Dark Side of the Moon

Released in 1973 (see 1973 in music), (The) Dark Side Of The Moon (DSOTM; the definitive article is used on some versions, but not others) is a 45-minute Pink Floyd concept album dealing with the pressures of life such as money, time, mental illness and war. It is the third best-selling album ever, with over 34 million copies sold worldwide. The album has nine tracks.

Table of contents

1 Overview 2 Track listing 2.1 On the original release 2.2 On the "Shine On" (Boxset) version, and 25th anniversary re-release 3 Personnel 4 External links

Overview

The album's theme was, in part, precipitated by the earlier departure of Syd Barrett, a founder member of Pink Floyd.

The album contains some of the most intricate uses of instruments and sound effects in the studio up to that time, including the sound of someone running around a microphone, and the recording of multiple clocks going off. A quadraphonic version was also released, with some re-mixing and different takes. In making DSOTM, Pink Floyd perfected other effects such as double-tracking of vocals and guitars (David Gilmour able to flawlessly harmonise with himself), flanged vocals and odd trickery with reverb and panning of sound between the channels. To this day, DSOTM is a reference standard that audiophiles use to test the fidelity of audio equipment.

Dark Side of the Moon has spent a total of over 740 weeks on the Billboard magazine music charts with the longest contigious stint lasting 591 consecutive weeks. It also reached the #1 chart position in the US, Belgium and France. In 2002 over 400,000 copies were sold in the United States, making the record 200th bestselling album of the year. "Time", "Money" and "Us And Them" have become radio call-in favourites (with "Money" having also been a bestselling single in the USA).

It has also been claimed that the album can be played as a soundtrack to the film Wizard of Oz, with the various tracks timed according to events in the film. [1]. The band insist that this is conincdental.

Dark Side of the Moon has been released as a 30th anniversary hybrid Super Audio CD (SACD) with a 5.1 channel DSD surround mix, mastered from the original 16-track studio tapes. Some surprise was expressed, when James Guthrie was called in to make the SACD mix, rather than the original LP engineer Alan Parsons.

Track listing

(The first CD track is split into two 'songs' and the third track contains a reprise of the first.

On the original release

1. "Speak To Me/Breathe"
2. "On The Run" (vorbis sample (112K))
3. "Time"
4. "The Great Gig In The Sky"
5. "Money"
6. "Us And Them"
7. "Any Colour You Like"
8. "Brain Damage"
9. "Eclipse" (vorbis sample (102K))

On the "Shine On" (Boxset) version, and 25th anniversary re-release

1. "Speak To Me"
2. "Breathe"
3. "On The Run"
4. "Time"
5. "Breath (Reprise)"
6. "The Great Gig In The Sky"
7. "Money"
8. "Us And Them"
9. "Any Colour You Like"
10. "Brain Damage"
11. "Eclipse"

Personnel

• Roger Waters - Guitar (Bass), Guitar (Electric), Keyboards, Vocals, VCS 3 Synthesizer, Tape Effects
• Lesley Duncan - Vocals (bckgr)
• Nick Mason - Percussion, Drums, Tape Effects
• Doris Troy - Vocals (bckgr)
• Richard Wright - Keyboards, Vocals, VCS 3 Synthesizer
• Pink Floyd - Producer
• David Gilmour - Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals, VCS 3 Synthesizer
• Dick Parry - Saxophone
• Barry St. John - Vocals (bckgr)
• Liza Strike - Vocals (bckgr)
• Claire Torry - Vocals
• Peter James - Assistant Engineer
• Chris Thomas - Mixing
• Alan Parsons - Engineer
• Hipgnosis - Design, Photography
• George Hardie - Illustrations, Sleeve Art
• Jill Furmanosky - Photography
• David Sinclair - Liner Notes in CD re-relaease)

See also: The Moon

External links

• The official Dark Side of the Moon website
• The Pink Floyd HyperBase
• Pink Floyd lyrics for The Dark Side of the Moon