Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon: 30th Anniversary Edition
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Free Music Notes for The Dark Side of the Moon: 30th Anniversary Edition
Free Music Review: There Is No Dark Side Of The Moon - Oh Really!!
Hit: 5 Stars
OK, let's start this off with a little bit of negativity. To get the full benefit of this new edition, you probably need to have a 5.1 sound system. But that's about it as far as negativity goes.Just for the record this is my 3rd edition of the Dark Side Of The Moon CD. I also own the regular LP and the Mobile Fidelity version, and was once the proud owner of a cassette version, until someone with sticky fingers lifted it!! But back to the CDs. I was one of the unfortunate people who got scammed by the record companies when Pink Floyd's back catalog was released on CD back in the late 80s. Can you believe that they created the CD from a record!! Actually, considering how much I played the LP in my youth, the CD sounded pretty good. Then it was improved upon with the remastered version (the one with the opaque prism, for anyone who's watching the sleeves as well). Now, there is a third version and what can I say.
Well, imagine if you can sitting in your bedroom with your stereo speakers so close together that there is literally no stereo separation. Now imagine moving into an apartment where you can spread the speakers out a little. Imagine my surprise and delight when I actually "heard" the album for the first time, with the planes sweeping across the stereo and the bags of cash dropping on the floor on either side of the room.
This is what this edition of the CD is like. It is like listening to the album for the first time again. Nothing has been taken out and a greater sparkle has been added. the clarity of the mix, even on a regular stereo, is unbelievable. Remastering and remixing albums sometimes takes something away from the original, but that is not the case here. Some areas seem to have been boosted a little, so, for example, the spoken words that the album was so famous for, are much more understandable than they ever were buried in the mix as they were.
But the mix and the mastering are not what makes this album what it is. A classic is defined by its longevity, and "Dark Side Of The Moon" has certainly qualified on that count. The music still sounds remarkably fresh considering how old it is (thirty years + one year of touring it as "Eclipse"). The fact that it still sounds as good as it does is a tribute to Alan Parsons as much as it is to Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Rick Wright and Nick Mason. The band presented the music, and Parsons put it all together in such a way that, thirty years on, it still sounds like it was recorded yesterday.
I remember the first time I ever heard "Dark Side Of The Moon". It was before I even knew who Pink Floyd were. Someone played it for me and I got goose-bumps when Gilmour plays that solo in "Time". To say that I still get goose-bumps would be an understatement - it's just that it's all so much clearer now.
Imagine what this album would have been like had the Floyd had the technology in 1972 that they have today.
Free Music Review: 751 Weeks on the Billboard 200 Wasn't Enough
Hit: 5 Stars
OverviewThe rhythm, the mysterious innuendos and thought provoking alchemy, all things well known about Britain's legendary rock band, Pink Floyd. A band with a massive underground following of society's greatest minds and underminds alike, Pink Floyd has made a name for itself, and a style of its own. Dark Side of the Moon tells the story of madness in musical commercialism, and the growing distance between the fictional entity "Pink" from the world. Even having a grip on the premise of the album, rarely anyone can truly have a grasp what each and every song means, considering the elusive style of lyricist/bassist Roger Waters, one who has been known to write music with meanings deeper than that which is held amongst the general audience. DSotM also touches on themes such as racial inequality, war, and personal reflections of seeing that life has passed you bye as "no one told you when to run, you've missed the starting gun." This album also shows Pink Floyd at its spiritual best as exhibited in the vocal presentation of "The Great Gig In the Sky" (Formerly known as "Religion"), a verbal expulsion of heart and feeling by one of the various women who've accompanied Floyd throughout their musical tenure. Songs like "Money" and "Us and Them" touch on the absurdity of the industry's worship of money, and the turmoil caused by the separation of peoples by ideas and color. The album ends in a grand crescendo as Pink begins to lose mental stability with such impacting songs as Eclipse, Brain Damage and Any Colour You Like. I strongly suggest you join the millions of people who've found great luck in aquiring this atmospheric masterpiece.
