The Dark Side of the Moon

This is fine. As a musician I used to play shows with once said, Pink Floyd are not nearly as terrible as their haters make them out to be and not nearly as great as their enthusiasts say. I think this is the correct take. There are some nicely experimental, psychedelic moments here but they don't really cohere with the songs, which are (mostly) quite safe and soft rock-ish. "Money" is pretty cool though.

I’m too sober for this

Why does the Best Album of All Time (TM) sound so tired

Not my favorite Floyd album but one of my favorite albums full stop.

The concept was so well executed

This is far from my favourite Floyd album but this is still as iconic as it is for a reason. Plenty of fantastic songs on here, several of which stand as some of the best in this band's entire catalogue and a very forward thinking concept too.

Fav Songs: Time, Money, The Great Gig In The Sky, Us And Them

Least Fav: On the Run

9.5/10

Beautiful, lush, and demands to be listened to in it's entirety with no bad tracks. Favorite track: Time

This album is such a masterpiece, with so many beautiful layers, and still being so deep. It's not the best Pink Floyd album, I wouldn't say so (but it's close to be, of course), but this just shows (at least to me) the greatness of the band. The Dark Side of the Moon is not that psychedelic as other Pink Floyd albums, but it's a fantastic conceptual album, so greatly done and delivered. 1973 has to be a special year for music... I mean, this album, plus Tubular Bells, Houses of the Holy,... So many great albums were released that year. And this one is of the best, being more of a long song rather than small ones. They all blend into each other so well, with such taste and with so much to dive in that it is such an immersive and rich musical experience where there is so much variety and still a very clear and defined sound. Overall, an album to consider as one of the greatest of all time... yet to say that there should be space for, at least, one more Pink Floyd album. But this one's such a delight.

Cool album

I grew up with this album in high school. I have close friends who loved it and loved Floyd but they were not my thing. I like "Wish You Were Here" fine but that was about it. I was more into the Kinks, Neil Young, Led Zeppelin, et cetera.

I listened to the Dolby Atmos mix of the album with really good headphones this morning. While I can't say it blew my mind, it came pretty darn close. Hard to give anything less than five stars.

No explanation needed

solid 80/100

This is a classic. But it's a classic I grew up listening to interminably. I don't hate it. I love it the way I loved my old toys. On a shelf these days. It's cool to take it down and peruse but I find myself asking how I got so lost in it all? It's like I can't quite find the door to step inside that world again with this album?

Strangely, I don't have this issue with The Wall.

It's still an amazing album but it's not the perfect slick black masterpiece for me that it was at 13 upon my father's turntable.

It's human and, despite its mythos, it's just a really good album with long expanses I've maybe too often walked across to appreciate the vista as much as in my youth.

That's a me problem but then...it's my review.

It’s something higher than a 5, though I’m personally not quite at a 10.

I’ve never heard this album in full. I’ve never even gone out of my way to look up a track from the album. It just seemed like a monolith that I was always too scared to tackle, on account of the near-universal acclaim. Of course, it’s inescapable. Every track here had something I had heard before, whether it be from SiIvaGunner rips, online edits, or just catching them occasionally over the years on the radio. As a full project though, I’m stunned at just how coherently it all flows together, with lots of audio callbacks throughout. This feels more akin to an audio drama as opposed to an album, but the sound design is the glue that keeps it all together. The instrumentals feel as potent (if not moreso) than the vocals & lyrics, which are already really well-written & performed. “Time”, “Money” & “Us and Them” in particular are the obvious lyrical standouts, but they also contain fantastic instrumental sections that overshadow those lyrics. I don’t even have to say anything else about “The Great Gig in the Sky” as a track – it’s just that good on its own.

Ironically enough, since it’s such a strongly flowing 43 minutes, I find it hard to really focus on this as a track-by-track album and just more of a 43 minute experience. In a weird way, that might be why I’m not at a 10 with it? Part of that is because I just don’t think it’s as good as “Wish You Were Here” & arguably not as good as “The Wall”, which both feel like equal or better Pink Floyd albums to me. Of course, comparing any of these 3 albums to each other is like picking between 3 different gold watches – there’s literally not a wrong answer. However, as a fully connected album experience, I found myself… not “unable” to catch the vibes, but I think on a first pass, I was too intent on trying to “get” the album as opposed to naturally letting them come to me. That might just be the overwhelming expectations I set for myself going in, and I’ll probably be a lot looser on future listens (because it’s certainly good enough to warrant many more).

Of course, there’s not a “correct” answer for how to interpret Dark Side of the Moon. It just comes to you, and while the intent of a life from start to finish is there, everyone has their own way they digest this album. That’s part of the prism of the album cover. For me, I think I was expecting some grand magnum opus far ahead of its time that influenced everything for years to come (and it honestly probably is), but ultimately, what I think I’ve ended up listening to is just a fantastically flowing set of tracks (“just” doing some heavy lifting here). For better or worse, I’m just not as totally blown away as I thought I would be, like I have been at the end of some other albums on the list, and I think that’s where I’m holding myself back from a 10. As it stands though, it is easily deserving of its acclaim, and it’s probably a top 15 album of the 1970s, bare minimum. It never once falters, it never finds a bad track, it never hits a lull point – maybe a bit self-indulgent at points with some solos or whatever, but the entire experience flies by brilliantly. I think anything lower than a 4 is criminal, and I’m certainly still higher than a 5 on a first pass. I’m glad to finally have listened to it, and I really want to listen to it more.

Good album? Yeah, sure. THE best album ever? Yeah, not so much. I feel like this is way too overrated. Yeah, I get it, you were young and you absolutely adored this album at the time. It is actually proven that we are most likely to still listen to songs from our teenage years later in life, favouring them over others and only having fond memories of them.

I'm just 21 so even if this was my favourite album, I still couldn't have understood what this album meant during its prime, what it offered, or what changes it brought to the industry. That's one aspect of this album I'm not trying to dispute. Music taste is subjective but the influence this album had is undeniably objective. It is for sure deserving of its spot on this list. Since I'm on the younger side I also don't understand the trend during that time period with having such long songs. Maybe my attention span is totally fried but I don't think there is a need for such lengths. It starts dragging on at some point for me and I just start wishing it would end already.

Even with all my small critical comments I still think it's a nice album. It's fun having it on while I work or paint or study. It's interesting. You can clearly see it's something new for its time, something daring, and I appreciate that. Great album, but it has a few weak spots in my opinion. More of a 4.5, it's nowhere near the perfection others attribute to it but still a great album.

Favorite track(s): what is there to say (besides that this isn't even their best album)?

Heard before
Previous rating: 9/10

Remember getting super high on shrooms and going to the planetarium to see the Dark Side of the Moon lazer show? Do you? I do.

Atmosphärisch, klanglich brillant und thematisch tiefgründig. Songs wie „Time“ und „Money“ sind legendär. Dennoch fehlt im Vergleich zu Wish You Were Here oder The Wall etwas von deren emotionaler Wucht und erzählerischer Geschlossenheit. Großartig, aber nicht ganz Pink Floyds Meisterstück.

Not the worst Pink Floyd album … but still pretty terrible

A five star album I never need to hear again.