Well here it is, the finale. Pretty predictable final, but this one should go right down to the wire. I'll vote in about 15 minutes, after I've listened to the two. Each song would be a deserving winner. Time? Extradordinary vocals from Dave and Rick, an awe-inspiring solo, and then the beautiful reprise. Us and Them? Water-tight musicianship, terrific vocals, a sax solo... the list goes on.
Here's my review of Dark Side for anyone who's interested. I was going to put it on epinions but every time I try it keeps shittin' itself. Warning: It is lengthy.
DARK SIDE OF THE MOON REVIEW
At the beginning of this year I decided to embark on a musical journey; I would seek music's most famous albums, buy them and try to appreciate. I began with the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper and David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust, and then went for Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.
What an amazing record.
As word has it, the then members of Pink Floyd gathered and spoke about themes which they felt were a burden on their and others' lives. Themes such as money, death, insanity, time, love and so on. They took these themes away and structured them into songs. Here's what resulted.
Speak to Me
A Nick Mason production, the album begins (and ends) with a solitary heartbeat, which soon transforms into a sort of ‘screening’ for the rest of the album, with the clever studio techniques (cash machine, money, talking, laughter, clocks chiming, wailing and all the rest) briefly played early on. Ends with the wail which segues very nicely into Breathe.
Breathe
Still classified as track one, this song begins kicks in after about a minute and half or so with the incredibly melancholic slide guitar of David Gilmour. The opening chords have become famous for a good reason. They too foreshadow the entire glum feel of the album. Soon Dave comes in with his vocals, telling us to “Breathe, breathe in the air, don’t be afraid to care…” It is quite significant that these are the first lyrics of the album, as they seem to show that there is hope if you can embrace life. But the song takes a number of dark turns at the end of each verse. The first is “all you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be,” which seems to suggest that the simplest things in life are all one can get of it; and the second “balanced on the biggest wave, you race towards an early grave,” which takes the turn of even if you embrace life, your number is still coming. Everything is a false dawn. And it’s on this sad note we drift into On the Run.
Best bit – The wail which segues into Dave’s timeless slide guitar.
On the Run
An instrumental, but not your average throw-away or filler instrumental. As with all Pink Floyd’s instrumentals there’s a story to tell, or music to cohere. On the Run is only three-and-a-half minutes long, but sets a terrific mood. Our protagonist is seemingly crazy, evidenced by the lunatic laughter, an idea which is revisited later. (A reference to Syd Barrett? The Madcap Laughs?) It is also one of the very few songs which portrays a feeling akin to its song title, but that is exactly what On the Run does. A fast-paced and quickly-moving track, it is coupled with sharp work from the boys and a computer voice which gives the listener the picture that they are in danger. Run from the voice or be beset upon. Ending abruptly, it sadly appears that our protagonist has been caught. By time perhaps?
Best bit – The track reaching its explosive climax and then fading into Time…
Time
A sprawling seven minute epic track with unbelievable musical work from the boys. The song is famed for its beginning, in which a large number of clocks go off simultaneously (all clocks were set to a certain time, and recorded individually, and then cut and pasted together in the fabled Abbey Road studios). These clocks are preceded by the culmination of some haunting work by Dave, Roger Waters and Nick Mason, in particular Nick, who controls the almost two minute instrumental with his sublime drumming, and then kicks us into the song. The vocals from Roger in the first and third verses and Rick Wright in the second and fourth verses are some of the strongest vocals rock has heard. The lyrics are profound in this song. Revisiting the gloom of Breathe, Time seems to come directly from the early brainstorming sessions. The first half of the song ends with “and then one day you find ten years have got behind you, no-one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun...,” leaving the listener downtrodden. What follows is a masterly solo from the maestro Gilmour, which both impresses yet still leaves you with a melancholy taste. The vocals come back once again, still morose. “And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it’s sinking…” Yet it is Rick’s underrated vocal work which really provides the emotional power behind the song. The desperation and sadness in his voice is amazingly caught on record. These small things are what make Dark Side such an incredible record. The final verse takes us back into a reprise of Breathe, which amazingly almost trounces Breathe itself. A soft piano outro takes into one of the record’s stranger tracks.
Best bit – Rick’s second-verse desperate vocals leading into an awe-inspiring solo.
The Great Gig in the Sky
It continues to amaze people today how this record came to be so successful with a track of this nature on it. It was certainly ahead of its time, and a very brave move. A track with no sung ‘lyrics’, TGGITS is on of three tracks on the album not to include lyrics. A soft piano intro, coupled with work from Rick and Nick slowly morphs into an incredibly moving vocal monster. The only vocal is a ‘wail’ from the astounding Clare Torry. The song was one which came from the themes of death, which are masterly represented by Torry. The distant yet powerful wailing positions the listener in another place entirely. Once again I still marvel at the ability to record such emotion and power on an album. Live you can understand but translating this onto an album is nothing short of startling. Incredible song.
Best bit – Torry really hitting the straps in the middle of the song.
