The Dark Side of the Moon (album)
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''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band
Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
, released on 1 March 1973 by Harvest Records. The album was primarily developed during live performances, and the band premiered an early version of the suite several months before recording began. The record was conceived as a
concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
that would focus on the pressures faced by the band during their arduous lifestyle, and partly deal with the apparent mental health problems of former band member
Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his ...
, who departed the group in 1968. New material was recorded in two sessions in 1972 and 1973 at EMI Studios (now
Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...
) in London. The record builds on ideas explored in Pink Floyd's earlier recordings and performances, while omitting the extended instrumentals that characterised the band's earlier work. The group employed
multitrack recording Multitrack recording (MTR), also known as multitracking or tracking, is a method of sound recording developed in 1955 that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources or of sound sources recorded at different times to create a ...
, tape loops, and
analogue synthesiser An analog (or analogue) synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog signals to generate sound electronically. The earliest analog synthesizers in the 1920s and 1930s, such as the Trautonium, were built with a variety of ...
s, including experimentation with the EMS VCS 3 and a
Synthi A The VCS 3 (or VCS3; an initialism for ''Voltage Controlled Studio, version #3'') is a portable analog synthesizer with a flexible modular voice architecture introduced by Electronic Music Studios (London) Limited (EMS) in 1969. EMS released ...
. Engineer
Alan Parsons Alan Parsons (born 20 December 1948) is an English audio engineer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Parsons was involved with the production of several notable albums, including the Beatles' ''Abbey Road'' (1969) and ''Let It Be'' ( ...
was responsible for many of the sonic aspects and the recruitment of singer
Clare Torry Clare H. Torry (born 29 November 1947) is a British singer, well known for writing and performing the wordless vocals on the song " The Great Gig in the Sky" by the group Pink Floyd on their 1973 album '' The Dark Side of the Moon''. She also c ...
, who appears on " The Great Gig in the Sky". ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' explores themes such as conflict, greed, time, death and mental illness. Snippets from interviews with the band's road crew are featured alongside philosophical quotations. The sleeve, which depicts a prism spectrum, was designed by Storm Thorgerson in response to keyboardist Richard Wright's request for a "simple and bold" design which would represent the band's lighting and the album's themes. The album was promoted with two singles: "
Money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...
" and "
Us and Them Us and Them may refer to: *The sociological concept of in-group and out-group *'' Us & Them'', an American television series * ''Us and Them'' (Australian TV series), a 1994 Australian comedy television series * "Us and Them" (song), by Pink Floyd ...
". ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is among the most critically acclaimed records in history, and is often featured in professional listings of the greatest albums of all time. The record helped to propel Pink Floyd to international fame, bringing wealth and plaudits to all four band members. A blockbuster release of the album era, it also propelled record sales throughout the music industry during the 1970s. ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' has been certified 14× platinum in the United Kingdom, and topped the US ''Billboard'' Top LPs & Tape chart, where it has charted for 962 weeks in total. With estimated sales of over 45 million copies, it is Pink Floyd's most commercially successful album, and one of the best-selling albums worldwide. In 2012, it was selected for preservation in the United States
National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservati ...
by the
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for being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".


Background

Following '' Meddle'' in 1971,
Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
assembled for a tour of Britain, Japan and the United States in December of that year. In a band meeting at drummer
Nick Mason Nicholas Berkeley Mason, (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He is the only member to feature on every Pink Floyd album, and the only constant member since its formation in ...
's home in
Camden Camden may refer to: People * Camden (surname), a surname of English origin * Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer * Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor Places Australia * Camden, New South Wales * Camden, Rosehill, a heritage res ...
, bassist
Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...
proposed that a new album could form part of the tour. Waters conceived an album that dealt with things that "make people mad", focusing on the pressures associated with the band's arduous lifestyle, and dealing with the apparent mental health problems suffered by former band member
Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, songwriter, and musician who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Barrett was their original frontman and primary songwriter, becoming known for his ...
. The band had explored a similar idea with the 1969 concert suite ''The Man'' and ''The Journey''. In an interview for ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'', guitarist
David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...
said: "I think we all thought and Roger definitely thought that a lot of the lyrics that we had been using were a little too indirect. There was definitely a feeling that the words were going to be very clear and specific." For the most part, the whole band approved of Waters' concept for an album unified by a single theme. Waters, Gilmour, Mason and keyboardist Richard Wright participated in the writing and production of the new material, and Waters created the early demo tracks at his
Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...
home in a small studio built in his garden shed. Parts of the album were taken from previously unused material; the opening line of " Breathe" came from an earlier work by Waters and
Ron Geesin Ronald Frederick Geesin (born 17 December 1943) is a Scottish musician, composer and writer known for his unusual creations and novel applications of sound, as well as for his collaborations with Pink Floyd and Roger Waters. Career Ron Geesin ...
, written for the soundtrack of ''
The Body The Body may refer to: Literature * ''The Body'' (short story), a short story by Camillo Boito * ''The Body'' (novella), a novel written by Stephen King * ''The Body'' (Sapir novel), a novel by Richard Sapir * ''The Body'' (Kureishi novel), ...
'', and the basic structure of "
Us and Them Us and Them may refer to: *The sociological concept of in-group and out-group *'' Us & Them'', an American television series * ''Us and Them'' (Australian TV series), a 1994 Australian comedy television series * "Us and Them" (song), by Pink Floyd ...
" was borrowed from an original composition, "The Violent Sequence" by Wright for '' Zabriskie Point''. The band rehearsed at a warehouse in London owned by
the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...
and at the
Rainbow Theatre The Rainbow Theatre, originally known as the Finsbury Park Astoria, is a Grade II*-listed building in Finsbury Park, London. The theatre was built in 1930 as a cinema. It later became a music venue. Today, the building is used by the Universa ...
in Finsbury Park, London. They also purchased extra equipment, which included new speakers, a PA system, a 28-track mixing desk with a four channel
quadraphonic Quadraphonic (or quadrophonic and sometimes quadrasonic) sound – equivalent to what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four audio channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of a listening space. The system allows for th ...
output, and a custom-built lighting rig. Nine tonnes of kit was transported in three lorries. This would be the first time the band had taken an entire album on tour. The album had been given the provisional title of ''Dark Side of the Moon'' (an allusion to lunacy, rather than astronomy). After discovering that title had already been used by another band, Medicine Head, it was temporarily changed to ''Eclipse''. The new material was premiered at The Dome in
Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
, on 20 January 1972, and after the commercial failure of Medicine Head's album the title was changed back to the band's original preference. ''Dark Side of the Moon: A Piece for Assorted Lunatics'', as it was then known, was performed for an assembled press on 17 February 1972 at the Rainbow Theatre, more than a year before its release, and was critically acclaimed. Michael Wale of ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' described the piece as "bringing tears to the eyes. It was so completely understanding and musically questioning."
Derek Jewell Derek Jewell, (1927 – 21 November 1985) was a British journalist, newspaper executive, broadcaster and music critic. A music critic for the London ''Sunday Times'' for twenty-three years from 1963, Jewell wrote extensively about jazz, and als ...
of ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'' wrote "The ambition of the Floyd's artistic intention is now vast." ''
Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...
'' was less enthusiastic: "Musically, there were some great ideas, but the sound effects often left me wondering if I was in a bird-cage at London Zoo." The following tour was praised by the public. The new material was performed in the same order in which it was eventually sequenced on the album. Differences included the lack of synthesisers in tracks such as "
On the Run On the Run may refer to: * "On the run", a phrase often used to describe a fugitive, a person fleeing custody Literature * ''On the Run'' (novel), by Nina Bawden * On the Run (novel series), by Gordon Korman * ''On the Run'', a novel in the S ...
", and
Clare Torry Clare H. Torry (born 29 November 1947) is a British singer, well known for writing and performing the wordless vocals on the song " The Great Gig in the Sky" by the group Pink Floyd on their 1973 album '' The Dark Side of the Moon''. She also c ...
's vocals on " The Great Gig in the Sky" replaced by readings from the Bible. Pink Floyd's lengthy tour through Europe and North America gave them the opportunity to make improvements to the scale and quality of their performances. Work on the album was interrupted in late February when the band travelled to France and recorded
music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
for French director
Barbet Schroeder Barbet Schroeder (born 26 August 1941) is an Iranian-born Swiss film director and producer who started his career in French cinema in the 1960s, working with directors such as Jean-Luc Godard and Jacques Rivette. Since the late 1980s, he has dire ...
's film '' La Vallée''. They then performed in Japan and returned to France in March to complete work on the film. After a series of dates in North America, the band flew to London to begin recording, from 24 May to 25 June. More concerts in Europe and North America followed before the band returned on 9 January 1973 to complete the album.


