Dark Side of the Moon 30th Anniversary Edition [Hybrid SACD]

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
Dark Side of the Moon, originally released in 1973, is one of those albums that is discovered anew by each generation of rock listeners. This complex, often psychedelic music works very well because Pink Floyd doesn't rush anything; the songs are mainly slow to mid-tempo, with attention paid throughout to musical texture and mood. The sound effects on songs like "On the Run," "Time" and especially "Money" (with sampled sounds of clinking coins and cash registers turned into rhythmic accompaniment) are impressive, especially when we remember that 1973 was before the advent of digital recording techniques. This is probably Pink Floyd's best-known work, and it's an excellent place to start if you're new to the band. --Genevieve Williams

Album Description
The Super Audio CD (SACD) features two disc layers. One layer contains a standard version of the album that works on any CD player. The other layer includes high-resolution stereo and a 5.1 surround version of the recording that works on SACD-compatible DVD players and home theater systems. Both layers employ SACD's Direct Stream Digital (DSD) encoding process that samples the music 64 times faster than CD for unprecedented fidelity.

Tracks:

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

Amazon.com essential recording

Dark Side of the Moon, originally released in 1973, is one of those albums that is discovered anew by each generation of rock listeners. This complex, often psychedelic music works very well because Pink Floyd doesn't rush anything; the songs are mainly slow to mid-tempo, with attention paid throughout to musical texture and mood. The sound effects on songs like "On the Run," "Time" and especially "Money" (with sampled sounds of clinking coins and cash registers turned into rhythmic accompaniment) are impressive, especially when we remember that 1973 was before the advent of digital recording techniques. This is probably Pink Floyd's best-known work, and it's an excellent place to start if you're new to the band. --Genevieve Williams

Album Description

The Super Audio CD (SACD) features two disc layers. One layer contains a standard version of the album that works on any CD player. The other layer includes high-resolution stereo and a 5.1 surround version of the recording that works on SACD-compatible DVD players and home theater systems. Both layers employ SACD's Direct Stream Digital (DSD) encoding process that samples the music 64 times faster than CD for unprecedented fidelity.

Album Description

Full Title - Dark Side of the Moon 30th Anniversary Edition. It's been 30 years since 'Floyd released their masterwork, and it's been on the charts for most of them! And now comes a new dimension to what was already the ultimate headphone experience-this new edition includes a newly-remastered conventional version and a Super Audio CD 5.1 surround mix version playable on SACD-compatible DVD players and home theater systems. Original designer Storm Thorgerson chips in with new art inside the 20-page booklet. Capitol. 2003.

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic.......2007-07-09

Incredibly, Dark Side Of The Moon, by Pink Floyd, was released almost 35 years ago. The amazing thing is that this excellent CD is still important and relevant today. I can listen to Us and Them over and over again. The hypnotic perfection of this CD is amazing. Most bands would love to have a collection of greatest hits that would rival this one album by this incredible band. If you have not heard this, you are in for a treat. A Five star masterpiece.

" Essential ".......2007-06-27

A timeless piece of classic FLOYD. If it's not already in your collection - Get It!

great mix.......2007-06-14

Quick turnaround and great product. This album is always classic, but with the new mix and the proper geat it will blow what's left of your brain cells.

The answer to my audiophile dream........2007-06-09

I have tried to purchase every possible version of this cd paid hundreds of dollars for the so call 1st,2nd,3rd and 4th press...only to be disappointed by all of them.LET ME PUT AN END TO ALL THE SPECULATION AND CONFUSSION...THIS IS THE ONE AND ONLY ULTIMATE IN SOUND QUALITY PERIOD.The only catch is that you must have a SUPER AUDIO MULTICHANNEL SURROUND SYSTEM....the sound quality will leave you speachless.

Why is this a classic?.......2007-06-05

Disclaimer: If rock, country, and [c]rap disappeared from the planet tomorrow, I would the happiest man on earth. There would be some loss, but I would be willing to sacrifice it for the general uplift in musical taste. Having said that, I do occasionally find something I like in the pop vein (Steve Winwood, for example), but I have yet to find anything that I love because I've never uncovered anything of musical substance. This mix of Dark Side of the Moon sure ain't it. Having recently purchased an SACD player, I thought I would revisit this so-called classic. If nothing else, I could play it for friends.

Thirty years ago, you couldn't walk into a hi-fi store without hearing "thump-thump, thump-thump," followed by two hundred clocks having simultaneous orgasmic releases. All that remains on this recording, but the simple, over-electronicized music still does nothing to move me. The sound effects are almost as annoying as those fuzzed, distorted, god-awful guitars that several generations have amazingly accepted as THE sound and will be able to point to in old age as the source of their deafness.

I'm sure just about everyone will disagree with the above opinions, but you cannot disagree with what follows. The mix on this recording is dreadful. Like virtually all pop recordings, the engineer forgot that rock is VOCAL music and thus typically made the vocal lines so recessed within a wall of sound as to render lyrics unintelligible. It's as if the band were playing in your ears but the singers are 30 feet away. Why this is standard practice in the pop field, I cannot imagine. I also don't much like sitting in the middle of the band and wished the instruments were all placed up front. Moreover, the sound is harsh and overbearing, and that is likely the fault of the mixing engineer, not the source material. While I have found in playing SACDs that I want to turn the volume up (including electronic jazz), in this case I dived to turn it down.

The Dark Side of the Moon will go onto my shelf and remain there until someone begs me to play it.

P.S. There is a reason that Amazon sells some versions for $150 and this one so cheaply.

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