Quality
The quality of this SACD (Super Audio Compact Disc) is phenominal. I'm an avid collector and fanatic of Pink Floyd and purchased this disc, comparing it to the already digitally remastered disc that accompanied the box-set Shine On, which was released in 1992, and discovered a complete difference in the sound quality. The audio in the disc released in '92 shows signs of aging technology, and as any new sound is introduced into the audible mixture of sounds a previously introduced sound is either drowned or weakened in impact. The '03 edition is more balanced, and the digital work on this disc is far more superior and every sound present in the recording is displayed in vibrant, clear, and biting precision. The grand production of this SACD promotes the use of a SACD formatted player (SACDs run 60 times faster than standard audio) or a common CD player, and boasts the functionality of 5.1 stereo surround sound.
Overall Rating
5/5
Free Music Review: A Great Album For me
Hit: 5 Stars
First of all, where is all that crap about Brittney coming from? She has nothing to do with this. Anyways, this is a really great cd in my opinion, which is just that my opinion.You should understand, Even though Pink floyd is considered classic rock, in my opinion it is more "Prog" or progressive rock. Dont buy this expecting Led Zepplin or Jimi hendrix sounding guitar driven songs with a mad solo every song. Here are the songs and a short reveiw of Each1. Speak to Me/Breathe- After the minute of sound effects, it launchs in to a good song with pretty meaningful lyrics if you actully listen to them. In my opinion, the music feels like the perfect music to get stoned to.
2, On the Run - an instrumental song with real ahead of it time technology "old scholl techno as i call it". My least favorite on the cd. IMpressive for its time, but not much value now.
3. Time - The best song on the album if you ask me. It requires patience to get through (something hard to come by). Im warning you, there are no words for almost 3 minutes(some people do not have an attention span of that long). One the more Rockin songs on the record, it also features a mega cool guitar solo from Mr. Gilmour.
4. The great Gig in the Sky - an instrumental with a woman singing (not in words) in the background. Featues some nice piano work by Wright. Once again, very far away from Zepp.
5. Money - The most Classic Rockish song on the album, with the advanced(for time) sound effects, catchy bass line, and of course, ultimatly cool solos from Gilmour and a saxaphone dude.
6. Us and Them - An anti war song with subtle lyrics that do have meaning. The music is very jazzy, so obviously if you dont like jazz and smooth sax solos, you probably wont like this song.
7. Any Colour You Like - Another instrumental. Very Pshycodielic (spelt wrong, i know) sounding. Feature a keybord and guitar(with underwater effect) solo.
8. Brain Damage - a song about an insane person. I like the chorus, it seems to have a lot of power. All in all a good song.
9. Eclipse - A short song that sums up the theme of the album. It also brings back all the musical elements that weve heard through out. A more rocking song than most.
Also, understand that when I say "Rockin" i dont mean AC/DC style. Gilmour really didnt use much distortion on most of these songs, and the guitar sometimes cant be heard.
Biggest Warning: These songs are mainly slow and complex, they take patience and a long attention span, if you lack either of these, I dont recomend this album. By the way, it isnt just for stoners.
Free Music Review: Yes, It's Totally Worth Getting....
