The Dark Side of the Moon

The band first played the material live in early 1972 as Dark Side of the Moon: A Piece for Assorted Lunatics, then recorded it over about 60 days at Abbey Road. The first track cut was Us and Them, on 31 May 1972. Alan Parsons, then 23, engineered and handled effects, and Chris Thomas supervised the final mix. The drums were kept natural while the instruments and vocals were compressed. The synthesizers were an EMS VCS 3 and a Synthi AKS, a Uni-Vibe is on Breathe and Any Colour You Like, and a custom Frequency Translator treated the vocals on Time.

The Library of Congress added the album to its National Recording Registry in 2013. In the Library's essay on the record, Daniel Levitin noted a Grammy nomination for best engineered non-classical recording, the mastering by Wally Traugott, and the album's 14 years on the Billboard album chart. Wright explained that the reharmonized chords on Breathe were inspired by Miles Davis, and Levitin described Gilmour using the EMS Synthi AKS on On the Run, with Waters adding effects on a VCS 3. He traced the guitar tone on Time to a Binson Echorec 2, and noted that Money is in 7/4 except for 4/4 during the guitar solo. The first UK pressing came out on Harvest as SHVL 804 in a gatefold sleeve.

Cover and release

The Hipgnosis designers Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell offered seven cover designs, and all four band members chose the prism. Wright had asked for something simple and bold. It was the first Pink Floyd sleeve to print the lyrics. The band skipped the press reception at the London Planetarium on 27 February 1973 because the quadraphonic mix was incomplete, and played a midnight show at Radio City Music Hall on 17 March. After the album the band signed to Columbia in early 1974, while Harvest kept the UK and Europe.

Reception

It reached number one on the American chart on 28 April 1973 and has sold about 45 million copies by 2013, with 15 times Platinum in the United States and 14 times in Britain. Loyd Grossman wrote in Rolling Stone that it demanded involvement. Roy Hollingworth in Melody Maker found the first side too confused to follow. Robert Christgau, in 1981, called it a kitsch masterpiece. Later reviews are warmer: AllMusic gave it five stars, and Pitchfork gave it 9.3.