1973 Album Stayed on the Charts for 14 Years — and Still Defines Rock Today

On March 1, 1973, Pink Floyd released The Dark Side of the Moon—a phsycadelic rock album that changed the genre forever.

The album, which marked Pink Floyd's eighth full-length project and by far their most successful to date, received widespread acclaim from critics and continues to appear in several prestigious publications' lists of the greatest albums ever made.

'The Dark Side of the Moon' Was A Game-Changing Concept Album

Concept albums had existed long before The Dark Side of the Moon, but there was something about the way Pink Floyd blended heavy, soulful music with equally moving lyrics about life, death, and mental illness that truly captivated listeners when it was first released in 1973.

The album was partially inspired by the mental struggles of former band member Syd Barrett, who had left the group in 1968 to prioritize his health and step out of the spotlight. The band would continue to pay homage to their old friend through tracks like "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and "Wish You Were Here".

The Dark Side of the Moon was a formative addition to the psychadelic subgenre of rock, with lyrics that explore life and death in very vague, spiritual terms. Tracks like "Time" and "Us And Them" blend innovative recording techniques with dense poetic lyrics to create an incredibly unique sound that's infiltrated the genre ever since.

'The Dark Side of The Moon' Was A Huge Critical & Commercial Success

The Dark Side of the Moon famously clung on to Billboard's Top 200 Chart for almost fourteen years until it was eventually dethroned, surviving a hugely turbulent period in music history that saw the rising popularity of so many different genres.

The album is certified 14x platinum in the United Kingdom, where Pink Floyd are from, and has charted for 996 weeks on Billboard's Top LPs & Tape Chart. It is currently the fourth best-selling album in music history, with approximately 45 million copies sold worldwide (via Billboard).

For the album's fiftieth anniversary in 2023, frontman Roger Waters revisited The Dark Side of the Moon with a redux rerelease that strips back much of the instrumentation to create a much slower, more meditative tone. "The new recording is more reflective, I think, and it’s more indicative of what the concept of the record was," the songwriter explained.