Pink Floyd - DM's Beatles forums

Quoted from raxo

... incredible but I've always thought about The Wall as Pink Floyd's White Album too!!!

Make that 3 people who have connected The White Album with The Wall.

Although I think The Wall is not one of Pink Floyd's best albums... It tends to lack a lot in certain parts.

Dark Side of the Moon is their utter masterpiece. As you all said, "All killer no filler" indeed.

And there aren't many albums who have that in their favor.

For those interested, here's a review I once did of the Dark Side of the Moon:

"This is truly a quite excellent album. There is a whole feeling of mystic which is absolutely out of this world.

For an album to be good, the instrumentation must be highly dominated (guitars, drums, bass, any other...) and all that combined with the appropriate vocals. The vocals don't have to necessarily be LOUD, astonishing or unique, they must simply fit with the instrumentation and be appropriate to the song's meaning and feeling.
For an album to be excellent, besides this, all the songs must go well with each other and have an altogether concept or a common atmosphere.
When this is present in an album, tied to all songs having a good sound quality and domination of sound, besides having to SOUND GOOD, and there is a good variety of sounds to entertain the listener, the album is a masterpiece.

And The Dark Side Of The Moon is one of the most perfect examples of this. There is frequently present a mystic atmosphere, and absolute fascinatingly weird concepts of sound, which fit perfectly together. The title itself is a good way to capture this spirit. As we all know, the real dark side of the moon is something unvisited by the human race. It's something we know exists, and we keep seeing it covered by the... light side of the moon. So, it's something we must imagine how it will be, in this way being a mystic place that we all know to exist, but that, even though it could be so visible to us from the Earth's surface, it keeps getting covered and out of our eye reach...

This whole album is an entire journey through lunacy. That's one of the greatest ways to describe it. The second you insert this CD on your stereo, a trip begins through the world of lunacy that could be situated in the real dark side of the moon... You take off at Speak To Me and land back on Eclipse.

Here's how this whole journey goes:

1. (a) Speak To Me - This is the introduction to your voyage through the world of lunacy. It presents to you how crazy and absolutely unlike anything you ever heard before this trip really is. There is a heart beat at the start, maybe symbolizing your own heart beat, as to creep you out... There are some voice parts in here talking about being mad and some maniac laughter, another factor that presents you with the lunacy present in this trip you're about to take. More sound effects kick in, building more climax, and there is finally a scream that absolutely creeps you out! Keeps building up intensity, and then eases up to...

(b) Breathe - This song is like the "Alright, folks, you're about to go on a very troubled and agitated ride. Relax for now, ease up, and just chill... Prepare yourselves for the voyage ahead of you." part of the trip. It is a smooth song, sounding quite nice and simple... It is still rock, as the voice of David Gilmour keeps reminding you... The power present is still relaxing, but a style of rock at the same time. As an individual song, Breathe has a good meaning to it: Relax through your life, but make sure to dedicate yourself to work. You may chill and go easy on life, but you must work hard and keep yourself dedicated. It simultaneously fits in as a lesson for life and as a step on this "lunacy voyage" we are taking as we listen to this album. Then, as the song ends, there is a connection to the next track as we we start listening to...

2. On The Run - As a step on this voyage, it represents that "Alright, you've relaxed... Now, step up the pace as we start this magnificent trip.". As an individual song, it is a magnificent dominance of techno music and has some of the greatest synthetizer sound effects ever created. The effort was amazing, as they wanted to reproduce the pressure of travelling today. Some people say that using only technologic means to a song is a bad sign, since they didn't use real instruments to play it, showing a lack of quality. I say that is bullshit. Pink Floyd got even more amazing when they showed they could not only play some of the greatest instrumental work, but also dominate the world of technologic environment around them and still make something good out of it. Then, as the crazy and mind-blowing effects start building up to come out on the end as a explosion effect, they start easing up and leading directly to...

3. Time - We are stepping through the voyage already. All the songs so far have been a way to get ready for the trip and we are now already on it. The first part of this trip is about a direct topic, and so is another song ahead, as to give a direct lesson to life for people, STILL sounding good and keeping track with the voyage of crazyness. This one is about time. It's unbelievable how the topic itself keeps getting unraveled on the song's composition. It is 7 minutes long, showing already a considerable extension of time. Still, it serves its purpose, always with a rock sound to it. The bell and alarm effects at the beginning are a way to introduce the topic, which is, by now, very obvious to be about time. These effects are a way to say "Attention now! The voyage has now technically begun and we are about to say something serious." Then, come the spectacular effects made with the constant beat through the first minutes, also with deep instrumentation work from the back, and spectacular drum dominance. Extending this part so long is also a way of saying "Get ready. It is an important lesson we are about to say, and absolute attention would be appreciated. Start preparing yourselves, please, the voyage has begun now, so get aware of it as you enter a new world. You will now learn our first topic. Please be aware of this.". As this kicks into the listener's head, the song begins 2 minutes and a half after the start of the track, and the powerful voice of Gilmour introduces this topic. The instrumentation is always great, and we can obviously tell the dedication of this band in this song, which hits you more on the impact of this subject. The solo is absolutely amazing, and is there to show you that, although the trip is getting crazy, this is still a pure rock album. Touching meaning to it, too, this song is about how time passes so quickly before we are aware of it and that we should make the most out of every moment, controlling the destiny at our hands, without letting time simply slip away... There is a reprise of the initial song "Breathe" at the end of this song, as another sign of "Well, keep this subject in you. Now, relax, and chill out, as we are entering, again, a new step of our magical trip...", which directly connects to...

