Money, it’s a crime – it’s also the first song out of the upcoming Dark Side of the Moon Redux album coming out in October this year. As the name suggests, this is a revision of the Pink Floyd album that originally came out in 1973, in celebration of its 50th anniversary – it’s also that album with the cover that’s been the staple of stereotypically college dorm room poster collections for decades.
Oh hey, it’s that album!
Roger Waters was the bassist and lead singer of the band up until The Final Cut after which he and the band separated on less than cordial terms, but has still kept his Floyd material as a staple in his live performances and so has taken it upon himself to give the album a fresh, modern spin. Now, going into this review, I must clarify: Dark Side of the Moon is not my favourite Pink Floyd album, and I personally feel like Money is the least “fitting” song in the album, in the sense that I feel it breaks the flow too much, so it’s not a song that I hold near and dear to my heart. However, having said that, the redux version of Money is…not good.
When people think of the original version of Money, they may think of the off-kilter time signature, the opening of cash tills, the solo, or the use of a sax. This song has none of that – the riff that starts off is unquestionably a different iteration of the original’s riff, and the lyrics that Waters provides start off the same as on DSOTM, but right from the bat, it all feels off. While he has a more gravelly voice than when he did on the creation of the original song, Roger Waters still has a decent set of lungs on him, as evidenced by when I saw him perform on the This Is Not A Drill tour earlier this year, so the fact that he delivers the entirety of the song in what I can only really describe as “old-man whisper-talking” is a stylistic change that I’m really not a fan of – both in terms of melody and presentation. The instrumentation to the song is also very muted – akin to something you might hear at an underground jazz club. My view on it is that the instruments are as well suited to the song as they can be, but the song itself doesn’t give the bombastic, heavy vibe that the original does with the impactful delivery of the bassline – however, there is something missing from a rock staple – apart from some light brief acoustic strings, there is no guitar – no guitar solo, no saxophone, nothing – it feels stripped of everything that made the original stand out.
Then we get to the spoken word passages – this is where things get really off the rails, where it essentially becomes a jam poetry session with Roger rambling about… I’m not quite sure what – something about Hell and rooftops and sumo wrestlers? It feels like a fever dream but it’s all too real. To add insult to injury, this song clocks in at just over 7 and a half minutes – over a minute longer than the original, and superior, version. If you’re wanting to listen to Money, stick with the original.
However, having said that, I am still interested to see what he’ll do with the other songs on the album, and hoping that they seem more reminiscent to one of the best selling albums of all time.
If you want to check out the songs (both the original and the Redux version), check them out below:
