Vinyl of the Week - 10 May 2020

Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd

This week we look at one of the most iconic and popular albums of all time, Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’. Released in 1973, it went on to be one of the most successful albums ever. Selling more than 45 million copies worldwide, it remained in the US charts for 937 weeks. This record was the 8th for Pink Floyd but their first fully conceptual album. All the songs were played by the band live to their audiences in the year leading up to the album’s release. It was recorded at the famous Abbey Rd Studios and the way the tracks flow and their subject matter was planned out in intricate detail. For the first time the lyrics were all written by bassist Roger Waters and the resulting album is artistically and financially a huge success. The cover art was designed by George Hardie and Hipgnosis and has become instantly recognisable all over the world. Dark Side also helped fund another pop culture icon, Pink Floyd contributing 10% of the budget for cult film ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’ after they struggled to get funding. This record is full of innovation and sonic brilliance. I don’t have any standout tracks as this album is meant to be played in its entirety and it’s all so good. Go and give it a spin to see what I mean - DS