March 11, 2025 • 35 mins
One of the most iconic and influential albums of all time, The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd is a progressive rock masterpiece that explores themes of time, mental illness, greed, death, and the human experience. Released in 1973, the album is known for its seamless flow, with each track blending into the next, creating an immersive sonic journey.
Musically, it features lush synthesizers, soaring guitar solos, ethereal vocal harmonies, and groundbreaking use of studio effects. Tracks like “Time,” “Money,” and “Us and Them” have become timeless classics, while the haunting beauty of “The Great Gig in the Sky” and the hypnotic pulse of “Breathe” showcase the band’s sonic experimentation.
Lyrically and thematically profound, The Dark Side of the Moon resonates with listeners on an emotional and philosophical level. Its iconic prism cover art, designed by Storm Thorgerson, has become one of the most recognizable images in music history. The album spent over 900 weeks on the Billboard charts, cementing its legacy as one of the best-selling and most enduring records ever made.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_05 (00:00):
It's just a little bit.
SPEAKER_00 (00:13):
This is Polyphonic Press, the podcast where two
music fans make a classic albumcompletely at random.
Using the patented random albumgenerator, they are given an
album to review from a curatedlist of over 1,000 classic
releases, spanning multiplegenres.
And now on to the show.
(00:35):
Here are your hosts, Jeremy Boydand John Van Dyke.
SPEAKER_04 (00:51):
And I'm Jaron Van Dyke.
And uh let's not waste any time.
We've got the patented randomalbum generator right in front
of us here.
Uh so let's hit the button andsee what album we're going to be
listening to this week.
SPEAKER_01 (01:04):
The album you will be reviewing this week is The
Dark Side of the Moon by PinkFloyd.
SPEAKER_05 (01:09):
Oh boy, I've never heard this before.
But it is brilliant.
SPEAKER_04 (01:18):
Okay, so uh one of so this is the description of
the uh the album.
It says one of the most iconicand influential albums of all
time.
The Dark Side of the Moon byPink Floyd is a progressive rock
masterpiece that explores themesof time, mental illness, greed,
death, and the human experience.
Released in 1973, the album isknown for its seamless flow,
(01:42):
with each track blending intothe next, creating an immersive
sonic journey.
Musically, it features lushsynthesizers, soaring guitar
solos, ethereal vocal harmonies,and groundbreaking use of studio
effects.
Tracks like Time, Money, and Usand Them have become timeless
classics, while the hauntingbeauty of The Great Gig in the
(02:03):
Sky and the hypnotic pulse ofBreathe showcase the band's
sonic experimentation.
Lyrically and thematicallyprofound, the dark side of the
moon resonates with listeners onan emotional and philosophical
level.
Its iconic prism cover artdesigned by Storm Thorgerson has
become one of the mostrecognizable images in music
(02:26):
history.
The album spent over 900 weekson the Billboard charts,
cementing its legacy as one ofthe best-selling and most
enduring records ever made.
Okay.
So the album was released on thefirst of March 1973.
(02:48):
Uh genres are uh progressiverock, space rock, and
psychedelic rock.
Uh and the label uh is it was onHarvest Records and Capitol
Records and produced by PinkFloyd, self-produced.
And the album has ten tracks onthe album, and side one and side
(03:08):
two are split pretty evenlybetween uh five and five.
Um so if you're listening alongwith us, we which we encourage
you to do, uh the album startswith uh the instrumental Speak
to Me, which goes into Breathein the Air, and then uh side one
ends after The Great Gig in theSky.
So if you're listening along,and we've linked the album in
(03:32):
the show notes to both Spotifyand Apple Music, so you can get
it on your fruit streamingservice.
We'll be stopping uh after thoseafter that song to discuss
discuss at the halfway point.
Okay.
Alright, so here we go.
Here's the first track, uh,Speak to Me.
So here we go.
(04:03):
Alright, ending side one withthe great gig in the sky with
vocals by uh Claire Tory.
Uh make sure she gets credit forthat because that was amazing.
Yeah.
Um yeah, completely improvisedby her, by the way.
Yeah.
Uh I mean, I this is Dark Sideof the Moon.
I mean, what can you say aboutit?
(04:24):
I mean, it's this is to me, thisis what like when um when the
Beatles did Sgt.
Pepper with when well like thethey were really the first, one
of the first um artists to havean album with a theme.
SPEAKER_05 (04:45):
Them and uh um the moody blues as well.
SPEAKER_04 (04:48):
The moody blues, yeah.
And um the this is sort of likethe that was sort of the
beginning of that sort ofparadigm shift of what an album
could be, and I feel like thisis sort of the peak of oh shit.
An album is this is an albumthat's a pe a piece all
self-contained.
(05:10):
Um and there actually there wereno singles released on from this
album.
A lot of popular songs, butthere were no singles released
for this album.
SPEAKER_05 (05:19):
No, but the album itself was very popular on FM
radio, though.
But but on FM radio back in thein the 70s, that was the
beginning.
They were very um underground atthe time.
It had that clearer soundbecause the pop radio was still
AM radio and it was still likesound like transistors and
(05:39):
whatever.
But uh this high fidelity FMradio came in, and they really I
don't know, they they had theyhad the freedom to to do
whatever they wanted, and theywould play this album on in full
amongst other things as well,but but this was one of the big
ones, and and it got huge.
SPEAKER_04 (06:02):
This is an album that I've I'm familiar with.
I think it was one of the firstwhen I was sort of getting into
music as a young teenager, thiswas one of the first albums.
It's like I'd always heard aboutit, but it's like, okay, I'm
gonna buy this album on CD andI'm gonna listen to it.
And it's one of those albumsthat really sort of informed my
(06:24):
taste in music from a y from anearly age.
SPEAKER_05 (06:28):
I can't say it's one of my earliest development
records, but it definitely backin high school.
Um that's when I started.
That's what I mean.
Like, yeah, in high school,that's when I discovered it.
When I started digging throughmy dad's old record collection,
and this was amongst it, ofcourse.
You know, amongst, you know, theLed Zeppelin and the Jimi
Hendricks and the all sorts ofstuff.
(06:50):
But yeah, the this albumabsolutely came on, and it's
it's an emotional journey.
SPEAKER_04 (06:57):
It it really is.
And it's sort of it tellsbasically it tells the story of
a human life in sort of anabstract way.
You know, it's sort of likeobviously the uh the um the
being and breathe is sort oflike the birth, um, and then on
(07:20):
the run is like, you know, yourchildhood running around, and
then time is you're getting alittle older and you realize how
precious time is.
SPEAKER_05 (07:28):
And well, the great gig in the sky is sort of is
sort of death, but it touches onon other aspects throughout the
uh um the second half of thealbum.
SPEAKER_04 (07:40):
The I guess the first half is sort of like the
basic sort of this is what thisthese are the outlines, or these
are the major points in in life,and and then money.
I know m money is more likeokay, this is the stuff you have
to deal with in life.
Um and I think maybe the secondhalf is more about that.
