Popular '70s Album Ranked Greatest in Rock History Turns 53 Today
Popular '70s Album Ranked Greatest in Rock History Turns 53 Today
Jane LaCroixSun, March 1, 2026 at 1:00 PM UTC
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(Photo credit should read SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP via Getty Images)
More than half a century later, The Dark Side of the Moon still looms over rock music as one of the GOATs.
Released on March 1, 1973, Pink Floyd’s eighth studio album became a permanent fixture in music history. The record famously spent nearly 14 years on Billboard’s Top 200 chart, surviving through shifting eras of punk, disco, early hip-hop and the dawn of MTV.
At its core, Dark Side wrestles with big themes: time slipping away, greed, mortality and mental illness. Roger Waters’s songwriting featured blunt lines like, “Money, it’s a gas/Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash,” pairing grounded lyrics with sweeping, atmospheric production.
And the album’s epic intro and climactic finale—“Brain Damage” and “Eclipse, respectively—remain among the most recognizable moments in classic rock.
Over 50 years on, the accolades haven’t slowed. In February 2026, Collider ranked The Dark Side of the Moon as the No. 1 classic rock concept album, praising its cohesion and fearless exploration of mental health and overconsumption. The publication also included other Pink Floyd staples like Animals, The Wall and Wish You Were Here on its list.
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Meanwhile, ShortList’sranking of the 50 best rock albums of all time crowned Dark Side the greatest of them all, placing it above Led Zeppelin’sIV and The Beatles’Abbey Road. Pink Floyd even claimed another top-five slot with Wish You Were Here.
For the 50th anniversary in 2023, Waters revisited the record with The Dark Side of the Moon Redux, released in October that same year. The project strips the original’s lush production in favor of a more stripped-back, spoken-word tone. On the reworked “Money,” Waters replaces David Gilmour’s iconic lead vocal and guitar solo with a whispered recitation and a lengthy poetic passage.
Reflecting on the reinterpretation, Waters said, “I love the original recording, by the way, and I love what Nicky (Mason) did and what Rick (Wright) did and what Dave did on the original recording.” He added, “The new recording is more reflective, I think, and it’s more indicative of what the concept of the record was. It is a reinterpretation and I hope that we can gain more from it than we did back in 1973.”
Regardless of whatever version you prefer, 53 years later, few albums have pulled through like The Dark Side of the Moon.
This story was originally published by Parade on Mar 1, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
