I'm a firm believer that if a reviewer comes to an album with a bias, he or she has a duty to disclose that. So when discussing The Flaming Lips' track-for-track cover of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon I feel it's my obligation to tell you: 1) I hate Pink Floyd, and 2) I've not been blown away by The Flaming Lips' own recent output.Helping Wayne Coyne's Flaming Lips make the project a reality are fellow Oklahomans Stardeath & the White Dwarfs, helmed by Coyne's nephew Dennis.
The album begins with much promise. The Dark Side of the Moon strikes an impressive balance in combining Flaming Lips era. On one side are tracks like "On the Run" and "The Great Gig In the Sky" which possess an almost hypnotic groove, often with more success than the band's had in attempts to do just that on their recent records. On the other side is a track like "Speak To Me/Breathe" which boasts the screechy yet controlled guitar mayhem of early Lips work.
Wayne Coyne's true stroke of genius on The Dark Side of the Moon may very well be the decision to bring in Henry Rollins as a contributor. The very presence of the former Black Flag singer and monologist seems to bring the rock out of The Flaming Lips. That's something that was painfully lacking on their double album Embryonic. The songs have a harder edge to them, which makes for the best moments on the record.
Canadian musician Peaches also appears on several tracks. Her contributions are less obvious than those of Rollins. For the most part she's lost among the din.
Unfortunately, by the time "Any Colour You Like" rolls around, those rhythms that had been mesmerizing have become plodding, making the listen beg for a quick end. The album also slumps when the band gets too clever with their sonic tricks. While those tricks produce the mellow glow of standout "Us and Them", it's pushed just too far with the over-processed and downright dull "Money".
While it's always interesting to hear a band's take on well-known and generally revered material, I can't help but feel The Dark Side of the Moon was a bit of a missed opportunity for The Flaming Lips. The concept was brilliant, but what is really achieved by attempting to make an already trippy piece of music even trippier? Wouldn't it have been further out-of-the-box to do something completely unexpected with the album?
I say a country version would have been a pleasant surprise (cue Wilco).
Best tracks: "Us and Them", "On the Run"
Track listing for The Dark Side of the Moon:
- Speak To Me/Breathe
- On the Run
- Time/Breathe (Reprise)
- The Great Gig In the Sky
- Money
- Us and Them
- Any Colour You Like
- Brain Damage
- Eclipse
6.0/10
The Flaming Lips' Myspace
Stardeath and the White Dwarfs' Myspace
6 praise/complaints:
i'm interested to hear what they did to "eclipse" and "brain damage"
You'll have to give a listen to the Easy Dub All-Stars. They've done pretty groovy reggae covers of "Dark Side of the Moon" and "OK Computer." In fact, I haven't listened to Pink Floyd's album in quite a while.
I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be reviewing this cover album if you hate pink Floyd.
If a cover album is to stand as a piece of work on its own, it shouldn't matter whether you liked or disliked the original.
I'm not a fan of Pink Floyd. But I love this cover, and I also love the Easy Star All Stars version.
There's plenty more cover versions I prefer to the originals.
Quite a few covers listed in the old wiki ..One of the more notable covers of The Dark Side of the Moon is Return to the Dark Side of the Moon: A Tribute to Pink Floyd. Released in 2006, the album is a progressive rock tribute featuring artists such as Adrian Belew, Tommy Shaw, Dweezil Zappa, and Rick Wakeman.[122] In 2000 The Squirrels released The Not So Bright Side of the Moon, which features a cover of the entire album.[123] The New York dub collective Easy Star All Stars in 2003 released Dub Side of the Moon.[124] The group Voices on The Dark Side released the album Dark Side Of The Moon A Cappella, a complete a cappella version of the album.[125] The bluegrass band Poor Man's Whiskey frequently play the album in bluegrass style, calling the suite Dark Side of the Moonshine.[126] A string quartet version of the album was released in 2004.
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