ΜΟΟΝ RISE

As The Dark Side of the Moon turns 50, we go behind the scenes of Pink Floyd’s masterpiece, from its live origins to its studio metamorphosis, to explore David Gilmour’s gear and tone, and the stories behind every track.

THE 1972 TOUR

Before it was an album, The Dark Side of the Moon was a tour. Here, David Gilmour takes us through the birth of Pink Floyd's masterpiece.

BY GLENN POVEY

DAVID GILMOUR NEVER imagined in 1973 that he would still be talking about Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon well into the 21st century. “Longevity in pop music, in terms of me as a 20-whatever — I was a 27-year-old when we did Dark Side of the Moon — was measured in maybe five, possibly 10 years,” he reflected in a rare 2011 interview. “As soon as Roger [Waters] came in with the idea of its central themes of how the pressures of modern life can affect your sanity, it started taking a shape from there on I would say... But that feeling that that we were on to a real magical ‘something’ came a bit later down the line, I think.”

And it’s persisted ever since. The Dark Side of the Moon resided in the U.S. Billboard chart for 723 weeks, from 1973 to 1988, longer than any other album in history. And with an estimated 45 million copies sold, it’s Pink Floyd’s most commercially successful effort and one of the best-selling albums. But what has made it such an enduring success?

“My view,” said Floyd drummer Nick Mason in his autobiography, Inside Out, “is that there was no single reason, but a number of factors working together and multiplying the effect.” Most notably, he writes, “The musical quality spearheaded by David’s guitar and voice and Rick [Wright]’s keyboards established a fundamental Pink Floyd sound.”