(08:03):
But that's what I kind of likeabout the album too, is it's a
it's a concept album, but youcan sort of they're not hitting
you over the head with it, andso you can sort of interpret it
in your own way, and sort oflike it's a it is a concept
album, but it's not like thislike uh another like the wall is
(08:26):
definitely a story about likethat's definitely a narrative
story, but this is more likethey're sort of leaving it up to
the they're trusting thelistener to be able to come to
their own conclusion of what thewhole thing sort of means to
them.
SPEAKER_05 (08:42):
No, I think you're right.
It's it's a little bit moreabstract, and uh it's as it's
just as abstract as its cover.
If ever there was an album thathad the had a perfect album
cover to go along with it, thisis the one.
Storm Thorgerson and and and uhHypnosis were um geniuses when
it came to um to doing uh albumcovers and stuff like that.
(09:07):
And they just had a certainstyle.
SPEAKER_04 (09:10):
There's a lot to talk about with this album, but
uh one of the things that likethe the band is is fantastic.
I mean, as a band, they I don'tknow if Pink Floyd really gets
enough credit as being a tightband, because there there's so
much more to them, but uh theyare real uh uh they were a
(09:33):
pretty tight unit.
I mean obviously they werepersonal conflicts, but for
sure.
SPEAKER_05 (09:40):
Yeah.
Um yeah, that's the story ofthis of the band.
Although they they had a prettyonce um, you know, they had to
deal with Sid Barrett after allthat, they had a pretty steady
run in throughout the 70s untilRoger Waters started to get a
bit of an ego.
I mean, the wall was amazing,but it was definitely a very it
(10:06):
was it was it was definitely aRoger Waters project that he put
onto the band and it worked forthat.
When all that happened, like uhthe final cut was to me sounded
like it was really more of aRoger Waters and and that's when
things were really falling apartfor the band.
SPEAKER_04 (10:27):
Yeah.
Yeah, that was s more or less aa Roger Waters solo album,
basically.
I like I don't even know thestory, like I don't even know
what what happened, but uh fromwhat I gather, like if you're
gonna do that, don't like c justdo a solo album if you're gonna
(10:48):
like it's fine, you know.
SPEAKER_05 (10:51):
He should have gone off and done a solo album, but a
lot of the final cut wasactually like uh stuff that he
didn't put onto the wall.
Roger Waters booted um what'shis name, uh keyboard player.
Richard Wright, yeah.
And I always thought that was abullshit decision because
(11:11):
Richard Wright to me, he's oneof the at least for my favorite
era of of of Pink Floyd, whichis like everything up to boat
Dark Side of the Moon and stufflike that.
I like some of the later stufftoo, but especially that period
between Sid Barrett and DarkSide of the Moon, Richard
Wright's keyboards were likeinstrumental um in in the sound
(11:38):
of Pink Floyd.
Pink Floyd would not havesounded like Pink Floyd without
Richard Wright's keyboards.
It just wouldn't have.
And I just find booting him fromthe band was like a major slap
in the face.
SPEAKER_04 (11:53):
Well, yeah, I mean I I d listening just listening to
this, like uh like the umlistening to On the Run.
Yeah, exactly.
Which is all keyboards.
It's all keyboards.
SPEAKER_05 (12:05):
That was also a lot of uh um oh what's the um
engineer's name?
Uh Alan Parsons.
Alan Parsons, thank you.
Yeah, he that was a lot of uhhis work in that one too.
He was a bit of a uh I mean, theAlan Parsons project, if you
ever listen to especiallyiRobot, that's the one that gets
(12:26):
me is a really good album.
But uh before he was doing that,he he would experiment sometimes
in the studio.
This is at um Abbey Road.
There was a lot of his uminnovation and stuff like that.
And he's working, of course,with Richard Wright and and
doing getting those sounds outand stuff like that.
(12:49):
But yeah, the um there'sabsolutely uh um his uh what's
the word I'm looking forimagination leaks into it as
well.
Um it's it's almost like he wasanother member of the band for
this album or something likethat.
It was it's it's sort ofinteresting.
SPEAKER_04 (13:07):
Yeah, that's when uh like the the the obviously like
David Gilmore his guitar playingis unbelievable, especially that
guitar solo on time is just ohum it's so emotional.
The tone too is just like whoa.
(13:29):
Yeah, but the the the keyboardson this and the synthesizers and
and what have you, that's likethat's the sound of the album.
That's sort of where it's sortof centered.
SPEAKER_05 (13:42):
Um that sort of uh Fender Road sound is is all over
this album, and and that'sRichard Wright again, too.
And like he was known forplaying uh uh a farfisa for a
lot of the Pink Floyd, rightlike right up to this.
Um but in this uh like I thinkit's a Hammond, and I might be
wrong for that, but uh there'sdefinitely sort of like a
(14:04):
Hammond-like organ in this, plusthat Fender Road sound.
SPEAKER_04 (14:09):
Um one of the things that I'm noticing on this album
is like I I've heard this albumyou know a number of times, but
one of the and uh and I'llalways say, well, yeah, that's a
s an album from the 70s, but itsounds more timeless than that.
SPEAKER_05 (14:28):
It sounds 70s, but in a in a timeless kind of way.
And I don't know if that's justbecause it's dark side of the
moon.
SPEAKER_04 (14:36):
Well, it doesn't sound like anything else.
Like it's it doesn't like itdoesn't sound like it doesn't
sound like the the 70s.
It's it doesn't sound like upany like it doesn't sound like
the eighties, it doesn't soundahead of its time, it doesn't
sound it's not a throwback, it'sit's it's its own thing.
SPEAKER_05 (14:57):
It sounds like Pink Floyd in the 70s, but it doesn't
really use a lot of 70s tropes.
There's like maybe somethinghere and there just because of
the time period in which it wasrecorded in.
SPEAKER_04 (15:10):
Yeah, it doesn't have like 70s production.
Like I mean, the the drums don'tsound like that dry 70s, like
the the the intro to time.
The drums are like washed inreverb, but it's not It's not
like a gated reverb.
It's not a gated re it's noteven like it sounds like it's in
(15:32):
there they it sounded like theywere recorded in a sewer, like
underground in a in a big roundmetal It's it's sort of a John
Bonham approach.
Well not even that, it soundsdifferent, it sounds different
than even that.
SPEAKER_05 (15:48):
It sounds different than that too, but it's closer
to that.
SPEAKER_04 (15:53):
Well, so I did manage to find quite a few facts
about the album.
There's Oh, there's lots of awhole lot.
So uh so we'll I'll go throughthem and see what see if we get
bored about uh by this, but umthere's quite a quite a bit of
information here.
So the one of the uh one of thethe biggest known things about
(16:18):
the album is that it it had arecord-breaking chart
performance and it spent uh 962weeks, which is over 18 years,
on the Billboard 200 chart,making it one of the longest
charting albums in history.
Um so that means that it thiswas released in 1973, and it
(16:38):
didn't leave the charts until1991.
SPEAKER_05 (16:42):
Just about in time for the division bell.
Yeah, basically.
It's it's yeah, I know.
Um and everything that happenedwith the Pink Floyd in all that
time.
