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A newly released tribute album - Return To The Dark Side Of The Moon - looks at Pink Floyd's 1973 classic,
courtesy of a set of legendary musicians who bring their own touch to the music.
Amongst those contributing to the
album are Rick Wakeman, Steve Howe, Robby Krieger, and Adrian Belew,
all helmed by the very capable Billy Sherwood. In stores now (and
available to order online), BD regular Michael Mastropaolo has reviewed
it for us...
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| Dark Side Of The Moon tribute album |
Overall, Return To The DSOTM is a
very well done and nice sounding tribute. I was a little disappointed
with their recycling of a few tracks that they've recorded previously
(for "An All Star Lineup Performing the Songs of Pink Floyd" from
2002).
However, only parts of these songs were recycled, i.e. they may
have used the same guitars and drums from Money, but have a different
singer and bass player this time around.
The only other disapointment
would be the new background voices. While I appreciate their efforts to
be as complete in their tribute as possible, the style and sound of the
voice they use just sounds silly.
Almost like it was made to sound
silly on purpose. That works well for parody tributes like The
Squirrels' "Not-so-Bright-Side of the Moon" (which I highly recommend)
but not for this album.
Here's a track-by-track breakdown:
Speak To Me/Breathe: Jeff Baxter's pedal steel leads and Adrian Belew's vocals for this version make it all worth while. Very beautifully done.
On The Run: This is
a very lacklustre, no frills rendition. It appears they may have just
done this song just because their intention was to remake the entire
album.
Time: The rototoms
don't sound good at all. Almost bad enough to make you turn the album
off. They have a very strange sound to them that is very unfitting to
this song. That aside, this is a great cover, with some really cool
Rhodes piano playing.
The Great Gig In The Sky:
Rick Wakeman takes some artistic licence with the piano. Sometimes a
little over the top though. Especially being that the beauty and
feeling of the original comes from Wright's simplicity and softness
with the chords. The vocals are very well done by C.C. White. Almost as
moving as Torry.
Money: This is
basically the same as the All Star Lineup version, but a fabulous one
it is. The only difference here is Gary Green is on guitar instead of
Ritchie Kotzen.
Us & Them: Another All Star Lineup recycled track. The exception here being an amazing lead by Dweezil Zappa.
Any Colour You Like:
Though another reused song, this may be the best song on the tribute
(IMHO). The sound of all the instruments is amazing, clean and really
sends you off on another plain. As with Wright and Gilmour, there is
plenty of great interplay between the instruments.
Brain Damage/Eclipse: This is another highlight. Robby Krieger adds some fantastically trippy sitar and guitar work to enhance the brain damage.
Bonus Track - Where We Belong:
This song is an original by Billy Sherwood. It's a nice song, but I'm
unsure of why it would be included with this tribute. Besides the sound
of the organ, there is little resemblence to Floyd.
Sounds like a fascinating album, and worth checking out. Our thanks to Michael for his review.
The album can be ordered through the following special links: Amazon US/International, Canada, UK/Europe, France, or Germany.
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