How tricky is it, exactly, to source a copy of The Dark Side of the Moon? It depends on which release you want, which remaster is on offer and what the band is now set on feeding their fans. With two remasters released in less than a decade it is hard to take the band too seriously. Listening to The Dark Side of the Moon in its original form is a taxing process, a continual dive into the depths of forums and YouTube, cobbling together some artefact from the past where its creators are keen to obscure its historic presence. It should not be this difficult to engage with a piece of work untouched by obvious desires to replicate and repeat success from those bandmates who now no longer speak to one another. This must be how fans of The Kinks feel.
Make no mistake – this is an all-time great. There is no escaping this. The Dark Side of the Moon is up there with Abbey Road, Different Class and Blonde on Blonde. Its insemination into culture and the brutal lack of respect shown to it by its creators attempting to get one over on each other, from Roger Waters’ embarrassing The Dark Side of the Moon Redux to the beating of the cash cow with remasters and re-releases on vinyl, the love for The Dark Side of the Moon battles on. Breathe and Time settle in as some of the finest progressive rock tracks currently available to listeners. Stick your noise-cancelling headphones on and relish in the cries and vocable wails of The Great Gig in the Sky. These are the moments of quality any band should hope to reach. A back-and-forth of cash register jangles and rifling through change in your headphones as a slick guitar punch from David Gilmour floats to the top.
The Dark Side of the Moon does not hold just some of the best guitar work you can get your grubby hands on but a resolute and innovative understanding of those little flickers of rage between band members. How can the instruments work against one another? Find out on Money. Some of the greatest instrumental work, all the way through into the brutal percussion and a Gilmour guitar lead which strikes out at those around him, hoping in some ways to pierce the very core of your mind through noise alone. What a tone it takes and some essential bass guitar work from Waters keeps their rallying cry against capitalism alive. Spitting irony to the tune of a blues rock beat. One of many wonderful experiences to be had with The Dark Side of the Moon.
It is Gilmour who steps it up a notch. He takes on vocal duties and effectively overrules Waters despite the latter feeling in control of this record. The Dark Side of the Moon is a fundamental part of the Gilmour days of Pink Floyd though his personal preference for the works which were made after Waters’ departure remains fascinating. He nor Waters would ever make a track like Any Colour You Like again. They were lost in the woods of progressive rock and the sharp turn it made into whatever they tried to do with. Whatever the case, the lasting emotional crash of Brain Damage is an intense experience, a tearjerker which bleeds into album closer Eclipse. Aside from a few brief spots of difference, Pink Floyd maintains an ultimate form which would be considered their high point, right until they followed it up with Wish You Were Here, one of many albums the band released which can be argued as their best. What they did with The Dark Side of the Moon has not yet been repeated. Their consistencies and tone throughout this 1974 classic lingers on today as one of the all-time greats.