Concept

''The Dark Side of the Moon'' built upon experiments Pink Floyd had attempted in their previous live shows and recordings, but it lacks the extended instrumental excursions which, according to critic David Fricke, had become characteristic of the band following founding member Syd Barrett's departure in 1968. Gilmour, Barrett's replacement, later referred to those instrumentals as "that psychedelic noodling stuff". He and 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. The album contains
musique concrète Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic, ...
on several tracks. 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 "Speak to Me" is the first track on British progressive rock band Pink Floyd's 1973 album, ''The Dark Side of the Moon'', on which it forms an overture. Nick Mason receives a rare solo writing credit for the track, though recollections differ as t ...
" and "Breathe" together highlight 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 synthesiser-driven instrumental "On the Run" evokes the stress and anxiety of modern travel, in particular Wright's fear of flying. "
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
" examines the manner in which its passage can control one's life and offers a stark warning to those who remain focused on mundane pursuits; 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 Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...
", mocks greed and consumerism using tongue-in-cheek lyrics and cash-related sound effects. "Money" became their most commercially successful track, and has been covered by several artists in subsequent years. "Us and Them" addresses the isolation of the depressed with the symbolism of
conflict Conflict may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton * ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne * ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...
and the use of simple dichotomies to describe personal relationships. " Any Colour You Like" tackles the illusion of choice one has in society. "
Brain Damage Neurotrauma, brain damage or brain injury (BI) is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors. In general, brain damage refers to significant, undiscriminating t ...
" looks at
mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
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 An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...
", which espouses the concepts of alterity and unity, while forcing the listener to recognise the common traits shared by humanity.


Recording

''The Dark Side of the Moon'' was recorded at EMI Studios (now
Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...
) between 31 May 1972 and 9 February 1973. Pink Floyd were assigned staff engineer
Alan Parsons Alan Parsons (born 20 December 1948) is an English audio engineer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Parsons was involved with the production of several notable albums, including the Beatles' ''Abbey Road'' (1969) and ''Let It Be'' ( ...
, who had worked as assistant tape operator on their fifth album, ''
Atom Heart Mother ''Atom Heart Mother'' is the fifth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd. It was released by Harvest on 2 October 1970 in the UK, and by Capitol on 10 October 1970 in the US. It was recorded at EMI Studios (now Abbey Ro ...
'' (1970), and gained experience as a recording engineer on
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
' '' Abbey Road'' and ''
Let It Be Let It Be most commonly refers to: * ''Let It Be'' (Beatles album), the Beatles' final studio album, released in 1970 * "Let It Be" (Beatles song), the title song from the album It may also refer to: Film and television * ''Let It Be'' (1970 ...
''. The ''Dark Side of the Moon'' sessions made use of advanced studio techniques; the studio was capable of
16-track Multitrack recording (MTR), also known as multitracking or tracking, is a method of sound recording developed in 1955 that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources or of sound sources recorded at different times to create a ...
mixes, which offered greater flexibility than the eight- or four-track mixes Pink Floyd had previously used, although they often used so many tracks that to make more space available second-generation copies were made. The first track recorded was "Us and Them" on 31 May, followed seven days later by "Money". Waters had created effects loops from recordings of various money-related objects, including coins thrown into a mixing bowl taken from his wife's pottery studio; these were re-recorded to take advantage of the band's decision to record a quadraphonic mix of the album. Parsons later expressed dissatisfaction with the result of this mix, which was attributed to a lack of time and the paucity of available multi-track tape recorders. "Time" and "The Great Gig in the Sky" were recorded next, followed by a two-month break, during which the band spent time with their families and prepared for an forthcoming tour across the United States. The recording sessions were frequently interrupted; Waters, a supporter of
Arsenal F.C. Arsenal Football Club, commonly referred to as Arsenal, is a professional football club based in Islington, London, England. Arsenal plays in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The club has won 13 league titles (inclu ...
, would often break to see his team compete, and the band would occasionally stop work to watch ''
Monty Python's Flying Circus ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (also known as simply ''Monty Python'') is a British surreal sketch comedy series created by and starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam, who became known ...
'' on the television, leaving Parsons to work on material recorded up to that point. In an interview in 2003, Gilmour said: "We would sometimes watch them but when we were on a roll, we would get on." On returning from the US in January 1973, they recorded "Brain Damage", "Eclipse", "Any Colour You Like" and "On the Run", while fine-tuning the work from the previous sessions. A group of four female vocalists was assembled to sing on "Brain Damage", "Eclipse" and "Time", and saxophonist
Dick Parry Richard Parry (born 22 December 1942) is an English saxophonist. He has appeared as a session musician on various albums, most notably in solo parts on the Pink Floyd songs "Money", "Us and Them", "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and "Wearing the ...
was booked to play on "Us and Them" and "Money". With director Adrian Maben, the band also filmed studio footage for '' Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii''. Once the recording sessions were complete, the band began a tour of Europe.


