Editing The Dark Side of the Moon (section)

== Background ==
Following ''[[Meddle]]'' in 1971, [[Pink Floyd]] assembled for a tour of Britain, Japan and the United States that December. In a band meeting at the home of the drummer, [[Nick Mason]], in North London, the bassist, [[Roger Waters]], proposed that a new album could form part of the tour. Waters conceived an album that dealt with things that "make people mad", focusing on the pressures associated with the band's arduous lifestyle, and dealing with the mental health problems suffered by the former band member [[Syd Barrett]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Mason|2005|p=165}}</ref><ref name="darkside30">{{cite magazine |last=Harris |first=John |title='Dark Side' at 30: Roger Waters |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/pinkfloyd/articles/story/5937470/dark_side_at_30_roger_waters | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090326023152/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/pinkfloyd/articles/story/5937470/dark_side_at_30_roger_waters | archive-date = 26 March 2009 |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=12 March 2003 |url-status=dead | access-date=8 June 2011}}</ref> The band had explored a similar idea with the 1969 concert suite [[The Man and The Journey|''The Man'' ''and'' ''The Journey'']].<ref name="Mabbett">{{Harvnb|Mabbett|1995|p=n/a}}</ref> In an interview for ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', the guitarist, [[David Gilmour]], said: "I think we all thought{{Snd}} and Roger definitely thought{{Snd}} that a lot of the lyrics that we had been using were a little too indirect. There was definitely a feeling that the words were going to be very clear and specific."<ref name="gilmour">{{cite magazine |first=John |last=Harris |title='Dark Side' at 30: David Gilmour |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/pinkfloyd/articles/story/5937468/dark_side_at_30_david_gilmour |date=12 March 2003 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=31 May 2010 |url-status= dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070919202754/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/pinkfloyd/articles/story/5937468/dark_side_at_30_david_gilmour |archive-date = 19 September 2007}}</ref>

{{listen | pos = left | filename = Money demo track roger waters.ogg | title="Money" (demo) | description = Waters' early demo recording of "Money", made in his garden shed. | format = [[Ogg]]}}
The band approved of Waters' concept for an album unified by a single theme,<ref name="gilmour" /> and all the members participated in writing and producing material. Waters created [[Demo (music)|demo tracks]] in a small studio in a garden shed at his home in [[Islington]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Mason|2005|p=166}}</ref> Parts of the album were taken from previously unused material; the opening line of "[[Breathe (Pink Floyd song)|Breathe]]" came from an earlier work by Waters and [[Ron Geesin]], written for the soundtrack of ''[[Music from The Body|The Body]]'',<ref>{{Harvnb|Harris|2006|pp=73–74}}</ref> and the basic structure of "[[Us and Them (song)|Us and Them]]" was borrowed from an original composition, "The Violent Sequence", by the keyboardist, [[Richard Wright (musician)|Richard Wright]], for ''[[Zabriskie Point (film)|Zabriskie Point]]''.<ref name="makingof">{{Citation |title=Classic Albums: The Making of The Dark Side of the Moon |type=DVD |publisher=Eagle Rock Entertainment |date=26 August 2003}}</ref> The band rehearsed at a warehouse in London owned by [[the Rolling Stones]] and at the [[Rainbow Theatre]] in [[Finsbury Park]], London. They also purchased extra equipment, which included new speakers, a [[PA system]], a 28-track mixing desk with a four channel [[quadraphonic]] output, and a custom-built lighting rig. Nine tonnes of kit was transported in three [[lorries]]. This would be the first time the band had taken an entire album on tour.<ref name="Masonp167">{{Harvnb|Mason|2005|p=167}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Harris|2006|pp=85–86}}</ref> The album had been given the provisional title of ''Dark Side of the Moon'' (an allusion to lunacy, rather than astronomy).<ref>{{Harvnb|Schaffner|1991|p=159}}</ref> After discovering that title had already been used by another band, [[Medicine Head]], it was temporarily changed to ''Eclipse''. The new material was premiered at [[Brighton Dome|The Dome]] in [[Brighton]], on 20 January 1972,<ref>{{Harvnb|Reising|2005|p=28}}</ref> and after the commercial failure of Medicine Head's album the title was changed back to the band's original preference.<ref name="Schaffnerp162">{{Harvnb|Schaffner|1991|p=162}}</ref><ref name="Poveyp154">{{Harvnb|Povey|2007|p=154}}</ref>{{refn|"At one time, it was called ''Eclipse'' because Medicine Head did an album called ''Dark Side of the Moon''. But that didn't sell well, so what the hell. I was against ''Eclipse'' and we felt a bit annoyed because we had already thought of the title before Medicine Head came out. Not annoyed at them but because we wanted to use the title."{{Snd}} David Gilmour<ref name="Poveyp154" />|group="nb"}}

