Hailed as one of the most revolutionary and influential rock albums of all time, Dark Side of the Moon is a must-have for any music geek. And now, with it’s remaster in 2011, it’s sales are set to skyrocket again. But is it worth the expense? Dave Roberts investigates.

By now, unless you’ve spent most of your life say, frozen in a tube somewhere in the seedy underbelly of New York, or on the side of a mountain, or indeed if you just flew in from outer space, then you’ve heard of Pink Floyd, The Floyd, Old Pink, or at least David Gilmour or Roger Waters. If you haven’t, stop reading, go and buy Dark Side of the Moon and prepare to listen to the most successful rock album of all time.

However, for the 99.99% of you that won’t fall under that category, comes the latest line-up in the Floyd catalogue – Dark Side of the Moon remastered (again) with its full performance live in England making up the second disc of the two disc-set. Now simply because the album speaks for itself I couldn’t do the album any justice at all. I’ll speak on the mastering a little later however for now onto the live recording.

The live recording is phenomenal. It’s note-for-note perfection and not only that, but the addition of certain things in the intro and re-instrumentation of some small parts have breathed new life, if it is really ever possible, into this timeless classic. As I’m writing this I’m listening the vocal freestyle solo in "The Great Gig in the Sky" where you can hear the performer giving it everything they’ve got.

The previous tracks were just as light-filled and ‘experience’ worthy as their studio brethren, big, vast and juicy soundscapes of audio caressing your ears with transitions that would make Mozart weep. The audio quality is terrific – even listening on my $300 headphones brings no static, no popping – in fact it’s warm and not harsh like a lot of live recordings today.

One thing I really noticed (probably the headphones) was the severe use of stereo. These days people are almost afraid to use hard pans (moved hard to the left or right channel), but with this it gives you an insane sense of space and an almost trippy feeling as the sounds whoosh around your head in true Pink Floyd LSD-inspired style.

In fact it’s awesome to sit and listen how they did things before all of the technology of today. For example, in "Us and Them" backing singers do the echoes of Gilmour’s voice. Not with a tape delay as I’d have expected – but it adds an element that seems to have been lost in today’s live community. The element of doing everything yourself and being self-sufficient on stage.

Overall, the live section of the album is a testament to the remarkable ability of the band as a whole. It’s something that we will probably never see nor hear again (short of Waters’ solo shows) – but it’s something that will live on forever and a day.

Briefly I should talk about the remastered album, or Disc 1 of the album. The album is pretty much the same. With the exception that it sounds clearer, more defined, and sharper than it ever has. Everything comes through the speakers more audibly than before and the mix is wider, fatter and more tender than it has been in the past. It even manages to keep that warmth that so many recordings often lose in their remastering and digitizing.

Overall, the album is a brilliant re-master of an album that needs no introduction, and with the addition of the remastered live version it adds a new element to the album that inspired more musicians than any other, ever. And you only have to look at the chart history to prove it’s musical calibre and pedigree – it last went number one last year, some thirsty-seven years after it’s first release.

When anyone ever says ‘Pink Floyd’ – chances are that the rest of the room are thinking Dark Side of the Moon. It’s kind of like a call and response ‘I say Floyd, you say Moon’ type of thing. And it is with good reason that this album is synonymous with the progressive rock giants – it’s actually the same reason that it was so successful – It’s an endearing classic album that will stand the test of time. It has been in the charts almost indefinitely since it’s release in 1973, and I have a small feeling that it’s there to stay.

And there’s no other album more worthy.

Review Score: 9/10