Pink Floyd/The Dark Side of The Moon

"The Dark Side of the Moon" explores themes including conflict, greed, the passage of time, death and mental illness. Snippets from interviews with the band's road crew and other people are incorporated into several tracks. The album cover, depicting light passing through a prism, was designed by Storm Thorgerson and George Hardie in response to Richard Wright's request for a simple and bold design representing the band's stage lighting and the album's themes. The album was promoted by the singles "Money" and "Us and Them".

The album received widespread critical acclaim and has frequently appeared in lists of highly regarded albums published by music publications. It contributed to Pink Floyd's international success and became one of the best-selling albums of the 1970s. It was certified 14 times platinum in the United Kingdom and reached number one on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart. By 2013, it had reportedly sold more than 45 million copies worldwide. In 2012, the album was selected for preservation in the United States National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress, which cited it as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.

Following "Meddle" in 1971, Pink Floyd embarked on a tour of Britain, Japan and the United States. At a band meeting at Nick Mason's home in North London, Roger Waters proposed that a new album could form part of the tour. Waters conceived an album addressing experiences that could cause psychological distress, including pressures associated with the band's lifestyle and the mental health problems experienced by Syd Barrett. Pink Floyd had previously explored a related concept in the 1969 concert suite "The Man and The Journey". David Gilmour later said that the band wanted the lyrics to be more direct and specific than those of some of their earlier material.

Waters created demo recordings in a small studio in a garden shed at his home in Islington. Some material was adapted from previously unused compositions. The opening line of "Breathe" originated in an earlier work by Waters and Ron Geesin written for the soundtrack of "The Body", while the basic structure of "Us and Them" was derived from "The Violent Sequence", a composition by Richard Wright originally written for the film "Zabriskie Point".

The band rehearsed at a warehouse in London owned by the Rolling Stones and at the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park. They acquired additional equipment, including new speakers, a public address system, a 28-track mixing desk with four-channel quadraphonic output and a custom-built lighting rig. Approximately nine tonnes of equipment were transported in three lorries. The tour was the first on which the band performed material from an entire album before its release.

The album initially carried the provisional title "Dark Side of the Moon", a reference to lunacy rather than astronomy. After the band learned that Medicine Head had already used the title, it was temporarily changed to "Eclipse". The new material was first performed publicly at the Dome in Brighton on 20 January 1972. After Medicine Head's album failed commercially, Pink Floyd restored the original title.

"Dark Side of the Moon: A Piece for Assorted Lunatics" was performed for members of the press at the Rainbow Theatre on 17 February 1972, more than a year before the album's release. The performance received generally positive reviews. Michael Wale of The Times described it as "bringing tears to the eyes", while Derek Jewell of The Sunday Times commented on the scale of the band's artistic ambitions. Melody Maker was more critical, praising some of the musical ideas while finding some of the sound effects distracting.

The subsequent tour allowed Pink Floyd to refine the material and its presentation. The songs were performed in the same order in which they eventually appeared on the album, although some arrangements differed. "On the Run", for example, did not initially contain its synthesiser parts, while "The Great Gig in the Sky" featured spoken readings rather than Clare Torry's vocals.

Pink Floyd's tour of Europe and North America continued throughout 1972. Recording was interrupted in February when the band travelled to France to record music for director Barbet Schroeder's film "La Vallée". They subsequently performed in Japan and North America before returning to London. Recording resumed in May and June, followed by further concerts in Europe and North America. The band returned to London on 9 January 1973 to complete the album.

"The Dark Side of the Moon" drew on experiments Pink Floyd had developed in earlier live performances and recordings while reducing the extended instrumental passages that had characterised some of the band's previous work. David Gilmour later described those passages as psychedelic improvisation. Gilmour and Waters identified "Meddle" as an important step towards the approach developed on the new album.

The album's lyrical themes include conflict, greed, the passage of time, death and mental illness. The latter theme was influenced in part by Barrett's deteriorating mental state. The album also incorporates elements of musique concrète.

Each side of the original vinyl album forms a continuous piece of music. The five tracks on each side address different aspects of human experience, beginning and ending with a heartbeat. Waters described the album as dealing with "empathy". "Speak to Me" and "Breathe" address everyday aspects of life alongside the threat of psychological distress. "On the Run" uses electronic sounds to evoke anxiety associated with modern travel, while "Time" examines the passage of time and its effect on people's lives. "The Great Gig in the Sky" addresses mortality through Wright's piano composition and Torry's wordless vocals.

"Money" opens the second side with the sounds of cash registers and coins. Its lyrics address money and consumerism. "Us and Them" examines conflict and divisions between people, while "Any Colour You Like" concerns the perception of choice. "Brain Damage" addresses mental illness and the pressures associated with fame and success, with some of its lyrics commonly interpreted as references to Barrett. "Eclipse" concludes the album by bringing together several of its themes and emphasising connections between different aspects of human experience.

The album was recorded at EMI Studios, now Abbey Road Studios, over approximately 60 days between 31 May 1972 and 9 February 1973. Alan Parsons served as staff engineer, having previously worked as an assistant tape operator on "Atom Heart Mother" and as an engineer on recordings by the Beatles. The sessions made extensive use of multitrack recording, including Studer A80 16-track recorders.