Instrumentation

The album features metronomic sound effects during "Speak to Me", and tape loops opening "Money". Mason created a rough version of "Speak to Me" at his home, before completing it in the studio. The track serves as an
overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") in music was originally the instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overt ...
and contains cross-fades of elements from other pieces on the album. A piano chord, replayed backwards, serves to augment the build-up of effects, which are immediately followed by the opening of "Breathe". Mason received a rare solo composing credit for "Speak to Me". The sound effects on "Money" were created by splicing together Waters' recordings of clinking coins, tearing paper, a ringing cash register, and a clicking adding machine, which were used to create a 7-beat effects loop (later adapted to four tracks to create a "walk around the room" effect in quadraphonic presentations of the album). At times the degree of sonic experimentation on the album required the engineers and band to operate the mixing console's faders simultaneously, to mix down the intricately assembled multitrack recordings of several of the songs (particularly "On the Run"). Along with the conventional rock band instrumentation, Pink Floyd added prominent synthesisers to their sound. The band experimented with an EMS VCS 3 on "Brain Damage" and "Any Colour You Like", and a
Synthi A The VCS 3 (or VCS3; an initialism for ''Voltage Controlled Studio, version #3'') is a portable analog synthesizer with a flexible modular voice architecture introduced by Electronic Music Studios (London) Limited (EMS) in 1969. EMS released ...
on "Time" and "On the Run". They also devised and recorded unconventional sounds, such as an assistant engineer running around the studio's echo chamber (during "On the Run"), and a specially treated
bass drum The bass drum is a large drum that produces a note of low definite or indefinite pitch. The instrument is typically cylindrical, with the drum's diameter much greater than the drum's depth, with a struck head at both ends of the cylinder. Th ...
made to simulate a human
heartbeat A heartbeat is one cardiac cycle of the heart. Heartbeat, heart beat, heartbeats, and heart beats may refer to: Computing *Heartbeat (computing), a periodic signal to indicate normal operation or to synchronize parts of a system *Heartbeat, clus ...
(during "Speak to Me", "On the Run", "Time" and "Eclipse"). This heartbeat is most prominent in the intro and the outro to the album, but it can also be heard sporadically on "Time" and "On the Run". "Time" features assorted clocks ticking, then chiming simultaneously at the start of the song, accompanied by a series of Rototoms. The recordings were initially created as a quadraphonic test by Parsons, who recorded each timepiece at an antique clock shop. Although these recordings had not been created specifically for the album, elements of this material were eventually used in the track.


Voices

Several tracks, including "Us and Them" and "Time", demonstrated Richard Wright's and David Gilmour's ability to harmonise their voices. In the 2003
Classic Albums ''Classic Albums'' is a British documentary series about pop, rock and heavy metal albums that are considered the best or most distinctive of a well-known band or musician or that exemplify a stage in the history of music. Format The TV seri ...
documentary ''The Making of The Dark Side of the Moon'', Waters attributed this to the fact that their voices sounded extremely similar. To take advantage of this, Parsons used studio techniques such as the double tracking of vocals and guitars, which allowed Gilmour to harmonise with himself. The engineer also made prominent use of flanging and phase shifting effects on vocals and instruments, odd trickery with
reverb Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abso ...
, and the panning of sounds between channels (most notable in the
quadraphonic Quadraphonic (or quadrophonic and sometimes quadrasonic) sound – equivalent to what is now called 4.0 surround sound – uses four audio channels in which speakers are positioned at the four corners of a listening space. The system allows for th ...
mix of "On the Run", when the sound of the
Hammond B3 Hammond may refer to: People * Hammond Innes (1913–1998), English novelist * Hammond (surname) * Justice Hammond (disambiguation) Places Antarctica * Hammond Glacier, Antarctica Australia *Hammond, South Australia, a small settlement in South ...
organ played through a
Leslie speaker The Leslie speaker is a combined amplifier and loudspeaker that projects the signal from an electric or electronic instrument and modifies the sound by rotating a baffle chamber ("drum") in front of the loudspeakers. A similar effect is provided ...
rapidly swirls around the listener). The album's credits include
Clare Torry Clare H. Torry (born 29 November 1947) is a British singer, well known for writing and performing the wordless vocals on the song " The Great Gig in the Sky" by the group Pink Floyd on their 1973 album '' The Dark Side of the Moon''. She also c ...
, a session singer and songwriter, and a regular at Abbey Road. She had worked on pop material and numerous cover albums, one of which convinced Parsons to invite her to the studio to sing on Wright's composition "The Great Gig in the Sky". She declined this invitation as she wanted to watch Chuck Berry perform at the
Hammersmith Odeon The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ha ...
, but arranged to come in on the following Sunday. The band explained the concept behind the album, but were unable to tell her exactly what she should do. Gilmour was in charge of the session, and in a few short takes on a Sunday night Torry improvised a wordless melody to accompany Wright's emotive piano solo. She was initially embarrassed by her exuberance in the recording booth, and wanted to apologise to the band only to find them delighted with her performance. Her takes were then selectively edited to produce the version used on the track. For her contribution she was paid £30, her standard session fee, equivalent to about £ in . In 2004, she sued
EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
and Pink Floyd for 50% of the songwriting
royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...
, arguing that her contribution to "The Great Gig in the Sky" was substantial enough to be considered co-authorship. The case was settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, with all post-2005 pressings crediting Wright and Torry jointly. Snippets of voices between and over the music are another notable feature of the album. During recording sessions, Waters recruited both the staff and the temporary occupants of the studio to answer a series of questions printed on
flashcard A flashcard or flash card (also known as an index card) is a card bearing information on both sides, which is intended to be used as an aid in memorization. Each flashcard bears a question on one side and an answer on the other. Flashcards are ...
s. The interviewees were placed in front of a microphone in a darkened Studio 3, and shown such questions as "What's your favourite colour?" and "What's your favourite food?", before moving on to themes more central to the album (such as madness, violence, and death). Questions such as "When was the last time you were violent?", followed immediately by "Were you in the right?", were answered in the order they were presented. Roger "The Hat" Manifold proved difficult to find, and was the only contributor recorded in a conventional sit-down interview, as by then the flashcards had been mislaid. Waters asked him about a violent encounter he had had with another motorist, and Manifold replied "... give 'em a quick, short, sharp shock ..." When asked about death he responded "live for today, gone tomorrow, that's me ..." Another roadie, Chris Adamson, who was on tour with Pink Floyd, recorded the snippet which opens the album: "I've been mad for fucking years absolutely years". The band's road manager Peter Watts (father of actress Naomi Watts) contributed the repeated laughter during "Brain Damage" and "Speak to Me". His second wife, Patricia "Puddie" Watts (now Patricia Gleason), was responsible for the line about the "geezer" who was "cruisin' for a bruisin used in the segue between "Money" and "Us and Them", and the words "I never said I was frightened of dying" heard halfway through "The Great Gig in the Sky". Several responses "I am not frightened of dying. Any time will do: I don't mind. Why should I be frightened of dying? There's no reason for it – you've got to go sometime" and closing words "there is no dark side in the moon, really. As a matter of fact it's all dark" came from the studios' Irish doorman, Gerry O'Driscoll. Paul and
Linda McCartney Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney ( Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, musician, animal rights activist, vegetarian cookbook author and advocate, and entrepreneur. She was the keyboardist in th ...
were also interviewed, but their answers were judged to be "trying too hard to be funny", and were not included on the album. The McCartneys' Wings bandmate
Henry McCullough Henry Campbell Liken McCullough (21 July 1943 – 14 June 2016) was a Northern Irish guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was best known for his work as a member of Spooky Tooth, The Grease Band and Paul McCartney and Wings. He also perfo ...
contributed the line "I don't know, I was really drunk at the time".


