Amazon.co.uk Review: One of the most famous albums of all time, Dark Side Of The Moon sold 25 million copies in its first 25 years of release. It continues to be a favourite, with 20 per cent of those sales occurring in the period since it first came out on CD, a medium to which it is ideally suited, especially in its current carefully remastered form. Dark Side Of The Moon was the first album that Pink Floyd decided to break in live before attempting to record, with the debut performance of what they then called Eclipse just over a year before the final release date. When they finally retired to Abbey Road with top sound engineer Alan Parsons, state-of-the-art 16-track recording equipment and the new Dolby technology to hand, it was to produce one of the great pieces of studio art. Covering a range of styles, this was the last album (prior to Roger Waters' departure in the early 1980s) to whose writing the other members of Pink Floyd contributed significantly. Nevertheless, it remains a stunningly coherent package, bound together by surreal fragments of speech (mostly gleaned from asking questions of the doorman at the studio) and Waters' bold and bleak lyrics. Often reputed to be about former member Syd Barrett's decline into schizophrenia, in fact Waters has said the lyrics "were a lot about ordinariness" and dealt with people's responses to the increasing insanity of the pressures of everyday life. Some of the extraordinary sound effects used came from the most unlikely sources--the coins at the start of "Money" from Waters tossing handfuls of change into an industrial food-mixer that his wife, a potter, used to mix clay. Whatever the medium, a new standard for attention to detail and production values had been set and the world of studio recording would never be the same again.--James Swift
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - 42 ODD MINUTES OF SHEER CLASS!!!
My dad kept going onto me about this band Pink Floyd have I ever listened to them or seen them on Sky my answer was no. It was no until I decided to go and buy it just to see what all the fuss was about. I have to say I can't believe how I have missed this album it is sheer class from the word go and it totally blow me away. It's not very often I listen to music that my Dad rattles on about but I will say he was right here. If you haven't heard this go and buy it you will not regret it and it's ... Read More
Rating: - True brilliance, deserves it's reputation!!!!!!!!
A few months ago i bought Pink floyd's double album 'The Wall' in a sale at my local HMV record shop. I really enjoyed that, and it got me into Pink Floyd. This album is even better than the aforementioned, and is a must buy (well i guess you already knew that.) Random sound effects and spacey synth sequences combine with brilliant guitar solos and surreal, metaphorical lyrics which always seem to have hidden messages, though it's often hard to tell what Roger Waters is trying to put across to you. ... Read More
Rating: - The Best 42 minutes 57 seconds of music you will hear
There is simply no topping this album when it comes to brilliant music making. Repeated listens over the years simply reveal more depths, which to me is the sign of wonderful, timeless music. The word classic is over-used, but for me, Dark Side of The Moon goes beyond being a piece of great rock music. It is simply great music. Taken as a complete work, you are unlikely to spend 42 minutes in better company, time and time again. I can think of no other recording that sounds so fresh every time I ... Read More
Rating: - This is brilliant musical craftmanship not just a 'collection' of songs
Just flicking through PF reviews and while most rate this as a deservedly 5 stars, those who have rated less than 4 I would intepret that the depth, quality and craftsmanship of this album may have been missed. Yes, I would rate this a lot lower if I was just looking for a collection of rock/pop songs, but this is not in that genre. This also could be said to be a collection of negative lyrics which if taken out of context of the era in which they were created, you could be forgiven for thinking them ... Read More
Rating: - Is anyone else bored of this, or is it just me????
Personally I'm sick and tired of people harping on about how great this album is, yeah O.K. it's not bad but there are millions of far better albums out there in all kinds of genres, check out some Drum and Bass on the Hospital Records label like "high contrast" and you will see what I mean, and no I'm not a young hoodie I'm in my forties. Sorry Pink it's too outdated now.