THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Dark Side of the Moon is one of the top ten albums in music. End of discussion. Every song is a gem of psychedelia. Dave Gilmour plays his guitar with as much emotion as any Mississippi Delta bluesman, Roger's bass is solid, Rick's keyboards give trhe album a lush texture without taking center stage like they do with Yes or ELP, and Nick's drum complement Roger's bass to cement a great rythmn section. This album stayed on the Billboard Top 200 for over a decade. That is simply stunning. The album goes from paranoia to hilarity at the drop of a hat. The album is a concept piece that chronicles a man's devolution to insanity. It is partly inspired by Syd Barret's burnout (the follow up, Wish You Were Here, also touched on their fallen comrade).

Speak To Me/Breathe opens with a scream and the standard spacey fare. It sets the mood for the album.

On the Run is an amusing track that cobines serious parnoia with a light hearted mission to catch a plane.

Time leads in with a cacophony of clocks chiming. The lyrics are, in my opinion, Waters' best. David Gilmour's solo is breathtaking.

The Great Gig in the Sky follows up on the plane that the character missed. It crashed, which only adds to his paranoid nature. Fantastic guest vox from Clare.

Money is one of the most played Floyd tracks on radio. It has great lyrics, an infectious bassline, and a fantastic solo.

Us Or Them is a unique anti-war song for the time, because it it presented throught the eyes of a soldier. He doesn't understand his orders, doesn't particularly want to carry them out, but end the end does so because it is his "duty"

Any Colour You Like is a great instrumental piece

Brain Damage marks the slip into insanity. Whereas Shine On seemed to immortlaize Syd Barret, this song does the opposite by indirectly attacking him for quitting just becasue the band wanted to experiment, which is how they got started in the first place.

Eclipse is a great outro with its haunting heartbeats to close the album. The only creepier sound effects I've heard is the hospital noises and spoken word on the intro to Queensryche's Operation Mindcrime.

DSOTM is essential for any fan of music. It, like AC/DC's Back in Black, is an album that belongs in your CD collection and probably already does. Simply stunning.