SPEAKER_04 (16:54):
Uh so the uh has a groundbreaking sound design.
The album is uh used the albumused uh innovative recording
techniques, including tapeloops, synthesizers, and spoken
word snippets from interviewswith roadies and staff at Abbey
Road Studios.
SPEAKER_05 (17:11):
Did you know that Paul and Linda McCartney were
also interviewed during thisbecause they were hanging
around?
SPEAKER_04 (17:17):
Yeah, I did know that.
Yeah.
Paul McCartney had I think hewas recording something, I think
one maybe no, it wasn't itwasn't Ben on the run, but it
was another Wings album he wasrecording at the time.
Yeah, Heart the Heartbeat uhbook ends the album.
The album begins with begins andends with the sound of a
(17:38):
heartbeat symbolizing the cycleof life and death, a central
theme of the record.
Oh, this is interesting.
I don't know if you knew didn'tuh I don't know if you knew
this.
The iconic Prism cover almostdidn't happen.
Yes.
The famous prism artworkdesigned by uh Storm Thorgason
uh was chosen over anotherproposed cover featuring a
(17:59):
photograph of the Silver Surferfrom Marvel Comics.
I don't think that would haveworked as much.
SPEAKER_05 (18:05):
Well, probably not.
Just I guess ultimately why theysettled on this.
But this is so iconic.
It's hard to imagine the other.
But if the Silver Surfer hadbeen the cover for this, would
it have been considered asiconic?
And I I honestly don't think itwould have been.
SPEAKER_04 (18:25):
Probably not.
No.
I know they say, you know, likedon't judge a book by its cover,
but this album needed an iconiccover.
It it really did.
And it really did one.
Yeah.
And the Alan Parsons, thealbum's legendary sound was
partly due to Alan Parsons,which we discussed before, who
was the recording engineer.
(18:46):
His work on the Dark Side of theMoon helps him gain recognition,
later leading his own musiccareer with the Alan Parsons
Project.
Yep.
So one of the funniest thingsabout this album is, and I don't
know where it started, but along-standing fan theory known
as the Dark Side of the Rainbowclaims that the album syncs up
(19:10):
perfectly with the Wizard of Oz.
If played from the beginning uhas the MGM Lion Roars, while the
band denies this wasintentional, fans still love
testing the theory.
SPEAKER_05 (19:21):
Maybe I've never tested it myself.
Um maybe I should, just for theshits and giggles.
But uh honestly, it's just thethe album to me, it just it's
its own work of art.
It doesn't need to I know theband didn't ha had no intention
of lining it up with it, and Ihonestly think a lot of people
(19:43):
who swear that it matches up toit are probably high on
something.
SPEAKER_04 (19:48):
Well, the thing is you can you can put music any
music to a video and certainthings will be lined up.
Yeah.
So it's it's just a coincidence,really.
Um it wasn't intentional.
Yeah, I don't know.
SPEAKER_05 (20:05):
They they could put it up to Ernest Schitz's pants
or something.
I don't know.
Yeah.
Um that's not a movie.
No.
It's Ernest Schitz's pants.
(20:25):
Anyway.
SPEAKER_04 (20:31):
Um there I could go on, but basically the album um
even today sells hundreds ofthousands of copies every year,
proving its lasting impact onmusic and culture.
I mean you know, what can yousay about about the album that
you know hasn't already beensaid?
SPEAKER_05 (20:50):
I mean, it's honestly I do think it's one of
the best albums that we'velooked at so far on this list.
And maybe I'm biased, but itjust I don't know.
This is a masterpiece.
And we haven't even gotten tothe second half of the album or
anything, but I've already, youknow, I I already kind of I know
(21:11):
this album backwards andforwards.
Um and it is a masterpiece.
And even amongst like Pink Floydalbums, it it was always sort
of, you know, it's it's not thecool one to say, oh yeah, that's
my favorite Pink Floyd albumamongst like Pink Floyd fans.
But it honestly is, just becauseit just there was magic in the
(21:32):
studio that day that uh madethis happen.
I mean, and I love uh the restof Pink Floyd's catalog and
stuff like that, especially thestuff between this and and and
Sid.
And I love the Sid Barrett stufftoo.
It's it's a completely differentanimal, but it's wonderful.
Some of the stuff and some ofthe stuff they didn't even
(21:53):
release until like decadeslater.
Because they would put it on andthey would roll on the floor
laughing because this this stuffwas so strange.
Like uh Scream Zilas Scream, oldwoman with a casket.
Blam blam your point ispointless.
SPEAKER_04 (22:13):
I can't remember all the lyrics to the I guess we'll
get into the second side of thealbum.
Um but uh before we do that,let's hear from our friends over
at the Astroverts podcast.
Uh so check those guys out.
SPEAKER_03 (22:32):
What's up, folks?
It's Jake here from theAstrovert Podcast.
Come join us as we playunderplayed and underchair bands
from across the United Statesand the world.
We've found local bands from theMidwest, Florida, the UK, New
Zealand, and far, far beyond.
Some of our recent favoritediscoveries include Sprawl,
Witch Kingdom, City of Auburn,Lake Michigan, and so many more.
SPEAKER_05 (22:53):
We feature Rocky Rockfighter and Rock, as well as
discuss our band's journeytowards finishing our
forthcoming ET.
SPEAKER_03 (23:04):
Our first two singles, Last Call and Tive
Development, both out now.
You can find the podcast onSpotify, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcast.
SPEAKER_02 (23:28):
Thank you.
Here's side two.
SPEAKER_04 (23:32):
Alright, and uh ending the album with Eclipse.
SPEAKER_05 (23:36):
Uh yeah, this is um one of those perfect albums.
It's it's it's uh it's I knowit's high praise, but well it's
it's film has the Godfather.
SPEAKER_04 (23:54):
Television has the Sopranos, Rock and Roll has Dark
Side of the Moon.
It's it's just one of those It'sjust one of those things that
yes, there's a lot of othergreat stuff, but it those like
those are the high marks.
SPEAKER_05 (24:10):
Those are the high marks of in each art art those
are the bars that uh people aimfor and I'm not I've there's a
lot of albums out there that Ilike, but this is up there.
SPEAKER_04 (24:26):
Yeah.
I mean look, this isn't I lovethis album.
This isn't even necessarily myfavorite album, but I I I can't
deny that it's so iconic, youknow.
It's just and so there's there'sthe the the saying that cliches
are a cliche for a reason isbecause they're mostly true.
(24:48):
And this album has such a highpraise.
I I think it's one of the caseswhere an album getting such high
praise and it's not overrated,it's like it's really well
deserved.
SPEAKER_05 (25:06):
Yeah, that's kind of the way I always looked at it.
Sort of it's the praise that'sheaped onto it.
It can be a bit much sometimes,but it It can be a bit much, but
(25:28):
once you actually listen to it,it's like okay, yeah, I get it.
SPEAKER_04 (25:31):
Yeah.
Exactly.
Exactly.
I you know, I think it's youknow, I can I can I I I hesitate
I hesitate to say that it's aperfect album, but it's about as
close you can get.
Yeah.