[[File:Rainbow theatre london.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Photograph|The [[Rainbow Theatre]] in London, where ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' was played for the press in 1972]]

''Dark Side of the Moon: A Piece for Assorted Lunatics'', as it was then known,<ref name="Mabbett" /> was performed for an assembled press on 17 February 1972 at the Rainbow Theatre, more than a year before its release, and was critically acclaimed.<ref name="Poveyp155">{{Harvnb|Povey|2007|pp=154–155}}</ref> Michael Wale of ''[[The Times]]'' described the piece as "bringing tears to the eyes. It was so completely understanding and musically questioning."<ref>{{Citation |title=Pink Floyd&nbsp;—The Rainbow, Issue 58405; col F |url=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/mclib?http_rc=400&class=session&sev=temp&type=session&cause=http%3A%2F%2Finfotrac.galegroup.com%2Fitw%2Finfomark%2F383%2F3%2F57424777w16%2Fpurl%3Drc1_TTDA_0_CS168916562%26dyn%3D5!xrn_9_0_CS168916562%26hst_1%3Fsw_aep%3Dmclib&cont=&msg=No+Session+cookies&sserv=no |last=Wale |first=Michael |publisher=infotrac.galegroup.com |page=10 |date=18 February 1972 | access-date =21 March 2009}}</ref> [[Derek Jewell]] of ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' wrote "The ambition of the Floyd's artistic intention is now vast."<ref name="Schaffnerp162" /> ''[[Melody Maker]]'' was less enthusiastic: "Musically, there were some great ideas, but the sound effects often left me wondering if I was in a bird-cage at London Zoo."<ref>{{Harvnb|Harris|2006|pp=91–93}}</ref> The following tour was praised by the public. The new material was performed in the same order in which it was eventually sequenced on the album. Differences included the lack of synthesisers in tracks such as "[[On the Run (instrumental)|On the Run]]", and [[Clare Torry]]'s vocals on "[[The Great Gig in the Sky]]" replaced by readings from the Bible.<ref name="Poveyp155" />

Pink Floyd's [[Dark Side of the Moon Tour|lengthy tour]] through Europe and North America gave them the opportunity to make improvements to the scale and quality of their performances.<ref>{{Harvnb|Povey|2007|p=159}}</ref> Work on the album was interrupted in late February when the band travelled to France and recorded music for the French director [[Barbet Schroeder]]'s film ''[[La Vallée (film)|La Vallée]]''.<ref>{{Harvnb|Mason|2005|p=168}}</ref>{{refn|This material was later released under the title ''[[Obscured by Clouds]]''.<ref name="Poveyp155" />|group="nb"}} They performed in Japan, returned to France in March to complete work on the film, played more shows in North America, then flew to London and resumed recording in May and June. After more concerts in Europe and North America, the band returned to London on 9 January 1973 to complete the album.<ref>{{Harvnb|Schaffner|1991|p=157}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Povey|2007|pp=164–173}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Reising|2005|p=60}}</ref>