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: What's to decide?
Hit: 5 Stars
This refers to the SACD version. Not yet owning an SACD player, I first got into DVD-Audio, I purchased this title because I had read that the original recording was a four channel recording and if one had only heard the two channel CD version that we were missing the original intent.As luck would pass my way I found a Sony SACD display for a closeout price ... After checking the service menu I found only two minutes of CD time logged and zero minutes of DVD time logged. Not bad... until I realized [I needed more] .
Was it worth it? Yes. I still only own two SACD titles due to the fact that my style of music is not available on SACD and may never be. Unless studios start to release all discs in multi options format I dont see adding much more time logged than when I purchased the unit other than repeated playings of TDSOTM.
The SACD multi track sounds great to me. I did not listen to it to pick it apart for defects or anomalies that should not be there. Nor do I mind reading reviews of those that do. I listened for the pure enjoyment of being surrounded by the sound of a thirty year old recording that was a masterpiece then and now. I doubt SACD or DVD-A will become mainstays unless the music industry holds true to it's promise of almost twenty years ago of lowering prices once the technology was paid for. We're still waiting. Also recently in an average size college city, the largest music store did not even carry DVD-A or SACD because of no demand. Only the CC and BB with their dozen titles were to be found. Amazing.
Buy the Disc and if not already plan on an SACD player or better a combo SACD/ DVD-A player or one of each.. And forget those that would debate that one format is the way to go. Both sound good. Very good. Enjoy the music.
The Dark Side Of The Moon SACD is well worth the purchase price. If you're a Pink Floyd fan how could it not be.
Now, if David Gilmore would just get off his lazy derriere (his words) and get out the DVD5.1 versions of "Delicate Sound Of Thunder" and "Pulse"...this Floyd fan would be content for awhile.
Free Music Review: The best and quintessential Floyd's work. Not perfect anyway
Hit: 5 Stars
It's very hard to review an album that is considered one of the greatest album of history (if not the greatest one): it introduced a revolution in music, was the best concept album ever, and so on.
I think this album is overrated, though I admit that music is great. 'Breathe' is a slide-guitar-based introduction, 'Time' is a wonderful song from all points of view, 'Money' is a good song (maybe overlong, but it works), 'Us And Them' is a Wright's keyboard-based work (maybe a little too epic/slow/long), 'Any Colour You Like' a very pleasant jam, 'Brain Damage' a good Waters ballad, 'Eclipse' a weak melody that works as a good conclusion for the album. But the musical ideas were not completely invented in this album: please notice how 'Childhood's End' is structured in same way as 'Time' (although the first one is much less catchy and rich) and how the melody of 'Eclipse' recalls 'Wot's... Uh The Deal'. 'On The Run' is a non-song put in the wrong place (if it ever deserves a place, which I don't believe) as it breaks the natural flow of the songs. But 'The Great Gig In The Sky', a gorgeous Wright's tune, features great Clare Tory's vocals and an amazing piano playing.
And music is not the only good thing on here. Lyrics are good too; written by Waters (who didn't take control of the band yet) they present his vision of life: lyrics about time, money, madness and so on are deep and flow well, making this a very fine concept album. Special effects are even more important and from this point of view this album presents great innovations: initial heartbeat, laughters, airplanes, clocks and cash registers are working in amazing way (in 'The Wall' effects will work even better).
Overall this album presents terrific moments that overshadow all weak ones ('On The Run', long instrumental part in 'Money', pompousness in 'Us And Them').
So buy 'Dark Side Of The Moon' now if you are searching for the quintessential Floyd's work, just don't believe the hype and don't expect too much: it's a great moment in musical history, but it's no perfection.
Free Music Review: One For The Ages
Hit: 5 Stars
I can't really comprehend what it is that has made this album have such a lasting effect. By no stretch of the imagination is Pink Floyd up to par with bands such as The Beatles or The Rolling Stones for example, but this album is something special. Sure, everyone knows who The Beatles or The Stones are but these two gods of rock have never had a single album that has reached out to as many people as this album has.
From the first day this album was released, in those weed-smoking, acid-dropping 70s, this album hit home to countless people. Whether it was just from the incredible sounds of songs like "Breathe" or the all-to-real message delivered in songs like "Money" or "Time", this album had something for everyone out there, and eventually, something for everyone's children and their children's children. Just to illustrate this, take a tour around any planetarium and I'm sure you will find a Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon laser show.
