The Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released on March 1, 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.
It is a concept album with themes that 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 synthesisers. 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 a request by keyboardist Richard Wright for a "simple and bold" design, representing the band's lighting and the record's themes.
It has 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 the best seller by Pink Floyd, and one of the best-selling albums worldwide.
Following Meddle in 1971, Pink Floyd assembled for a tour of Britain, Japan and the United States in December of that year. In a band meeting at the home of drummer Nick Mason in Camden, bassist Roger Waters
proposed that a new album could form part of the tour. Waters' idea was
for an album that dealt with things that "make people mad", focusing on
the pressures faced by the band during their arduous lifestyle, and
dealing with the apparent mental problems suffered by former band member
Syd Barrett. The band had explored a similar idea with 1969's The Man and The Journey.
Parts of the new album were taken from previously unused material; the opening line of Breathe came from an earlier work by Waters and Ron Geesin, written for the soundtrack of The Body, and the basic structure of Us and Them borrowed from an original composition by Wright for Zabriskie Point. The band rehearsed at a warehouse in London owned by the Rolling Stones, and then at the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park, London.
Dark Side of the Moon: A Piece for Assorted Lunatics, as it was then known, was performed at the at the Rainbow Theatre in the presence of an assembled press on February 17, 1972 – more than a year before its release. Michael Wale of The Times described the piece as "bringing tears to the eyes. Derek Jewell of The Sunday Times wrote "The ambition of the Floyd's artistic intention is now vast." Melody Maker
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."
Work on the album was interrupted in late February when the band travelled to France and recorded music for the film La Vallée by French director Barbet Schroede. The band flew to London to begin recording, from the 24th of May to the 25th of June. More
concerts in Europe and North America followed before the band returned
on January 9, 1973 to complete the album.
The album was originally released in a gatefold 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 and Obscured by Clouds, as they had expected to see traditional designs which included lettering and words. Designers Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell were able to ignore such criticism as they were employed by the band. For Dark Side of the Moon, 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.
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
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.
Tracklist:
Side 1:
A1 - Speak To Me, written by Mason* - 1:30
A2 - Breathe, written by Gilmour*, Wright*, Waters* - 2:43
A3 - On The Run, written by Gilmour*, Waters* - 3:30
A4 - Time, written by Gilmour*, Mason*, Wright*, Waters* - 6:53
A5 - The Great Gig In The Sky, Vocals – Clare Torry, written by Wright* - 4:15
Side 2:
B1 - Money, Saxophone – Dick Parry, written by Waters* - 6:30
B2 - Us And Them, Saxophone – Dick Parry, written by Wright*, Waters* - 7:34
B3 - Any Colour You Like, written by Gilmour*, Mason*, Wright* - 3:24
B4 - Brain Damage, written by Waters* - 3:50
B5 - Eclipse, written by Waters* - 1:45
Companies, etc.
Recorded At – Abbey Road Studios
Manufactured By – Capitol Records, Inc.
Phonographic Copyright (p) – The Gramophone Co. Ltd.
Mastered At – Capitol Mastering
Pressed By – Capitol Records Pressing Plant, Winchester
Credits:
Backing Vocals – Barry St John*, Doris Troy, Leslie Duncan*, Liza Strike
Design [Sleeve & Stickers Art N.t.a.] – George Hardie
Design [Sleeve Design], Photography By – Hipgnosis (2)
Engineer – Alan Parsons
Engineer [Assistant] – Peter Jones*
Keyboards, Vocals, Synthesizer [Vcs3] – Richard Wright
Lyrics By, Bass Guitar, Vocals, Synthesizer [Vcs3], Effects [Tape Effects] – Roger Waters
Mastered By – Wly*
Mixed By [Mixing Supervised By] – Chris Thomas
Percussion, Effects [Tape Effects] – Nick Mason
Producer – Pink Floyd
Vocals, Electric Guitar, Synthesizer [Vcs3] – David Gilmour
Notes:
"–––◁" in runouts denotes a Capitol Records Pressing Plant, Winchester pressing.
"Wly" in runouts denotes that it was mastered by Wally Traugott.
The Dark Side Of The Moon is another Winchester pressing, but has "KP" in runouts, denoting it was mastered by Ken Perry.
Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London between June 1972 and January 1973.
Manufactured by Capitol Records Inc., a subsidiary of Capitol Industries, Inc., U.S.A.
Original release included two posters and two stickers, each sticker with their own catalog number (11163-1 and 11163-2),
This is the 1st issue with "INTERPAK™ Pats. Pending" in the bottom right corner inside the gatefold.
Some copies of gatefold covers have a round black DSOTM sticker on the shrink wrap (see pic).
℗ 1973 The Gramophone Company Ltd.
Note on Credits:
Though credited for the entire album, Barry St. John, Doris Troy, Lesley Duncan, and Liza Strike perform backing vocals only on tracks A4, B2, B4, and B5.
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Matrix / Runout (Center label A-side): (SMAS-1-11163)
Matrix / Runout (Center label B-side): (SMAS-2-11163)
Matrix / Runout (Runout A-side, etching): SMAS-1-11163-F4 –––◁
Matrix / Runout (Runout B-side, etching): SMAS-2-11163-F4 –––◁ Wly
Pink Floyd – The Dark Side Of The Moon
Label: Harvest – SMAS-11163
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Winchester Pressing, Wly Mastering, Gatefold
Country: US
Released: 1973
Genre: Rock
Style: Prog Rock
Label: Harvest – SMAS-11163
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Winchester Pressing, Wly Mastering, Gatefold
Country: US
Released: 1973
Genre: Rock
Style: Prog Rock
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
Pink Floyd ~
Dark Side of the Moon
Dark Side of the Moon
Dark Side of the Moon (complete album)
Speak To Me
Breathe (In The Air)
On the Run
Time
The Great Gig In The Sky
Money
Us and Them
Any Colour You Like
Brain Damage
Eclipse
Dark Side of The Moon PULSE Concert (44 mins.)
Making The Dark Side of The Moon in the studio (25 mins., 32 secs.)
Misc.:
‘Dark side’ of moon seen from surface (9 mins.)
First ever video of dark side of the Moon released by Nasa
NASA ~ odd sound recorded in 1969 on dark side of the moon
Speak To Me
Breathe (In The Air)
On the Run
Time
The Great Gig In The Sky
Money
Us and Them
Any Colour You Like
Brain Damage
Eclipse
Dark Side of The Moon PULSE Concert (44 mins.)
Making The Dark Side of The Moon in the studio (25 mins., 32 secs.)
Misc.:
‘Dark side’ of moon seen from surface (9 mins.)
First ever video of dark side of the Moon released by Nasa
NASA ~ odd sound recorded in 1969 on dark side of the moon
