Rationalizing the DSOTM Redux (Because Nobody Else Will)

In early 2023, Roger Waters revealed his plan to re-record the Pink Floyd album The Dark Side of the Moon for its fiftieth anniversary. It was met with nearly universal criticism. Releasing at the end of the year, it was met with mixed reviews, though the loudest voices called the project everything from boring to sacrilegious - mostly focusing on the drama surrounding it rather than the project itself. I seem to be in the minority on this one however. Here's what I have to say about this strange but intriguing release.
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Videos used:
Roger Waters - Dark Side of The Moon Re-Working
Track by Track - The Dark Side Of The Moon Redux, Roger Waters
The Dark Side Of The Moon Redux - Roger Waters
Dark Side of the Moon Is Ruined
PROG REVIEW 844 - The Dark Side of the Moon REDUX - Roger Waters (2023)
REVIEW Roger Waters Dark Side of the Moon Redux
Let's Discuss the Re-Imagined Dark Side of the Moon..
I have never seen anything like this before
Animals: Pink Floyd's Orwellian Dystopia
My own footage of David Gilmour playing "Time"
Pink floyd - Performance at France and Germany in 1971 HD part 2nd
Roger Waters - Us And Them (Official Lyric Video, DSOTM REDUX)
Roger Waters - Money (Official Lyric Video, DSOTM REDUX)
Roger Waters - Speak To Me / Breathe (Official Lyric Video, DSOTM REDUX)
Roger Waters - Time (Official Lyric Video, DSOTM REDUX)
Roger Waters - Rage Against the War Machine Feb 19, 2023 speech
Pink Floyd's Roger Waters EXPLOSIVE Interview Sets Record Straight
Roger Waters - This Is Not A Drill (O2 Arena Prague 24.05.2023)
Introducing The Dark Side Of The Moon Redux by Roger Waters
Roger Waters - Rehearsals for The London Palladium shows
Roger Waters: US + THEM
Roger Waters - THANK YOU, RIO!
Roger Waters - The Gunner's Dream
Roger Waters - Comfortably Numb 2022
Roger Waters' The Wall
Pink Floyd PULSE
Pink Floyd - On The Run (British Tour 1974 - Screen Reels)
Fast Driving At Night Free Stock Video
1942 Circus Acts Here Comes the Circus - CharlieDeanArchives
To Kill a Mockingbird
Roe v. Wade overturned Abortion rights campaigners protest on anniversary of historic decision
Neo-Nazis harass attendees at Equality Toledo's Love Fest celebration
Comet Hyakutake - Via Mardot
Palestinian Refugee Camp Hit Amid Israeli Airstrikes on Gaza
Manhattan streets packed for 2023 NYC Pride March
Where are they now The faces of the January 6 US Capitol riot
Bodycam footage shows moment Hamas attacked Israel
War Through the Eyes of Gaza’s Children
Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon 50th Anniversary (Unboxing Video)
Pink Floyd - The Dark Side Of The Moon (Live At The Ningaloo Eclipse) [Extended Trailer]
Enter Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon 50th Anniversary Animated Video Competition
The Dark Side Of The Moon Pink Floyd Fulldome Show Official Trailer Adler Planetarium
Songs used:
Julian Bream - Lute Suite No. 1 in E Minor, BMV 996: V. Bourree
Dmitri Shostakovich - Waltz No. 2
Roger Waters - Money (Redux)
Roger Waters - Time (Redux)
Roger Waters - Comfortably Numb 2022
Roger Waters - Brain Damage (Redux)
Roger Waters - Speak To Me (Redux)
Roger Waters - The Great Gig in the Sky (Redux)
Roger Waters - On the Run (Redux)
Roger Waters - Any Colour You Like (Redux)
Roger Waters - Us and Them (Redux)
Roger Waters - Breathe (Redux)
Roger Waters - Eclipse (Redux)

[@riethc]

Thanks for reviewing this! I'm checking it out for the first time today. 😊

[@josephst.george7841]

I’m in the same boat as you as a fan. I hate the fandom nowadays considering how annoying all the infighting is. But fans like you give me hope that it could change over time

[@stefanozanca4487]

This is the best review I've seen out there. A perfect and informed analysis. No one did what you did here. "It's controversial by design". That's the perfect statement.

[@rudolphyaeber]

Really enjoyed your doc and your thoughts are true to how I feel about the work and the storm of negativity around it. While it’s not entirely perfect, I am glad to have heard it. I really don’t have a lot of time for straight reinterpretations of the piece. They add nothing new. Roger has often reimagined his own work. Listen to how he played some of the Floyd tracks on the KAOS tour.

[@Excalibur13]

I have a lot to say about this album and what I believe Roger Waters intentions were behind it. That is creating a 50th anniversary with the memories of a man in his old age, compared to the deeds of a man in his prime. I didn't particularly care to view what critics were saying about it but the opinions shown in the video isn't surprising considering Waters image. To even imagine this as a replacement to Dark Side is a very elementary belief by either (anti-Waters) political drum beaters or people who don't understand musical artistry, especially music created by "elder" artists who lean into their vocal tone more (which I'm a particular fan of.) Your video does a good job explaining this all and I won't dive much deeper, but there are relatively weaker tracks like "Any Colour You Like" where I believe the instrumental speaks louder than Waters could do. Although, I felt Waters wanted to try to flesh out the true meaning of Money and a lot of people did not like it for that reason, because it may seem uncomfortable for some. 1973's Money is the hit rock & roll, high roller, sex, and glamorous song we all know. For awhile I've had a belief Waters didn't like how it came off as so glamorous, so made it seem more grimy and greedy in his redux, which nails his vision for the concept in my belief. Again, good work on the video.

