Love it or hate it, you must admit it's a classic! (Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd)

Member Name: dee778

Product:	Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd
Date:	21/07/09 (66 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A groundbreaker - an inspiration

Disadvantages: None

In 1973 I heard my very first Pink Floyd track and loved it immediately. I rushed out to the shops to buy it - and for the next few weeks drove the neighbours mad by blasting it out time and time again on the single speaker of my portable record player.

"Washing machine music" said my mother with contempt - "Why don't you play that nice Carpenters record instead?"....

After a particularly angry mother-teenage daughter encounter, she did the worst thing possible - she took my record and broke it in half! Did I care? No! It gave me the perfect excuse to go out and buy another copy - and get duplicates of the posters and stickers that covered my wall! The most exciting about buying the Dark Side of the Moon LP was the stuff that came with it - a huge poster of the band, with a mysterious and deeply arty poster of the Great Pyramids, and loads of pyramid stickers. And of course I had a second copy of the LP sleeve with its now famous black prism design to put up on my wall too.

Since then my loyalty to The Floyd has not wavered. I bought the LP yet again as my second copy became scratched, of course I bought Dark Side on cd when it came out, and I have seen them live quite a few times over the years - even sitting through the rather painful G8 renuinion gig.

Now, well over 30 years later, things have come full circle. Instead of my mother saying "washing machine music", I have my teenage sons - groaning as I blast it out on the i-pod speakers. "Your music is so weird mum! What on earth do you see in it?".

I guess the Floyd is a bit like Marmite - you either love it or you hate it!

~~My Review~~
Dark Side of the Moon was the sixth album released by Pink Floyd, the first of their albums to hit number 1 on the US charts, and one of the best selling albums of all time. It spent an incredible eleven consecutive years in the top 100. The lyrics of the album were written by Roger Waters - and the theme of the album is often said to be 'things that can make you mad' - inspired by the mental decline of one of the band's founding members, Syd Barrett.

For me, the whole album is the definition of Prog Rock. Dark and conceptual, it covers issues of war, greed, aging and mental illness - and is riddled with sound effects, dialogue, rich, jazzy saxophone, and the soaring vocals of Clare Torry - a female backing singer who gave 'Great Gig in the Sky 'its powerful dramatic flavour.

In addition to the sound effects of mad laughter, the sound of heartbeats, coins falling, and tills opening, there are snippets of voices both between and over the music. Some of the most familiar may be "I'm not frightened of dying", "give 'em a quick, short, sharp shock" , and there is no dark side of the Moon really ... as a matter of fact it's all dark". These voice-overs give the whole album its' surreal and distinctive feel, and were recorded by Waters in a darkened studio, where he got both staff and occupants to answer a series of questions printed on flashcards. Their answers, as recorded at that time, were interwoven with the music.

The album was recorded in the Abbey Road studios, and the line up of the band was Dave Gilmour on lead vocals, and guitar, Nick Mason on drums, Roger Waters on bass guitar, and vocals, and Richard Wright on keyboard and vocals.

All of the band was involved with synthesizer, production and effects. The huge use of synthesizers was a key part of the sound of the album - giving it a completely unique feel.

~~Tracks~~
Beginning and ending with a fading heartbeat, there were originally five tracks on each side of the album. The tracks symbolise the various stages of human life - telling a story in the great prog rock tradition.

I originally wrote a review of every single track, but have since removed my comments, as my word count was running into the thousands!

I will just say, listen out for the exquisite guitar of Dave Gilmour, especially in track 2 - listen for the fantastic sax in track 7 - and love it or hate it - watch out for the melancholy vocals of Clare Torry in track 5.

Find your own meaning in the lyrics - I think they speak to everyone in a different way, and they have just as much meaning for me now as they did when I was a teenage rebel!

1. Speak to Me
2. Breathe
3. On the Run
4. Time
5. The Great Gig in the Sky
6. Money
7. Us and Them
8. Any Colour you Like
9. Brain Damage
10. Eclipse

Summary: It should be in everybodys collection