The Dark Side of the Moon (titled in the 1993 CD release as Dark
Side of the Moon, and often abbreviated as DSotM) is a concept album
by the British progressive rock band
Pink Floyd, released in 1973 and engineered by Alan
Parsons. It is notable for its use of Musique concrète and philosophical lyrics,
something that would eventually become a trademark of Pink Floyd's music. The album was a landmark in rock music, as it featured radio-friendly songs such as "Money", "Time", "Us and Them", and "Brain Damage/Eclipse". Some music critics use the album as a point of reference in determining between "classic"
blues rock and the then-new genre of electronic music.[3]
The Dark Side of the Moon explores the nature of the human experience. For example, "Time" deals with aging and the
overwhelmingly fast approach of death. "Money" deals with materialism with tongue-in-cheek
lyrics and wealth-related sound effects. "Us and Them" deals with conflict, ethnocentrism, and the belief that a person's self is "always in the right".[4]
The Dark Side of the Moon is widely hailed by many critics and fans as Pink Floyd's magnum opus, and is generally considered their definitive album.[5] In 2006 it was voted "My Favourite Album" by viewers and listeners to the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation.[6] In 1990,
Australian radio listeners voted it the best album to make love
to,[7] and in 2003, Rolling Stone heralded The Dark Side of the Moon as the 43rd greatest album of all time.[8]
The Dark Side of the Moon spent 741 consecutive weeks on the USA-based Billboard
200 album chart, the longest duration in history.[9]
It is also the fifth highest selling album globally of all time,
selling more than forty million units.[10]
The only time there is a gap of silence on the whole album is between The Great Gig in the Sky and Money, where
there is a side change on the LP; this pause was filled in with a barely audible transition by Alan Parsons for its CD release.
Recording
Recorded by the band and engineer Alan Parsons at Abbey Road Studios between June 1972 and January 1973, the album sessions made use of the most
advanced techniques available for recording instruments and sound effects in
rock music at that time. Along with the conventional rock
band instrumentation, Pink Floyd added prominent synthesisers to their sound as well
as some unconventional noises: an assistant engineer running around the studio's echo chamber (during "On the Run"), myriad
antique clocks chiming simultaneously (as the intro to "Time"), and a specially-treated bass
drum made to sound like a human heartbeat. The heartbeat is most audible as the intro
and the outro to the album, but it can also be heard underneath most of the album—the song "Time" and "On the Run" has the low
thudding underneath the rest. Roger Waters wrote all of the lyrics in the album and created the early demo tracks in a small
garden shed-turned-recording studio at his home. It was in there he also created the intro to "Money" by experimenting with
dropping a range of monetary objects.
Another novelty found on The Dark Side of the Moon is the metronomic sequence of sound effects played during "Speak to
Me" and "Money." This was achieved by laboriously splicing together recordings of ringing cash registers, clinking coins, tearing
paper, and buzzing counting machines onto a two-track tape loop (later adapted to four tracks
in order to create a unique "walk around the room" effect in quadrophonic
presentations of the album). Due to the sonic experimentation on the album, many songs on The Dark Side of the Moon
(particularly "On the Run") required every member of the band to operate the faders simultaneously in order to mix down the
intricately assembled multitrack recording.
Pink Floyd also perfected the use of other studio techniques such as the doubletracking of vocals and guitars (allowing David Gilmour to harmonise flawlessly with himself),
flanging effects, odd trickery with reverb and the
panning of sounds between channels. To this day, audiophiles use The Dark Side of the
Moon as a reference standard to test the fidelity of audio equipment despite the fact that it was originally mixed from
third-generation tape with Dolby noise reduction.[11] Alan Parsons engineered the album while on
staff at Abbey Road. He once said in an interview that he swapped shifts with
colleagues in order to work on the whole project.[12]
All four members of Pink Floyd, which included guitarist David Gilmour, drummer
Nick Mason, bassist and lyricist Roger Waters, and
keyboardist Richard Wright, had some form of participation in the writing and
production of the album, which is a rarity among later Pink Floyd albums. However, it is the first of five consecutive Pink Floyd
albums with lyrics completely credited to Roger Waters.
On most CD pressings, a barely-audible orchestral version of The Beatles'
"Ticket to Ride" is audible after "Eclipse", playing very faintly over the heartbeats
that close the album. It is unknown why this was included, but it may have been the consequence of a mastering error. The bootleg recording A Tree Full of Secrets includes an amplified, re-processed version of this oddity, which allows it to be
heard clearly. This is not found on the original vinyls.
