By the way, which one's Pink?-Pink Floyd reviewed (lyrics, soundtrack)

jackhammer · 03-13-2008, 06:01 PM

THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON (1973)

Dark Side Of The Moon. Quintessential floyd. The sum total of their individual parts. The pinnacle. It could also be seen as their nadir. The beginning of the end creatively. Dark Side Of The Moon is of course hugely successful. Over 40 million units sold. Over 700 consecutive weeks in the US chart and the sixth biggest selling album of all time. Let's examine why and does it deserve it?

Universally praised by both critics and fans alike, DSOTM was a revolutionary album. Not musically maybe but certainly tonally. One of the earliest uses of musique concrete (a term to explain the use of natural everyday sounds to denote a musical form) and it's sound engineering was something that the band explicitally worked on with engineer Alan Parsons (his contribution has contensiously been lessened with each passing year) to be as flawless as possible.

Paradoxically this is one of the albums shortcomings. In being so dedicated to what it sounded like I feel the band lost a lot of their organic quality and the album has a regimented quality to it. Of course the whole concept of the album was just that but in some instances it feels strangely distant.

There is no denying that the package as a whole is a watershed in popular music. From the iconic cover art to the superlative lyrical content. Herein lies the problem. Pink Floyd were never meant to be this successful. I think the band reached a commercial zenith that maybe was never their target. Of course they strived to make the best possible album they could but the success seemed to carry them along a tidal wave from which they never really got off.

So to the music and is it considered blasphemy to say that there are a couple of average tracks on here? Money is so recognisable and has that amazing 7/4 time but it is a simple rock track with an underlying blues theme and is something that the Floyd could do in their sleep. Brain Damage is also one of the weaker tracks on the album and has never really stayed inside my head as much as some of their other material. On the flipside, when this album hits it hits. Great Gig In The Sky is a joyous piece of music and every time you hear it you hear something different. There has been some debate about this track with original vocalist Clare Torry taking the band to court concerning the lack of a writing credit on the track (and quite rightly so), with Torry winning a co-writing credit on the pulse live dvd. Us And Them is the standout track for me. The lyrics and musical simplicity create such an easy listening aura it is hard not be dragged into its beguiling rythmn.

If you are completely new to Pink Floyd then this is probably the best place to start. To an outsider this is the bands masterpiece, to many fans it is a great album but this is not the true representation of what Floyd were or is it indeed their best album.

As a sidenote it has to be mentioned that the thematic quality of DSOTM supposedly fits the opening 40 minutes of Wizard Of Oz and it was purposefully made to fit the scenes.I will let you make your own mind up about a bunch of dopeheads catching both at the same time lol.

03-13-2008, 06:01 PM	#11 (permalink)
jackhammer Ba and Be. Join Date: May 2007 Location: This Is England Posts: 17,331	THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON (1973) Dark Side Of The Moon. Quintessential floyd. The sum total of their individual parts. The pinnacle. It could also be seen as their nadir. The beginning of the end creatively. Dark Side Of The Moon is of course hugely successful. Over 40 million units sold. Over 700 consecutive weeks in the US chart and the sixth biggest selling album of all time. Let's examine why and does it deserve it? Universally praised by both critics and fans alike, DSOTM was a revolutionary album. Not musically maybe but certainly tonally. One of the earliest uses of musique concrete (a term to explain the use of natural everyday sounds to denote a musical form) and it's sound engineering was something that the band explicitally worked on with engineer Alan Parsons (his contribution has contensiously been lessened with each passing year) to be as flawless as possible. Paradoxically this is one of the albums shortcomings. In being so dedicated to what it sounded like I feel the band lost a lot of their organic quality and the album has a regimented quality to it. Of course the whole concept of the album was just that but in some instances it feels strangely distant. There is no denying that the package as a whole is a watershed in popular music. From the iconic cover art to the superlative lyrical content. Herein lies the problem. Pink Floyd were never meant to be this successful. I think the band reached a commercial zenith that maybe was never their target. Of course they strived to make the best possible album they could but the success seemed to carry them along a tidal wave from which they never really got off. So to the music and is it considered blasphemy to say that there are a couple of average tracks on here? Money is so recognisable and has that amazing 7/4 time but it is a simple rock track with an underlying blues theme and is something that the Floyd could do in their sleep. Brain Damage is also one of the weaker tracks on the album and has never really stayed inside my head as much as some of their other material. On the flipside, when this album hits it hits. Great Gig In The Sky is a joyous piece of music and every time you hear it you hear something different. There has been some debate about this track with original vocalist Clare Torry taking the band to court concerning the lack of a writing credit on the track (and quite rightly so), with Torry winning a co-writing credit on the pulse live dvd. Us And Them is the standout track for me. The lyrics and musical simplicity create such an easy listening aura it is hard not be dragged into its beguiling rythmn. If you are completely new to Pink Floyd then this is probably the best place to start. To an outsider this is the bands masterpiece, to many fans it is a great album but this is not the true representation of what Floyd were or is it indeed their best album. As a sidenote it has to be mentioned that the thematic quality of DSOTM supposedly fits the opening 40 minutes of Wizard Of Oz and it was purposefully made to fit the scenes.I will let you make your own mind up about a bunch of dopeheads catching both at the same time lol. __________________ It be my music and film collection. “A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.”