Personally, I am particular to "Time". This song, apart from having a place in my heart due to the countless times I've heard this song with my father, touches me with the lyrics. Typically being someone that bites off more than I can chew, I always seem to find myself running out of time. The intro to this song is legendary and nothing produced to this day doesn't even come close in comparison . Once the lyrics finally come in...it's safe to say I've reached nirvana.
Pink Floyd, in the same way as other bands, has many other great albums with unforgettable songs - "Wish You Were Here" and "Another Brick in the Wall" to name a few - but with this album they have finally let it all come together with the right combination of incredible writing, outstanding performances, and unforgettable messages. Just as Metallica has the "Black" album as their calling card but ads Ride the Lightning and Justice for All to the list of great albums, Pink Floyd has Dark Side of the Moon as their calling card but albums like The Wall and Wish You Were Here to cement their place as a great band.
Free Music Review: Whatever the format -- LP, CD or SACD -- still magnificent
Hit: 5 Stars
'Dark Side of the Moon' is one of those rare rock albums that continues to grow on me. I was 14 when it first came out, and to be frank, it was a bit of a let-down after all the delays that beset its release. The album just didn't seem to contain a great riff-based track to rival 'One of these Days' from the preceding LP, MEDDLE. Production values didn't seem to be very important to a 14-year-old, and anyway, who was this lowly engineer called Alan Parsons?
I never bought it in the LP format -- relying instead on a cassette recording of a friend's copy. I first bought it in the late 80s on CD, and that for me was the moment of sonic revelation. The care that Parsons and the band had put into the recording back in 1972 suddenly seemed astonishingly worthwhile. (Compare the clarity of this recording to other remastered recordings from the period e.g. Joe Gastwirt's desperate attempts to clear away the grime from Yes's CLOSE TO THE EDGE.)
And now in 2003, I've purchased the 30th anniversary CD. It comes as a hybrid CD/SACD -- which means that it will play in both SACD players and normal CD players. I have a SACD player, but it isn't wired up to the amp for 5.1 sound, so I'm not playing the album in its best environment. In this restricted hi-fi configuration, I have to admit that I'm slightly disappointed that there seems to be no further sonic revelation. (This disappointment provides some motivation for me to get my amp properly wired up!)
However, I sense that the band have tweaked the instrumentation -- and even some of the sampled dialogue that introduces the album -- slightly. None of these minor changes are for the worse, and they provide some intrigue for sald old gits like myself.
The booklet provides no additional liner notes, but includes many photos of the merchandising that has accompanied this album over the years.
We can only begin to guess what the 40th anniversary version will look like in 2013. Presumably it will include holographic projections of the band performing the album in 3D in your living room. Shine on!
Free Music Review: What's Left To Say About This Album?
Hit: 5 Stars
As many musical historians have proved, you don't have to be stoned out of your mind to enjoy Pink Floyd's 1973 masterpiece "The Dark Side Of The Moon", though it certaily doesn't hurt (or at least seems like it doesn't). The 9 songs on this album are among the best ever made, and prooves that Pink Floyd deserve the respect they get today.I was a little hesitant on getting "Dark Side Of The Moon". I heard a lot of the songs on the album were eerie, and I'm not good when it comes to listening to music of this kind. But I took a chance. I admit that the songs that scare me quite a bit, but I was afraid in a differnt way that I really can't explain. It wasn't that I was as much afraid as I was overwhelmed by its brilliance.
"Dark Side Of The Moon"explores just about every genre of early 1970s' music: hard rock ("Money", "Time",), easy listening ("Us And Them"), instrumental ("On The Run", "Any Colour You Like"), and even a combination of the three (the chilling "The Grear Gig In The Sky"). "Brain Damage" is an eerie number written about Sid Barrett, the founding member of the group. One lyric signifies the whole song's story documenting Barrett's fustration and ultimate nervous brekadown concerning the group:
"And if the band you're in starts playing different tunes/I'll see you on the dark side of the moon".
The first half of the opener, "Speak To Me", is a terrifying collection sounds such such as screams and a spooky, heartbeat. The closer "Eclipse" is a review of everything life has to give you (as one reviewr pointed out, this album is meant to be a life cycle), and reprises that heartbeat at the end.
This is such a great album. I hope Pink Floyd patches things up and get back with Roger Waters and go on the road again. Too bad he's too stubborn to ever do such a thing. Oh well. Until then, this album is way more than enough to remind us of Pink Floyd's glory years.