John Harris, 2005
Harper Perennial, 2006
180 pages
Re-read March 2026
Memoir/Biography
A partial biography of Pink Floyd with a focus on The Dark Side of the Moon. Starting with their formative years and the importance of Syd Barrett, it covers the band from inception through to the writing and recording of The Dark Side of the Moon, touching upon their subsequent efforts, their ugly fracturing and eventual dissolution.
Widely considered to be one of the best albums ever, it could be easy for the cultural cache of The Dark Side of the Moon to be misattributed to any telling of its story. Coupled with this is that music journalists tend to be, at least in their nascent stage, fans. However, a free pass for Messrs. Water and Gilmour et al. this is not; although enthusiastic enough, Harris still applies critical insight, with the Syd Barrett era generally coming across as inessential (‘“Corporal Clegg”’ may have been a rather directionless burlesque about an English war hero who “had a wooden leg”, an impression only furthered by a deeply irritating passage played on kazoos’).
Given the cohesion and sophistication of The Dark Side of the Moon, it’s also interesting how much Pink Floyd were still learning by trial and error on their eighth album. Harris listens around a lot, not only placing this album in its context after the widely forgotten Obscured by Clouds, but also to live recordings, giving an idea of how this album developed. He digs into the details of the recording process without it becoming a full technical rundown. It’s also interesting to learn how much they gigged during the writing of the album, including on US tours. What’s less surprising is the personalities involved. Whilst making it clear that this album was very much the creation of four people, Harris inevitably focuses on Roger Waters, who comes across as a dominating, oft-cantankerous figure.
It’s inevitable that reading about a band or album will recontextualise it, even if only slightly, through the shedding of mystique. Whether you want to know about the nuts and bolts of this seamless, wonderfully creative album is up to you, but if you do (and if the band you’re in starts playing different tunes), this is a great read.
Worth reading? Yes.
Worth re-reading? If you are a particularly big fan of Pink Floyd, yes.
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