Money
Pink Floyd’s first ‘hit’, and partly the reason this album safely secures a spot amongst music’s all time great albums. The track begins with the cash machine and grinding of money, and then becomes an instant hit with the catchy bass of Roger Waters. The song is loved for it’s pure rock ‘n’ roll feel, in the heavy and rocking vocals of Waters and grinding musical work in the background. Another song perhaps derived from the brainstorming sessions, it focuses on this money that can control our lives, and lists by name all the material things. It also told of the Floyd’s desire to be rich and famous, as evidenced in the outrageous gifts for the protagonist (a football team, a Lear jet and so on). It was the first time a swear word was used in a Pink Floyd song as well. But Money’s, well, ‘moneymaker’ comes in the otherworldly solo in the middle section of the song. Lasting over a minute, it showcases some of Gilmour’s overt guitar genius. Translated live it became an almost overpowering monster. Finishing slowly with those voices, it segues into one of the album’s best tracks.
Best bit – The solo. Duh.
Us and Them
A complete turn from the decisively hard rock of Money, Us and Them is simply one of the best songs of all time. Entirely perfect, it begins with echoing keyboard work from Rick, and then very soft piano before Gilmour effortlessly chimes in with a distant, ethereal vocal. We are won over as soon as he sings “us and them…” echoing into the distance. This leads into the utterly incredible ‘chorus’, a mixture of mind-blowing vocals from Rick and Dave and beautiful harmonies from Clare Torry and friends. These ‘choruses’ each with a different set of lyrics, are music to die for. The sheer power in the vocals is unreservedly incredible. The song just continues to get better and better. How many rock songs have a sax solo in the middle eight? Dick Parry’s work on Dark Side, and this song in particular is just orgasmic. The song is the album’s longest, at just under eight minutes, but the kind of song you want to continue on forever. One of the greatest moments in history. Ends with a perfect segue into Any Colour You Like.
Best bit – Impossible to split the four ‘choruses’.
Any Colour You Like
Showcases the genius of Rick Wright. A total Wright composition, it is made up of sprawling keyboard and synthesiser pieces, coupled with wingman Gilmour’s free-flowing guitar. It is here that album takes a sudden and shocking upward turn, at least music-wise. A compilation, A Collection of Great Dance Songs, was released later in Pink Floyd’s catalogue as a joke, but this song is actually groovy. It is instantly catchy and well-loved by Pink Floydians. The song is sometimes regarded as a simple musician’s wank-fest, a track to be played at right angles with the guitar, eyes closed, body caught up in the music. That may be, but still one of the very best instrumentals of all time. Wright was a man who was always forced to take a back seat as the ego of frontman Roger Waters grew, until a point where he was kicked out of the band, just before The Wall tour. Realising they needed him, he was rehired, but was labeled as a session musician, and in a quirky turn of events was actually paid more than his former bandmates!
Best bit – The whole thing. Immensely enjoyable.
Brain Damage
As Any Colour You Like strikes its close, the familiar, almost classical Gilmour guitar comes in for the only straightforward song of the album. It is the only song to follow a verse-chorus-verse-chorus structure. Song masterfully by Roger Waters, Brain Damage discusses the themes of lunacy, perhaps representing that our protagonist has finally fell off the rails. Out of his depressive kick and now falling apart. But the music of this song and the following song manages to somehow contrast this seemingly terrible story with upbeat music. The vocals from Roger seem to suggest that maybe coming off the rails isn’t such a bad thing. Perhaps he even approves. Another masterstroke of this almost flawless album. This track however is most loved for its wonderful chorus, in particular the delievery of the immortal line, “I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon…” with Torry and pals back again to harmonise Waters. Possibly the most exciting part of the record comes towards the very end, as Nick Mason leads us into what is, in my mind, the best ending to any album, ever.
Best bit – The delievery of the “dark side of the moon lines” and Mason’s drums at the end.
Eclipse
Eclipse, clocking in at two minutes and four seconds (yet lasting barely a minute-and-a-half) is quite possibly the most perfect song, most perfect closer anyone has ever recorded. Still sounding as fresh as ever over thirty years on it contains some of the most uplifting and just generally magnificent music one will ever have the luxury of hearing. A blind man may feel depressed for his inability to see, but a deaf man will never be able to hear the pure magic of this song. And that’s exactly what it is. Magic. The song resonates through the listener’s ears with Dave, Nick and Rick combining to perfectly coalesce with Roger Water’s timeless vocals. A piece which begins in seventh gear and never once lets go. Our protagonist has well and truly fallen off the rails, but as Brain Damage and the sheer happiness of Eclipse allude to it is not all bad. Perhaps it is better this way. Waters lists all the things one experiences in life, from taste and touch to love and hate. But it is the final few lines that leave the listener in pure (breathless, if you’re like me) awe.
All that is now
And all that is gone
And all that’s to come
And everything under the sun is in tune
But the sun the is eclipsed by the moon…
Roger’s lyrics suggest that life can kick you in the nuts. But it is also a wonderful experience. Take it as you wish. So you aren’t perfect. You’re still alive. Live. Eclipse and in turn the album ends with the heartbeat with which it began, still beating, and the voice is back to tell us that “there is no dark side of the moon really. Matter of fact it’s all dark.”
Best bit – All 124 seconds of it.
And that is how I perceive Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. The story? Just what I got out of it. Many people claim this album is overrated. I may appear incredibly biased but I can’t say it is overrated because I think it deserves all the credit it gets. It is amazing. Life-changing. An absolute must-have for any music fan. The perfect place to start if you’re looking to get into the Floyd.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it and listening along as I wrote.
Cheers,
Daniel
