Roger Waters has re-recorded Pink Floyd’s seminal album, The Dark Side of the Moon, and will release it as a solo LP, The Dark Side of the Moon Redux, on Oct. 6 via SGB Music. The reimagined album coincides with the 50th anniversary of the original, but will arrive without the participation of Waters’ formative band. To preview the release, Waters has shared its debut single, “Money.”
Waters produced the LP along with Gus Seyffert, and recorded the tracks with a studio band that includes Seyffert, Joey Waronker, Jonathan Wilson, Johnny Shepherd, and Jon Carin. The other members of Pink Floyd who helped to create the original, including David Gilmour and Nick Mason, do not appear on the recordings.
“The original Dark Side of the Moon feels in some ways like the lament of an elder being on the human condition,” Waters said in a statement. “But Dave, Rick, Nick, and I were so young when we made it, and when you look at the world around us, clearly the message hasn’t stuck. That’s why I started to consider what the wisdom of an 80 year old could bring to a reimagined version.”
He continued, “When I first mentioned the idea of re-recording The Dark Side of the Moon to Gus and Sean we all thought I was mad, but the more we considered it, the more we thought, ‘Isn’t that the whole point?’ I’m immensely proud of what we have created, a work that can sit proudly alongside the original, hand-in-hand across a half-century of time.”
Waters announced his plans to re-record the 1973 album earlier this year in an interview with The Telegraph. In the interview, the musician explained he was doing it because “not enough people recognised what it’s about, what it was I was saying then.”
Last year, Pink Floyd reissued their classic 1977 LP Animals after a lengthy delay. As the title suggests, the remix was completed in 2018 and originally intended for release around that time; however, the reissue was delayed as former band mates Roger Waters — who largely penned the album himself, with the exception of “Dogs” — and Gilmour sparred over liner notes that were intended to accompany the reissue.
Waters has stirred up other controversy in recent years as well. In February, Waters spoke at a United Nations Security Council meeting after an invitation to do so by Russia. In his speech, Waters condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as “illegal,” but also said it was “not unprovoked.” He added, “So I also condemn the provocateurs in the strongest possible terms. There, that’s out of the way.”
The remarks about the war in Ukraine were far more subdued than some of the others Waters has made in the past, including in an interview with Rolling Stone. Last year, Waters said he believes his name is on a “kill list that is supported by the Ukrainian government.” In that same conversation, the singer shifted the blame from the ongoing war from Russia to NATO, suggesting that the organization essentially left Putin with no other choice but to invade Ukraine.
Last August, Waters branded President Joe Biden a “war criminal” during a CNN broadcast and claimed he was directly “fueling the war in the Ukraine.” In May, the singer was accused of wearing a “Nazi-style” outfit during a concert in Berlin, which subsequently prompted a police investigation. Waters defended himself, saying that people wanted to “smear and silence” him.
The Dark Side of the Moon Redux is available to pre-order now.
