THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Has anyone mentioned that the lineup includes the same Doris Troy who gave us the classic pop soul hit "Just One Look"? Anyway...

Even at my most critical and objective, it is difficult to understand those who do not see how important this disc is; when I was deepest into my punk-rock anti-prog period I could still recognize the once-in-a-lifetime achievement this album represents. The contrarian impulse is difficult to master sometimes; it's pretty tempting to criticize something that is popular or well-loved to counter your own misgivings about your individuality and uniqueness. It's also easy to mistake evaluation with opinion- you can say that James Joyce's "Ulysses" sucks rather than reading it and saying "wow, that was really something special, but not how I want to spend my reading time". "Dark Side" does suffer from the same ubiquitousness as "Sgt. Pepper"- when everyone tells you how much of a revolutionary classic it is, you get tired of it and pretend they're mistaken. This says more about you as a person than it does about "Dark Side of the Moon" as an album, and perhaps it's that kind of attention that you want.

I agree that, after "The Wall", this is the most over-played album; unlike the later work, however, it generally stands the test of time due to the wider range of textures and ideas expressed. I also agree that this is not anywhere near as 'progressive' as many other works out there- the band sticks with stright time and key signatures throughout (ironically, the most heard single "Money" is one of the few songs on any PF album to stray from this, featuring a 7 beat bar). The real exploration on this album is not in the intricate musicianship, but in its meditations on personal sanity coping with the weight of social, political, and economic influences. There are a number of PF works which I could criticize for lack of emotion, but never "Dark Side". I do NOT agree that "Us and Them" goes on too long; the beautiful piano playing, saxophone solos, and vocal harmonies have just enough time to establish the full dynamics of the piece. My only misgiving is "Any Colour You Like", which seems like a jam they liked enough to fill some space, except it does make a necessary transition between the laidback-but-intensely emotional "Us and Them" and the neurotically mischievous "Brain Damage".

The simple truth is that this album (even if you don't personally care for it) belongs on the extremely short list of history-making rock discs, as well as being one of the fundamental works of the progressive genre (even if you think there are better prog albums). I could see dropping a star because it doesn't achieve as much within the genre as other albums, but to rate it below four stars is a contrarian expression of willful denial of its rightful place in the history of music and the prog genre.