Although The Dark Side of the Moon was the planned title of the album, upon the discovery that the band
Medicine Head was to release an album of the same name in 1972, the year prior to The
Dark Side of the Moon's release, the band changed the album's title to "Eclipse: A Piece for Assorted Lunatics". However, the
Medicine Head album flopped, so Pink Floyd was able to revert to the original title without trouble.
Voices
Clare Torry sang on "The Great Gig in the
Sky". In 2004 she sued EMI and Pink Floyd for songwriting royalties, claiming that she co-wrote "The Great Gig in the Sky"
with keyboardist Richard Wright. She was originally paid £30 for Sunday studio
work. The High Court concluded that Torry was correct but the terms of the
lawsuit have yet to be decided.[13] On Pink Floyd's 2006
live DVD P*U*L*S*E, Torry is credited with the vocal composition for "The Great
Gig in the Sky" segment.
Snippets of dialogue between and over songs are also featured on the recording. Roger Waters devised a method of interviewing
people, whereby questions were printed on flashcards in sequential order and the subject's
responses were recorded uninterrupted. The questions related to central themes of the album such as madness, violence, and death.
Participants were commandeered from around Abbey Road, placed in the darkened studio in front of a microphone, and told to answer
the questions in the order which they were presented. This provoked some surprising responses to subsequent questions. For
example, the question "When was the last time you were violent?" was immediately followed by "Were you in the right?"[14]
Recordings of road manager Roger "The Hat" Manifold were the only ones obtained through a conventional sit-down interview
because the band members could not find him at the time and his responses (including "give 'em a quick, short, sharp shock..."
and "live for today, gone tomorrow, that's me...") had to be taped later when the flashcards had been lost. Another roadie, Chris
Adamson, was on tour with Pink Floyd at the time and recorded his explicit diatribe that opens the album ("I've been mad for
fucking years, absolutely years, over the edge for yonks...").
Pink Floyd's executive road manager Peter Watts (father of actress Naomi Watts)
contributed the repeated laughter during "Brain Damage" and "Speak to Me." The monologue about "geezers" who were "cruisin' for a
bruisin'" and the often-misheard "I never said I was frightened of dying" (during the middle of "The Great Gig in the Sky") came
from Peter's wife, Myfanwy Watts.
The responses "And I am not frightened of dying, any time will do I don't mind. Why should I be frightened of dying, there's
no reason for it you've got to go some time" (during "The Great Gig in the Sky") and closing words "there is no dark side of the
Moon really... as a matter of fact it's all dark" (over the "Eclipse" heartbeats) came from the Abbey Road Studios' Irish doorman
at the time, Gerry Driscoll. Paul and Linda
McCartney were also interviewed, but their answers were considered too cautious for inclusion. McCartney's bandmate
Henry McCullough contributed the famous line "I don't know, I was really drunk at the
time." (Apparently in answer to the question "Why does anyone do anything?", which immediately preceded it.)
LP packaging
The gatefold sleeve of the original LP version.
The "Great Pyramids of Giza" Poster.
The "concert" poster that came with the original LP version.
The album was originally released in a gatefold LP sleeve bearing George Hardie's iconic refracting prism on the cover. Inside
were two posters, one bearing pictures of the band in concert with the words PINK FLOYD broken up and scattered about, and the
other being a slightly psychedelic image of the Great Pyramids of Giza taken on
infrared film. Also included was a sheet of stickers of the pyramids. The album was
also the first Pink Floyd album to have picture labels on the record where it depicted a blue prism with black background and the
credits written either in grey lettering (European issues) or white lettering (US and Canadian issues). In 1991, the refracting
prism album cover was #35 on Rolling Stone's 100 greatest album covers of all time
list.[15] In 2003, VH1 named Dark Side's cover the 4th
Greatest Album Cover of All Time on their 50 Greatest Album Covers of All Time special.[16]
Reception
The Dark Side of the Moon is one of the best-selling albums of
all time worldwide, and the 20th-best-selling
album in the United States. Though it held the №1 spot in America for only one week, it
spent a total of 741 consecutive weeks, approximately fourteen years, on the list until April
23, 1988 only to be removed by a rule change. To this day, it occupies a prominent spot on
Billboard's Pop Catalog Chart, reaching №1 when the 2003 hybrid CD/SACD edition was
released and sold 800,000 copies in the U.S. alone. On the week of May 5 2006, The Dark Side of the Moon achieved a combined total of 1,500 weeks on the Billboard 200 and Pop
Catalog charts.
