'The Dark Side of the Moon' - Fifty Years

Like any classic rock fan, I listened to Pink Floyd's epic masterpiece The Dark Side of the Moon for its fiftieth anniversary, and I listened to it the way it's best heard - late at night, lying on my bed, ears fully concentrated on the sounds emanating from my CD player (I'm old school).  It still holds up after I first heard it in college, and its conveyance of alienation, madness and mortality seems deeper and more relevant than when it was released in 1973.

The world seems to be coming undone faster these days than at any time in decades. With COVID, the January 6 insurrection, Ukraine, climate change, the constant shake-ups in the British Parliament, and a right-wing judiciary in America on the warpath - not to mention Donald Trump threatening to retake power as the warrior and retribution of his followers - the chilling effect of The Dark Side of the Moon, with its spellbinding arrangements and penetrating lyrics, is even more of a catharsis for listeners.  It still remains an experience to get lost in, and it still reassures you that you are not alone in feeling or suspecting something amiss.  

Pink Floyd successfully created a musical expression of our deepest fears in extremely dark times.  It's a work that demands a renewed listen in times when our only connection to each other is virtual.  The sleeve artwork - with its simple refraction of light from a prism cutting through the darkness and symbolizing the quiet desperation of humanity - is an appropriately accurate reflection of the music and what it represents.

My comments are are more of an appreciation for The Dark Side of the Moon than a proper review.  For that, please click here.