[@cesarmadero05]

Poignantly I felt enamoured of hearing what he and his band had created to give tribute to the album. I'd hear it as early as possible during the morning to be a bit tired but listening pretty well to churning cellos and the guitar well... I was trying to figure out what would it be the big theme around it, thinking that it would not be the definitive version of DSOTM, I preferred to separate it on my intention to differentiate the two; trying to think what it would be the new thing, I liked the songs, but I got lost to hear something new, until the end... And the felt ecstatic to think it is the same theme of life as he always thought of, and I was chasing it so hard I had passed through a lifetime before the final ring of death have gone to me. I knew it is a great album at that moment.

[@lenard._.1744]

Very good take! I think your points were really well organized, and I agree with the On The Run opinion. Imho, it would be better without the spoken words sections. The messages were good, but annoying musically. I think they should either be sung ir cut out, since I think this is a very interesting dark ambient-ish version of DSOTM. I honestly prefer the lockdown sessions over it, but I still think it's an interesting listen while driving in a rainy night, for example.

[@retrovertigo.505]

I gotta admit that i liked the production on the redux from what ive heard as far, but imo i would only recommend it to any roger waters #1 super duper mega fanboy.

[@zevfeinstein2051]

I think the real problem here is that DSOTM is a perfect album. I have a very specific definition of a perfect album. It is an album where every single song is good, and you'd never even consider skipping one of them. There's a lot of legendary albums that are fantastic but don't meet this criteria. The Wall is great, but it doesn't meet this criteria because there are a few I skip on it. DSOTM has this quality but the Redux doesn't -- the problem with a perfect album is that there's pretty much nowhere to go but downhill, if you try and change it. It's hard for me to say any song on redux is better than the original, while there's a few I can definitely say are worse. I encourage everyone to think about what albums you consider "perfect" in this sense. It's a different question than looking for a "great" album. As you pointed out with "Tommy", something can be great but also be imperfect. Pink Floyd had more perfect albums than most bands I know. I think it's interesting that his motive was that the original message "didn't sink in". But if he expected an album he wrote to change the entire world, man, most bands from the 60s and 70s with messages would just destroy themselves trying to use this criteria. Imagine John Lennon being alive right now and evaluating himself on whether his music and preaching stopped all war and destruction in the world. He'd be suicidal. I don't think the message "didn't sink in" with any of the people who loved the album. It sunk in just fine. Unfortunately the hippies who absorbed the album's message were always just a minority even though it's so popular.

[@DerekPower]

So … my own thoughts about this. I do get it. It’s another take of a work and it can be a more welcome addition to something that’s been around for half a century and definitely a lot more than just another reissue. And Roger never has to “ask permission” to create something. (By extension, we are no obligation to accept it =] ). The thing that gets me is the whole “the message is not clear”. Honestly, I thought the point was made clear back in 1973, which was quite impressive for a bunch of near 30 year olds. In fact, one of the strengths of the album is how very open it t is for personal attachment despite a clear point of view. And for last fifty years, Roger has made his point very clear … repeatedly … incessantly. To claim that somehow the message needs to be restated for 2023 is … it just strikes me as a bit odd. And to be brutally frank, whenever I hear that kind of a claim, it comes off as saying “Not everyone is agreeing with me” or “The world isn’t changing the way I want it to”. Also, 1973 was just as terrible as 2023 is, albeit in different ways. And finally, it’s “rich” to have all of these calls for empathy and understanding and yet engage in the same kind of rhetoric that is decried. In fact, “Us and Them” can be understood as political discourse over the last century or so, especially the second chorus. Basically, Roger can do whatever he wants. We can respond to it however we want to, whether it’s impulsively reactive or thoughtfully considered. But I guess this is the ground that I have chosen 😁 One last thing that I think is a consolation about “the message’s clarity”. Consider the TikTok/KZbin reactions on “Time”. Many of them either too young or not born during the Live 8 performance [which I think is the true denouement of Pink Floyd and everything afterwards is a long epilogue] and thus has a limited experience with Pink Floyd. Yet when confronted with verses commenting on the perception of time and how it can shift from a seemingly long drag into a quick sprint where you get “shorter of breath and one day closer to death”. If that doesn’t demonstrate how “clear the message is”, I don’t know what would.

[@wyndoellabridge6208]

Roger is artistically gifted. Hes good at message. While the rest of the og pink floyd were the musically gifted ones. Thats why their synthesis made the best albums come out. I find rogers music fairly mid and undercooked. But i love his messages. I find gilmours music very enticing and well written, but his messages as simplistic as nu metal lyrics at worst. As much as these people seems to hate each other, they owe everything to each other in terms of musical success. If either one was abscent during pink floyds arisal, it would just be another prog rock band.

[@alfrulez2985]

Hey man you should check aquamosh by plastilina mosh. You might like it.

[@Leo-ci9kc]

Roger's version of this album is horrible. A wasof time

[@Leo-ci9kc]

This album is a waste of time!