You know, and like I said, it'snot even necessarily my favorite
(25:53):
album, but it's just one ofthose things that it's it's so
undeniable.
It's like, okay, yeah, they ththis this thing I you know, we
were talking about early abouthow it's it's it sounds timeless
and it doesn't sound like itdoesn't sound ahead of its time.
(26:15):
It's like it's it's it's its ownthing.
But I honestly think that itthis album could only really
happen in the 70s at the sametime.
SPEAKER_05 (26:24):
Like, yeah, no, I know what you mean, because I
have a hard time seeing thisalbum being the project or even
going anywhere today.
It would be even if it came outand it was as great as it is, I
don't know if it would make thewaves that it does just because
(26:46):
the the way that the industry isit's so sad, honestly.
SPEAKER_04 (26:56):
Well, yeah, I mean just the fact that they there
are no singles.
Like they said to the recordcompany this is this is what
we're putting out, and this isall we're putting out.
We're not uh putting out anysingles, we're not doing any
promotion, this is what we'redoing.
You couldn't do that today.
(27:17):
Like you couldn't No, I don'tthink so.
SPEAKER_05 (27:20):
No, um Oddly enough, it was even back then it was
definitely a bit of a bold move,but but Pink Floyd were not the
biggest band in the world whenthey were went into the studio
to do this.
They came out of it being one ofthe biggest bands in the world.
This album was the one thatreally put them on the map.
(27:40):
There was a couple of otherones.
Like they would make a littlebit of inroads into North
America or something like that.
Like they had when um Oh I can'tremember what the album is
called, but uh Out of HeartMother.
Um they would have likebillboards with the cow on it,
and people would look at the bigbillboard and it's like, what
the hell is that?
(28:00):
And it was their way ofpromoting their their album.
That was about 1970 or somethinglike that.
But but even then, like onlypeople who knew them knew them.
They were still pretty big in inin Britain, but they'd made
their way they they'd made theirthey'd made their um name when
(28:21):
Sid Barrett was still in theband in Britain.
Um they did do a tour with SidBarrett, but it didn't go well
in the in the US.
I mean, it just didn't it wasright around the time that he
was falling into his mentalillness.
Um but uh yeah, this is the onethat that actually put them on
(28:42):
the map and um they'd beenfighting to surpass it ever
since.
And some people think that theuh um that the wall did surpass
it.
I don't think it did.
I think the The Wall is great.
It's a great album, but I don'tthink it's better than this one.
Personally.
SPEAKER_04 (29:02):
Yeah.
Yeah, no, I don't I see well Ican't really say because I don't
think I've ever listened to TheWall the whole way through.
But from what I've heard of it,yeah.
I I mean I can't I I can't see Ican't see it being any better
than this.
I mean I d well, I mean it it ispopular.
SPEAKER_05 (29:23):
It'll it it is also popular, but and and for a
double album it's a it's adouble album as well, yeah.
And it's uh it was definitelyvery ambitious.
I'll give it that.
But it doesn't have the samekind of magic.
It does have a magic to it, butit's but this one just has this
(29:45):
I don't know if it's the timeperiod, because Pink Floyd
really just were at theirelement in the early seventies,
more so than they were in thelate seventies.
They were starting to fall apartin the late seventies.
SPEAKER_04 (29:57):
Um Well, I mean, and that's That's pretty mu kind of
what the the wall is about,right?
It's about it tells the story ofa a pop star who's sort of not
dealing with fame very well.
SPEAKER_05 (30:11):
Yeah, I think it's it's it's largely like sort of
it's a fictional character, butthere's a lot of parallels
between Roger Waters himself andSid Barrett.
And and again, it's it's a greatalbum for sure, but I don't
know.
This one gives me the warmfuzzies at the same time as
making me think.
(30:32):
This one, it's just I don'tknow.
There's this this vibe about itthat just is unsurmountable.
SPEAKER_04 (30:42):
Yeah, it yeah, it really It really is.
Is the like they were justfiring on all four cylinders uh
on this one.
Or all eight, or depending onwhatever what size engine they
have.
Yeah.
Uh yeah, I mean it's it's andyou know, and I I think I think
for this album specifically, Ithink I think it's okay to break
(31:07):
tradition because I don't thinkit's fair to pick three songs.
SPEAKER_05 (31:12):
I think I have I have picked three songs, but it
is uh a a monumental taskbecause honestly Well just uh
and also because of the s somelike a lot of the songs are sort
of connected to each other.
Yeah.
Yeah, I know.
Okay, well what what would beyour your pick for I'm probably
(31:35):
going with time, money, andbrain damage, I think are my f
three favorites.
Those are the ones that theyreally do it for me.
Um but that's not uh it's I meanlike the the whole album is
great, and I have a hard timefinding a flaw with this album.
(31:56):
Even if there is a flaw, if theflaw wasn't there, I'd miss it.
But I I don't I don't I don't Idon't know what that flaw would
be.
Honestly, I d it's it's one ofthose albums that's just kind of
perfect the way it is.
It's it's you know, withoutactually being like flawed in a
way, it's it's still got thathuman element to it.
(32:20):
That just you know, therethere's nothing it's a
surprisingly clean album, butit's not so clean that it strips
away the humanity from it.
It's it's it hits that sweetspot of being like really,
really just I don't know exactlyhow they managed to do it, but
(32:42):
they they hit that sweet spotbetween clean but human.
SPEAKER_04 (32:48):
Yeah.
Yeah, I know exactly what youmean.
I know exactly what you mean.
Yeah, and I I totally agree.
Um yeah, I picking three I thinkI would have to pick the same
three songs.
Time, money, and brain damage,yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (33:05):
I just think yeah, I just think they're the best
tracks on on on the album.
But I but I also think the GreatGig in the Sky, you know,
doesn't really have lyrics, butit's fantastic.
I also think that any color youlike is really underrated.
It's it's sort of funky, it'skinda fun, and that's the other
one that I think uh Alan Parsonshad uh his uh put his fingertips
(33:31):
in.
Um so yeah, it's it's sort offun.
Um Eclipse is a perfect ender.
Uh Breathe is a really good songtoo, and you know, time has got
a bit of breathe in it.
And yeah, it's just like timewouldn't work without the end of
breathe in it.
SPEAKER_04 (33:50):
It's exactly weird.
Yeah.
Yeah, no, that's exactly right.
Um so I I don't have to ask.
I know I I would listen to thisagain.
I know you I mean, it's notobvious by now, you know.
Um yeah, I mean it's just it'sit's that album that you know,
(34:12):
like I said, it's it's thegodfather of music, basically.
It's it's just that that it'sthe thing that people praise,
but the praise is well deserved.
It's it's not overrated.
It's yeah.
Um yeah.
So yeah, I guess we'll uh endthe episode there.
(34:34):
Uh thank you so much forlistening if you made it this
far.
Uh be sure to subscribe so youknow uh when the when you we
upload these uh uh episodes.
And uh we'd love it if you leftus a rating and a review as it
really helps uh new listenersfind us.
And a podcast as good as thisalbum, uh yeah, that's what we
(34:55):
want to know.