Sales of the album worldwide total over forty million as of 2004, with an average of 8,000 copies sold per week and a total of
400,000 in the year of 2002 — making it the 200th best-selling album of that year nearly three
decades after its initial release. It is estimated that one in every fourteen people in the U.S. under the age of fifty owns or
owned a copy of this album.[17] According to an
August 2 2006 Wall Street Journal article, although the album was
released in 1973, it has sold 7.7 million copies since 1991 in the U.S. alone and continues to log 9,600 sales per week
domestically.[18]
The LP was released before platinum awards were introduced by the RIAA on January 1 1976, and it initially only received a gold disc. However, after the introduction of the album on CD, The Dark Side of the Moon would eventually be certified platinum in 1990. On April 6, 1998, the RIAA certified the album at 15x platinum, denoting sales of
fifteen million in the United States alone - making it their second biggest-selling album there. "Time", "Money" and "Us and
Them" remain radio call-in request favourites, with "Money" having sold well as a single in its own right.
Some of the profits from The Dark Side of the Moon were invested in the making of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The members of Pink Floyd were reportedly huge
Monty Python fans, to the point of interrupting recording sessions to watch the
Flying Circus.[19]
Dave Gilmour disputed the urban myth that Pink Floyd interrupted recording sessions to watch soccer or Monty Python. In
an interview with Uncut Gilmour said, "We would sometimes watch them, but when we were on a roll, we would get
on."[20]
On February 3-11, 1995 the opening sequence of Time was played as a wakeup call for the crew of space mission STS-69.[21]
Reissues and remastering
In 1979 The Dark Side of the Moon was released as a remastered LP by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL). It has since been re-released several times on CD. MFSL
remastered and re-released the album again in CD form, and the album was again re-released later as a remastered CD as part of
the 1992 box set "Shine On." The 1992 remaster was then re-released by itself as a
20th Anniversary box set edition with postcards.
The Dark Side of the Moon was re-released as a 30th anniversary hybrid Super Audio
CD with a 5.1 channel DSD
surround sound version remixed from the original 16-track studio tapes. Some surprise was
expressed[citation needed] when longtime producer
James Guthrie was called in to mix the new surround mix rather than the
original LP engineer, Alan Parsons, who had already produced a definitive quadraphonic mix shortly after the original album was released.[7] This 30th anniversary
edition won four Surround Music Awards in 2003. The Dark Side of the Moon was also re-released in 2003 on 180-gram virgin
vinyl (mastered by Kevin Gray at AcousTech Mastering) and included reprints of the original posters and stickers that came with
the original vinyl release, along with a new 30th anniversary poster.
In 2003, bootleg DVD-Audio of the original
Parsons quadraphonic mix began circulating.[8]
Dark Side of the Rainbow
-
When the album is played simultaneously with the 1939 film The Wizard of
Oz, numerous images from the film appear to synchronise with the music and lyrics. All band members (save Roger
Waters) have firmly stated that the phenomenon is a coincidence.[22] This effect has often been called Dark Side of the Rainbow.
Track listing
| Track title |
Credited to |
Vocals |
Track times for individual releases |
Vorbis sample
 |
| Original release 1973 LP |
Original CD and 1994 remaster |
Shine On box set and
1993 rerelease |
2003 SACD |
| "Speak to Me" |
|
instrumental |
1:30 |
1:00 |
1:13 |
1:08 |
|
"Breathe"
(or "Breathe in the Air")1 |
|
|
2:43 |
2:59 |
2:46 |
2:48 |
|
| "On the Run" |
- David Gilmour
- Roger Waters
|
instrumental |
3:30 |
3:35 |
3:34 |
3:31 |
|
"Time"
(containing "Breathe (Reprise)") |
- David Gilmour
- Roger Waters
- Rick Wright
- Nick Mason
|
- David Gilmour (verse)
- Rick Wright (chorus)
|
6:53 |
7:04 |
7:04 |
7:06 |
271K |
| "The Great Gig in the Sky" |
|
|
4:15 |
4:48 |
4:44 |
4:47 |
|
| "Money" |
|
|
6:30 |
6:24 |
6:32 |
6:23 |
|
| "Us and Them" |
|
- David Gilmour
- Rick Wright (harmony vocal)
|
7:34 |
7:49 |
7:40 |
7:48 |
|
| "Any Colour You Like" |
- David Gilmour
- Rick Wright
- Nick Mason
|
instrumental |
3:24 |
3:26 |
3:25 |
3:25 |
|
| "Brain Damage" |
|
- Roger Waters
- David Gilmour (harmony vocal)
|
3:50 |
3:50 |
3:50 |
3:50 |
|
| "Eclipse" |
|
- Roger Waters
- Rick Wright (harmony vocal)
- David Gilmour (harmony vocal)
|
1:45 |
2:04 |
2:02 |
2:06 |
|
Original LP side B starts with the song "Money".
