Discover interesting facts about one of the greatest psychedelic rock masterpieces
There are albums that were successful, and then there's Dark Side of the Moon . Pink Floyd's eternally popular work has sold over 15 million copies in the United States since its release on March 1, 1973, and over 45 million worldwide. A true gem of classic rock, the album made its creators – bassist and vocalist Roger Waters, guitarist and vocalist David Gilmour, keyboardist and vocalist Rick Wright, and drummer Nick Mason – incredibly wealthy.
Beyond its massive commercial success, Dark Side of the Moon was a turning point in the career of the British quartet, marking the transition from an experimental and progressive Pink Floyd to a rock icon characterized by the richness of its music. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London in several sessions between May 1972 and January 1973, the album overflows with meaning.
Originally conceived as a cohesive collection of songs about the pressures faced by a musician, Dark Side of the Moon expanded its initial objective by addressing broader themes such as wealth (in "Money"), armed conflict (in "Us and Them"), madness (in "Brain Damage"), existential crises (in "Time"), and death (in "The Great Gig in the Sky"). There is much to say about such an important work of music. But, among all of them, Rolling Stone USA has compiled 10 interesting facts about the album, which can be read below.
1.
Dark Side of the Moon was the first Pink Floyd album to feature Roger Waters as the sole composer. Roger Waters had contributed lyrics to Pink Floyd since A Saucerful of Secrets (1968) — he also received co-composer credits on “Pow R. Toc H.” and “Interstellar Overdrive” from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn , the band's 1967 debut — but Dark Side of the Moon marked the first time the bassist oversaw the production of the lyrics for an entire Pink Floyd album.
2. The album was almost called
Eclipse . From the beginning, the band intended to call the album Dark Side of the Moon , as a reference to madness, not outer space, but when Medicine Head released an album with the same name in 1972, Pink Floyd reconsidered the decision and considered the new title Eclipse . But since the work of their British colleagues was not very successful, the group felt free to use the original name.
3. Pink Floyd fans were able to hear Dark Side of the Moon live a year before its official release.
On January 20, 1972, the band played all the tracks from the album live, in the same sequence as they appear on the record, at the Brighton Dome, in a show they called Dark Side of the Moon: A Piece for Assorted Lunatics . The group repeated the performance throughout 1972, improving the tracks and the transitions between them with practice.
4. The original live arrangement of “On the Run” sounds nothing like the album version.
Of all the songs from Dark Side performed live in 1972, “On the Run” underwent the most radical change in the studio. Originally known as “The Travel Sequence,” the instrumental track was originally guitar-driven, but received a massive electronic transformation during recording, thanks to a portable modular analog synthesizer known as the EMS Synthi AKS.
5. “Money” was influenced by Booker T. & the MG's.
According to David Gilmour, “Money” has roots in the American instrumental soul band Booker T. & the MG's. In a 2003 interview with Rolling Stone USA , he explained that he had the album Green Onions in his teens, and that he brought a lot of the group into his musical production.
6. Paul McCartney's contributions were deleted from the album – but the Beatle also made a special appearance on the LP.
In an attempt to tie the tracks of Dark Side together, Roger Waters recorded interviews with Abbey Road staff, tour crew, and everyone working in the studio, and included parts of the conversations in the final version. Paul McCartney, who was finishing Red Rose Speedway , the Wings album, at Abbey Road, was among those interviewed, but Waters did not use his answers.
Despite this, McCartney – or at least his music – still managed a brief appearance on the album. If you listen carefully to the end of "Eclipse," there's a passage from the orchestral version of The Beatles' "Ticket to Ride"; the song was apparently playing in the background in the studio while Gerry O'Driscoll was being recorded.
Zabriskie Point
soundtrack . “Us and Them” began to take shape in 1969 as an instrumental track called “The Violent Sequence,” written by Wright and Waters for the soundtrack of Michelangelo Antonioni’s Zabriskie Point (1970). Although the Italian director included three Pink Floyd tracks – “Heart Beat, Pig Meat,” “Crumbling Land,” and “Come in Number 51, Your Time Is Up” – in the film, “The Violent Sequence” was left out.
8. They considered putting the Silver Surfer on the album cover.
The cover of Dark Side is so iconic that it's hard to even imagine it being different. Especially if we consider that it could have featured an image of the comic book character Silver Surfer. In an interview with John Harris, Powell said that "they never received permission to use the image" but that it was a very "mystical" and "cosmic" idea.
9.
Dark Side of the Moon was Pink Floyd's first album to enter the Top 40 in the United States. Previously, the band's biggest hit in the United States had been "Obscured by Clouds ," the soundtrack they made for the French film La Vallée , which reached number 46 on the Billboard charts in 1972. But thanks to a strong promotional campaign, Dark Side of the Moon reached the top spot after only two months of its release.
10. Profits from the album helped fund the production of
Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Between recording sessions for Dark Side of the Moon, the members of Pink Floyd watched the British series Monty Python's Flying Circus . So when the comedians decided to raise funds to make the brilliant Monty Python and the Holy Grail , released in 1975, the Floyd members were more than happy to contribute 10% of the film's initial budget of £200,000.
