This book will inspire you to quit your job and fall in love. Wrong musician? Then don't take my word for it. But this for the swag, but stay for the hustle.

This book is a real treat for any Pink Floyd fan. Martin Popoff thoroughly explores the many aspects of this iconic album in an engaging and informative style. The vast array of illustrations and photographs just add more to this wonderful tribute to a legendary album. Thank you to Net Galley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book is so beautifully done! Martin Popoff's knowledge of the music/rock industry is immense. This book, Pink Floyd and The Dark Side of the Moon, is a tribute to the album. "Dark Side of the Moon" was released in 1973, some 50 years ago. The record is considered one of the greatest albums of all time. It was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London and features innovative use of equipment and production techniques. The book flows perfectly from a brief history of Pink Floyd up into 1972, through details of the tour where the songs were practiced, the recording of the album, the albums legacy and every song on the album is discussed in detail.
The addition of interesting photographs and artwork are inserted with delightful tidbits of nostalgia. Highly recommended to all fans of Pink Floyd and, also, to anyone with an interested in rock history.

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
The author details the creation of the album. He includes information about the band's early years and the time leading up to the album. There are also sections on the different band members. Throughout the book are numerous photographs, posters and flyers, and album covers. This is a great book for anyone who is a fan of the band and/or album.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in return for my honest review.

Pink Floyd and The Dark Side of the Moon: 50 Years by Martin Popoff is both an informative and detailed account of the making and reception of the iconic album.

An absolute must for any Pink Floyd fan!

Highly recommended to all interested in the band and specifically this album, I’d also recommended to people with a interested in rock history.

I am grateful to NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Pink Floyd is a British rock band that formed in London in 1965. They are well known for their psychedelic sound and innovative use of technology in their music. The band's lineup has changed over the years, but the most well-known members are Syd Barrett, Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright.

Their album "Dark Side of the Moon" was released in 1973, some 50 years ago, hence this book marking its anniversary. The record is considered one of the greatest albums of all time. It was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London and features innovative use of equipment and production techniques. The album's design was created by the design studio Hipgnosis and features a prism on the cover.

The band toured prior to recording the album, introduced the new songs from it to their live shows. Subsequent to its release, touring and promotion and massive world-wide success, the band faced unsurprisingly faced tensions and changes in direction. They continued to be active in one way or another, both musically and in other interests and pursuits.

"Dark Side of the Moon" sold over 15 million copies worldwide and topped the charts in various countries. The album won several awards and accolades, and continues to be popular among rock fans of all generations. There are over 1000 iterations of the album in all formats, including issues, reissues, and packaging unique to some countries.

In addition to their music, Pink Floyd is also known for their album cover and artwork design, as well as their collectibles and tour merchandise. The band has a long history and is considered one of the most prominent and successful rock bands of all time.

Anyone interested in the history and making of the "Dark Side of the Moon" album will greatly enjoy this book. It provides new insights and information on the band's history, recording and touring, as well as the album's genesis, production, and engineering. It also includes details on the band's song structure, meanings and metaphors, as well as the band dynamics, tensions and direction. Additionally, the book features abundant contemporary and recent photos of the people, equipment and events associated with the band, touring and recording. Also featured are variations of album and single covers from around the world, touring and promotional material, and abundant other graphics, beautifully presented and reproduced; a treasure trove for fans. It also includes multiple sidebars on Syd, Hipgnosis, album designs, pre and post band activities , solo recordings, touring, album cover and artwork design.


A comprehensive index wraps up nearly 90 pages of text and graphics. Overall, this book will be a delight to any Pink Floyd fan and will provide a comprehensive and in-depth look at the band and one of their most iconic and loved albums.

I wish the author and publishers all the very best with this book.

Attention Pink Floyd fans - this book is for you. It's been 50 years since The Dark Side of the Moon was released. This is one of those staple albums that is still worth listening to.

Martin Popoff's Pink Floyd and The Dark Side of the Moon: 50 Years is not only about this seminal album, as it also includes a short history of the band including its early days of psychedelic rock created primarily by Syd Barrett. While Barrett's early departure from the band changed its musical direction, it was a huge loss that the band reflected in future songs.

Filled with lots of interesting photographs and artwork, the book goes into detail on each of the songs on the Dark Side album as well as info on the equipment used, the album design and much more. It's filled with lots of nostalgia. And the book addresses the story about syncing up the album with The Wizard of Oz (if you're a fan, you know all about this.)

Since it is a coffee table book, this seems like a great gift for the right music fan.

With my eldest Brother being an early devotee to Pink Floyd I grew up listening to their music, becoming a fan in the late 60’s. I remember going down to the record store the day Dark Side of the Moon was released and gathering with friends for a first listen. Little did we know then what a huge selling album it would become, remaining in the Billboard 200 list for over 15 consecutive years! It is therefore fitting such an iconic album should be celebrated on its 50th anniversary with this magnificent book. Martin Popoff has put together a thoroughly researched piece of work covering the history of the band prior to DSOTM, the concept behind the album and a huge amount of detail on the technical aspects of recording. There are plenty of anecdotes of the overall production, marketing and subsequent touring many of which were new to me and I consider myself a well informed fan of the band!
I read the book on my iPad but there are so many great photographs and graphics I would think the printed edition is probably the best way to fully appreciate it. Certainly followers of Pink Floyd would find this book a must read and even those who are interested in the record industry from that time will learn a lot about the technologies and processes used in the early 70’s.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for getting access to this pre published edition.

An history of the making of one of the top selling albums. Well written with lots of photos. Martin Popoff is an excellent reviewer of music and this book is no exception.
I received this book from Quarto publishing group and Netgalley for a review.

What an awesome, brilliant and inspiring and informative book.
Pink Floyd are masters of their craft and generation.
They wrote and produced and performed some amazing songs and they were heartfelt and heart breaking all at once. Thank you to Netgalley for a chance to read.

I have rediscovered Pink Floyd as a senior and realize now that their abiding position in rock history has so much to do with the integrity of their vision as well as with the trauma experienced by the band due to Syd Barrett's breakdown. This book is an utterly gorgeous testimony to the significance of Pink Floyd, but the way it came to my phone is hard-to-read. I did read segments with narrowed eyes and realize that the fascinating information provided by the text does justice to the beauty of the layout of the book with its pictures of band members, influences, artwork, recording equipment, and so on. I do believe I will buy this book because Pink Floyd demonstrates the depths, heights and intellectual significance of progressive rock on our modern world. Musically, aside from the blues and opera, no musical era has explored the meaning of life with such artistic intensity and psychological vigor as rock music. Among the bands that brought this to pass, Pink Floyd stands out as a reigning giant. I have witnessed far younger listeners become obsessed by Dark Side Over the Moon.

This was an amazing read. For fans of Pink Floyd, you don’t want to miss out on the book. I loved the writing style and really understanding all about Pink Floyd.

PINK FLOYD and THE DARK SIDE of the MOON: 50 YEARS by author Martin Popoff is a complete and detailed account of the legendary and record setting album that has the distinction of having been in the Billboard top 200 albums, as the author notes, for an astounding 961 weeks at the time of this writing.

Author Popoff has probably reviewed more albums than anybody, and I’ve enjoyed other books by him including “ANTHEM: RUSH IN THE ‘80s” and “PINK FLOYD: ALBUM BY ALBUM” that I’ve also reviewed and recommend.

Excellent documentation of the times leading up to the albums making that tells of the band playing unreleased songs from the album well in advance of the recording and release of it.

Recording details and equipment used along with technical information are covered with commentary, and makes use of interviews with others involved in the time period of the recording (most notably Alan Parsons) and a brief but essential description of the origins and history of the band leading up to and following the release of the album.

Highly recommended to all interested in the band and specifically this album, I’d also recommend listening to the songs as you read along, it really helps me to visualize the writings by the author by doing so, something I’ve really enjoyed doing the past several years.

5 stars.

As a huge PF fan I will definitely be purchasing a copy for my shelf. Loved all the illustrations and photos throughout.

An absolute must for any Pink Floyd fan! This author really knows his stuff and I found this a fascinating insight into one of my favourite albums of all time. I read it once, then read it again with the album playing in the background. This really helped me get much more out of the album -listening out for things highlighted in the text. I bought this album soon after it came out so it was a lovely trip down memory lane with an album which the author rightly describes as timeless.. The photographs chosen really took me back. There is a lot of technical information about the recording of the album and the equipment used along with some entertaining anecdotes about others recording at the same time at Abbey road studios. The writing is entertaining and informative. It was also well balanced with the right amount of history given to really understand the development of the recording I now want to get a copy of the Wizard of Oz DVD and check the theory that Dark Side is a soundtrack to it!! A fascinating book that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I have written the review and posted it on my Goodreads feed. Thank you for allowing me the privilege of reading and reviewing this book for you. My five-star review can be found at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5254131845

Here is a copy of the review:
Wow, what an incredible book! I started reading it and was enjoying it so much I didn't put it down until I was done. It took me a few hours, but it was so worth it. The pictures, timeline, descriptions, and information about the albums/songs were all exactly what I was hoping for. I am not a personal fan of the group BUT I have friends who are. After reading this I am better able to have conversations with them about the group. I will be gifting the book to all the Pink Floyd fans I know as it is a perfect book to have sitting on your table/shelf to just pick up and look through.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in return for my honest review.

This thorough examination of Pink Floyd's epic album is a lushly illustrated coffee-table book. Breezily written and good for dipping in and out of. It gives as a brief history of Pink Floyd and then dives in to every nook and cranny about the making of DSotM.

It's chock full of some great archive photos - it really goes for the deep cuts. Although I'm sure that die-hard fans will have seen a lot of these, there's plenty to keep you entertained.

That said, some of the photos veer into "filler" territory. Do we really need photos of the "Allison Research TR804 Kepex (Keyable Program Expander)? Looking for all the world like any another box of electronics covered in switches. Or a modern photo of the outside of Abbey Wood studios?

The writing is informal - occasionally being a little repetitive. But it is full of cited interviews - both modern and contemporaneous - which drill down into how the perception of the album and its creation have evolved. There are also potted biographies of the band members

It also delves into some of the peripheral players in the story. Hipgnosis, the studio which designed the album cover gets half-a-dozen pages full of photos of their (non-PF) work. That may or may not be of interest to you.

I know they say writing about art is like dancing about architecture, but Popoff does an excellent job of recreating the excitement of listening to the album for the first time. He captures the thrill and frustration of making music - as well as a critical analysis of how the tracks fit together.

If you like trivia, large photos of prog-rockers, and a commitment to squeezing out every detail about an album, you'll enjoy this book.

Weirdly, it kinda peters out at the end. But, then, I suspect you're meant to flip the book over and start reading it again 😉

Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for the advance review copy. The book is released on the 14th of February 2023.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Quarto Publishing Group for an advance copy of this book on the history of one of rock music's best bands, and the important album that made them.

Growing up I never really got into music. A combination of living in a small town, being driven around by parents whose tastes were more jazz or AM radio selections, and my only realy audio device being a clock radio or a old vinyl player that I would lister to The Story of Star Wars on. It was not until after middle school, with both the advent of MTV and a cooler selection of nerdy rock music fans that I began to take an interest in music outside of the Casey Kasem Top 40 list. Rush's Grace Under Pressure, and Pink Floyd's Animals were albums I could say changed my life. The music, the lyricism, the long songs, the playing, everything hit me all at once and blew me away. And I began a relationship with music that really has lasted ever since. Martin Popoff, author, podcaster, music reviewer and fellow fan in thinking Animals was Pink Floyd's greatest album has written a book on the album that made the band, and broke sales records, and minds. Pink Floyd and The Dark Side of the Moon: 50 Years is a history of this momentous album, the band, their influence and more in honor of the album's 50th anniversary.

The book begins with a history of the band, with brief biographies on the band members, the departure of one, the addition of another, and the albums and soundtracks the band had produced. Readers are introduced to some of the ideas the band had decided to try with their latest album, road testing in concerts, working on lyrics, placement, even names of the album and songs. There are plenty of sidebars in the book, which is lavishly illustrated with photos and art, that describe the music scene, the history of progressive rock, and goes more in depth in the band members and their history with the band. The studios are discussed, along with words from the producer Alan Parsons, additional musicians, recording secrets, a tech guide and more. The book ends with a look at the tours, sales history and the legacy of the band and it's players, and their numerous problems with each other.

Martin Popoff is a phenomenal music writer, a person who has forgotten more about music than most people even know. I've long been a fan of his, reading most of his band biographies, including the the three part trilogy on Rush, which is a must for fans of music. Popoff can write about the music, lyrics, touring, band royalties and residuals, recording, tape effects and the music of the times, effortlessly, educating, and entertaining readers equally. Popoff's discussion on the individual songs is really intriguing and even songs which I either never got into Us and Them, or have tired of Money, now sound fresh and interesting again. Best to read this with the album playing just to soak in the ambient feelings as one reads along.

A great book on a great album that I can't believe is as old as it is. The sound, the songs seem so fresh, the recording better than the speakers any phone or Airbuds can give them justice. I highly recommend anything by Martin Popoff, and a book on one of my favorite albums is icing on the cake. Read the book listen to the album, and enjoy.