Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon is set for a 50th anniversary release on March 24 via Warner Music. The box set contains the remastered original album, the first ever vinyl issue of The Dark Side Of The Moon – Live At Wembley Empire Pool, London, 1974 and more.
Live performances of Dark Side Of The Moon have always been an important component of the record as Pink Floyd — bassist Roger Waters, guitarist David Gilmour, drummer Nick Mason and keyboardist Richard Wright — developed much of the album in a live setting and subsequently performed the LP in its entirety after its release, something that is commonplace now. Floyd brought their road-tested material to London’s EMI Studios, also known as Abbey Road, to record Dark Side in 1972 and ‘73.
The album arrived in the U.S. on March 1, 1973, and in the band’s native UK on March 16 of that year. Everything about Dark Side is iconic from its 10 tracks to its cover art designed by Storm Thorgerson of Hipgnosis and drawn by George Hardie. The Dark Side Of The Moon is one of the most innovative and best-selling albums of all time.
The new deluxe box set is comprised of CD and gatefold vinyl of the 2023 remastered studio album as well as Blu-Ray and DVD audio of the original 5.1 mix and remastered stereo versions. The collection also contains a new Blu-ray disc featuring an Atmos mix along with the aforementioned The Dark Side Of The Moon – Live At Wembley Empire Pool, London, 1974 in both CD and LP formats. Additionally, the deluxe box set contains a 160-page book, a 76-page music book, memorabilia and more.
Other fanfare around the landmark occasion includes Pink Floyd inviting animators to enter a competition to create music videos for the LP’s 10 tracks and the iconic album returning to planetariums among other events. Check out a video with Nick Mason, who will help judge the animator competition, below along with a trailer for the box set:
