Dark Side of the Moon is still casting an iconic shadow 50 years on | Music | Entertainment

It is one of the biggest-selling albums of all time, with certified sales of more than 50 million. Floyd’s iconic 1973 masterpiece touched nerves with its cheery themes of war, death, alienation, madness, greed, old age and more death, and is remastered and repackaged here to celebrate its 50th birthday.

Their eighth studio album saw the London band leap the chasm between freewheeling psychedelic rock and global megalith and Dark Side still sounds incredible today.

Guitarist David Gilmour delivers one of his most expressive solos on Time. The song about life’s fleeting nature also includes Roger Waters’ classic line “Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way”.

Dark Side was very much bassist Roger’s baby. He wrote or co-wrote the bulk of it and his lyrics are still sadly relevant.

“Forward he cried from the rear” – on Us & Them – could be about today’s armchair warmongers. Satirical anthem Money (“Share it fairly but don’t take a slice of my pie”) has a modern resonance too. Its famous cash register start could also be applied to this re-release.

Better-off fans can also snap up a 50th-anniversary deluxe box set for a snip – just £230.

For this, you get a CD and gatefold vinyl of the remastered original studio album, and Blu-ray and DVD audio featuring the original 5.1 mix and remastered stereo versions.

It also packs in a new Blu-ray disc of the Atmos mix plus a CD and LP version of The Dark Side Of The Moon – Live At Wembley Empire Pool, London, 1974.

A feast for the minted – but, having bought it aged 17 when it first came out, the original works best for me.