Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd (1973)

I used to sometimes think to myself how wild it was that only six years separate Dark Side Of The Moon from Sgt Pepper. Both classics but one sounds so modern and the other, only slightly older, sounds like a relic of another epoch. I realize these days that this would be a stronger argument if you couldn’t also go and hear modern music evolving from The Beatles’ own Abbey Road, Miles’ Bitches Brew, Marvin Gaye’s What’s Goin On, and several Stevie Wonder records, all released in between.

This was partly because Floyd got to use the updated Abbey Road studios, with its 16-track recorders and the most complex control board the world had ever seen. It was partly because of David Gilmour’s dedication to making his guitar sound distinctive. But it was mostly due to a very creative band hitting their stride right as the technology to enable them was ready.

Consider this: DSOTM was released the year I was born, and it didn’t drop off the Billboard albums chart until I was in high school.

This manages to be a great end-to-end listen despite (or maybe because) there aren’t a lot of obvious singles. One track segues into the next, and you just float along witnessing it.