By Nicole Bouwkamp

When I heard that Roger Waters sought to rerecord Pink Floyd’s seminal album, The Dark Side of the Moon, I, like many, was skeptical.

How could such an album be redone? It must be just a ploy to rake in some more money and remain relevant in a new generation of music listeners while drudging up some dusty old tracks and calling them “new.”

Despite this skepticism, I reluctantly sat down and prepared myself for a predictably terrible listening session of this “new” album, The Dark Side of the Moon Redux.

Yet, that never happened. From beginning to end, I became privy to the soliloquy of an old man. A man who, from one album, one band and one artistic vision, saw his entire life become defined. Yet now he must look back on it all alone on the album’s 50th anniversary.

The Dark Side of the Moon was, as you know, created by four young upstarts to what the world thought of as music (five young upstarts if you, like me, give credit to the innovation of Alan Parsons, not to mention the countless others involved in ensuring the musical revolution of such an album). This album could never be redone with any one of them missing. 

So, Waters did the only thing that could be done. He sought to recreate the album showcasing only his input while maintaining the whispers of the influential genius from his old friends.

Rather than a dramatic show on the dreams and realities of life, The Dark Side of the Moon Redux became a solo performance from an old man who has played it one too many times and wants to say something a bit different. From this, we hear him reflect on these timeless themes through the lens of a man defined by it and by the realities of a life lived longer than enjoyed by most.

While I could dive into the thematic symbolism throughout this album, including its musical elements, small homages to later albums and an interpretation of the lyrics, it would be quite pointless. I could only tell you what I hear from my experiences, and this is not the album for that. 

Instead, this album is an old man sharing his experiences and whatever wisdom he deemed worthy of burying amongst these words and themes. We should suspend our opinions and listen with a respect rarely found in mass media today: the respect for an art that is shaped by and shares the experiences of life.

Nicole Bouwkamp is a percussionist, a recording engineer and a Michigan State University College of Music graduate.