Roger Waters Re-Recorded ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ Sans Pink Floyd

Roger Waters continues to make incendiary comments in the press this week. This time around, he's talking about Pink Floyd's landmark album The Dark Side of the Moon.

Waters said in a new interview with The Telegraph he re-recorded the album on his own without any of his bandmates. His reasoning for doing this comes off as a type of entitlement. Waters said, "I wrote 'The Dark Side of the Moon.' Let’s get rid of all this 'we' crap! Of course we were a band, there were four of us, we all contributed – but it’s my project and I wrote it. So… blah!" (It should be noted that in the album's credits, Waters is credited for writing all the lyrics. David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright have various music credits on the album, along with Waters.)

To seemingly add salt to the wound, Waters said of his former bandmates, "Well, Nick never pretended. But Gilmour and Rick? They can’t write songs, they’ve nothing to say. They are not artists!"

So, why did Waters re-record the classic album in the first place? Waters said, "Not enough people recognized what it's about, what it was I was saying then."

The Telegraph reported getting a preview of the re-recording. Reporter Tristram Fane Saunders said, "'Time,' that young man’s lament for mortality, sounds terrific with his old man’s timbre. 'Breathe' is wonderfully reimagined as a slow, acoustic groove. A country-tinged 'Money' could be a late Johnny Cash cut, with Waters growling charismatically at the very bottom of his register." However, Waters decided to add spoken-word poetry over the LP's instrumental tracks. That may not sit well with fans.

As for when this new version of The Dark Side of the Moon will see the light of day, The Telegraph noted it has a tentative release set for May.

Some people did puzzles. Some people got really into doing TikTok dances. Other people baked bread. For me, the lockdown days of the pandemic found me getting baked for the first time ever.

Now, I know what you're thinking: "How does someone wait until their mid-thirties to explore the world of cannabis?"

The answer is simple: In my late teens, I tried weed, and it made me super-paranoid. As a result, I kept a safe distance from it for well over a decade. Instead, I just rolled with alcohol if I was looking to unwind.

Cut to 2020, and like most people, I had a lot of time on my hands. Besides working (thankfully) from home and streaming TV shows and movies, I started reading more news.

One day, I fell down an internet rabbit hole about delta-8 THC. In 2020, delta-8 THC was the latest craze in the cannabis world. In a nutshell, delta-8 THC is derived from the hemp plant. It is a milder version of delta-9 THC that is derived from marijuana. This is a compound with psychoactive properties that cause users to feel "high."

One of the big differences between both THC compounds is that delta-8 was found to be less likely to induce anxiety. The biggest difference, however, was that delta-8 fell into a unique gray area that caused it to technically be federally legal for a period of time. This was thanks to the 2018 Farm Bill signed into law by President Donald Trump.

Per NBC News, "That legislation legalized hemp, which is defined as a cannabis plant that contains 0.3 percent delta-9 THC or less — levels considered too low to have a psychoactive effect. However, the bill does not address delta-8 THC levels, an omission that makes it legal for vendors to sell the compound, often as edibles, vape cartridges and tinctures, with no oversight."

As of October 2023, delta-8 is legal in 25 state. As a resident of Michigan, delta-8 is legal but now falls under the same regulations as state-legal marijuana following legislation signed into law by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in July 2021.

Once I read a lot of reports from reliable sources and consulted friends who were more familiar with the world of cannabis than me, I decided to try a delta-8 gummy edible. To my delight, the "high" was mild and very pleasant. Most importantly, I did not experience the paranoia that had scared the hell out of me in my late teens. It also helped me get a quality night's sleep, and unlike unwinding with alcohol, I had no hangover-like symptoms.

The next step, of course, was obvious: Listen to iconic stoner albums while high! Naturally, the first one I reached for was Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, an album I loved but never listened to while stoned.

So, what was it like to listen to Dark Side of the Moon high for the first time at age 35? Here were my five takeaways:

There are a number of instances on Dark Side of the Moon where audio moves from the right channel/speaker to the left and back again. The most dizzying example comes courtesy of "On the Run," which is rather intense sober, but when you're high, I could feel the sensations of the audio move from the right and left sides of my body.

Dark Side of the Moon is an album to be experienced with a quality pair of headphones. It enhances the aforementioned channel transitions immensely. Before listening to the LP high for the first time, I coincidently purchased a pair of Sony Noise Cancelling Headphones. They retail at $148, but fortunately, Amazon offered (and as of publishing, continues to offer) an option to split the cost of the headphones into three monthly payments of $49.34, which I was able to financially handle. (For those interested, you can check out the listing for those headphones here.)

Singer Clare Torry is the force behind the acrobatic vocals on "The Great Gig in the Sky." They remain some of the most stunning vocals in recorded rock history, and even though I enjoyed the track before, it felt like I was hearing them for the first time. What an incredible achievement this song is on an LP already filled with incredible moments.

Let's just put it out there: "Time" is a bit of a downer of a song. However, that underlying grove that bursts through with the first verse ("Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day") just SLAPS! It's uniquely seductive, and it's amazing it's not ripped off more. It's probably due to very few, if any, having the hubris to out-Pink Floyd the actual Pink Floyd.

Could I get into trouble for saying "Money" is overplayed on classic rock radio? Yes, but this whole article may get me into trouble, so what's the sense in stopping now? Anyway, while I wish more Pink Floyd tunes would get airplay, I have a new understanding and appreciation for "Money" after listening to the classic track high for the first time. Perhaps, it's the alternating time signatures from 7/8 to 4/4, back to 7/8 and then back to 4/4 again. Maybe my own disdain for the super-wealthy is enhanced whist high. Either way, I get it now, and I'll try my best to refrain from playing "armchair radio program director."