12. Pink FloydDark Side Of The Moon
This is such an obvious one. There is no escaping from my love for this album. Okay, it is another dad rock album and it is one of the best-selling albums in the entire universe, but it is a classic. I first heard it in the car as a kid and I do associate it with those summer nights on holiday in Devon, when the roads were clear, before it was all touristy and everyone had holiday homes. We would only have a portable tape recorder and go through dozens of batteries during the holiday.
When I was younger and saw the video of Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii and I was always amazed by the vastness of the sound and their wall of WEM amps. I have a WEM amp in the corner of the room just because of Pink Floyd. I love all the early Pink Floyd stuff, but I always come back to this. It’s obviously a very commercial record but there is a lot in it to listen to – it’s electronic, it’s rock – and the album is just an expanse of sound. It is a huge record. I am a bit of a nerd about it and I am quite precious about it. There are little snippets within certain songs that I obsess over. I would listen over and over on my headphones and wonder how they made a certain sound. They are amazing musicians and so good at their craft and I love how the electronic aspects do appear to be more experimental and spontaneous. There is a sense of those parts being a little bit out of control.
I went to see Dave Gilmour on his last tour and I was really nervous. I had never seen Pink Floyd and was worried that it might be terrible and it would destroy me. Of course, it was amazing and any song he did from this album was just truly brilliant.
This album has been a massive influence on my music. I am not denying it. I could walk around with a Dark Side Of The Moon t-shirt on every day. I am out and proud.