Notes:
1 Some releases merge "Speak to Me" and "Breathe"
² Clare Torry was credited for vocal improvisation for "The Great Gig in the Sky" for the first time in the P*U*L*S*E DVD release, due to legal battle won by Torry against Pink Floyd.
Personnel
Additional personnel
- Lesley Duncan – background vocals
- Doris Troy – background vocals
- Barry St. John – background vocals
- Liza Strike – background vocals
- Clare Torry – vocals (on "The Great Gig in the Sky")
- Dick Parry – saxophone
- Alan Parsons – engineer
- Peter James – assistant engineer
- Chris Thomas – mixing consultant
- James Guthrie – remastering supervisor on 20th anniversary edition,
remastering on 30 anniversary editions, 5.1 mixing on 30th anniversary edition
- Doug Sax – remastering on 20th and 30th anniversary editions
- Hipgnosis – design, photography
- Storm Thorgerson – 20th and 30th anniversary edition designs
- George Hardie – illustrations, sleeve art
- Jill Furmanosky – photography
- David Sinclair – liner notes in CD re-release
- Drew Vogel – art and photography in CD re-release
Singles
In some countries, notably the UK, Pink Floyd did not release any singles between 1968's "Point Me at the Sky" and 1979's
"Another Brick in the Wall (Part Two)". However, the following were released
in the U.S. and many other countries:
- "Money"/"Any Colour You Like" – Harvest/Capitol 3609; released June, 1973
- "Time"/"Us and Them" – Harvest/Capitol 45373; released February 4 1974
The latter is sometimes considered a double A-side.
Charts
Albums
| Year |
Chart |
Position |
Notes |
| 1973 |
Billboard's Pop Albums (North America) |
1 |
Initial album release |
| 2003 |
Billboard's Pop Catalog (North America) |
1 |
30th Anniversary Hybrid SACD Edition |
| 1973 |
UK album chart |
2 |
|
Singles
| Year |
Chart |
Single |
Position |
| 1973 |
Billboard Pop Singles (North America) |
"Money" |
13 |
| 1974 |
Billboard Pop Singles (North America) |
"Time" |
101 |
| 1974 |
Billboard Pop Singles (North America) |
"Us and Them" |
101 |
Selected album sales
| Country |
Certification |
Sales |
Last certification date |
Comment |
| Austria |
2x Platinum [23] |
60,000 + |
20/01/93 |
|
| Australia |
11x Platinum [24] |
770,000 + |
|
|
| Canada |
2x Diamond [25] |
2,000,000+ |
14/03/03 |
|
| Europe |
12x Platinum [26] |
12,700,000+ |
|
7th best selling album in Europe |
| France |
1x Diamond [27] |
1,250,000+ |
|
|
| Germany |
2x Platinum [28] |
400,000+ |
1993 |
|
| Poland |
1x Platinum [29] |
20,000+ |
2003 |
|
| United Kingdom |
9x Platinum [30][31] |
3,800,000+ |
6th best selling album in U.K. |
| United States RIAA |
15x Platinum |
15,000,000+ |
06/04/’98 |
11x Platinum at 16/02/90 |
| United States Soundscan |
8x Platinum
[32]
|
8,360,000+ |
since 1991 |
|
See also
Classic Albums: Pink Floyd - The Making
of The Dark Side of the Moon
Notes
References
- The "Dark Side of the Moon": The Making of the "Pink Floyd" Masterpiece, John Harris, Fourth
Estate, (2005) ISBN 0-00-719024-7 (United Kingdom); Da Capo Press, (2005) ISBN
0-306-81342-4 (United States); Jorge Zahar Press, (2006) ISBN 8571109605 (Brazil)
- "The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd", Andy Mabbett, Omnibus Press, (1995) ISBN 0-7119-4301-X
External links
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