And uh, you know, if you want tosupport the show, uh you can go
to Patreon, uh patreon.com slashpolyphonic press.
You can get these episodes theday before they go live, and um
and visit the websitepolyphonicpress.com.
You can listen to the backcatalog of all the episodes
(35:16):
we've done and and uh lots ofcool updates and stuff there.
And uh yeah, I think that prettymuch does it.
Uh I'm Jeremy Boyd, and John VanDeg.
Take it easy.
It's just a little bit.
SPEAKER_00 (00:13):
This is Polyphonic Press, the podcast where two
music fans make a classic albumcompletely at random.
Using the patented random albumgenerator, they are given an
album to review from a curatedlist of over 1,000 classic
releases, spanning multiplegenres.
And now on to the show.
(00:35):
Here are your hosts, Jeremy Boydand John Van Dyke.
SPEAKER_04 (00:51):
And I'm Jaron Van Dyke.
And uh let's not waste any time.
We've got the patented randomalbum generator right in front
of us here.
Uh so let's hit the button andsee what album we're going to be
listening to this week.
SPEAKER_01 (01:04):
The album you will be reviewing this week is The
Dark Side of the Moon by PinkFloyd.
SPEAKER_05 (01:09):
Oh boy, I've never heard this before.
But it is brilliant.
SPEAKER_04 (01:18):
Okay, so uh one of so this is the description of
the uh the album.
It says one of the most iconicand influential albums of all
time.
The Dark Side of the Moon byPink Floyd is a progressive rock
masterpiece that explores themesof time, mental illness, greed,
death, and the human experience.
Released in 1973, the album isknown for its seamless flow,
(01:42):
with each track blending intothe next, creating an immersive
sonic journey.
Musically, it features lushsynthesizers, soaring guitar
solos, ethereal vocal harmonies,and groundbreaking use of studio
effects.
Tracks like Time, Money, and Usand Them have become timeless
classics, while the hauntingbeauty of The Great Gig in the
(02:03):
Sky and the hypnotic pulse ofBreathe showcase the band's
sonic experimentation.
Lyrically and thematicallyprofound, the dark side of the
moon resonates with listeners onan emotional and philosophical
level.
Its iconic prism cover artdesigned by Storm Thorgerson has
become one of the mostrecognizable images in music
(02:26):
history.
The album spent over 900 weekson the Billboard charts,
cementing its legacy as one ofthe best-selling and most
enduring records ever made.
Okay.
So the album was released on thefirst of March 1973.
(02:48):
Uh genres are uh progressiverock, space rock, and
psychedelic rock.
Uh and the label uh is it was onHarvest Records and Capitol
Records and produced by PinkFloyd, self-produced.
And the album has ten tracks onthe album, and side one and side
(03:08):
two are split pretty evenlybetween uh five and five.
Um so if you're listening alongwith us, we which we encourage
you to do, uh the album startswith uh the instrumental Speak
to Me, which goes into Breathein the Air, and then uh side one
ends after The Great Gig in theSky.
So if you're listening along,and we've linked the album in
(03:32):
the show notes to both Spotifyand Apple Music, so you can get
it on your fruit streamingservice.
We'll be stopping uh after thoseafter that song to discuss
discuss at the halfway point.
Okay.
Alright, so here we go.
Here's the first track, uh,Speak to Me.
So here we go.
(04:03):
Alright, ending side one withthe great gig in the sky with
vocals by uh Claire Tory.
Uh make sure she gets credit forthat because that was amazing.
Yeah.
Um yeah, completely improvisedby her, by the way.
Yeah.
Uh I mean, I this is Dark Sideof the Moon.
I mean, what can you say aboutit?
(04:24):
I mean, it's this is to me, thisis what like when um when the
Beatles did Sgt.
Pepper with when well like thethey were really the first, one
of the first um artists to havean album with a theme.
SPEAKER_05 (04:45):
Them and uh um the moody blues as well.
SPEAKER_04 (04:48):
The moody blues, yeah.
And um the this is sort of likethe that was sort of the
beginning of that sort ofparadigm shift of what an album
could be, and I feel like thisis sort of the peak of oh shit.
An album is this is an albumthat's a pe a piece all
self-contained.
(05:10):
Um and there actually there wereno singles released on from this
album.
A lot of popular songs, butthere were no singles released
for this album.
SPEAKER_05 (05:19):
No, but the album itself was very popular on FM
radio, though.
But but on FM radio back in thein the 70s, that was the
beginning.
They were very um underground atthe time.
It had that clearer soundbecause the pop radio was still
AM radio and it was still likesound like transistors and
(05:39):
whatever.
But uh this high fidelity FMradio came in, and they really I
don't know, they they had theyhad the freedom to to do
whatever they wanted, and theywould play this album on in full
amongst other things as well,but but this was one of the big
ones, and and it got huge.
SPEAKER_04 (06:02):
This is an album that I've I'm familiar with.
I think it was one of the firstwhen I was sort of getting into
music as a young teenager, thiswas one of the first albums.
It's like I'd always heard aboutit, but it's like, okay, I'm
gonna buy this album on CD andI'm gonna listen to it.
And it's one of those albumsthat really sort of informed my
(06:24):
taste in music from a y from anearly age.
SPEAKER_05 (06:28):
I can't say it's one of my earliest development
records, but it definitely backin high school.
Um that's when I started.
That's what I mean.
Like, yeah, in high school,that's when I discovered it.
When I started digging throughmy dad's old record collection,
and this was amongst it, ofcourse.
You know, amongst, you know, theLed Zeppelin and the Jimi
Hendricks and the all sorts ofstuff.
(06:50):
But yeah, the this albumabsolutely came on, and it's
it's an emotional journey.
SPEAKER_04 (06:57):
It it really is.
And it's sort of it tellsbasically it tells the story of
a human life in sort of anabstract way.
You know, it's sort of likeobviously the uh the um the
being and breathe is sort oflike the birth, um, and then on
(07:20):
the run is like, you know, yourchildhood running around, and
then time is you're getting alittle older and you realize how
precious time is.
SPEAKER_05 (07:28):
And well, the great gig in the sky is sort of is
sort of death, but it touches onon other aspects throughout the
uh um the second half of thealbum.
SPEAKER_04 (07:40):
The I guess the first half is sort of like the
basic sort of this is what thisthese are the outlines, or these
are the major points in in life,and and then money.
I know m money is more likeokay, this is the stuff you have
to deal with in life.
Um and I think maybe the secondhalf is more about that.
(08:03):
But that's what I kind of likeabout the album too, is it's a
it's a concept album, but youcan sort of they're not hitting
you over the head with it, andso you can sort of interpret it
in your own way, and sort oflike it's a it is a concept
album, but it's not like thislike uh another like the wall is
(08:26):
definitely a story about likethat's definitely a narrative
story, but this is more likethey're sort of leaving it up to
the they're trusting thelistener to be able to come to
their own conclusion of what thewhole thing sort of means to
them.
SPEAKER_05 (08:42):
No, I think you're right.
It's it's a little bit moreabstract, and uh it's as it's
just as abstract as its cover.