Hit: 5 Stars
....even if you *can't* access the surround-sound mix! I won't bother reviewing the album itself---we know already that Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon" is an immortal rock masterpiece. The big question about this special 30th Anniversary Edition is, is it worth getting, especially if you've already shelled out money for the original CD version, the Mobile Fidelity gold CD version, AND the 20th Anniversary Edition from 10 years ago? Could this landmark album be worth buying yet again? The answer is a resounding *YES*! The funny thing is, I don't even own a proper home theater system, so I can't play the special surround-sound mix, only the regular stereo mix. And that alone has totally blown me away. Believe me, you've NEVER heard "Dark Side Of The Moon" sound this good. This 30th Aniversary Edition of "Dark Side" is a complete package all the way around. The new, updated prism cover art by Storm Thorgerson & Peter Curzon is very colorful & cool to look at, and the new CD booklet, 30 pages long with 30 assorted photographs, gives an excellent history of the "Dark Side" album itself (I never knew that the Russians got a slightly different album cover than the rest of the world). The CD itself is gold-colored, which, before you even play it, is already a good sign of the new-and-improved sound quality. I played this new "Dark Side" back-to-back with the older 20th Anniversary version, and yes indeed, this new "Dark Side" CD definitely sounds better---bigger boom, stronger sonics & clarity, and the bass has more bottom to it (you can totally *feel* that opening heartbeat, to name one example). The band literally ROAR out of the speakers. The instruments, the vocals, the taped speaking voices and sound effects sound even clearer & sharper than ever before. You can definitely hear notes & other bits that weren't previously detected. The bottom line: the sound quality on this new "Dark Side" CD is just plain astonishing. My compliments to Doug Sax & James Guthrie for an outstanding remastering job.I'm sure we can expect another CD upgrade of this classic album in 2013, when "Dark Side" turns 40. Until then, you owe it to yourself to pick up this 30th Anniversary Edition, and hear "Dark Side" as you've never heard it before, even if you don't own a home theater system. The fabulous new stereo mix alone, along with the impressive new packaging, makes this purchase a total keeper. Let's face it---you can *never* have too many copies of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon."Free Music Review: It's Dark Side of the Moon, you know?
Hit: 5 Stars
First off, I love the color they chose for the cover here. The dark blue backdrop for the prism looks beautiful. An awesome album cover made better.
Anyway, DSOTM is one of those albums where everything that can go right does in a spectacular way. Lyrics? Perfect. Melodies? Unforgettable. Performances? Spot-on. Production? Amazing. The best part of the equation is that this ISN'T my favorite Floyd album - that is the follow-up release, Wish You Were Here. But this is still a masterpiece.
Opening things up is a haunting song, Speak to Me/Breathe. Speak to Me is pretty much a non-song, just avant-garde white noise, but Breathe is a lingering ode to environmentalism that is later reprised on another definite highlight, the chilling Time. Time is debatably the best song on the album - the first minute or so, with all the clocks going off, followed by that killer keyboard/drum pattern, is something to hear; and the guitar solo... my god, it's phenomenal. So are the lyrics. Love the lyrics! Time's effect on man may be overdiscussed, but Floyd takes it on tremendously. In between these is On the Run, another non-song with a nonetheless amazing keyboard part. The Great Gig in the Sky deals frankly with, depending on who you ask, either death or sex - all without saying a word. But Clare Torry's moans are spooky either way. The tension/release thing, along with the "climax", makes me think it's supposed to simulate sex, but the spoken bits occasionally thrown in hint at death. Who knows, maybe it's both? Okay, I'm thinkin' way too hard about this. Let's get to the rest. The 7/4-4/4 greed protest Money is another highlight, with a great bassline and jaw-dropping tenor sax and guitar solos. Us and Them is a chilling, dreamy exploration of electronics with a fantastic hazy sax solo. Either this or Time is my favorite song on the record. It's a VERY tough call. The trippy instrumental Any Color You Like is decent, but it's nonetheless the weakest song on a strong collection. However, the Brain Damge/Eclipse medley is even more brilliance - the first has fantastic lyrics, beautiful slide guitar, and a giant, explosive chorus ("I'LL SEE YOU ON THE DARK SIIIDE OF THE MOON... AAH... AAAH..."), and the second, while essentially just a stream-of-conscienceness burst of pseudo-philosophy, is still quite melodic and fades away to an ending that's the sound of a heartbeat, which is precisely how the album started.
Awesome stuff. Really, the only thing that keeps this from being Floyd's best album is Wish You Were Here. I've never been stoned in my life, and this is still one of my favorites.