4. The Great Gig In The Sky - A unique song, as it is merely instrumental work, with some voice parts and a mind-blowing scream practically all the way through it! Now, we are having an indirect lesson on the meaning of death and how it is natural and, therefore, should not be feared. We have an introduction for this topic, as an Irish doorman, Gerry, tells us how it is not necessary to be afraid of dying, since you've gotta go sometime... The whole scream is highly interpretable by many, but it very possibly is a way of showing you how much death should not be feared. Hearing that scream makes you think about maybe a person in constant pain, or someone terribly frightened of death, and in, whatever the case may be, you'll always get a feeling of seeing just how ridiculous it is to be afraid of something so natural, even if it is very mystic... The dominance of the instruments is always great, as we are shown a good and with enough variety tune all the way through the scream. A nice organ sound to it, maybe to relate more to death, but that combines perfectly with the scream and the meaning in this song.

5. Money - Now, the trip starts taking more beat as we are said "Hey, we are on a lunacy trip, but we've still got the style! Listen to the lesson in THIS song!". This is the other song about a specific and direct topic, which, in this case also coincidentally, was also all revolved around the song itself. First, with the 'cash loop' effects, that quickly pointed out to us the subject at hand now, and the rhythm present throughout the song, which resembles a kind of greed and financial ambition. Actually, even this song got to give Pink Floyd lots of money, since it was also the only song off Dark Side of the Moon to reach the top 20 in the US. This album has another, maybe more indirect symbol of the ambition money supposedly brings: there is an introduction of a new instrument here - the saxophone, which they mastered the dominance of perfectly. It is a great extra to this song, and strengthens it, too. The constant feeling of greed and ambition in this song, along with the 'cash loop' effect, helps the listener stay directly focused on the money subject, and helps him with the lesson at hand: Money does not bring happiness. This lesson is more indirect than the one at Time, as the lyrics are not so specific and have a deeper meaning, in which the language has some signs of irony related to the lesson they're trying to tell here. It's a good turn on this album, and helps make it have more variety, which obviously contributed to the grandiosity of it. The fact that there is a huge bit in this song which is only instrumental managed to show us how Pink Floyd can symbolize us something so greatly without any presence of voice, just instruments. And the meaning is still there, even when there is no-one singing. After this unique song of this album, the trip carries on and is starting to approach its near ending, as we are taken on to...

6. Us And Them - This song also serves as another sign to the listener, now more of the "Well, we've shown our style big time, but now we have more important and deep steps for you to go through in this trip... After all, this voyage is not over yet." The echoes are great here, and their purpose is amazing, since they become a symbol of the 'deep' meaning in this song. It is a direct calling to the listener as a way for him to carefully listen and understand the spacial meaning of this song. This is also why this song is done in such a slow and quite tune... Serves as a way for the listener to pay more attention and take more careful notice to the details. It's an awesome song about the tendency of people to separate themselves and go against one another for even the most simple things... The saxophone solos here are a great way to make the listener take notice and think more carefully on the meaning of this song, and also symbolize how old-fashioned this 'lesson' is. They represent the blues kind of songs, so it takes the listener back in time so that it becomes present the idea that this is something that has occurred since the beginning of times: The partition between people and the tendency that has become of that. It makes a great purpose on this album and then it directly connects to...

7. Any Colour You Like - A fascinating instrumental bit which is a trip through your mind and imagination, as your brain gets all agitated after listening to the great sound effects of this song. It is the next step of this voyage, the "Alright, we gave you our lessons. Think about them, deeply, as we go on through the crazyness and lunacy and come to our next part of this trip. Now, relax again and chill out... You have seen the most important parts of this voyage. It is coming to an end, so get ready and relax..." This is actually, unofficially, the 2nd reprise of Breathe and serves almost the same purpose as that song. It then introduces us to...

8. Brain Damage - This is the definite statement of lunacy, crazyness and mental instability this album has stamped all around it. It is saying to you "Well, you have come this far, so your mind has gone through a permanent transformation and you are a lunatic!" It is obviously only a symbol of how such a wide range of lessons and important informations will affect you, making you have a different point of view on everything around. At least, that is what they intended and this song shows you that, as it represents lunacy in its most natural state. The mild laughters contribute to this symbol of lunacy, as it is a known fact many of the crazy folks out there sometimes have a tendency to idiotically laugh. Great song composition, though, and an excellent power and intensity given to the chorus of this song, which only contributes more and more to its message. It is a great and one of the most essential parts of this album, as it is starts clearing up your mind on how influential this album may become to you and how much of renovation these ideas may become to you... Afterwards, we conclude the crazy trip with...

9. Eclipse - This is a perfect conclusion to this album, as it is way of saying "This voyage has come to its end, but now everything around you will look and seem different to you, after the influence this trip has made on you. You will not forget us so easily!" You hear this song, and your mind starts going back to normal, after the out of this world intensity and power present in this whole album starts to fade away and come together as one to your mind. Now, you are confused, but you can't help but feel different and better about yourself. There is a heart beat in the end of this song, which symbolizes that now everything is normal again, but that the mystic is present everywhere you go. The meaning is so great, as it says that, even though you might have thought this was too revolutionary and too mystic an album, the fact is that all the mystic and all the mystery is present in your everyday life and that, after listening to this album, you will hopefully be aware of it.

It is a great trip to the mind, to the ears, and even to your thought. It's a masterpiece and a divine piece of work, that definitely deserves the title of one of the greatest rock album of all-time. Get into this album, and you WILL feel changed."