THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

There is a good reason that Dark Side of the Moon is considered one of the best rock albums of all time. At the same time, the band gives us both excellent music with input from all members, and also provides an accessible, universal concept. That is what sets Dark Side apart from all of the concept albums that would follow this one in the PINK FLOYD catalogue--while the others grew more and more specific to one man, ROGER WATERS, the themes of Dark Side are something that everyone can identify with easily: time, death, money, war--all of these are a part of the total human experience that all of us are living. And, while the lyrics here are related to each other, there is enough room for the listener to interpret, imagine, and take from this album what he or she wishes. That, more than anything, is what sets Dark Side above all of PINK FLOYD's other concepts.

The music of Dark Side is nothing short of superb, and incredibly innovative for its time. The warped synth piece "On the Run", in fact, was the song that first signaled to me that something about this band was different, and drew me into the work of PINK FLOYD. There is input from all four members, including the marvelous roto-tom solo from drummer NICK MASON at the beginning of "Time". Guitarist DAVID GILMOUR has wonderful vocals and guitar playing to contribute--for the former I suggest "Money", and for the latter, "Breathe". Lyric writer ROGER WATERS has a part in the music, too, including vocals on "Brain Damage" that suit the song very nicely. But the album's most stunning songs, from a musical perspective, were either authored by or influenced by ROGER WATERS, who in many ways is probably PINK FLOYD's greatest "composer".

"The Great Gig in the Sky", also featuring superb vocals from Clare Torry, has a strange, mesmerising, but still very listenable chord progression, and is probably among WRIGHT's greatest accomplishments as a music-writer. "Breathe" is another song where he had input, as proven by his comments on the recent DVD where the band is interviewed about this album, contributing some of its most distinctive chord changes. "Time" and "Us and Them" both feature WRIGHT's fascinating vocals--the last that PINK FLOYD fans would hear until "Wearing the Inside Out" on The Division Bell. But it is "Us and Them" that is perhaps one of the greatest masterpieces in the PINK FLOYD catalogue. This is the only other appearance of the powerful WRIGHT-WATERS songwriting team heard on Obscured by Clouds, Dark Side's painfully underrated predecessor. Some of the most majestic music RICK WRIGHT has ever created, coupled with the lyrics of ROGER WATERS, make this song completely unforgettable. There is simply nothing like it.

In modern times one can no longer rely on popularity as a measure of quality...except perhaps in the inverse: "The more popular it is, the lower the quality is." Back when Dark Side was released, though, it was the other way around. Believe me when I say this--this album stayed on the Billboard charts for as long as it did for very good reason. If your record collection is missing this masterpiece, you need to put that right immediately.