Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon
Harvest, 1973: David Gilmour (guitars and vocals), Roger Waters (bass and vocals), Richard Wright (keyboards, died 2008), Nick Mason (drums)

Notable songs (The entire album!):

• Speak to Me
• Breathe
• On the Run
• Time
• The Great Gig in the Sky
• Money
• Us and Them
• Any Colour You Like
• Brain Damage
• Eclipse

For Pink Floyd, this was the breakthrough album in the U.S., as the " Money" single went big.

This album is a great example of a concept album. I always considered the theme to be the descent into madness, the dark side of life, reflecting what happened to Syd Barrett, Floyd's founder. Each side of the album is a continuous piece of music, as one song blends into another, and each song adds something to our understanding of the fragility of human life.

Recorded in Abbey Road Studio by Alan Parsons, this album used some of the most advanced recording techniques of its day. Since its release, it has sold maybe 45 million copies worldwide, the second highest sales of an album.

The album opens with "Speak to Me" (a heart-like drum beat, then some background sounds, the laughter of a madman, followed by the scream of a psychotic).

"The Great Gig in the Sky," written by Rick Wright, is also about life and the descent into darkness (death).

And it continues with the combo of "Brain Damage" and "Eclipse" which run seamlessly together and which also return again to the idea of insanity.

Dark Side of the Moon was included on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.