The Dark Side of the Moon: The Making of the Pink Floyd Masterpiece [Anglais] [Relié]

Harris (Britpop!) provides a meticulous if rather circumscribed account of the talented people behind an enigmatic album that has sold so many copies (30 million) that, Harris notes, one British magazine speculated it was "virtually impossible that a moment went by without it being played somewhere on the planet." The author triumphs at using research and interviews with the Pink Floyd members to bring to life the dilemmas they faced while making the 1973 album, including the incapacitating mental illness of original leader Syd Barrett and the arrival of new member David Gilmour. Given Pink Floyd's dramatic, often challenging music and its undeniable air of mystery, the book also excels in humanizing the musicians through candid portrayals of their everyday highs and lows while The Dark Side of the Moon evolved. But for all the wealth of perspective from those in and around the band regarding the album's creation, the book doesn't explain why Dark Side has endured. With the album's poignant exploration of themes like insanity, human divisiveness and greed set to innovative sounds, Dark Side's staggering (and continuing) sales are fascinating. As it stands, the book is richly detailed but hardly revelatory. 50 b&w photos. (Nov. 15)
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Pink Floyd's 1973 signature album, Dark Side of the Moon, receives book-length appreciation in Harris' retrospective. He newly interviewed the quartet who delivered the goods--Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Rick Wright, and Nick Mason--but starts with a chapter about long-lost lead Floyd and purported acid casualty Syd Barrett. No longer in the band when Dark Side was made, Barrett is widely rumored to have partaken in the composition and performance, corporeally or not. Dark Side is an evergreen album, and much of the book's appeal stems from having so much about the album in one convenient place, glazed with the patina of comprehensiveness conferred by Harris' new interviews. Hardware details, niceties of song structure, and obscure personal tidbits (Waters: "Syd's mother blamed me entirely for his illness") abound. Effective as a band history linked firmly to the times in which Pink Floyd flourished and as an appreciation of a classic record, Harris' book seems to be thorough. It probably won't be the last word on Dark Side, though. Mike Tribby
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"An excellent, in depth analysis...absorbing and well-constructed...with refreshingly honest views from all the main protagonists."

"Harris expertly chronicles the band's experiences."

"Dredges up every possible relevant bit of information on the background and creation of their breakthrough album."

"Offers a crisp chronicle of the band's history and early recordings."

"Provide[s] interesting insight...Offers new and candid interviews...A good read...Contains a load of great photos."

"[A] compact but enlightening volume."

A behind-the-scenes, in-depth look at the making of one of the greatest sonic masterpieces and most commercially successful albums of all time

Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) is one of the most beloved albums of all time. A sonically stunning exploration into dark themes of madness, death, anxiety, and alienation, it has sold a staggering 30 million copies worldwide, and continues to sell 250,000 copies a year. Besides being perhaps the most fully realized and elegant concept album ever recorded, The Dark Side of the Moon was also one of the most technically advanced LPs of its day. It has aged remarkably well and still sounds as contemporary and cutting edge as it did on the day it was released. A perfect blend of studio wizardry and fearless innovation, The Dark Side of the Moon is illuminated by John Harris's exploration of the band's fractured history, his narrative skill, and his deft exploration of the album's legacy, such as its massive influence on bands like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails.

Drawing on original, new interviews with every member of the band-bassist and chief songwriter Roger Waters, guitarist Dave Gilmour, keyboardist Rick Wright, and drummer Nick Mason-The Dark Side of the Moon is a must-have for the millions of devoted fans who desire to know more about one of the most timeless, compelling, commercially successful, and mysterious albums ever made.

John Harris, author of Britpop!: Cool Britannia and the Spectacular Demise of English Rock, has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo, Q, The Independent, NME, Select, and New Statesmen. He lives in Hay on Wye, England.