This month, music fans around the world will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of one of the greatest albums of all time, Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon.
Featuring one of the most iconic and recognisable album covers of all time, the eighth studio album from Pink Floyd was originally released on March 1, 1973.
The concept album was an immediate success and spent 917 weeks on the Billboard top 200 chart, which amounts to around 17 years, making it the record holder for most weeks on the chart.
So, what makes this album so popular?
Many people would say it is a result of the timeless sound created by using unusual methods like dragging a microphone stand down the guitar fretboard for the futuristic effect we hear in On The Run, and individually recording different clocks in an antique store in London as heard in Time.
Others would say the popularity of The Dark Side of the Moon is due to its subject matter.
Pink Floyd’s album explores the pressures of life through themes of grief, money, time, conflict, and mental illness, all of which was something the youth of the UK could relate to in some way.
Drummer Nick Mason said that he believes the album is still so popular because the songs were, and will always be, relevant to listeners, with the creative behind the album Roger Waters adding: “Maybe it’s the simplicity of the ideas that appeal to a generation going through puberty trying to make sense of it all.”
In Rogers’ theory, that means that the album acts as a comfort and is why people keep returning to it.
Still to this day, The Dark Side of the Moon is regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time. It is part of the top 10 bestselling albums of all time, and is ranked number 55 on Rolling Stone’s top 500 albums.
An album that has inspired countless artists including Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, and the Starman himself David Bowie, deserves to be celebrated. Without it music may not have progressed to the point that it is at today.
So with that, we wish The Dark Side of The Moon a very happy 50th birthday.
Feature image credit: The pigeon press
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