Pink Floyd: The Making of The Dark Side of the Moon
If there are a handful of albums in the rock universe that deserve a bells-and-whistles DVD treatment, Dark Side of the Moon is clearly among them. In the '70s and '80s, the classic 1973 album by Pink Floyd remained on the Billboard 200 for a staggering 741 consecutive weeks, a record that will likely stand forever. Echoing themes of alienation, paranoia, and death, it is a dreamy, often trancelike tour through the subconscious of Floyd lyricist Roger Waters.
This 84-minute DVD offers a track-by-track look at the making of Dark Side of the Moon, featuring interviews with band members Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason, and Richard Wright, plus rare acoustic versions of "Breathe" and "Brain Damage."
For those fans interested in the story behind the crafting of one of rock's true landmark records, this is the equivalent of ambrosia. Discussions involve the studio-specific techniques used to create the clock loops on "Time," the cash register sounds on "Money," and the vocal chorus on "The Great Gig in the Sky." Special features include alternate versions of "Brain Damage," "Breathe," and "Time."
Excellent documentary. I’m presently reading ‘Inside and out’ NICK MASSON’S bio about his 50 years as a member of the Floyd and it is very detailled. This documentary is a excellent short cute to get to know certain details on the band. Bravo.
Best group ever. I was so lucky to have seen their June 18, 1975. concert at Boston Garden. They played the whole Dark Side of the Moon album.
very good, worth a bump.
watched again after a year or so. Just brilliant to see all the inspiration and comments. RW mentioning that once you find your passion you take grasp of it. DG talking about success and what comes next re "Wish You Were Here". They all obviously came from sound foundations as they all made it through success without destroying themselves via drugs or personal abuse. How much longer will we have to wait until such a time as we can put an album like this on from start to finish and get it as a masterful collaboration with a theme almost to deep to comprehend. I look forward to that day but wonder if it will come. They are brilliant artists.
Thank you for putting this up and thank you Pink Floyd.
Perfect music and even better sentiments.
How to make progress, if only the world would listen.
Philw
To me Darkside is their masterpiece though Wish You Were Here follows behind closely. -- I turned 21 the summer of 1969 in London England when my friends put 21 hits of acid in the icing of my birthday cake without telling me, we did things like that then, no worries, Pipers at the Gates of Dawn was the Floyd in those days,magical. -- Listen to Darkside of the Moon while watching the Wizard of OZ with the sound of the movie off, weird how it all matches together.. no need to thank me...
Brilliant stuff, one of the best albums of the 70's and that is saying a lot. I saw the Floyd play live dozens of times when they first started playing at the Roundhouse and the UFO club in London with Syd and then at various live concerts around the UK in the 60's and throughout the 70's and early 80's. Amazing light shows and a fantastic sound system, what a band! All the Floyd albums are outstanding but this is one of the best.
Brilliant stuff, one of the best albums of the 70's and that is saying a lot. I saw the Floyd play live dozens of times when they first started playing at the Roundhouse and the UFO club in London with Syd and then at various live concerts around the UK in the 60's and throughout the 70's and early 80's. Amazing light shows and a fantastic sound system, what a band! All the Floyd albums are outstanding but this is one of the best.
@lakhotason
The Alan Parsons project...oh my, I had actually forgotten about them or him Jonathon...guy...sorta.... twas drugs ya know?
I graduated HS in 79 and APP was there. Hell, now I gotta go download some....
Down further in the forum someone talked about a guy who listened to this album (Dark Side of the Moon) every day for two years, starting with the day of it's release.
That was Animals for me, I fell asleep to that album for about 3 months and every night I heard more in the music and words than I had the night before. I was so incredibly awed by these guys and still am. I saw the Animals ( I actually think it was called the flesh show)performance live in Montreal 1977...I was 16 going on 17...I had a lot to learn(sung to The Sound of Music theme)
Naturally, after watching this doc, I had to dig up all my Floyd albums and listen to them.
I actually listened to Saucer Full of Secrets, sans acid....whoa what the heck is he saying????? I too was too young to have ever got to experience Syd at a concert, mores the pity.
