Dark Side remains with us; Pink Floyd’s seminal album turns 50

Recording artists and producers typically don’t know if they’re working on a classic album.

However, there are exceptions, according to Alan Parsons, who engineered Pink Floyd’s masterwork, “The Dark Side of the Moon.”

“It was apparent that it was their best work to date,” Parsons said during a 2016 interview. “The songs are amazing. ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ is special. Pink Floyd was always pushing the limits in the studio. The only thing we didn’t know is that we would still be talking about ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ today.”

The album has nothing to do with outer space. It’s about lunacy.

“Dark Side of the Moon” was a game changer from an adventurous band at its peak that was turning a creative corner. The project became that uncommon marriage of beloved and commercial monster.

But “Dark Side of the Moon,” which was released 50-years ago Wednesday, isn’t just one of the most popular and critically acclaimed albums of all time. Its staying power is unprecedented. The best selling album of the ’70s. More than 50 million units have been sold worldwide. Spent an incomprehensible 970 weeks on the Billboard chart, which is nearly a 19-year span. It’s a rare album embraced by different people and different generations.

The seminal album is the first Floyd project in which bassist-vocalist Roger Waters crafted all of the lyrics. However, “Dark Side” is a collaborative effort on the sonic side. Waters proved to be a master of the mundane. “Ticking away the hours that make up a dull day/Fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way” from “Time” is a couplet, which has never stopped resonating.

“Money” mocks greed. “Brain Damage” is inspired by mental illness and makes references to former member Syd Barrett, who dropped out of the band and society due to his mental breakdown.

Waters painted quite a picture and the band was obviously fine with his musings since it was the first time Pink Floyd lyrics were included inside of an album.

From that point on Pink Floyd, and usually Waters, had much to say.

And then there is the music.

Pink Floyd, which formed in 1965, found itself with artful, baroque, jazz fusion, blues-rock and psychedelia. The production is pristine and all ten tracks hold up today.

The list of prominent recording artists influenced by “Dark Side” is almost as endless as the album’s chart run. Members of U2, Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, MGMT, Ween and Sigur Ros have each detailed how the groundbreaking album affected their songwriting. The members of those bands came together over “Dark Side” but ironically, Floyd grew apart while working on the project.

Beefs between Waters and vocalist-guitarist David Gilmour, who parted ways 30-years ago as members of Pink Floyd, continue over “Dark Side.” The energetic and combative Waters, who is months away from turning 80, recently re-recorded the album.

Waters failed to inform Gilmour about his latest project, but he could care less. Waters has no regard of what his former bandmate thinks, and he believes he has every right to revisit the songs in a studio.

“I wrote ‘The Dark Side of the Moon,’ ” Waters recently told the Telegraph. “Let’s get rid of all this ‘we’ crap. Of course we were a band, there were four of us, we all contributed, but it’s my project and I wrote it, so blah.”

The new version of “Dark Side” is scheduled for a May release but fans will always return to the original work that’s been part of so many films, laser shows and late nights experienced via headphones.

A number of prominent recording artists have covered “Dark Side” live in its entirety such as the jam band Phish, prog-rockers Dream Theater and avant rockers Flaming Lips. Fans of the album are as eclectic as the aforementioned groups.

In 2012, “Dark Side” was selected for preservation in the US National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

“Dark Side” transcends genre. It’s one of rock’s most timeless and provocative albums. It was the start of Pink Floyd’s golden era. Such classic projects as 1975’s “Wish You Were Here,” 1977’s “Animals” and 1979’s “The Wall” followed.

“Dark Side of the Moon” changed Pink Floyd and altered the state of music, which doesn’t happen often and should be celebrated.