100 Greatest Prog Albums: #4 Dark Side Of The Moon (Pink Floyd)



The big question is, who DOES NOT own this album? Who hasn't sang along with "Breathe" or tapped their foot along with "Money"?

While it only managed number four on Prog Magazine's list, as chosen by the staff and readers, the one thing we do know is that The Dark Side Of The Moon is the biggest selling Progressive Rock album of all time. Though it only spent one week at #1 on Billboard's Top LP and Tapes chart, it spent an incredible 714 consecutive weeks there (1973-1988)! It occasionally appears again and is approaching 850 weeks on the charts. DSotM has sold an estimated 50 million copies worldwide, with over 15 million in the U.S. alone (in 2007 it was estimated that 1 in 14 U.S. citizens owned or have owned a copy).

What? You didn't know you were listening to Prog when you were listening to this? Well now you know.

And while Pink Floyd is no more, both David Gilmour and Roger Waters are still performing songs from the album in their respective concerts to enthusiastic audiences - more than 40 years after the album was released.

Lyrically, the concept behind the album is about various stages or aspects of our lives - Wikipedia provides a good description. In a nutshell, the albums themes include conflict, greed, stress, the passage of time, death, and insanity.

Here are some examples if you've never heard it (or if you have, want to enjoy them again):

"Breathe, breathe in the air . .  ."

"Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash . . ."

"Us and them . . . and after all we're only ordinary men . . ."