If ever there was an album thathad the had a perfect album
cover to go along with it, thisis the one.
Storm Thorgerson and and and uhHypnosis were um geniuses when
it came to um to doing uh albumcovers and stuff like that.
(09:07):
And they just had a certainstyle.
SPEAKER_04 (09:10):
There's a lot to talk about with this album, but
uh one of the things that likethe the band is is fantastic.
I mean, as a band, they I don'tknow if Pink Floyd really gets
enough credit as being a tightband, because there there's so
much more to them, but uh theyare real uh uh they were a
(09:33):
pretty tight unit.
I mean obviously they werepersonal conflicts, but for
sure.
SPEAKER_05 (09:40):
Yeah.
Um yeah, that's the story ofthis of the band.
Although they they had a prettyonce um, you know, they had to
deal with Sid Barrett after allthat, they had a pretty steady
run in throughout the 70s untilRoger Waters started to get a
bit of an ego.
I mean, the wall was amazing,but it was definitely a very it
(10:06):
was it was it was definitely aRoger Waters project that he put
onto the band and it worked forthat.
When all that happened, like uhthe final cut was to me sounded
like it was really more of aRoger Waters and and that's when
things were really falling apartfor the band.
SPEAKER_04 (10:27):
Yeah.
Yeah, that was s more or less aa Roger Waters solo album,
basically.
I like I don't even know thestory, like I don't even know
what what happened, but uh fromwhat I gather, like if you're
gonna do that, don't like c justdo a solo album if you're gonna
(10:48):
like it's fine, you know.
SPEAKER_05 (10:51):
He should have gone off and done a solo album, but a
lot of the final cut wasactually like uh stuff that he
didn't put onto the wall.
Roger Waters booted um what'shis name, uh keyboard player.
Richard Wright, yeah.
And I always thought that was abullshit decision because
(11:11):
Richard Wright to me, he's oneof the at least for my favorite
era of of of Pink Floyd, whichis like everything up to boat
Dark Side of the Moon and stufflike that.
I like some of the later stufftoo, but especially that period
between Sid Barrett and DarkSide of the Moon, Richard
Wright's keyboards were likeinstrumental um in in the sound
(11:38):
of Pink Floyd.
Pink Floyd would not havesounded like Pink Floyd without
Richard Wright's keyboards.
It just wouldn't have.
And I just find booting him fromthe band was like a major slap
in the face.
SPEAKER_04 (11:53):
Well, yeah, I mean I I d listening just listening to
this, like uh like the umlistening to On the Run.
Yeah, exactly.
Which is all keyboards.
It's all keyboards.
SPEAKER_05 (12:05):
That was also a lot of uh um oh what's the um
engineer's name?
Uh Alan Parsons.
Alan Parsons, thank you.
Yeah, he that was a lot of uhhis work in that one too.
He was a bit of a uh I mean, theAlan Parsons project, if you
ever listen to especiallyiRobot, that's the one that gets
(12:26):
me is a really good album.
But uh before he was doing that,he he would experiment sometimes
in the studio.
This is at um Abbey Road.
There was a lot of his uminnovation and stuff like that.
And he's working, of course,with Richard Wright and and
doing getting those sounds outand stuff like that.
(12:49):
But yeah, the um there'sabsolutely uh um his uh what's
the word I'm looking forimagination leaks into it as
well.
Um it's it's almost like he wasanother member of the band for
this album or something likethat.
It was it's it's sort ofinteresting.
SPEAKER_04 (13:07):
Yeah, that's when uh like the the the obviously like
David Gilmore his guitar playingis unbelievable, especially that
guitar solo on time is just ohum it's so emotional.
The tone too is just like whoa.
(13:29):
Yeah, but the the the keyboardson this and the synthesizers and
and what have you, that's likethat's the sound of the album.
That's sort of where it's sortof centered.
SPEAKER_05 (13:42):
Um that sort of uh Fender Road sound is is all over
this album, and and that'sRichard Wright again, too.
And like he was known forplaying uh uh a farfisa for a
lot of the Pink Floyd, rightlike right up to this.
Um but in this uh like I thinkit's a Hammond, and I might be
wrong for that, but uh there'sdefinitely sort of like a
(14:04):
Hammond-like organ in this, plusthat Fender Road sound.
SPEAKER_04 (14:09):
Um one of the things that I'm noticing on this album
is like I I've heard this albumyou know a number of times, but
one of the and uh and I'llalways say, well, yeah, that's a
s an album from the 70s, but itsounds more timeless than that.
SPEAKER_05 (14:28):
It sounds 70s, but in a in a timeless kind of way.
And I don't know if that's justbecause it's dark side of the
moon.
SPEAKER_04 (14:36):
Well, it doesn't sound like anything else.
Like it's it doesn't like itdoesn't sound like it doesn't
sound like the the 70s.
It's it doesn't sound like upany like it doesn't sound like
the eighties, it doesn't soundahead of its time, it doesn't
sound it's not a throwback, it'sit's it's its own thing.
SPEAKER_05 (14:57):
It sounds like Pink Floyd in the 70s, but it doesn't
really use a lot of 70s tropes.
There's like maybe somethinghere and there just because of
the time period in which it wasrecorded in.
SPEAKER_04 (15:10):
Yeah, it doesn't have like 70s production.
Like I mean, the the drums don'tsound like that dry 70s, like
the the the intro to time.
The drums are like washed inreverb, but it's not It's not
like a gated reverb.
It's not a gated re it's noteven like it sounds like it's in
(15:32):
there they it sounded like theywere recorded in a sewer, like
underground in a in a big roundmetal It's it's sort of a John
Bonham approach.
Well not even that, it soundsdifferent, it sounds different
than even that.
SPEAKER_05 (15:48):
It sounds different than that too, but it's closer
to that.
SPEAKER_04 (15:53):
Well, so I did manage to find quite a few facts
about the album.
There's Oh, there's lots of awhole lot.
So uh so we'll I'll go throughthem and see what see if we get
bored about uh by this, but umthere's quite a quite a bit of
information here.
So the one of the uh one of thethe biggest known things about
(16:18):
the album is that it it had arecord-breaking chart
performance and it spent uh 962weeks, which is over 18 years,
on the Billboard 200 chart,making it one of the longest
charting albums in history.
Um so that means that it thiswas released in 1973, and it
(16:38):
didn't leave the charts until1991.
SPEAKER_05 (16:42):
Just about in time for the division bell.
Yeah, basically.
It's it's yeah, I know.
Um and everything that happenedwith the Pink Floyd in all that
time.
SPEAKER_04 (16:54):
Uh so the uh has a groundbreaking sound design.
The album is uh used the albumused uh innovative recording
techniques, including tapeloops, synthesizers, and spoken
word snippets from interviewswith roadies and staff at Abbey
Road Studios.
SPEAKER_05 (17:11):
Did you know that Paul and Linda McCartney were
also interviewed during thisbecause they were hanging
around?
SPEAKER_04 (17:17):
Yeah, I did know that.
Yeah.