Completion

Following the completion of the dialogue sessions, producer Chris Thomas was hired to provide "a fresh pair of ears". Thomas's background was in music, rather than engineering. He had worked with Beatles producer
George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...
, and was an acquaintance of Pink Floyd's manager,
Steve O'Rourke Steve O'Rourke ( – ) was an English music manager and racing driver. He is known for being the manager of Pink Floyd, a position he held from 1968 until his death. Among his accomplishments is negotiating Pink Floyd's split with bass player and ...
. All four members of the band were engaged in a disagreement over the style of the mix, with Waters and Mason preferring a "dry" and "clean" mix that made more use of the non-musical elements, and Gilmour and Wright preferring a subtler and more "echoey" mix. Thomas later claimed there were no such disagreements, stating "There was no difference in opinion between them, I don't remember Roger once saying that he wanted less echo. In fact, there were never any hints that they were later going to fall out. It was a very creative atmosphere. A lot of fun." Although the truth remains unclear, Thomas's intervention resulted in a welcome compromise between Waters and Gilmour, leaving both entirely satisfied with the end product. Thomas was responsible for significant changes to the album, including the perfect timing of the echo used on "Us and Them". He was also present for the recording of "The Great Gig in the Sky" (although Parsons was responsible for hiring Torry). Interviewed in 2006, when asked if he felt his goals had been accomplished in the studio, Waters said:


Packaging

The album was originally released in a
gatefold A gatefold cover or gatefold LP is a form of packaging for LP records that became popular in the mid-1960s. A gatefold cover, when folded, is the same size as a standard LP cover (i.e., a 12½ inch, or 32.7 centimetre square). The larger gatefo ...
LP sleeve designed by Hipgnosis and George Hardie. Hipgnosis had designed several of the band's previous albums, with controversial results; EMI had reacted with confusion when faced with the cover designs for ''
Atom Heart Mother ''Atom Heart Mother'' is the fifth studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd. It was released by Harvest on 2 October 1970 in the UK, and by Capitol on 10 October 1970 in the US. It was recorded at EMI Studios (now Abbey Ro ...
'' and '' Obscured by Clouds'', as they had expected to see traditional designs which included lettering and words. Designers Storm Thorgerson and
Aubrey Powell Aubrey Powell may refer to: *Aubrey Powell (designer) Aubrey Powell (born 23 September 1946) is a British graphic designer. He co-founded the album cover design company Hipgnosis with Storm Thorgerson in 1967. The company ran for 15 years un ...
were able to ignore such criticism as they were employed by the band. For ''The Dark Side of the Moon'', Richard Wright instructed them to come up with something "smarter, neater more classy". The design was inspired by a photograph of a prism with a colour beam projected through it that Thorgerson had found in a photography book, as well as by album cover inventor Alex Steinweiss' illustration for the New York Philharmonic's 1942 performance of
Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
's
Emperor Concerto The Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, known as the Emperor Concerto in English-speaking countries, is a concerto composed by Ludwig van Beethoven for piano and orchestra. Beethoven composed the concerto in 1809 under salary in Vienna, ...
. The artwork was created by their associate, George Hardie. Hipgnosis offered the band a choice of seven designs, but all four members agreed that the prism was by far the best. The final design depicts a glass
prism Prism usually refers to: * Prism (optics), a transparent optical component with flat surfaces that refract light * Prism (geometry), a kind of polyhedron Prism may also refer to: Science and mathematics * Prism (geology), a type of sedimentary ...
dispersing light into colour. The design represents three elements: the band's stage lighting, the album lyrics, and Wright's request for a "simple and bold" design. The spectrum of light continues through to the gatefold an idea that Waters came up with. Added shortly afterwards, the gatefold design also includes a visual representation of the heartbeat sound used throughout the album, and the back of the album cover contains Thorgerson's suggestion of another prism recombining the spectrum of light, facilitating interesting layouts of the sleeve in record shops. The light band emanating from the prism on the album cover has six colours, missing
indigo Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...
compared to the traditional division of the spectrum into red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Inside the sleeve were two posters and two pyramid-themed stickers. One poster bore pictures of the band in concert, overlaid with scattered letters to form PINK FLOYD, and the other an
infrared photograph ''Top:'' tree photographed in the near infrared range. ''Bottom:'' same tree in the visible part of the spectrum. In infrared photography, the film or image sensor used is sensitive to infrared light. The part of the spectrum used is ...
of the Great Pyramids of Giza, created by Powell and Thorgerson. The band were so confident of the quality of Waters' lyrics that, for the first time, they printed them on the album's sleeve.