@ oddsr
Wow! The '77 Montreal concert is the one that provided a major impetus for Waters to start composing The Wall. I guess you probably know the story already, though: About how, towards the end of the concert, he spit on an unruly fan, and that started him thinking about the barriers between himself and his audience.
Lucky guy! As long as you weren't the one who was spit on, that is, lol.
I am spit free...but maybe that too is a pity......My face and Rogers Waters Spit = Millions on Ebay...
Not my face so much...but hell I coulda scraped that spit into an empty bindle.
Wow, I love this band!!!! I saw Floyd live on three separate occasions ....they changed my idea about what it meant to see a band on stage....psychedelics?...Sid was hard to understand without it. But Sid was only a base for the brilliance that came out. But to hear them talk about just jamming in E minor...oh my god.
Keep your religion...gimme a jam, and I will inspire you. ( that was mine, but a better one is:
Breathe, breathe in the air , don't be afraid to care...look around, choose your own ground....
I can't beat that one.
A
Syd was really into fairy-tales. Knowing that helps in understanding his approach a little bit, especially lyrically...(In addition to all the drugs, of course...) It's a damn shame he was so fragile; people overlook how radical his style of guitar-playing really was, for that time or even this one, because his spell was so brief. Who knows how he might have developed, had he stayed healthy? Certainly, though, we all know the Floyd never got over him: He haunted them for the rest of their career. One additional thing that always made me feel good about them is that, after Syd had to leave the band, they always made sure he received his due royalties, the upkeep of which he had let lapse, between one thing and another. Once the band found out about this, they fixed it, and made sure it stayed fixed.
Great doc about one of the absolute summits of Progressive-Rock, or even music in general in the 20th century. I've seen it a few times already, and listened to the album about a billion times, of course...
Yes but Syd was also crazy. Whatever that means. But those of us in those days knew this.
But out of this arises Alan Parsons (I'm going on my tangent now). And from Parsons comes Jonatha Brook. Eye in the Sky.
If you want a good documentary about his life, work, and disintegration (and you haven't seen it already, that is), check out "The Pink Floyd and Syd Barrett Story" on Google videos. It's top-notch.
So give me some kind of touchstone. From what direction do you listen to this from? Just to let anyone know, I graduated high school in 1969. But at the same time I'm listening to "Bustin' up a Starbuck's"
I graduated in '81, so I'm too young to have experienced Syd first-hand... However, with the kind of music-scene I was into early on (starting in '77), comprised of everything from classic British Rock, to the most radical Punk Rock, to (later on) the Paisley Underground, we all (the musicians, that is) knew who he was well enough. Looking back, I suppose he was probably a mythic-figure for us, someone who'd been just out of our reach, so to speak. Some of the bands I was in, we covered some of his songs: 'Astronomy Domine,' and 'See Emily Play,' most frequently; especially the former, which was a lot of fun to wail on, and not too difficult for young musicians to pull off convincingly. And, you know, his story is such a dramatic one for people that age, one that's pretty much bound to have a lot of appeal for artsy, musical types, since they almost always feel a little nuts and outside of things, anyway. Later on, when I'd grown up more musically and was playing a lot of clubs with other bands, we covered things like 'Breathe,' 'Money,' 'Cigar,' 'Comfortably Numb,' and 'Brick,' which were all a lot more challenging technically, but weren't any more joyful to play. Barrett's songs, especially lyrically, were so far out of left-field they gave you a weird kind of immediate street-credit... I think they always used to impress those little "Lulu-type" girls, anyway, even though they acted like nothing ever did.
Liked your comment. So it's '81 is it? See we cannot help to see things a little differently.
But The Clash. Hell yes.
Oh, The Clash were absolute gods, for sure! Those were the guys who were of our generation.
Swear to god the radio is playing "I Fought the Law".
Time to get back to the doc.
lakhotason & Pysmythe
You two guys pretty much reflect my own views about music...and this stuff is my youth.
I really didn't give syd the tribute he deserved in my short comment. But he influenced me so thoroughly in my life and music.
Genius, is always so close to insanity...
@oddsr - Yeah. At the moment I'm pretty well stoned.
I was fortunate enough to see them twice. Absolutely incredible shows.
Its hard to recall alot of the concerts in those days- but this one?