Paul McCartney had I think hewas recording something, I think
one maybe no, it wasn't itwasn't Ben on the run, but it
was another Wings album he wasrecording at the time.
Yeah, Heart the Heartbeat uhbook ends the album.
The album begins with begins andends with the sound of a
(17:38):
heartbeat symbolizing the cycleof life and death, a central
theme of the record.
Oh, this is interesting.
I don't know if you knew didn'tuh I don't know if you knew
this.
The iconic Prism cover almostdidn't happen.
Yes.
The famous prism artworkdesigned by uh Storm Thorgason
uh was chosen over anotherproposed cover featuring a
(17:59):
photograph of the Silver Surferfrom Marvel Comics.
I don't think that would haveworked as much.
SPEAKER_05 (18:05):
Well, probably not.
Just I guess ultimately why theysettled on this.
But this is so iconic.
It's hard to imagine the other.
But if the Silver Surfer hadbeen the cover for this, would
it have been considered asiconic?
And I I honestly don't think itwould have been.
SPEAKER_04 (18:25):
Probably not.
No.
I know they say, you know, likedon't judge a book by its cover,
but this album needed an iconiccover.
It it really did.
And it really did one.
Yeah.
And the Alan Parsons, thealbum's legendary sound was
partly due to Alan Parsons,which we discussed before, who
was the recording engineer.
(18:46):
His work on the Dark Side of theMoon helps him gain recognition,
later leading his own musiccareer with the Alan Parsons
Project.
Yep.
So one of the funniest thingsabout this album is, and I don't
know where it started, but along-standing fan theory known
as the Dark Side of the Rainbowclaims that the album syncs up
(19:10):
perfectly with the Wizard of Oz.
If played from the beginning uhas the MGM Lion Roars, while the
band denies this wasintentional, fans still love
testing the theory.
SPEAKER_05 (19:21):
Maybe I've never tested it myself.
Um maybe I should, just for theshits and giggles.
But uh honestly, it's just thethe album to me, it just it's
its own work of art.
It doesn't need to I know theband didn't ha had no intention
of lining it up with it, and Ihonestly think a lot of people
(19:43):
who swear that it matches up toit are probably high on
something.
SPEAKER_04 (19:48):
Well, the thing is you can you can put music any
music to a video and certainthings will be lined up.
Yeah.
So it's it's just a coincidence,really.
Um it wasn't intentional.
Yeah, I don't know.
SPEAKER_05 (20:05):
They they could put it up to Ernest Schitz's pants
or something.
I don't know.
Yeah.
Um that's not a movie.
No.
It's Ernest Schitz's pants.
(20:25):
Anyway.
SPEAKER_04 (20:31):
Um there I could go on, but basically the album um
even today sells hundreds ofthousands of copies every year,
proving its lasting impact onmusic and culture.
I mean you know, what can yousay about about the album that
you know hasn't already beensaid?
SPEAKER_05 (20:50):
I mean, it's honestly I do think it's one of
the best albums that we'velooked at so far on this list.
And maybe I'm biased, but itjust I don't know.
This is a masterpiece.
And we haven't even gotten tothe second half of the album or
anything, but I've already, youknow, I I already kind of I know
(21:11):
this album backwards andforwards.
Um and it is a masterpiece.
And even amongst like Pink Floydalbums, it it was always sort
of, you know, it's it's not thecool one to say, oh yeah, that's
my favorite Pink Floyd albumamongst like Pink Floyd fans.
But it honestly is, just becauseit just there was magic in the
(21:32):
studio that day that uh madethis happen.
I mean, and I love uh the restof Pink Floyd's catalog and
stuff like that, especially thestuff between this and and and
Sid.
And I love the Sid Barrett stufftoo.
It's it's a completely differentanimal, but it's wonderful.
Some of the stuff and some ofthe stuff they didn't even
(21:53):
release until like decadeslater.
Because they would put it on andthey would roll on the floor
laughing because this this stuffwas so strange.
Like uh Scream Zilas Scream, oldwoman with a casket.
Blam blam your point ispointless.
SPEAKER_04 (22:13):
I can't remember all the lyrics to the I guess we'll
get into the second side of thealbum.
Um but uh before we do that,let's hear from our friends over
at the Astroverts podcast.
Uh so check those guys out.
SPEAKER_03 (22:32):
What's up, folks?
It's Jake here from theAstrovert Podcast.
Come join us as we playunderplayed and underchair bands
from across the United Statesand the world.
We've found local bands from theMidwest, Florida, the UK, New
Zealand, and far, far beyond.
Some of our recent favoritediscoveries include Sprawl,
Witch Kingdom, City of Auburn,Lake Michigan, and so many more.
SPEAKER_05 (22:53):
We feature Rocky Rockfighter and Rock, as well as
discuss our band's journeytowards finishing our
forthcoming ET.
SPEAKER_03 (23:04):
Our first two singles, Last Call and Tive
Development, both out now.
You can find the podcast onSpotify, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcast.
SPEAKER_02 (23:28):
Thank you.
Here's side two.
SPEAKER_04 (23:32):
Alright, and uh ending the album with Eclipse.
SPEAKER_05 (23:36):
Uh yeah, this is um one of those perfect albums.
It's it's it's uh it's I knowit's high praise, but well it's
it's film has the Godfather.
SPEAKER_04 (23:54):
Television has the Sopranos, Rock and Roll has Dark
Side of the Moon.
It's it's just one of those It'sjust one of those things that
yes, there's a lot of othergreat stuff, but it those like
those are the high marks.
SPEAKER_05 (24:10):
Those are the high marks of in each art art those
are the bars that uh people aimfor and I'm not I've there's a
lot of albums out there that Ilike, but this is up there.
SPEAKER_04 (24:26):
Yeah.
I mean look, this isn't I lovethis album.
This isn't even necessarily myfavorite album, but I I I can't
deny that it's so iconic, youknow.
It's just and so there's there'sthe the the saying that cliches
are a cliche for a reason isbecause they're mostly true.
(24:48):
And this album has such a highpraise.
I I think it's one of the caseswhere an album getting such high
praise and it's not overrated,it's like it's really well
deserved.
SPEAKER_05 (25:06):
Yeah, that's kind of the way I always looked at it.
Sort of it's the praise that'sheaped onto it.
It can be a bit much sometimes,but it It can be a bit much, but
(25:28):
once you actually listen to it,it's like okay, yeah, I get it.
SPEAKER_04 (25:31):
Yeah.
Exactly.
Exactly.
I you know, I think it's youknow, I can I can I I I hesitate
I hesitate to say that it's aperfect album, but it's about as
close you can get.
Yeah.
You know, and like I said, it'snot even necessarily my favorite
(25:53):
album, but it's just one ofthose things that it's it's so
undeniable.
It's like, okay, yeah, they ththis this thing I you know, we
were talking about early abouthow it's it's it sounds timeless
and it doesn't sound like itdoesn't sound ahead of its time.
(26:15):
It's like it's it's it's its ownthing.
But I honestly think that itthis album could only really
happen in the 70s at the sametime.