"Us and Them" was the first track recorded, on 31 May, followed by "Money" seven days later. For "Money", Waters created effects loops from recordings of coins, paper, a cash register and an adding machine. The recordings were subsequently adapted for the album's quadraphonic mix.

"Time" and "The Great Gig in the Sky" were recorded next. A two-month break followed, during which the band spent time with their families and prepared for a tour of the United States. The sessions were occasionally interrupted by other activities, including Waters attending Arsenal matches and the band watching "Monty Python's Flying Circus" on television.

After returning to London in January 1973, the band recorded "Brain Damage", "Eclipse", "Any Colour You Like" and "On the Run" and completed earlier material. Female vocalists were assembled for "Brain Damage", "Eclipse" and "Time", while Dick Parry played saxophone on "Us and Them" and "Money". The band also filmed studio footage for the documentary "Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii". The album was completed at Abbey Road on 9 February 1973.

The album incorporates numerous studio effects. "Speak to Me" was assembled by Nick Mason and uses cross-faded elements from other tracks as an introduction to the album. The sounds used on "Money" were created from recordings of coins, paper, a cash register and an adding machine and arranged into a repeating rhythmic loop. The quadraphonic version was designed to make sounds appear to move around the listener.

Pink Floyd used prominent synthesisers on several tracks. The EMS VCS 3 was used on "Brain Damage" and "Any Colour You Like", while a Synthi A was used on "Time" and "On the Run". Other effects included sounds produced in the studio's echo chamber and a specially treated bass drum intended to resemble a human heartbeat. "Time" incorporates recordings of clocks and chimes originally made by Parsons as part of a quadraphonic recording experiment.

Richard Wright and David Gilmour used vocal harmonies on several tracks. Parsons employed techniques including double tracking, while flanging, phase shifting, reverberation and stereo panning were used extensively. The quadraphonic mix of "On the Run" makes particularly prominent use of movement between channels.

"The Great Gig in the Sky" features Wright's piano composition and improvised vocals by Clare Torry, a session singer who regularly worked at Abbey Road. Parsons suggested Torry to the band, and Gilmour asked her to express emotions through her voice without using lyrics. Torry improvised several performances, which were subsequently edited to create the final recording. She initially believed that her vocals would not be included in the finished album and discovered that they had been used after purchasing a copy and seeing her name in the credits.

Torry was initially paid a standard session fee of £30. In 2004, she sued EMI and Pink Floyd, arguing that her contribution to "The Great Gig in the Sky" constituted co-authorship. The case was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. Later pressings of the album credit Wright and Torry jointly for the composition.

During the final week of recording, Waters asked members of the Abbey Road staff and other people to answer questions printed on flashcards. Their responses were recorded and incorporated into the album. The questions initially concerned subjects such as favourite colours and foods before addressing violence, death and mental illness.

Several members of Pink Floyd's road crew contributed recordings. Roger "The Hat" Manifold, Chris Adamson, Peter Watts and Patricia "Puddie" Watts were among those whose voices appear on the album. Gerry O'Driscoll, the Irish doorman at the studios, provided several responses concerning death and mental illness, including the final spoken line on the album.

Paul and Linda McCartney were also interviewed, although their responses were not used. Henry McCullough, a member of McCartney's band Wings, contributed a spoken response that was incorporated into the album.

After the flashcard sessions, producer Chris Thomas was brought in to assist with the final mix. Thomas had previously worked with George Martin and was acquainted with Pink Floyd's manager, Steve O'Rourke. Accounts of the mixing process have differed. Waters and Mason were reported to have preferred a drier mix with greater emphasis on the non-musical elements, while Gilmour and Wright favoured a more spacious sound. Thomas later said that he did not recall a significant disagreement among the band members. His work included adjustments to the effects on "Us and Them" and participation in the recording of "The Great Gig in the Sky".

The album's original gatefold sleeve was designed by Hipgnosis and George Hardie. Richard Wright requested a simple and distinctive design. Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell considered several concepts before the band selected the prism design.

The artwork was inspired partly by a photograph of a prism dispersing white light, found by Thorgerson in a physics textbook, and by an illustration by Alex Steinweiss. George Hardie created the final artwork. The cover depicts a beam of white light passing through a triangular prism and emerging as a spectrum of colours. The design was intended to represent the band's stage lighting, the album's lyrics and Wright's request for a simple and bold image.

At Roger Waters's suggestion, the spectrum continues onto the gatefold. The inner artwork includes a representation of the album's heartbeat effect, while the back cover features another prism. The sleeve also contained two posters and two pyramid-themed stickers. One poster featured photographs of the band performing in concert, while the other used an infrared photograph of the pyramids at Giza.

The band decided to print the album's lyrics on the sleeve, marking the first time they had done so.

"The Dark Side of the Moon" was released in the United States on 1 March 1973 and in the United Kingdom on 16 March. It achieved immediate commercial success in Britain and other parts of Western Europe and received a gold certification in the United States during its first month.

During March 1973, Pink Floyd performed the album as part of their United States tour, including a performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on 17 March. The album reached number one on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart on 28 April 1973. It also achieved sustained chart success in Canada, where it remained within the top three for 22 weeks between May and September 1973.