Release

As the quadraphonic mix of the album was not then complete, the band (with the exception of Wright) boycotted the press reception held at the
London Planetarium The London Planetarium building is located on Marylebone Road, London. It is adjacent to and owned by Madame Tussauds. It previously housed a planetarium, offering shows related to space and astronomy. In 2006, it closed as a separate attractio ...
on 27 February. The guests were, instead, presented with a quartet of life-sized cardboard cut-outs of the band, and the stereo mix of the album was played over a poor-quality public address system. Generally, however, the press were enthusiastic; ''Melody Maker''s Roy Hollingworth described side one as "so utterly confused with itself it was difficult to follow", but praised Side Two, writing: "The songs, the sounds, the rhythms were solid and sound, Saxophone hit the air, the band rocked and rolled, and then gushed and tripped away into the night." Steve Peacock of ''Sounds'' wrote: "I don't care if you've never heard a note of the Pink Floyd's music in your life, I'd unreservedly recommend everyone to ''The Dark Side of the Moon''". In his 1973 review for ''Rolling Stone'' magazine,
Loyd Grossman Loyd Daniel Gilman Grossman (born 16 September 1950) is an American-British author, broadcaster and cultural campaigner who has mainly worked in the United Kingdom. He is well known for presenting the BBC programme ''MasterChef'' from 1990 to 20 ...
declared ''Dark Side'' "a fine album with a textural and conceptual richness that not only invites, but demands involvement". In '' Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies'' (1981),
Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...
found its lyrical ideas clichéd and its music pretentious, but called it a "
kitsch Kitsch ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as naïve imitation, overly-eccentric, gratuitous, or of banal taste. The avant-garde opposed kitsch as melodramatic and superficial affiliation with ...
masterpiece" that can be charming with highlights such as taped speech fragments, Parry's saxophone, and studio effects which enhance Gilmour's guitar solos. ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' was released first in the US on 1 March 1973, and then in the UK on 16 March. It became an instant chart success in Britain and throughout Western Europe; by the following month, it had gained a
gold certification Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
in the US. Throughout March 1973 the band played the album as part of their US tour, including a midnight performance at
Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...
in New York City on 17 March before an audience of 6,000. The album reached the ''Billboard'' Top LPs & Tape chart's number one spot on 28 April 1973, and was so successful that the band returned two months later for another tour.


Label

Much of the album's early American success is attributed to the efforts of Pink Floyd's US record company,
Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
. Newly appointed chairman Bhaskar Menon set about trying to reverse the relatively poor sales of the band's 1971 studio album ''Meddle''. Meanwhile, disenchanted with Capitol, the band and manager O'Rourke had been quietly negotiating a new contract with CBS president
Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 1 ...
, on
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
. ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' was the last album that Pink Floyd were obliged to release before formally signing a new contract. Menon's enthusiasm for the new album was such that he began a huge promotional advertising campaign, which included radio-friendly truncated versions of "Us and Them" and "Time". In some countries notably the UK Pink Floyd had not released a single since 1968's "
Point Me at the Sky "Point Me at the Sky" is the fifth United Kingdom single by the British band Pink Floyd, released on 6 December 1968. It was their last single in the UK for nearly a decade. The song was an early collaboration by bassist Roger Waters and guitar ...
", and unusually "Money" was released as a single on 7 May, with "Any Colour You Like" on the
B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
. It reached number 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in July 1973. A two-sided white label promotional version of the single, with mono and stereo mixes, was sent to radio stations. The mono side had the word "bullshit" removed from the song leaving "bull" in its place however, the stereo side retained the uncensored version. This was subsequently withdrawn; the replacement was sent to radio stations with a note advising disc jockeys to dispose of the first uncensored copy. On 4 February 1974, a
double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...
single was released with "Time" on one side, and "Us and Them" on the opposite side. Menon's efforts to secure a contract renewal with Pink Floyd were in vain however; at the beginning of 1974, the band signed for Columbia with a reported advance fee of $1M (in Britain and Europe they continued to be represented by Harvest Records).


Sales

''The Dark Side of the Moon'' became one of the best-selling albums of all time and is in the top 25 of a list of best-selling albums in the United States. Although it held the number one spot in the US for only a week, the album remained in the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart for 736 nonconsecutive weeks (from 17 March 1973 to 16 July 1988). ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' made its final appearance in the ''Billboard'' 200 albums during its initial run on the week ending 8 October 1988, in its 741st charted week. The album re-appeared on the ''Billboard'' charts with the introduction of the
Top Pop Catalog Albums Top Pop Catalog Albums is a 50-position weekly albums chart produced by ''Billboard'' Magazine which ranks the best-selling catalog albums in the United States, regardless of genre. ''Billboard'' defines a catalog title as one that is more than 18 ...
chart in the issue dated 25 May 1991, and was still a perennial feature ten years later. It reached number one on the Pop Catalog chart when the 2003 hybrid CD/
SACD Super Audio CD (SACD) is an optical disc format for audio storage introduced in 1999. It was developed jointly by Sony and Philips Electronics and intended to be the successor to the Compact Disc (CD) format. The SACD format allows multiple aud ...
edition was released and sold 800,000 copies in the US. On the week of 5 May 2006 ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' achieved a combined total of 1,716 weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200 and Pop Catalog charts. Upon a change in chart methodology in 2009 allowing catalogue titles to be included in the ''Billboard'' 200, ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' returned to the chart at number 189 on 12 December of that year for its 742nd charting week. It has continued to sporadically appear on the ''Billboard 200'' since then, with the total at 962 weeks on the chart as of February 2022. "On a slow week" between 8,000 and 9,000 copies are sold. As of April 2013, the album had sold 9,502,000 copies in the US since 1991 when
Nielsen SoundScan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...
began tracking sales for ''Billboard''. One in every fourteen people in the US under the age of 50 is estimated to own, or to have owned, a copy. In terms of US sales certification by the
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA), ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' was released before the introduction of platinum awards in 1976. It therefore held only a gold certification by the RIAA until 16 February 1990, when it was certified 11× platinum. On 4 June 1998, the RIAA certified the album 15× platinum, denoting sales of fifteen million in the United States making it their biggest-selling work there ('' The Wall'' is 23× platinum, but as a double album this signifies sales of 11.5 million). "Money" has sold well as a single, and as with "Time", remains a radio favourite; in the US, for the year ending 20 April 2005, "Time" was played on 13,723 occasions, and "Money" on 13,731 occasions. In 2017 ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' was the seventh-best-selling album of all time in the UK and the highest selling album never to reach number one. In 2013 industry sources suggested that worldwide sales of ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' totalled about 45 million. "The combination of words and music hit a peak," explained Gilmour. "All the music before had not had any great lyrical point to it. And this one was clear and concise. The cover was also right. I think it's become like a benevolent noose hanging behind us. Throughout our entire career, people have said we would never top the ''Dark Side'' record and tour. But ''The Wall'' earned more in dollar terms." As one of the blockbuster LPs of the album era (1960s–2000s), ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' also led to an increase in record sales overall into the late 1970s.


