Roger Waters’ reimagining of Dark Side Of The Moon just around the corner. read here to find out about Pink Floyd’s top albums so far.
In just under a month, on the 10th of November fans will be treated to another Pink Floyd release. Only it’s not really a conventional one.
It was a few months ago now that Roger Waters teased a brand new, 2023 version of the hit album Dark Side Of The Moon.
The original is their biggest album – a classic of the band and the art-rock, prog-rock genre. It’s an album cover you see all over official and affiliated merch, from stationary and t-shirts to card games and poker sets.
To release a new version of the album is bold. It’s no shock the announcement was met with somewhat of a mixed response.
While it’s nice to get a new project from the mastermind behind Pink Floyd, Dark Side Of The Moon is a seminal album that is already perfect in just about every way. Surely there isn’t a reimagining that could do it justice? Surely it would be better just to get the band back together and record a brand new Pink Floyd hit?
But as Pink Floyd fans, we have to relent to the fact that the latter is never going to happen, so we have to take what we can get. After all, we don’t really need anything else on top of the already stellar Pink Floyd discography. In a way, the best way we can celebrate is by welcoming this new Dark Side Of The Moon with open arms, while also going back to relisten to all of the Pink Floyd albums we already hold so dear.
With this in mind, let’s take a look at the very best of Pink Floyd and the albums that we keep coming back to time and time again:
Dark Side Of The Moon
We might as well start with the big one! The album that Pink Floyd will be remembered by forever. For years to come, Pink Floyd fans around the world will be coming back to the beauty of this album and listening to it like it’s their first time all over again. It’s hard to put into words exactly why this album is so good, but we’ll try. Money is a masterstroke of a song. Other tracks like Us And Them also cut deep, and increase in musical depth with every listen. There will never be an album like it again, and never an album that even comes close – ahem, we’re looking at you Roger Waters!
The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn
When Pink Floyd burst onto the scene in 1967, their approach was unique and almost jarring. Many observers wondered if their musical wings would take their career into the sky or plummeting to the earth. But luckily, their gamble paid off. The first Pink Floyd album was a whirlwind of sonic bliss, helped partly by the brazenness of the late Syd Barrett. It was unconventional, sure. But it was something new. And that’s exactly what the world needed at that time.
The Wall
It wasn’t until Syd Barrett left the group, however, that Roger Waters could start flexing his own creative muscles. And many would argue those muscles reached their peak with The Wall in 1982. This was a huge monster of an album, spread over two discs, and full of tunes that are still being sung today – Another Brick In The Wall and Comfortably Numb instantly come to mind!
Animals
We feel this album is overlooked by a lot of music magazines today, but we’d go as far as saying it surpasses even The Wall. Once again, Pink Floyd tore up the rulebook and chose to create an album that sounded like one big song, rather than a collection of tracks. And it works! There’s not a moment on this record where things start to sound samey, and it’s almost impossible to skip a track – as they average around 18 minutes and you’d miss the entire gist of the album if you do! With a deluxe 50th edition of Dark Side Of The Moon coming out alongside Waters’ reimagining, we’re starting the petition for an new exclusive Animals 50th edition when the time comes!
Wish You Were Here
Written with Syd Barrett in mind, Wish You Were Here perfectly mixed the political with the personal, creating an album that resonates now and will resonate another hundred years into the future. While many recognise it by the fiery artwork orchestrated by Storm Thurgerson, others will recognise it with tracks like Wish You Were Here and Have A Cigar. In many ways, it was a quieter and more understated record than its predecessor, but it still hits just as deep.
