Book 59th Dark Side of The Moon

THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, the fantastic metal quartet formed by members of Feuerschwanz, Amaranthe and Ad Infinitum, love to explore unseen lands and dive into the adventures of worldwide heroic characters. Sharing their stories with a dedicated fanbase, they now announce their debut album, Metamorphosis, out May 12, 2023 via Napalm Records. With this album, the unit around Ad Infinitum vocal queen Melissa Bonny and Feuerschwanz guitar virtuoso Hans Platz dip their soundscapes into mystical worlds, reinterpreting famous soundtrack themes and writing their own songs dedicated to their favorite characters.

A doomy stoner metal Pink Floyd tribute project spearheaded by Austin, Texas-based Sword guitarist Kyle Shutt, the aptly named Doom Side of the Moon began in early 2017 as a salute to the 50th anniversary of the legendary English psych/classic rock outfit. Comprising Shutt, fellow Sword-mates bassist Bryan Richie and drummer Santiago Vela III, vocalist Alex Marrero (Brownout, Brown Sabbath), saxophonist Jason Frey (Black Joe Lewis, Hard Proof), and keyboardist Joe Cornetti (Croy & the Boys), the band released its eponymous debut, a complete reworking of Pink Floyd's seminal 1973 classic Dark Side of the Moon, in August 2017.

As a cornerstone release of the epic Why Pink Floyd? reissue programme, The Dark Side of The Moon was treated to a stunning 2011 remaster, and released in Discovery, Experience and Immersion editions. Featuring newly minted packaging across the range, the highly collectable Immersion edition featured a host of rare, unreleased and alternate audio and video content in both standard and high resolution across CD/DVD and Blu-ray. The Dark Side Of The Moon was the first record to get this reissue treatment, followed by Wish You Were Here and The Wall.

The Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973 by Harvest Records. It built on ideas explored in Pink Floyd's earlier recordings and performances, but without the extended instrumentals that characterised their earlier work. A concept album, its themes explore conflict, greed, time, and mental illness, the latter partly inspired by the deteriorating health of founding member Syd Barrett, who left in 1968.

It's a bold concept; take Pink Floyd's iconic Dark Side of the Moon (Harvest, 1973) and reinterpret it in a big band jazz setting. With upwards of forty million copies sold, every note, every nuance of Floyd's eighth album is so firmly entrenched in the minds of the band's legion devotees that to tamper with the work in any way is to leave oneself open to facile criticism. French-Vietnamese guitarist Nguyên Lê, however, is nothing if not adventurous. Lê has already demonstrated on Purple: Celebrating Jimi Hendrix (ACT Music, 2007) and Songs of Freedom (ACT Music, 2012)—his tribute to classic pop and rock songs of the 1960s and 1970s—that he can breathe new life into old material without being overly reverential.

By condensing the sonic explorations of Meddle to actual songs and adding a lush, immaculate production to their trippiest instrumental sections, Pink Floyd inadvertently designed their commercial breakthrough with Dark Side of the Moon. The primary revelation of Dark Side of the Moon is what a little focus does for the band. Roger Waters wrote a series of songs about mundane, everyday details which aren't that impressive by themselves, but when given the sonic backdrop of Floyd's slow, atmospheric soundscapes and carefully placed sound effects, they achieve an emotional resonance…

March, 1973… A quartet known for its psychedelic inclinations delivered a fortress of an album: The Dark Side of The Moon was a musical UFO featuring the most advanced technology of the period, a stratospheric record which mirrored society and our errant human ways. Pink Floyd was about to write an essential chapter in rock history and enjoy planetary fame; even today, their album is still one of the greatest sellers of all time.