Re-issues and remastering

In 1979, ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' was released as a remastered LP by
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL or MoFi) is a record label specializing in the production of audiophile issues. The company produces reissued vinyl LP records, compact discs, and Super Audio CDs and other formats. History Recording engineer ...
, and in April 1988 on their "Ultradisc" gold CD format. The album was released by EMI and Harvest on the then-new compact disc format in Japan in June 1983, in the US and Europe in August 1984, and in 1992 it was re-released as a remastered CD in the box set '' Shine On''. This version was re-released as a 20th anniversary box set edition with postcards the following year. The cover design was again by Storm Thorgerson, the designer of the original 1973 cover. On some pressings, a faintly audible orchestral version of the Beatles' " Ticket to Ride" can be heard after "Eclipse" over the album's closing heartbeats. The original quadraphonic mix, created by Alan Parsons, was commissioned by EMI but never endorsed by Pink Floyd, as Parsons was disappointed with his mix. To celebrate the album's 30th anniversary, an updated surround version was released in 2003. The band elected not to use Parsons' quadraphonic mix (done shortly after the original release), and instead had engineer James Guthrie create a new
5.1 5.1 surround sound ("five-point one") is the common name for surround sound audio systems. 5.1 is the most commonly used layout in home theatres. It uses five full bandwidth channels and one low-frequency effects channel (the "point one"). Dol ...
 channel surround sound mix on the
SACD Super Audio CD (SACD) is an optical disc format for audio storage introduced in 1999. It was developed jointly by Sony and Philips Electronics and intended to be the successor to the Compact Disc (CD) format. The SACD format allows multiple aud ...
format. Guthrie had worked with Pink Floyd since co-producing and engineering their eleventh album, ''The Wall'', and had previously worked on surround versions of ''The Wall'' for DVD-Video and Waters' ''In the Flesh'' for SACD. Speaking in 2003, Alan Parsons expressed some disappointment with Guthrie's SACD mix, suggesting that Guthrie was "possibly a little too true to the original mix", but was generally complimentary. The 30th-anniversary edition won four Surround Music Awards in 2003, and has since sold more than 800,000 copies. The cover image was created by a team of designers including Storm Thorgerson. The image is a photograph of a custom-made
stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
window, built to match the exact dimensions and proportions of the original prism design. Transparent glass, held in place by strips of lead, was used in place of the opaque colours of the original. The idea is derived from the "sense of purity in the sound quality, being 5.1 surround sound ..." The image was created out of a desire to be "the same but different, such that the design was clearly DSotM, still the recognisable prism design, but was different and hence new". ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' was also re-released in 2003 on 180-gram virgin vinyl (mastered by Kevin Gray at AcousTech Mastering) and included slightly different versions of the posters and stickers that came with the original vinyl release, along with a new 30th anniversary poster. In 2007 the album was included in ''
Oh, by the Way ''Oh, by the Way'' is a compilation boxed set by Pink Floyd released on 10 December 2007, by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States through Capitol Records. Contents The boxed set includes all of Pink Floy ...
'', a box set celebrating the 40th anniversary of Pink Floyd, and a
DRM DRM may refer to: Government, military and politics * Defense reform movement, U.S. campaign inspired by Col. John Boyd * Democratic Republic of Madagascar, a former socialist state (1975–1992) on Madagascar * Direction du renseignement militai ...
-free version was released on the
iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
. In 2011 the album was re-released as part of the Why Pink Floyd...? campaign, featuring a remastered version of the album along with various other material.


