Classic Albums Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon
November 2003 Reviewed by: Marc Mickelson Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

At one point during this wonderful documentary on the making of Pink Floyd's concept album Dark Side of the Moon, David Gilmour proclaims, "As you can see, there's an awful lot going on on this track." This could be a subtitle for the entire album and what this documentary imparts about the entire Dark Side of the Moon project -- how appealing music, compelling lyrics, and inspired engineering came together to create one of the few true rock'n'roll masterpieces and an album that charted for over 14 years. The requisite interviews with the band and engineer Alan Parsons are here, but these are not staid words-only affairs. We get Gilmour and Roger Waters playing and singing to explain what they talk about, and Parsons behind the console letting us hear individual tracks of the album's multitrack mix. There are demo/rehearsal performances along with live offerings, all of which dissect Dark Side of the Moon and give those of us who know every second of this album more than enough information about the creative process behind it. And like the album itself, this documentary encourages playing over and over again.

Extra materials include full performances of the musical snippets presented, interviews not included in the documentary (including a discussion of producer Chris Thomas's role in the creation of Dark Side of the Moon), and further discussion of the artistic touches of the album. All add to the presentation -- you'll want to see them after watching the documentary for the insight they impart. The sound and video image of this DVD are both very good. The 16:9 presentation allows for some interesting split-screen effects such as close-up shots of David Gilmour's fingers while he plays guitar.

Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon is part of a larger series of similar DVDs on the making of other great rock albums by Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Fleetwood Mac, and Paul Simon. This documentary adds so much to the enjoyment of Dark Side of the Moon that I suspect the other DVDs in the series are safe recommendations.

The recent SACD release of Dark Side of the Moon may have enjoyed more hoopla than this DVD, but it won't add as much to your understanding and appreciation of the album. Consider the two discs a must-have set.

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