The Dark Side of the Moon

Greatly Appreciated

THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
 
 
The Dark Side of the Moon  is the eighth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973.  It built on ideas explored in the band’s earlier recordings and live shows, but lacks the extended instrumental excursions that characterised their work following the departure in 1968 of founder member, principal composer, and lyricist, Syd Barrett.  The themes on The Dark Side of the Moon include conflict, greed, the passage of time, and mental illness, the latter partly inspired by Barrett’s deteriorating mental state.  The Dark Side of the Moon was an immediate success; it topped the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart for one week and remained in the charts for 741 weeks from 1973 to 1988.  With an estimated 50 million copies sold, it is Pink Floyd’s most commercially successful album and one of the best-selling albums worldwide.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
Even progressive rock bands whose albums sold well from the beginning often didn’t reach their creative peak for awhile.  The magnum opus for Emerson, Lake and Palmer, “Karn Evil 9” was on their fifth album, Brain Salad Surgery.  Jethro Tull’s classic album Aqualung was their fourth album.  This also applies for several rock bands of the same time period that do not truly fit the progressive rock category.  It was Queen’s fourth album, A Night at the Opera that included their unforgettable “Bohemian Rhapsody”.  Canadian hard rockers Rush came up with 2112 as their fourth album (that title is exactly 100 years from now, as it happens).  The Dark Side of the Moon – Pink Floyd’s space-rock masterpiece that took up near permanent residency on the Billboard album charts – was the band’s eighth album.  With Trillion though, the band was never given the opportunity to develop an audience or to refine their sound. 
 
(October 2012)
 
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In 1966, the Farfisa Organ was even more prominent in the hit song “Double Shot (of My Baby’s Love)” by the Swingin’ Medallions (who were from South Carolina).  That lovely organ that you hear in Percy Sledge’s immortal 1966 hit “When a Man Loves a Woman” is a Farfisa, and Sly Stone of Sly and the Family Stone was playing one at his landmark Woodstock performance in 1969.  Richard WrightFarfisa Organ was a key element on many of the early Pink Floyd albums, particularly The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Ummagumma, but also including The Dark Side of the Moon.  Elton John was able to get a different sound entirely from a Farfisa Organ on his hit “Crocodile Rock”. 
 
(December 2012)
 
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People bought more albums in the 1970’s than at any time before or since. For what it’s worth, 6 of the 10 biggest selling albums of all time were released during the 1970’s – in order, they are The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd; Bat out of Hell by Meat Loaf; Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) by the Eagles; the Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack (featuring the Bee Gees and others); Rumours by Fleetwood Mac; and Led Zeppelin IV by Led Zeppelin. However you might feel about these chestnuts, it is hard to imagine a more varied group of albums. Thriller by Michael Jackson (1983) remains Number One, but I was certainly surprised to see Back in Black (1980) by AC/DC in second place.
 
(December 2016)
Last edited: March 22, 2021