Legacy

The success of the album brought wealth to all four members of the band; Richard Wright and Roger Waters bought large country houses, and Nick Mason became a collector of upmarket cars. Some of the profits were invested in the production of ''
Monty Python and the Holy Grail ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' is a 1975 British comedy film satirizing the Arthurian legend, written and performed by the Monty Python comedy group (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin) an ...
''. Engineer
Alan Parsons Alan Parsons (born 20 December 1948) is an English audio engineer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Parsons was involved with the production of several notable albums, including the Beatles' ''Abbey Road'' (1969) and ''Let It Be'' ( ...
received a
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
nomination for Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical for ''The Dark Side of the Moon'', and he went on to have a successful career as a recording artist with
the Alan Parsons Project The Alan Parsons Project was a British rock band active between 1975 and 1990, whose core membership consisted of producer, audio engineer, musician and composer Alan Parsons and singer, songwriter and pianist Eric Woolfson. They were accompanie ...
. Although Waters and Gilmour have on occasion downplayed his contribution to the success of the album, Mason has praised his role. In 2003, Parsons reflected: "I think they all felt that I managed to hang the rest of my career on ''Dark Side of the Moon'', which has an element of truth to it. But I still wake up occasionally, frustrated about the fact that they made untold millions and a lot of the people involved in the record didn't." Part of the legacy of ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is its influence on modern music and on the musicians who have performed
cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
s of its songs; moreover, the record gave rise to the "
Dark Side of the Rainbow Dark Side of the Rainbow – also known as Dark Side of Oz or The Wizard of Floyd – is the pairing of the 1973 Pink Floyd album ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' with the 1939 film '' The Wizard of Oz.'' This produces moments of apparent synchronici ...
" theory, according to which the album matches up perfectly with the 1939 film '' The Wizard of Oz'' when they are played simultaneously. The album's release is often seen as a pivotal point in the history of rock music, and comparisons are sometimes made with
Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...
's 1997 album ''
OK Computer ''OK Computer'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released in Japan on 21 May 1997 and in the UK on 16 June 1997. Radiohead self-produced the album with Nigel Godrich, an arrangement they have used for their subsequ ...
'', including a premise explored by Ben Schleifer in Speak to Me': The Legacy of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon'' (2006) that the two albums share a theme that "the creative individual loses the ability to function in the odernworld". In a 2018 book about
classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...
,
Steven Hyden Steven Hyden (born September 7, 1977) is an American music critic, author, and podcast host. He is the author of the books ''Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me'' (2016, on rivalries in pop music history), ''Twilight of the Gods'' (2018, on the his ...
recalls concluding, in his teens, that ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' and ''
Led Zeppelin IV The untitled fourth studio album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, commonly known as ''Led Zeppelin IV'', was released on 8 November 1971 by Atlantic Records. It was produced by guitarist Jimmy Page and recorded between December 1970 and Fe ...
'' were the two greatest albums of the genre, vision quests "encompass ngthe twin poles of teenage desire". They had similarities, in that both album's cover and internal artwork eschew pictures of the bands in favor of "inscrutable iconography without any tangible meaning (which always seemed to give the music packaged inside ''more'' meaning)". But whereas Led Zeppelin had looked outward, toward "conquering the world" and was known at the time for its outrageous sexual antics while on tour, Pink Floyd looked inward, toward "overcoming your own hang-ups" and seemed so sedate and boring that, Hyden commented, the scene in ''Live at Pompeii'' where they take a lunch break at the studio might well have been the most interesting part of recording ''The Dark Side of the Moon''. In 2013, ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' was selected for preservation in the United States
National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservati ...
by the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
for being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".


Rankings

''The Dark Side of the Moon'' frequently appears on professional rankings of the greatest albums. In 1987, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked the record 35th in its list of the "Top 100 Albums of the Last 20 Years". In 2003, the album was ranked number 43 on the magazine's list of the " 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", maintaining the ranking in a 2012 revision of the list, but dropping to number 55 in a 2020 revision of the list (the band's highest-charting album on the list). Both ''Rolling Stone'' and '' Q'' have listed ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' as the best progressive rock album. In 2006, it was voted "My Favourite Album" by the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
's audience. ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' readers voted the album eighth in their 2006 "Best Album of All Time" online poll, and in 2009, Planet Rock listeners voted the album the "greatest of all time". The album is also number two on the "Definitive 200" list of albums, made by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers "in celebration of the art form of the record album". It ranked 29th in ''The Observer''s 2006 list of "The 50 Albums That Changed Music", and 37th in ''The Guardian''s 1997 list of the "100 Best Albums Ever", as voted for by a panel of artists and music critics. In 2014, readers of ''
Rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recu ...
'' voted it the seventh most influential progressive drumming album. It was voted number 9 in
Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along wit ...
's
All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...
3rd Edition (2000). Based on such rankings, the aggregate website
Acclaimed Music Acclaimed Music is a website created by Henrik Franzon, a statistician from Stockholm, Sweden in September 2001. Franzon has statistically aggregated hundreds of published lists that rank songs and albums into aggregated rankings by year, deca ...
lists ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' as the 21st most acclaimed album in history, the seventh most acclaimed of the 1970s, and number one of albums from 1973. The album's cover has also been lauded by critics and listeners alike, with
VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...
proclaiming it the fourth greatest in history. In Canada, the album was in the Top 3 for 22 weeks from May 5 to September 29, 1973.


Covers, tributes and samples

'' Return to the Dark Side of the Moon: A Tribute to Pink Floyd'', released in 2006, is a cover album of ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' featuring artists such as Adrian Belew, Tommy Shaw, Dweezil Zappa, and
Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist best known as a former member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his solo albums released in the 1970s. Born and raised ...
. In 2000,
The Squirrels The Squirrels are a novelty pop band based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1984 by lead vocalist Rob Morgan (founder, as well, of the ''Poplust'' zine), the band went through numerous lineups, but has stuck to the aesthetic that Peter Blecha ...
released ''The Not So Bright Side of the Moon'', which features a cover of the entire album. The New York dub collective
Easy Star All-Stars Easy Star All-Stars is a reggae collective founded in 1997 by Michael Goldwasser, Eric Smith, Lem Oppenheimer and Remy Gerstein of New York City-based Easy Star Records. The band is known for its reinterpretations of classic albums in reggae styl ...
released ''
Dub Side of the Moon ''Dub Side of the Moon'' is a dub reggae tribute to the 1973 Pink Floyd album, ''The Dark Side of the Moon'', co-produced by Easy Star All-Stars founders Michael G (Michael Goldwasser) and Ticklah (Victor Axelrod). Easy Star All Stars released ' ...
'' in 2003 and ''
Dubber Side of the Moon ''Dubber Side of the Moon'' is the second dub reggae tribute to the Pink Floyd album, ''The Dark Side of the Moon'', by New York-based band Easy Star All-Stars. The album features bass-heavy dub remixes by prominent dub producers of its prede ...
'' in 2010. The group Voices on the Dark Side released the album ''Dark Side of the Moon a Cappella'', a complete
a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
version of the album. The bluegrass band Poor Man's Whiskey frequently play the album in bluegrass style, calling the suite ''Dark Side of the Moonshine''. A
string quartet The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...
version of the album was released in 2003. In 2009,
The Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, vocals), Derek Brown (keyb ...
released a track-by-track remake of the album in collaboration with
Stardeath and White Dwarfs Stardeath and White Dwarfs is an experimental rock band from Norman, Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, formed in late 2004. The band has released two albums, one single ("Toast & Marmalade For Tea" on Half Machine Records) and an EP, as well as contri ...
, and featuring
Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Rolli ...
and Peaches as guest musicians. Several notable acts have covered the album live in its entirety, and a range of performers have used samples from ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' in their own material. Jam-rock band
Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended jams, blending of genres, and a dedicated fan base. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon ...
performed a semi-improvised version of the entire album as part of their show on 2 November 1998 in
West Valley City, Utah West Valley City is a city in Salt Lake County and a suburb of Salt Lake City in the U.S. state of Utah. The population was 140,230 at the 2020 census, making it the second-largest city in Utah. The city incorporated in 1980 from a large, quic ...
. Progressive metal band
Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of the ...
have twice covered the album in their live shows, and in May 2011
Mary Fahl Mary Fahl (born Mary Faldermeyer, July 1, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter and actress known for her work with October Project in the mid-1990s. More recently she is known for her solo singing and acting career. She released an EP ''Lense ...
released ''
From the Dark Side of the Moon ''From the Dark Side of the Moon'' is a 2011 album released by singer/songwriter Mary Fahl. The album is a song-by-song "re-imagining" of Pink Floyd's classic 1973 album ''The Dark Side of the Moon''. Production As of September 2006 Fahl complete ...
'', a song-by-song "re-imagining" of the album. Milli Vanilli used the tape loops from Pink Floyd's "Money" to open their track "
Money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...
", followed by
Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch was an American hip-hop group formed in 1991 by Mark Wahlberg (alias Marky Mark), Scott Gee, Hector the Booty Inspector, DJ-T, and Ashey Ace. The group's best known song is "Good Vibrations", which made it to number ...
on '' Music for the People''.


