Pink Floyd "Dark Side of the Moon" original 1973 vinyl LP EMI Harvest SHVL 804

	£		42
	$		56

The Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973 by Harvest Records. Primarily developed during live performances, the band premiered an early version of the record several months before recording began. New material was recorded in two sessions in 1972 and 1973 at Abbey Road Studios in London.

The record builds on ideas explored in Pink Floyd's earlier recordings and performances, while omitting the extended instrumentals that characterised their earlier work. A concept album, its themes explore conflict, greed, time, death, and mental illness, the latter partly inspired by the deteriorating health of founding member Syd Barrett, who departed the group in 1968. The group used recording techniques such as multitrack recording, tape loops, and analogue synthesizers. Snippets from interviews with the band's road crew, as well as philosophical quotations, were also used. Engineer Alan Parsons was responsible for many sonic aspects and the recruitment of singer Clare Torry, who appears on "The Great Gig in the Sky". The sleeve, which depicts a prism spectrum, was designed by Storm Thorgerson, following keyboardist Richard Wright's request for a "simple and bold" design, representing the band's lighting and the record's themes. The album was promoted with two singles: "Money" and "Us and Them".

The Dark Side of the Moon received critical acclaim upon release, and has since been hailed by critics as one of the greatest albums of all time. The record reached number one on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart (now known as the Billboard 200), and has charted for over 900 weeks in total. With estimated sales of over 45 million copies, it is Pink Floyd's best seller, and one of the best-selling albums worldwide. The record helped to propel Pink Floyd to international fame, bringing wealth and recognition to all four of its members. 

The album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, in two sessions, between May 1972 and January 1973. The band were assigned staff engineer Alan Parsons, who had worked as assistant tape operator on Atom Heart Mother, and who had also gained experience as a recording engineer on the Beatles' Abbey Road and Let It Be. The recording sessions made use of advanced studio techniques; the studio was capable of 16-track mixes, which offered a greater degree of flexibility than the eight- or four-track mixes they had previously used, although the band often used so many tracks that to make more space available second-generation copies were made.

The Dark Side of the Moon built upon experiments Pink Floyd had attempted in their previous live shows and recordings, but lacks the extended instrumental excursions which, according to critic David Fricke, had become characteristic of the band after founding member Syd Barrett left in 1968. Gilmour, Barrett's replacement, later referred to those instrumentals as "that psychedelic noodling stuff", and with Waters cited 1971's Meddle as a turning-point towards what would be realised on the album. The Dark Side of the Moon's lyrical themes include conflict, greed, the passage of time, death, and insanity, the latter inspired in part by Barrett's deteriorating mental state.[7] The album contains musique concrète on several tracks.[3]

Each side of the album is a continuous piece of music. The five tracks on each side reflect various stages of human life, beginning and ending with a heartbeat, exploring the nature of the human experience, and (according to Waters) "empathy". "Speak to Me" and "Breathe" together stress the mundane and futile elements of life that accompany the ever-present threat of madness, and the importance of living one's own life – "Don't be afraid to care". By shifting the scene to an airport, the synthesizer-driven instrumental "On the Run" evokes the stress and anxiety of modern travel, in particular Wright's fear of flying. "Time" examines the manner in which its passage can control one's life and offers a stark warning to those who remain focused on mundane aspects; it is followed by a retreat into solitude and withdrawal in "Breathe (Reprise)". The first side of the album ends with Wright and vocalist Clare Torry's soulful metaphor for death, "The Great Gig in the Sky".

Opening with the sound of cash registers and loose change, the first track on side two, "Money", mocks greed and consumerism using tongue-in-cheek lyrics and cash-related sound effects. "Money" became the most commercially successful track, and has been covered by several acts.[24] "Us and Them" addresses the isolation of the depressed with the symbolism of conflict and the use of simple dichotomies to describe personal relationships. "Any Colour You Like" concerns the lack of choice one has in a human society. "Brain Damage" looks at a mental illness resulting from the elevation of fame and success above the needs of the self; in particular, the line "and if the band you're in starts playing different tunes" reflects the mental breakdown of former bandmate Syd Barrett. The album ends with "Eclipse", which espouses the concepts of alterity and unity, while forcing the listener to recognise the common traits shared by humanity

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Roger Waters.

• Waters
• Gilmour
• Wright

• Waters
• Gilmour

• Waters
• Gilmour
• Wright
• Mason

• Gilmour
• Wright

• Wright
• Clare Torry[nb 11]

• Waters
• Wright

• Gilmour
• Mason
• Wright

Personnel

Pink Floyd

• David Gilmour – vocals, guitars, Synthi AKS
• Nick Mason – drums, percussion, tape effects
• Richard Wright – organ (Hammond and Farfisa), piano, electric piano (Wurlitzer, Rhodes), EMS VCS 3, Synthi AKS, vocals
• Roger Waters – bass guitar, vocals, VCS 3, tape effects

Additional musicians

• Dick Parry – saxophone on "Us and Them" and "Money"
• Clare Torry – vocals on "The Great Gig in the Sky"
• Doris Troy – backing vocals
• Lesley Duncan – backing vocals
• Liza Strike – backing vocals
• Barry St. John – backing vocals