Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’: 50 Years in a Heartbeat

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One of classic rock’s most acclaimed albums, Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon, is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2023. And on Jan. 19, after an extended teaser campaign on the band’s social media platforms, Sony Music announced a newly remastered, deluxe box set to celebrate one of the best-selling albums of all time. The collection, released on March 24, includes a CD and gatefold vinyl of the remastered studio album and Blu-Ray + DVD audio featuring the original 5.1 mix and remastered stereo versions. The set also features a new Blu-ray disc of Atmos mix plus CD and LP of a concert recording, The Dark Side Of The Moon – Live At Wembley Empire Pool, London, 1974. Listen to the 2023 remaster of many of the tracks below as well as numerous live performances from the 1974 concert, and lots of other content, below.

Simultaneously, the CD and first ever vinyl issue of the TDSOTM portion of that 1974 concert have been released independently. It was originally recorded in Nov. 1974 as part of the band’s – David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Richard Wright – winter tour and this marks the first time it will be available as a stand-alone album, with artwork featuring an original 1973 line-drawn cover by George Hardie.

Pink Floyd’s Richard Wright, Nick Mason, Roger Waters and David Gilmour, in an undated photo in the early ’70s (Photo © Hipgnosis; used by permission)

One of the most iconic and influential albums ever, the title continues to find new audiences globally. The album was partly developed during live performances, and the band premiered an early version of the suite at London’s Rainbow Theatre several months before recording began. The Dark Side Of The Moon is the eighth studio album by Pink Floyd, originally released in the U.S. on March 1 and then in the U.K. on March 16, 1973. The new material was recorded in 1972 and 1973 at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios) in London. The iconic sleeve, which depicts a prism spectrum, was designed by Storm Thorgerson of Hipgnosis and drawn by George Hardie. The album’s ten tracks include such favorites as “Breathe,” “Time,” “Money,” “Us and Them,” and the closing numbers, “Brain Damage” and “Eclipse” were written by the band’s four members, some individually and others collaboratively.

On March 1, 2023, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, Alan Parsons wrote, “To this day, I feel honored to have been a part of such a groundbreaking album. Our goal at the time was to stretch the boundaries of the recording process, and in the process create something magical. And I think many will agree we achieved that goal. As engineer, I was grateful that the band was open to a number of my suggestions, which included the use of the clocks on the intro to “Time,” as well as utilization of a very talented vocalist who I had previously worked with named Clare Torry for the vocals on “Great Gig in the Sky.”

Listen to the remastered “The Great Gig in the Sky” and “Brain Damage”

Gilmour notes that the creation of the masterpiece wasn’t without conflict. “Some of [our] fights were really ugly,” he says. “But you went back at it the next day.”

Gilmour and Waters in 1974 (Photo © Jill Furmanovsky; used by permission)

As Best Classic Bands reported on Jan. 3, a book, Pink Floyd – The Dark Side Of The Moon: 50th Anniversary, published separately by Thames & Hudson on March 24, to coincide with the box set release. Curated by photographer Jill Furmanovsky and art directed by Hipgnosis co-founder Aubrey Powell, this LP-sized volume showcases rare and previously unseen photographs taken during The Dark Side Of The Moon tours of 1972-1975 and was created with the involvement of the band members. Order it here.

As for the original album… One week. That was it. Pink Floyd‘s landmark hit the top of the U.S. sales chart on Billboard on April 28, never to return again to #1. (It peaked at #2 in the U.K., where it has reportedly become the seventh-best-selling album of all time.) Pretty ironic for one of the best-selling albums ever, with worldwide sales now reported at some 50 million copies.

The deluxe edition components are listed below the Amazon links.