Even the cops and security guards were ripped and grooving.
Amazing band, and perhaps will always be right there next to Abby Road as one of those truly magical moments.
It is heartening to see comments by teenagers who 'get' this now very old
music. They are discovering the moments created by Genesis, Crimson, Yes, and the like, that are still light years beyond anything else.
Epic album, Epic band. Pink Floyd will live forever.
Awsome docu and an album that will stand the test of time.
there are times when words simply fail.... there is only recourse to feel and to know and to love and to share.
enjoy
and thanks vlatko
Wonderful doc...took me back to the early 70's when I worked for a concert promoter for a few years, which made it easy for me to see just about any band coming through my area.
But apart from the live music, there were albums like this, the "headphone music" people have already spoken of. Sadly, I read recently that the current generations that have grown up with mp3 music have no idea how much is stripped away by that compression format. I wore out my albums like this right down to the vinyl...
"I'm in the high fidelity, first-class traveling set, and I think I need a Le-e-e-ar jet"
..*satisfied sigh*...
Thanks Vlatko!
No band, its musicians complimented each other perfectly, musically as did the Pink Floyd. I hate to say this, but Syd's departure was the blessing in disguise for Pink Floyd.
Roger Waters on his own is too out of this world, Gilmour brings him back down to earth in a beautiful and magical way. Rick Wright (R.I.P) and Nick Mason are the perfect remedies for the two of them.
Sadly Pink Floyd ended in 1984 and will never be the same now that Rick is gone.
I am blessed to have lived in the era that these guys were together. Pink Floyd has had a profound effect on me with years of memory and i am thankful for this.
had a friend in college back in 1985 or so. His name was Jim. Upon our listening to Dark Side of the Moon at this house one day, he confessed that he had listened to the entire album, start-to-finish each and every day for over two years.
He started this the very day he first heard it.
I saw Pink Floyd "Dark Side of The Moon" concert in Montreal 12/03/73, the day before my birthday. What a way to celebrate turning 15...thanks to my then boyfriend. My parents drove me from our country town, dropped me off at the door and were there waiting for me when i got out. That concert was followed by many others but none thrilled me as much...although The Stones in San Diego many many years later...got me thinking...what a feeling to be among such a pleased crowd!
az
I saw them in Hamilton Ont. on the same tour. I was in my twenties then and settled down shortly after. The summer of 73 was spent camping and listening to this album (on 8-track actually) over and over again. This album seemed to put the period at the end of the sentence that was my youth. Things were never the same after that year. Not that it became worse it was just different.
All those who were lucky enough to get to a live performance...how I envy you. I'm listening to sheep actually as I type this and no band has ever had such an impact on me as Pink Floyd...
I can remember my youth when I would light up a big ol' fat doobie and just listen to Floyd for hours on end.I must admit though "Animals" was my favorite album from them.
Ah hell,they were all great!
Great video, I'm just bummed that they didn't talk about "Any Colour You Like".
Solid men and musically. I am going to listen to the album with my headphones before the month is over!! Check out their Pompei concert dvd...mind blowing and many of the past-footage shown in this documentary is on there!! And btw they're all still gorgeous!!
For years I have been listening and trying to analize this album by myself and with my friends. I think one of the best parts in this video is actually getting to see the other people that made up the back ground voices in the big gig in the sky. Their small contributed to album made for years worth of rewinding those parts in the song over and over again trying to figure out who's voice it was from the band. Now I know that it wasn't any of them at all. Currently one of the top three greatest Albums of all time, and for generations to come I'm sure. It will always be timeless to me and takes me back when I was 16 years old.
Gilmour said towards the end, he wished he could have been one of those people who could sit down with headphones on and listen to it for the first time ever in their life. Well, I am 37, been a musician for over 20 of those years, been in a band for 10, grew up learning Beatles and Stones etc, and then progressed into Grunge and Hard Rock later on, and yet last year in the spring months of 2009 just after separating with my wife, I listened to Dark Side of the Moon for the first time in my entire life (with earphones on I might add) and it completely changed my life and the way I saw and wrote music. Dark Side is in the top 5 of my most cherished and favourite albums...
absolutely fascinating
@Have a Cigar
"It’s Roger Waters who’s the MAIN source for everything meaningful on this important band."
