45 years ago...March 1, 1973: Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon

[Miles Archer]

The numbers attached to The Dark Side of the Moon are pretty impressive. More than 50 million copies sold worldwide, 15 straight years on Billboard’s album chart, consistently ranked in the Top 10 of many best-albums-ever-made polls. But Pink Floyd’s achievements with their eighth LP go deeper than that. In a way, their 1973 epic changed the way people made and listened to albums. There’s still no better head trip -- legally at least -- available.

Following original leader Syd Barrett’s breakdown and departure from the band in the late ‘60s, Pink Floyd took off in a different direction. The psychedelic tones Barrett brought to the music were still there, but the albums became headier -- sturdier in ways that the always-delicate Barrett couldn’t conceive or articulate. Through a series of musically complex and exploratory records, the four remaining members of Pink Floyd connected personal themes to space age freakout music.

Everything leading up to The Dark Side of the Moon, which was released in March 1973, was mere prep work. With their 43-minute opus, Pink Floyd delivered a masterpiece on death, madness and the post-war problems of kids who came of age in the ‘50s. In a way it’s a tribute to Barrett, whose mental breakdowns were well-known and well-documented at that point. But it’s also a tribute to a generation of young twenty-somethings searching for reason and purpose. The Dark Side of the Moon doesn’t necessarily have the answers; the best it can muster is a we’re-all-crazy-here shrug. And maybe that’s enough.

But the album’s 10 songs land with a massive force. From the opening heartbeat instrumental "Speak to Me" to the soul- and mind-cleansing closer "Eclipse," The Dark Side of the Moon made deep, heavy records -- ones without obvious radio singles, even though "Money" almost hit the Top 10 -- a commercial mainstay for the rest of the decade. Its influence still resonates indirectly (think Radiohead’s string of artsy, musically complex records) and directly (the Flaming Lips covered the entire album in 2009) with artists. It set up Pink Floyd for the rest of their career. It made headphone listening a required luxury. It’s the aural equivalent of 2001: A Space Odyssey. And it’s still blowing minds.

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/pink-floyd-dark-side-of-the-moon/

[Arkansas Granny]

1. Wow. How time flies. I didn't realize it had been that long ago.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

2. Easily one of the greatest albums of all time!

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. I still...always...have the album.

went from album itself ( my kid got that one) t cassette to cd to computer file, and still play it loud as hell when teh mood strikes.

Not to rat anyone out, but the first time I heard Beethoven's 5th and the first time I heard Dark Side, I was blissfully stoned for the first time. My friend was going thru music albums....insisted on putting these 2 on.
Every note of both albums stay in my brain even today.

van Cliburn and Pink Floyd....twas marvelous.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

7. Yep!

I gave all of my vinyl to my daughter a few years ago including the Dark Side Of The Moon I’d listened to hundreds of times as well as an unopened one that I bought at the same time.

Great memories!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. In the US and Canada. The UK had to wait another 15 days.

Sorry for the mansplaining, but you got me to look at the Wikipedia entry.

The Dark Side of the Moon

....

Release

....
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 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 in New York City on 17 March before an audience of 6,000. The album reached the Billboard Top LP's & Tape chart's number one spot on 28 April 1973, and was so successful that the band returned two months later for another tour.

To my surprise, this album is not to be confused with the other albums with that name:

Dark side of the Moon

In music

Albums

• Dark Side of the Moon, a 1972 album by Medicine Head
• The Dark Side of the Moon, a 1973 album by Pink Floyd
• Dark Side of the Moon, a 1974 album by Nichelle Nichols
• The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon, a 2009 album

[MFM008]

4. I was in high school

I'm soooo old.

[njhoneybadger]

5. Dark Side of the Moon is a Masterpiece

[Beausoleil]

8. One of the highlights from my high school days

Senior Skip Day 1973!

We went to a buddy's house (he was a huge Pink Floyd fan as most of us were), the album had just come out and he had bought it. We spent the afternoon doing what a bunch of skipping seniors do while listening to Dark Side of the Moon, probably even to this day.

We had a great time.

Until his dad got home early and busted us.

Dark Side of the Moon has always had a special place in my heart after that. But I still like to listen to previous Pink Floyd albums; Atom Heart Mother and Meddle were my favorites.