The Dark Side of the Moon Redux is the sixth studio album by the English musician Roger Waters, released on 6 October 2023. It is a "re-imagining" of The Dark Side of the Moon (1973) by Waters' former band, Pink Floyd, released for its 50th anniversary. Redux was produced by Waters and Gus Seyffert.
Waters co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Their 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon, with lyrics entirely by Waters, spent 736 consecutive weeks on the Billboard 200 chart and sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. Waters left Pink Floyd in 1985 and began a solo career. Waters' previous album, The Lockdown Sessions, comprised stripped-back rerecordings of several of his solo tracks and tracks with Pink Floyd. While working on The Lockdown Sessions, it occurred to him that he could make a similar rerecording of The Dark Side of the Moon for its 50th anniversary. In a press release, Waters wrote: "We were so young when we made the original, 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."
The Dark Side of the Moon Redux features no other members of Pink Floyd, and was recorded with musicians including Gus Seyffert, Joey Waronker, Jonathan Wilson, Jon Carin, Johnny Shepherd, Azniv Korkejian (Bedouine), Via Mardot, Gabe Noel, and Robert Walter. It features spoken-word sections and no guitar solos, to "bring out the heart and soul of the album musically and spiritually". The new version of "Speak to Me" includes Waters' recitation of his lyrics from Pink Floyd's 1972 track "Free Four". Waters did not intend Redux to replace The Dark Side of the Moon, but rather intended it as a tribute and a way to readdress the political statements from the record. He said: "The new recording is more reflective I think, and it's more indicative of what the concept of the record was." The Pink Floyd drummer, Nick Mason, said Redux was "absolutely brilliant ... It's not anything that would be a spoiler for the original at all, it's an interesting add-on to the thing." He supported the concept of revisiting and developing existing work.
Waters announced The Dark Side of the Moon Redux on 21 July 2023, alongside a digital single, "Money". On 24 August, he released the second single, "Time", followed by the double A-side single "Speak to Me" / "Breathe" on 21 September. In October, Waters held two concerts at the London Palladium, where he performed The Dark Side of the Moon Redux, spoke on topics such as Julian Assange and read from his unpublished memoir.
On the review aggregator Metacritic, The Dark Side of the Moon Redux has a score of 59 out of 100, indicating a "mixed or average" reception based on nine reviews. In Ultimate Classic Rock, Nick DeRiso gave Redux a negative review, criticising the replacement of the other Pink Floyd members with "more words". He found much of the emotion of the original record was missing, and described Waters' additional lyrics as "Waters talking again, yet somehow not saying much". A more positive review by David Quantick of Classic Rock called it "neither a massive gutting of the original nor a slavish copy". He wrote that "Time" sounded like a "boulder rolled up a hill, weary and aged". He also noted "Brain Damage" and "Time" as "half-crooned" and effective. Uncut called it "interesting enough" for "an artistic exercise", while Mojo felt that "the new focus on these songs' lyrics proves deeply powerful, a different and profound kind of high", which makes the album "wholly valid, the unnerving, stirring adjunct Waters was aiming for". Jonah Krueger of Consequence disliked the record, arguing that the only reason it exists is so that Waters can "take the opportunity to re-write history, framing himself as the sole creative force behind The Dark Side of the Moon and using the Redux as some form of indulgent fodder to do so". He also stated that many of Waters' changes only make the album worse, though he complimented the overall production quality. Christian Kriticos of Paste had similar views, criticising its slow pace and spoken word passages.
Note On the 2LP Vinyl releases, Side One spans "Speak to Me" through "Time", Side Two spans "Great Gig in the Sky" and "Money", and Side Three spans "Us and Them" through "Eclipse". Side Four contains an untitled original composition. The cassette release splits the album the traditional way, between Great Gig in the Sky and Money.
Roger Waters – vocals, bass on "Any Colour You Like", VCS3 Gus Seyffert – bass, guitar, percussion, keys, synthesiser, backing vocals Joey Waronker – drums, percussion Jonathan Wilson – guitars, synthesiser, organ Johnny Shepherd – organ, piano Via Mardot – theremin Azniv Korkejian – vocals Gabe Noel – string arrangements, strings, sarangi Jon Carin – keyboards, lap steel, synthesiser, organ Robert Walter – piano on "The Great Gig in the Sky"
+ Chart performance for The Dark Side of the Moon Redux Chart (2023) Peakposition Australian Albums (ARIA) 55 Croatian International Albums (HDU) 4 Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan) 41