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Category:    Home > Reviews > Classic Albums - Dark Side Of The Moon (Pink Floyd)

Classic Albums – Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon

 

Picture: C+     Sound: B-     Extras: B+     Main Documentary: B+

 

 

2003 has been yet another great year for the Pink Floyd classic Dark Side of the Moon, now 30 years old.  The biggest news, however controversial, has been the new Super Audio CD of the album.  Though the album was originally engineered and produced by Alan Parsons, current Floyd producer James Guthrie did the 5.1 remix, which has resulted in music that is… er, mixed.

 

Just before that release, an entry about the album in the long-running Classic Albums series was made, which celebrates and details what went into the production of the landmark recording.  For the program, all four members (all surviving), including Roger Waters, are interviewed extensively.  Dave Gilmour, Nick Mason, Richard Wright, Alan Parsons, music scholars and critics also contribute heavily.  There is the original broadcast program that runs around 50 minutes, then extras in a series of outtakes that doubles the time.  As is often the case in this series, all of the extra material should have remained.  You will especially like the innovative way they went for new sounds for classics like Money, Great Gig in the Sky, On The Run, Time, Us & Them, Breathe, Brain Damage and Eclipse.

 

Though not broadcast in the United States any more, the show continues to be made for European TV and issued on DVD in the U.S. from Eagle Vision.  Veteran director Matthew Longfellow delivers the goods in this very successful delving into both this album and especially the band.  Everyone is as candid as possible and their recall is exemplary, which is a real treat for music fans in general and Floyd hardcores in particular.

 

It also discusses how this particular worked changed their careers and lives forever, and in the process, gives us a new angle of how the Rock genre was growing and prospering in the 1970s.  No album track goes deeply unexamined and you will wish it went on even longer.  The archival footage is exceptionally rich and there are also plenty of stills in the mix.

 

The 16 X 9 (1.78 X 1) image is decent, though a touch soft, but not with some of the problems that plagued previous titles in this series.  Nicer still, the Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo decodes nicely in Pro Logic surround for a change.  Of course, that will never stand up to the high definition DSD signal on a SACD, but these are the original mixes of the songs, which accounts for something.  We will cover the remix controversy in future Floyd reviews.

 

This also plays very well, especially considering how poor looking and sounding the Sony Music Video DVD release of The Wall looks.  When is Sony going to finally issue that as a Superbit DVD?  Either way, even with several Floyd and Waters DVDs on the market, this is the best Floyd DVD-Video on the market and is strongly recommended.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo


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