SPEAKER_05 (26:24):
Like, yeah, no, I know what you mean, because I
have a hard time seeing thisalbum being the project or even
going anywhere today.
It would be even if it came outand it was as great as it is, I
don't know if it would make thewaves that it does just because
(26:46):
the the way that the industry isit's so sad, honestly.
SPEAKER_04 (26:56):
Well, yeah, I mean just the fact that they there
are no singles.
Like they said to the recordcompany this is this is what
we're putting out, and this isall we're putting out.
We're not uh putting out anysingles, we're not doing any
promotion, this is what we'redoing.
You couldn't do that today.
(27:17):
Like you couldn't No, I don'tthink so.
SPEAKER_05 (27:20):
No, um Oddly enough, it was even back then it was
definitely a bit of a bold move,but but Pink Floyd were not the
biggest band in the world whenthey were went into the studio
to do this.
They came out of it being one ofthe biggest bands in the world.
This album was the one thatreally put them on the map.
(27:40):
There was a couple of otherones.
Like they would make a littlebit of inroads into North
America or something like that.
Like they had when um Oh I can'tremember what the album is
called, but uh Out of HeartMother.
Um they would have likebillboards with the cow on it,
and people would look at the bigbillboard and it's like, what
the hell is that?
(28:00):
And it was their way ofpromoting their their album.
That was about 1970 or somethinglike that.
But but even then, like onlypeople who knew them knew them.
They were still pretty big in inin Britain, but they'd made
their way they they'd made theirthey'd made their um name when
(28:21):
Sid Barrett was still in theband in Britain.
Um they did do a tour with SidBarrett, but it didn't go well
in the in the US.
I mean, it just didn't it wasright around the time that he
was falling into his mentalillness.
Um but uh yeah, this is the onethat that actually put them on
(28:42):
the map and um they'd beenfighting to surpass it ever
since.
And some people think that theuh um that the wall did surpass
it.
I don't think it did.
I think the The Wall is great.
It's a great album, but I don'tthink it's better than this one.
Personally.
SPEAKER_04 (29:02):
Yeah.
Yeah, no, I don't I see well Ican't really say because I don't
think I've ever listened to TheWall the whole way through.
But from what I've heard of it,yeah.
I I mean I can't I I can't see Ican't see it being any better
than this.
I mean I d well, I mean it it ispopular.
SPEAKER_05 (29:23):
It'll it it is also popular, but and and for a
double album it's a it's adouble album as well, yeah.
And it's uh it was definitelyvery ambitious.
I'll give it that.
But it doesn't have the samekind of magic.
It does have a magic to it, butit's but this one just has this
(29:45):
I don't know if it's the timeperiod, because Pink Floyd
really just were at theirelement in the early seventies,
more so than they were in thelate seventies.
They were starting to fall apartin the late seventies.
SPEAKER_04 (29:57):
Um Well, I mean, and that's That's pretty mu kind of
what the the wall is about,right?
It's about it tells the story ofa a pop star who's sort of not
dealing with fame very well.
SPEAKER_05 (30:11):
Yeah, I think it's it's it's largely like sort of
it's a fictional character, butthere's a lot of parallels
between Roger Waters himself andSid Barrett.
And and again, it's it's a greatalbum for sure, but I don't
know.
This one gives me the warmfuzzies at the same time as
making me think.
(30:32):
This one, it's just I don'tknow.
There's this this vibe about itthat just is unsurmountable.
SPEAKER_04 (30:42):
Yeah, it yeah, it really It really is.
Is the like they were justfiring on all four cylinders uh
on this one.
Or all eight, or depending onwhatever what size engine they
have.
Yeah.
Uh yeah, I mean it's it's andyou know, and I I think I think
for this album specifically, Ithink I think it's okay to break
(31:07):
tradition because I don't thinkit's fair to pick three songs.
SPEAKER_05 (31:12):
I think I have I have picked three songs, but it
is uh a a monumental taskbecause honestly Well just uh
and also because of the s somelike a lot of the songs are sort
of connected to each other.
Yeah.
Yeah, I know.
Okay, well what what would beyour your pick for I'm probably
(31:35):
going with time, money, andbrain damage, I think are my f
three favorites.
Those are the ones that theyreally do it for me.
Um but that's not uh it's I meanlike the the whole album is
great, and I have a hard timefinding a flaw with this album.
(31:56):
Even if there is a flaw, if theflaw wasn't there, I'd miss it.
But I I don't I don't I don't Idon't know what that flaw would
be.
Honestly, I d it's it's one ofthose albums that's just kind of
perfect the way it is.
It's it's you know, withoutactually being like flawed in a
way, it's it's still got thathuman element to it.
(32:20):
That just you know, therethere's nothing it's a
surprisingly clean album, butit's not so clean that it strips
away the humanity from it.
It's it's it hits that sweetspot of being like really,
really just I don't know exactlyhow they managed to do it, but
(32:42):
they they hit that sweet spotbetween clean but human.
SPEAKER_04 (32:48):
Yeah.
Yeah, I know exactly what youmean.
I know exactly what you mean.
Yeah, and I I totally agree.
Um yeah, I picking three I thinkI would have to pick the same
three songs.
Time, money, and brain damage,yeah.
SPEAKER_05 (33:05):
I just think yeah, I just think they're the best
tracks on on on the album.
But I but I also think the GreatGig in the Sky, you know,
doesn't really have lyrics, butit's fantastic.
I also think that any color youlike is really underrated.
It's it's sort of funky, it'skinda fun, and that's the other
one that I think uh Alan Parsonshad uh his uh put his fingertips
(33:31):
in.
Um so yeah, it's it's sort offun.
Um Eclipse is a perfect ender.
Uh Breathe is a really good songtoo, and you know, time has got
a bit of breathe in it.
And yeah, it's just like timewouldn't work without the end of
breathe in it.
SPEAKER_04 (33:50):
It's exactly weird.
Yeah.
Yeah, no, that's exactly right.
Um so I I don't have to ask.
I know I I would listen to thisagain.
I know you I mean, it's notobvious by now, you know.
Um yeah, I mean it's just it'sit's that album that you know,
(34:12):
like I said, it's it's thegodfather of music, basically.
It's it's just that that it'sthe thing that people praise,
but the praise is well deserved.
It's it's not overrated.
It's yeah.
Um yeah.
So yeah, I guess we'll uh endthe episode there.
(34:34):
Uh thank you so much forlistening if you made it this
far.
Uh be sure to subscribe so youknow uh when the when you we
upload these uh uh episodes.
And uh we'd love it if you leftus a rating and a review as it
really helps uh new listenersfind us.
And a podcast as good as thisalbum, uh yeah, that's what we
(34:55):
want to know.
And uh, you know, if you want tosupport the show, uh you can go
to Patreon, uh patreon.com slashpolyphonic press.
You can get these episodes theday before they go live, and um
and visit the websitepolyphonicpress.com.
You can listen to the backcatalog of all the episodes
(35:16):
we've done and and uh lots ofcool updates and stuff there.
And uh yeah, I think that prettymuch does it.
Uh I'm Jeremy Boyd, and John VanDeg.
Take it easy.
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