The Dark Side of the Moon

The Dark Side of the Moon is the eighth album by the English rock band Pink Floyd. Originally released on March 1, 1973, on the label Harvest, it built on ideas explored in the band's earlier recordings and live shows, but departs from instrumental thematic by founding member Syd Barrett. The album explores themes including conflict, greed, the passage of time, and mental illness, the latter partly inspired by Barrett's deteriorating mental state.

Developed during live performances, an early version was premiered several months before recording began; new material was recorded in two sessions in 1972 and 1973 at Abbey Road in London. The group used some advanced recording techniques at the time, including multitrack recording and tape loops. Analogue synthesizers were prominent in several tracks, and snippets from recorded interviews with Pink Floyd's road crew and others provided philosophical quotations throughout. Engineer Alan Parsons was responsible for many distinctively notable sonic aspects and the recruitment of non-lexical singer Clare Torry.

The album's iconic sleeve, designed by Storm Thorgerson, depicts a prism dispersing light into color and represents the band's lighting, the record's thematic material, and keyboardist Richard Wright's "simple and bold" design request.