uReview: Dark Side of the Moon
[ratings]
The Pink Floyd’s best album… or worst album? Cheezy and overplayed… or undeniably genius?
Even after 10+ Wizard of Oz syncs (yes, I have done it that many times) , I still can’t decide on this one.
What’s your call?
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Written by Brendan | April 27th, 2009 | Comments (14)
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I’m a self-confessed Oz-ophile… and I’m a believer in the Dark Side of the Rainbow, subscribing to the Third Roar Theory – I’ve even made my kids watch it with me!
Here’s another great website discussing the phenomenon – my call is… synchronicity, an explanation in its inability to be explained (if that makes a bit of sense…
I think it’s somewhere in between those extremes. It’s somewhat inconsistent; the actual songs generally range from good to great but the jammy sections are less spectacular. Particularly “Any Colour You Like”, which I find rather aimless and unnecessary. “On The Run” has grown on me somewhat though.
The songs themselves fare quite a bit better. “Breathe” isn’t a great song but is decent. “Time” is fantastic of course. “Great Gig In The Sky” is pretty good, better than “Breathe” but not a real highlight. “Money” is solid and fun but somewhat out of place on the album. “Us And Them” is the album’s best song. And “Brain Damage/Eclipse” is a classic closing pair.
Overall, the album is enjoyable with some truly classic sections, but it’s hardly the greatest album ever, or even Floyd’s best. Wish You Were Here is superior; its instrumental sections have far more direction while the songs themselves are just as good, and the whole thing gels better.
Good question though. I confess I have never tried an Oz-sync. One more thing to add to my list…
Well, let’s see…the seminal all time best seller aside, from the first time I listened to Dark Side, continuing until present day, and yes, I was alive and in my early 20’s when it came out so I got to hear it in it’s drug induced glory, this has been a must have recording to anyone who wants to experience that once in a lifetime peak at perfection.
Yes it got overplayed, yet even today I can hear it and gasp at the emotions it evokes. It’s not the greatest album ever, but it is the best at what it tries to do, the best PINK FLOYD album ever! The production, the painstaking input of conversation and music, and best of all the feel of great psychedelic music. The reason I pick it above Wish You Were Here, is because they had passed the point of no return by then…no longer a band, rather a group of people performing together and aware they were walking different paths.
I enjoyed do the Oz-Sync, and it’s fun to point out all the coincidental visuals, it doesn’t make or break this album…it just enhances it in yet another tangent. I’ve enjoyed this album on so many levels, from commercial beast, psychedelic soundtrack, passion songs for late night love making, and even music to do dishes by.
I feel sorry for Dave, Nick, Richard, and Roger…because they never got to hear it for the very fist time and experience the awe and wonder of it all…just a great soundtrack for my life, and the lives of those I lived with in 1973!
Undeniably influential, I don’t know about genius. Plus its production still sounds like a million bucks. Nevertheless, I am increasingly distracted by what a couple of dicks Waters and Gilmour were/are.
My bong and I agree on this one – pure genius!
Haa. Some great points here so far. The impact of this record was revealed to me when i finally saw it on vinyl, and I realized it was like the Kid A of its time.
One other thing on the sync: if any of you happen to be into geocaching, I hid one in Chicago a while back inspired by the Wizard of Oz/Dark Side thing called Dark Side of the Park which (wow, I’m just now realizing) got a mention in the Chicago Tribune.
Hey Brendan,
Love your site… Ford told me about it when I was on tour…. dark side rules!!!
rob
Although my favorite Floyd album is Wish You Were Here, I love DSOTM. I first heard it in high school, in a friend’s bedroom with an outstanding stereo, with the required blacklight & bong hits. It certainly was a revelation. I also recommend the all-reggae “Dub Side Of The Moon”, the Austin Lounge Lizards bluegrass version of “Brain Damage” and the Phish cover from 11/2/98.
Cheese? Yes. Overplayed, oh yes.
But genius? Undeniably. I’m casting my vote here.
Each year, there are fewer and fewer “classic rock” albums that still have some freshness to them each time a royalty payment from commercial radio strips just a bit more of their magic away. The process of dehumanization is twofold. First, you learn to tune the songs you once deeply loved into the background’s white noise. Then you learn to loathe them.
This was the album that taught me to listen for something new every single time you replay great music. That taught me, really, how to always be prepared to be surprised by life. There aren’t as many insights these days, but it’s still a while before it becomes white noise. And that’s no small achievement.
Piper At The Gates Of Dawn was the be-all, end-all as far as Pink Floyd matters to me. Without Syd Barrett they were too sugary.
I agree with you somnolence, none of their albums ever really captured the excitement that was on Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. Wish You Were Here, Meddle and Darkside of the Moon are all great albums and sold well but they lack a certain level of innovation or spark that the early Floyd possessed – they were basically progressive rock for the masses, enough pop for the pop audience but also underground enough to keep the heads from bitching. This group has arguably never wrote a better song than See Emily Play tho- one of rock’s all-time great singles – there has never been a single that sounds like it, other than maybe Dantalian Chirot’s Madman Running Thru The Fields – another fantastic song. But amen to Syd Barrett, he was a true legend who has always cast a long shadow over Floyd’s subsequent releases.
find a bootleg copy of the tour for this album (oh say 1972 or early 1973) where this album was played in its enterity as a first set and meddle as the second set . Without the oh-la-la background singers and the playing by the band members is very tight, just simply an incredible experience.
Having been around when this was brand new………I have to vote sheer genius!! This was something different and new. It was a record of merit and meaning. They have tried to recapture the great amazing thing, that was dark side of the moon. With all the follow up albums failing to embrace the world as much as dark side did. Only the wall came close to catching our minds like dark side did in the beginning. So if you must debate and degrade carry on, but know this..in this world of music…no one has yet to capture the minds of the world so completily as dark side of the moon did. When you can sit at home sipping tea and relaxing with friends while on the other side of the world, people are paying good money to a laser light show featuring your songs and you are being paid for it. And not even have to show up at the show. You have now entered the twilight show of your own making. You are a genius! Pink Floyd did that and more.
Genius, still. When I was younger and didn’t know as much about electronic and progressive music of the early 70s, I thought Pink Floyd was 25 years ahead of everyone else with the more experimental portions of this album. Since then I’ve learned more about their peers and other innovators of the time, and realize that Pink Floyd was not alone – they were just more successful. But it still doesn’t change the songs, or the quality of the production. The combination of the two evokes deep contemplation on life seen from afar. It lets you think about shit, while having a good time. What all art should be.