Totally agreed... we don't feel the real Pink Floyd taste in band's music of post Roger waters era... but listen to RW's solo albums like 'Radio Kaos' and 'Amused to Death' and one is again blown away with the real feel of Pink Floyd... He was the real genious behind lyrics and compositions of all the major albums of the band... 'Final Cut' was in fact RW show... I love him...
Shine-on
I started listening Pink Floyd as a young man in cillege... now I'm 55 but... I've been 'Pink Floyded'... it's an addiction... it creeps into you and rests there for the rest of your life... to me It's not music, it's something divine... something from another world...
No doubt... Pink Floyd would be listened by the future generations of future generations... I've got all the albums of them and even after listening thousands of times... I'm still feeling a never ending thirst in my hear to listen to them... for lovers of Roger Waters!! please do listen 'Amused to Death' it's a must have album... must listen...
Shine-on-you-All
It's Roger Waters who's the MAIN source for everything meaningful on this important band.
Great doc thank you!!
I swear, when David Gilmour finally leaves us, he'll dissipate into thin air. The presence of that man is remarkable.
I can remember literally wanting to jump out of my skin the first time I heard "Great Gig in The Sky"
I'm so glad you put this up here, I have even more respect for The Floyd.
Love love - -
simply put this album is a masterpiece and one memory that i will carry to my grave is how astonished i was when i first heard music so wonderfully crafted. One of the hilights of my short time on this planet. Pink Floyd Thank you for taking the time to make it perfect
Quite simply, the greatest album ever recorded.
Nice Jimdazey,
i took my sons years back, the 6 year old was comfortably numb in my arms and my 8 year old was completely mesmerized behind the stage monitor board, he never, not even once turn his head away from the band.
Pink Floyd is as important as Mozart, Beethoven, etc...
Anyone who has not heard this should listen to it with headphones, very loud, immediately. Not very many albums can drive me to exstatic tears, but this one does-everytime(not very conveniant when driving). If this album does not move you, you are not human. I have personally seen it bring the most macho hip-hoper and people who barely speak english to quivering masses with tears welling up in their eyes.
Thank you for giving us this sonic gem!!!!!!!
I turned my 4year old on to this. He looked at me with huge eyes and said "How did they do that?"
No one will ever experience something like Pink Floyd or understand them. I attended a concert in St. Louis in 1972 "Dark Side of The Moon" tour in which they played to 15,000 people in Quad - beyond description - beyond belief. Don't sell yourself short - this is a masterpiece !!!!!!! - Beyond belief, Beatles who ?????
A thousand years from now people will still revere this album for the insights of human emotions, as we still listen to Beethoven today for the same reason. The fine balence of our lives to, one step over the edge in our modern times, has yet to be epained better by any other media. Simple Genius, that can be cranked up till either, the speakers or ears drums pop.
My first exposure of this album will always be embedded in my memory. I was 4 years old and I had convinced my mother to give me some Coca Cola. She told me "no" several times, and cited "It will keep you up!". Then I remember jumping all over the place like a crazed monkey. Finally I wore myself out and the clocks were playing in the background.
What a fantastic watch. More than other episodes of classic albums, I think this one really does the job of connecting the artists with the material. Simple, honest reflections on very deep, significant material. Both the doc to the album, and of course the album to the state of the human condition. The fact that the doc mirrors this impulse so well is, I think, a testament to the real power that Roger's art was beginning to take on.
Aural existentialism. :)
Laser light shows and DSOTM... better than any drug ever!
My father introduced me to DSOTM as a teenager. Imagine my shock... last I'd known his favorite band was Glenn Miller. He put headphones on me, instructed me to sit quietly on the ground with eyes closed, he turned on the Grundig stereo, queued up Time and when the bells went off, I nearly jumped out of my skin... and he laughed his a*s off. My dad, may he RIP.
Brilliant!
Myself being a musician from the 70's well of course I'm going to promote this documentary. It's too cool, a portion of world historical conscience is embodied in this band. I actually never saw them live but after this film I can say I saw THEM as they really are . . . people contributing RELEVANT MUSIC!