected to the story and want to stay with the characters to the end, so too do people feel an affinity with this album, whether they know why or not, and want to be a part of it for its duration. But maybe this widespread appeal is also its biggest flaw. Maybe in providing something for everyone, it can never be completely perfect for anyone – the album that’s everyone’s second place but nobody’s first.