The Dark Side of the Moon Redux | Doubtful charter work

From the beginning, Roger Waters declared in an interview The dark side of the moon was his creation. “Leave me alone with this nonsense,” said the bassist telegram Last winter, he revealed that he had re-recorded the songs. “Of course we were a group, there were four of us, we all contributed – but it was my project and I wrote it. »

Important contribution

Roger Waters actually wrote the lyrics for all the pieces, but Nick Mason, Richard Wright and David Gilmour were involved in the composition of many of the pieces. This would not have been possible without the contributions of all four members, taking into account the specific sound signature of Pink Floyd – adding to the cocktail the clear work of the album’s sound engineer, Alan Parsons.

Roger Waters facilitated the musical arrangements by adding detailed passages to the instruments, some trivial, others decidedly more emotional. “From this The dark side of the moon Mr. Roger Waters will reveal himself as a creator. Trottier recalled. With this re-reading, he has a desire to strip away the lesser elements, such as David Gilmour’s guitar solos. »

Gone are the guitarist’s solos and bottleneck accents that defined Pink Floyd’s sound since the early 1970s.

Laval University ethnographer Gerald Cote doesn’t mince his words when qualifying Roger Waters’ training.

“It’s sad… on his version Money, you feel like listening to music without a soul, it’s painfully depressing, he says. Waters is a great songwriter, but this isn’t up to par. We cannot separate Pink Floyd’s musical depth from its main architect; To separate the two is to impoverish Pink Floyd. Which is why I find it hard to believe that this isn’t a manifestation of a 30-year-old conflict. »

Internal strife

In fact, it’s hard not to make a connection with the feud that led to Roger Waters’ departure in 1984, and which continues to this day. As evidence, David Gilmour shared the release of the documentary on Thursday The Dark Side of Roger WatersProduced by BBC journalist John Ware to expose the anti-Semitic behavior of Roger Waters.

Last February, Gilmour’s wife and author Polly Samson accused the bassist of being anti-Semitic. [Vladimir] Putin is a liar, thief, hypocrite, misogynistic megalomaniac, tax evader and sickly jealous person. This came days after Waters said he was reviewing the post in a Berlin newspaper The dark side of the moonIn an interview he did not fail to stir up controversy regarding his ambiguous stance towards the Russian leader.

Not wanting to show remorse, Waters immediately attacked his former colleagues:

“Gilmore and Rick [Wright] “They can’t write songs, they can’t say anything, they’re not artists,” Waters said. telegram, without any filter. They have no idea […] They never have it and it drives them crazy. » It should be mentioned here that Richard Wright died in 2008.

Still, The dark side of the moon was actually more of a band’s work than Pink Floyd’s subsequent albums. “The original recording was a collaborative work and was destroyed by Waters’ re-reading,” maintains Danick Trottier. He still proves how big his ego is. But he also has a very noble view of music, according to which a work can be improved over time; This is something we have always seen in classical music. Often, there are multiple versions of the same work. »

“In this sense, Waters does Redux A very personal work, almost proof, the researcher continues. Music greats’ latest projects always have a very personal touch; If we take our re-reading from this angle, we can better appreciate the project. »

Danick Trottier admits, however, that offering a new version of an old album might seem like an easy compromise path. Some could certainly see this as an opportunistic approach. “This album is 50 years old and it’s all part of the celebrations,” says Gerald Cote. It is definitely a great opportunity to create event and benefit from it. »

Rock

The Dark Side of the Moon Redux

Roger Waters

SGB