CD1 – THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
Remastered 2023 by James Guthrie
in gatefold sleeve with 12-page booklet

CD2 – THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
LIVE AT WEMBLEY EMPIRE POOL, LONDON, 1974
Mixed by Andy Jackson
in gatefold sleeve with 12-page booklet

This ad for Pink Floyd appeared in the March 31, 1973 issue of Record World

LP1 – THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
Remastered original studio album
in gatefold, with original posters and stickers

LP2 – THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON
LIVE AT WEMBLEY EMPIRE POOL, LONDON, 1974
in gatefold, with 2 posters

BLU-RAY 1 (AUDIO)
Original album 5.1 and high-resolution remastered stereo mixes,
in dedicated wallet:
1. 5.1 Surround Mix – 24bit/96kHz Uncompressed
2. Stereo Mix – 24bit/192kHz Uncompressed
3. 5.1 Surround Mix – dts-HD MA
4. Stereo Mix – dts-HD MA

BLU-RAY 2 (AUDIO)
Original album Atmos and high-resolution remastered stereo mixes,
in dedicated wallet:
1. Dolby Atmos Mix
2. Stereo Mix – 24-bit/192kHz Uncompressed
3. Stereo Mix – dts-HD MA

DVD (AUDIO)
Original album 5.1 and remastered stereo mixes,
in dedicated wallet:
1. 5.1 Surround Mix – Dolby Digital @448 kbps
2. 5.1 Surround Mix – Dolby Digital @640 kbps
3. Stereo Mix (LPCM) – 24-bit/48 kHz Uncompressed

More details below after the official trailer.

160-PAGE THAMES & HUDSON HARDBACK BOOK
with rare black and white photographs from the 1972 – 1975 tours of the U.K. and U.S. taken by
Jill Furmanovsky, Peter Christopherson, Aubrey Powell, Storm Thorgerson

76-PAGE MUSIC BOOK
of original album

MEMORABILIA:
REPLICAS OF 2×7” SINGLES
in Harvest bags:
7″ Single 1 Money/Any Colour You Like
7″ Single 2 Us And Them/Time

REPLICA OF EMI PAMPHLET AND INVITE TO THE PREVIEW OF THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON AT THE LONDON PLANETARIUM ON 27 FEBRUARY 1973

Studio album recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London, between May 1972 and January 1973. Produced by Pink Floyd. Engineer Alan Parsons. Assistant Peter James. Mixing supervised by Chris Thomas.
Remastered by James Guthrie and Joel Plante at das boot recording. 5.1 and Atmos mixes by James Guthrie.

Live At Wembley Empire Pool, London, 1974
recorded at the Empire Pool, Wembley, London, November 1974
Engineers: Brian Humphries with Phill Brown.
Audio Mixing by Andy Jackson, assisted by Damon Iddins. Mastered by Andy Jackson at Tube Mastering.

Creative Director 2023: Aubrey Powell/Hipgnosis

On Feb. 27, 1973, EMI Records held a press conference for the debut presentation of Pink Floyd’s new album at the London Planetarium. Although, the Planetarium dome could only show an array of stars, constellations and images of the cosmos while the music played, it was an unprecedented success. Fifty years on, in recognition of the iconic album and with the help of huge strides in technology, an immersive, official full dome experience with stunning visuals of the solar system and beyond and played out to 42 minutes of The Dark Side Of The Moon, an all-encompassing surround sound and visual treat, will be released in Planetariums around the world in March. Contact your local Planetarium for any screening details.

The 50th Anniversary release will also be celebrated as Pink Floyd invite a new generation of animators to enter a competition to create music videos for any of the 10 songs on the iconic 1973 album. Pink Floyd has a rich history of collaborating with animators from the beginnings of the band (Ian Emes, Gerald Scarfe, etc.), and in some cases the visuals that accompany the songs have become synonymous with the music itself. The 50th Anniversary will be no exception. The band would like to give all animators an opportunity to present a fresh take on these timeless aural works. Animators can enter up to 10 videos, one per song on the album. A winner will be selected from a panel of experts which will include Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason, Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell (Pink Floyd’s creative director) and the BFI (British Film Institute). The deadline for submissions is Nov. 30, 2023.