#16 Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd

The 100 Greatest Albums of All Time

2025 Album Rank

16

2011 Album Rank

17

Total Points

2094

Year Released

1973

Billboard 200 Chart Peak

1

Weeks at #1

1

RIAA Sales Certification

15,000,000 (Multi-Platinum)

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Dark Side of the Moon Album Details

Released on March 1, 1973, The Dark Side of the Moon is Pink Floyd's landmark conceptual masterpiece, an album that melds sonic innovation with existential lyricism, exploring themes like time, mental illness, capitalism, and mortality. Its seamless transitions, sound effects, and layered studio wizardry created a continuous listening experience unlike anything before it. It catapulted the band into global superstardom and became one of the best-selling and most influential records in music history.

The album's unified structure was conceived from live performance sketches and tightened during intensive studio sessions at Abbey Road. With tracks like "Time", "Us and Them", and "Brain Damage", Pink Floyd embraced new sonic dimensions, incorporating tape loops, analog synthesizers, and philosophical lyricism. The record remained on the Billboard 200 for an unprecedented 741 weeks between 1973 and 1988, reflecting its enduring cultural and sonic resonance.

Interesting Facts about Dark Side of the Moon

• Before the album's release, Pink Floyd performed an early version under the title "Eclipse: A Piece for Assorted Lunatics" beginning in January 1972. Many lyrics and arrangements were still evolving during these shows.
• The ticking and chiming clocks that open "Time" were recorded as a standalone quadraphonic sound test by engineer Alan Parsons, then repurposed for the album.
• Clare Torry's stunning improvised vocal on "The Great Gig in the Sky" was recorded in a single session. She was initially paid a standard session fee but later received co-writing credit after a legal settlement.
• The heartbeat that opens and closes the album was created by a heavily processed bass drum. It symbolizes the beginning and end of life, a conceptual bookend to the album's themes.
• The voices heard between tracks are snippets of interviews conducted by Roger Waters with Abbey Road staff, roadies, and band associates. One voice is Paul McCartney's, but his answers were left out for sounding too self-conscious.
• Early versions of "Us and Them" date back to an unused instrumental called "The Violent Sequence", composed during sessions for Zabriskie Point in 1969. Richard Wright reworked the chords and Waters added lyrics for the album.
• "Money" features a 7/4 time signature in the verses, switching to 4/4 during the guitar solo, an unusual structure for a song that became a mainstream radio hit.
• A quadraphonic mix was created for early audiophile systems, and several alternate mixes were prepared, including an early Alan Parsons mix with different vocal takes and effects, later released in the 2023 box set.
• David Gilmour's iconic guitar solo on "Time" was constructed from several takes and edited together by producer Chris Thomas, who also added subtle tape echo to enhance its atmosphere.
• The album's prism cover, designed by Hipgnosis and George Hardie, was chosen from multiple concepts and became one of the most recognizable visuals in rock history. No title or band name appears on the front cover.
• During live performances in the 1970s, the band expanded sections of the album, such as a much longer intro jam to "Money" and extended saxophone solos by Dick Parry on "Us and Them".
• Roger Waters has revisited and reinterpreted the album multiple times, including during his 2006-2008 Dark Side of the Moon Live tour and in his controversial 2023 re-recording, which removed Gilmour's vocals and solos in favor of a spoken-word reinterpretation.
• The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 for its cultural and historical significance.

Dark Side of the Moon Track List

1. Speak to Me
2. Breathe
3. On the Run
4. Time
5. The Great Gig in the Sky
6. Money - Reached #13 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart
7. Us and Them
8. Any Colour You Like
9. Brain Damage
10. Eclipse

• Next Album: #15 Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder
• Previous Album: #17 Blood on the Tracksby Bob Dylan