Everyone owns Dark Side of the Moon. Well, everyone SHOULD own dark side of the moon. That is a dead set given. What music fan, of sane and rational mind, does not own Dark Side of the Moon? I guess what I am trying to say is that if you don't own Dark Side of the Moon - you are not a music fan. You probably should not read on. What are you doing here in the first place?? Music stores (traditional and online) should have the facility to check your back catalogue before letting you buy any new album.
Something like this:
'We see that you do not own Dark Side of the Moon''iTunes is sorry to inform you that your account will now be disabled''Alternatively click here to purchase Dark Side of the Moon now'
But they don't. - Unfortunately.
So if you dont own Dark Side of the Moon....GET *you can probably catch the drift of what i'm thinking. Alternatively, buy it, dedicate years of your life listening to it. Then come back. You will be a better person for it. You would think this is an entry for DSOTM. Well it sort of is, every entry is, everyone owes everything to DSOTM, every single thing that happened in the world post 1973, music or otherwise is becasue of, or in spite of Dark Side of The Moon. Everything.
Christ almighty, I have finally got that off my chest (small rant, sorry, happens sometimes).
Climbs down off my somewhat conceited moral ground. Hop off the high horse and begins....
Anyway I digress, every man woman, child and beast who has ears should (or i can assume by now does) own Dark Side of the Moon - but they may not own Meddle. Meddle seems to be the forgotten Pink Floyd masterpiece.
In 1971 Pink Floyd were somewhere between the psychedelia and madman musings of Sid Barrett of 'A Saucer Full of Secrets' and the critical acclaim, wealth and status brought about by 'Dark Side of the Moon'. (we discussed that above - remember?) They had been the darlings of the London psychedelic underground, expelled their singer and lyric writer (Barrett), composed a film score/soundtrack (More) released the experimental double album Ummagumma (one side a live recording, the other a composition by each member) that along with the brilliance of Astronomy Divine, Careful with Axe Eugene and Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun also included one of the best song titles of all time: 'Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving with a Pict'. The album 'Atom Heart Mother' followed which was an experiment in quadraphonic sound before the band came to 1971 with no clear direction and nothing written. They entered the studio to write and record, experimented and came up with - Meddle - a masterpiece.
The artwork deserves a mention - The image on the cover represents an ear, underwater, collecting waves of sound represented by ripples in the water. Storm Thorgerson was the designer of course, along with 10 other Pink Floyd Album covers. Unfortunately you dont see anyone with this on T-Shirt. (I did have one once upon a time.)
One of these days opens. A pounding bass line - 2 bass guitars together, building, pulsing, engaging, frightening, and suspenseful. A massive instrumental aside from Nick Mason making his vocal debut with......
"One of these days I'm going to cut you into little pieces!!"..........which slams the song into overdrive. Pounding drums and stinging slide guitar dominate for the next two minutes until nothing but wind remains. It is an energising start but ends calmly and progresses into the gorgeous ballad, A Pillow Of Winds. Made up of acoustic guitars and sparse bass, this is a beautiful floating piece that takes advantage of Gilmour's tranquil vocals. It serves as a respite from the carnage of On of these days. Into "Fearless" is a mid-tempo track featuring David Gilmour playing an ascending riff which gives a slight symphonic atmosphere again, just well crafted & beautiful. That opening riff gets me dizzy, the vocals are heavenly, and the interpolated Rogers and Hammerstein is creepy in the best way. It was my favorite Floyd song for a while, and I get a grin whenever I hear it, especially the Liverpool FC chant at the end. (of course it is Roger and Hammerstein’s “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”) Onto "San Tropez" is a short, playful, elegant jazz-tinged track, with Roger Waters on lead vocals. It's quite interesting hearing Roger in a more playful mood, as opposed to the morbid tendencies found in the majority of his later writings. "Seamus" features dogs barking in the background to an otherwise bluesy track. Everyone hates this track. It probably did not need to go on, but im sure there is a good reason other than a platter full of mind altering substances.
Some people criticise this album on the strength of tracks 2,3,4,5. Not me. They are part of setting the album up. It an experiment, it starts heavy, it moves on through moods and builds - to the punch.
Echoes.
The glorious, majestic Echoes. If I could only listen to one song for the rest of my life, it might just be Echoes. It goes for 23 minutes. On the Vinyl LP it is the whole of side 2. I have probably listened to it 1000 times or more. That equates to 38 days of my life. On one song. But i don't regret it at all. Wasting my life on music? Nah spending my life with music.
Echoes is an epic, the staple of progressive music (epics, that is), and a great one at that. Probably the first truly great epic of modern music and certainly a track that defined the epic for many years. It features seven or so distinct parts, each with their own merits, and each amazing. The lyrics are simplistic, but stunning. The “official” meaning of the lyrics (as per Waters, the author) is that they are a look at humanity’s capacity for empathy. But it means so much more than that.
The first minute or so is interspersed with pinging and music in between. The pinging is created by Rick Wright plucking a de-tuned piano string. Between pings, the music starts to build, starting out as just keyboards, then with guitar coming in, then bass (only in the background), and then finally Nick Mason on drums. The intro is absolutely stunning, and one of my favorite intros to any song. This lasts for about 3 minutes, when the lyrics kick in. The Lyrical content of this song is fascinating. The song has several solo sections, which is where Gilmour’s guitar and Rick Wright’s keyboards shine. About eleven minutes into the song we are introduced to the strangest and most “boring” section of the track. The wind sounds of One of These Days re-occurs here, and are complemented with screeching noises. While this is the least enjoyable section of the song, the effect that is given off is brilliant, displaying that Pink Floyd is still not afraid to go out of the box. It becomes clear around the 17-minute mark that Echoes is building to a powerful and fitting climax as Gilmour utilizes a palm muted riff and Mason is quietly beating his drums senseless. Just as you expect the track to build to something greater, you are stunned when the track returns to the beginning once again, with Gilmour and Wright singing,
“Cloudless everyday you fall upon my waking eyes, inviting and inciting me to rise.”The lyrical effect cannot be undermined, for the message of the track is truly tragic. Gilmour and Wright's final phrase is incredible.
“And no-one sings me lullabies, And no-one makes me close my eyes, And so I throw the windows wide, And call to you across the sky.”As the wind sounds return and the track fades out, you can help but feel awed. The band for sure had to of felt a great sense of accomplishment, for this is arguably their most underappreciated work. “Meddle” deserves to be mentioned along with the other outstanding Pink Floyd records and really marks the beginning of the band’s prime.