Dark Side of the Rainbow

Dark Side of the Rainbow and Dark Side of Oz are two names commonly used in reference to rumours (circulated on the Internet since at least 1994) that ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' was written as a soundtrack for the 1939 film '' The Wizard of Oz''. Observers playing the film and the album simultaneously have reported apparent synchronicities, such as
Dorothy Dorothy may refer to: *Dorothy (given name), a list of people with that name. Arts and entertainment Characters *Dorothy Gale, protagonist of ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum * Ace (''Doctor Who'') or Dorothy, a character playe ...
beginning to jog at the lyric "no one told you when to run" during "Time", and Dorothy balancing on a tightrope fence during the line "balanced on the biggest wave" in "Breathe". David Gilmour and Nick Mason have both denied a connection between the two works, and Roger Waters has described the rumours as "amusing". Alan Parsons said the film was never mentioned during production of the album.


Track listing

All lyrics are written by
Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...
. Note *Since the 2011 remasters, and the Discovery box set, "Speak to Me" and "Breathe (In the Air)" are indexed as individual tracks.


Personnel

Pink Floyd *
David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...
– vocals, guitars, Synthi AKS *
Nick Mason Nicholas Berkeley Mason, (born 27 January 1944) is an English drummer and a founder member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. He is the only member to feature on every Pink Floyd album, and the only constant member since its formation in ...
– drums, percussion, tape effects *
Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...
– bass guitar, vocals, VCS 3, tape effects * Richard Wright – organ (
Hammond Hammond may refer to: People * Hammond Innes (1913–1998), English novelist * Hammond (surname) * Justice Hammond (disambiguation) Places Antarctica * Hammond Glacier, Antarctica Australia *Hammond, South Australia, a small settlement in South ...
and Farfisa), piano, electric piano (
Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...
,
Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...
), EMS VCS 3, Synthi AKS, vocals Additional musicians *
Dick Parry Richard Parry (born 22 December 1942) is an English saxophonist. He has appeared as a session musician on various albums, most notably in solo parts on the Pink Floyd songs "Money", "Us and Them", "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and "Wearing the ...
– saxophone on "Us and Them" and "Money" *
Clare Torry Clare H. Torry (born 29 November 1947) is a British singer, well known for writing and performing the wordless vocals on the song " The Great Gig in the Sky" by the group Pink Floyd on their 1973 album '' The Dark Side of the Moon''. She also c ...
– vocals on "The Great Gig in the Sky" * Doris Troy – backing vocals * Lesley Duncan – backing vocals * Liza Strike – backing vocals *
Barry St. John Eliza Janet Thomson (November 1943 – 24 July 2020), who recorded as Barry St. John, was a Scottish female singer who had a No. 47 hit in the UK Singles Chart in December 1965 with "Come Away Melinda". It was her only solo chart success. Biog ...
– backing vocals Production *
Alan Parsons Alan Parsons (born 20 December 1948) is an English audio engineer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Parsons was involved with the production of several notable albums, including the Beatles' ''Abbey Road'' (1969) and ''Let It Be'' ( ...
– engineering * Peter James – assistant (incorrectly identified as "Peter Jones" on first US pressings of the LP) * Chris Thomas – mix supervisor * Doug Sax, James Guthrie – 1992 remastering at The Mastering Lab * James Guthrie, Joel Plante – 2011 remastering at das boot recording Design * Hipgnosis – sleeve design, photography * George Hardie – sleeve art, stickers art


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications and sales


Release history


See also

*
List of best-selling albums This is a list of the world's best-selling albums of recorded music. To appear on the list, the figure must have been published by a reliable source and the album must have sold at least 20 million copies. This list can contain any types of al ...
*
List of best-selling albums in Australia This is a list of best-selling albums in Australia that have been certified by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Since the 1970s, ARIA certified an album platinum for a shipment of 50,000 copies across Australia. In 1983, the ...
*
List of best-selling albums in Canada This is a list of the best-selling albums in Canada that have been certified by Music Canada, formerly known as Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA). Album certifications Music Canada provides "certifications" for album sales, similar ...
*
List of best-selling albums in France This is a list of the best-selling albums in France that have been certified by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique The National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing (french: Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique; SNEP) ...
* List of best-selling albums in Italy * List of best-selling albums in New Zealand * List of best-selling albums in the United Kingdom * List of best-selling albums in the United States *
List of diamond-certified albums in Canada The following diamond-certified albums in Canada have sold at least one million units (individual CDs, tapes or LPs) as determined by Canadian Recording Industry Association, the national music recording sales certification agency. The first ...


References


Informational notes


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dark Side Of The Moon, The 1973 albums Albums produced by David Gilmour Albums produced by Nick Mason Albums produced by Richard Wright (musician) Albums produced by Roger Waters Albums with cover art by Hipgnosis Albums with cover art by Storm Thorgerson Capitol Records albums Science fiction concept albums Works about the Moon EMI Records albums Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients Harvest Records albums Pink Floyd albums United States National Recording Registry recordings United States National Recording Registry albums