At the time of writing this, it is the eve of the release of Dark Side of the Moon Redux – Roger Waters’ reimagining of seminal Pink Floyd album Dark Side of the Moon. Ahead of the formal release, there has been a final single that has been released, which is actually 2 separate songs: Speak to Me/Breathe. While they are distinct separate tracks on the listing, they are so closely linked on the original album in terms of flow that the same approach has been taken here, but how does it fare in comparison?
The opening of Speak to Me seems to take on a more natural soundscape of birds chirping, as opposed to the sound of tills and cash registers going off, and rather than the swell of manic screaming, we’re given another ethereal spoken word segment that seems to be the key recurring undercurrent of this redux. As with the previous track reviews that I’ve done for this album, your mileage may vary with this approach – some may appreciate the new monologues from a Roger Waters 50 years removed from the original album, while some may still be in the camp of thinking this redux is entirely unnecessary – that’s something that you’ll have to ask (and answer) yourselves.
As it moves into Breathe, an acoustic guitar kicks things off, with the nature-based soundscape continuing to give an earthly feel, before the organ kicks in which, from my memory, is the second time that this feels like a true reflection/redux of Dark Side of the Moon, with a fuller sounding instrumental coming through. However, Roger doesn’t forget to include another spoken word passage over it before going into what is also the first main attempt at singing on the album, which is very serviceable – the aged voice of a once-young man does add to the impact and vibe of this new version, along with the backing vocals which again makes this feel more akin to the original album. The final major change is at the end, where the instrumental tracks “power off” as it were, leading to the sound of a heavy good vehicle’s reverse alarm.
How do I feel about the tracks? Speak to Me, although starting off quiet, does sound unique, although I prefer the approach on the original album. Breathe gets bonus points from me for sounding the most like its original iteration, while also sounding very much like its own thing. While I don’t think this album is going to be the top of my most-played list, I feel that it’s an interesting experiment with more songs on there that I would say that I like, than those that don’t quite measure up to me.
I know that this album won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, and that’s completely fine – I feel that it’s an interesting project, so that’s all I can ask for!
I will be seeing this album performed live at the upcoming London Palladium shows, so I’m sure I’ll be back here with an overall review of the concert and the project as a whole!
