The Year 2023 in Music

Continuing with our year in review, Matt Lynn Digital invites you to look back at the last year in reviews of books, movies, music and television. We look at these with individual categories, one per day through Sunday. Today we share music reviews offered by Matt Lynn Digital in 2023.

(Cover art for the Weathervanes album by Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit).

Beginning with our most recent review with a guest review of the Weathervanes album by Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, as reviewed by friend of the blog Cobra. The 2023 album presented alternative country-rock that mixed in with roots rock and southern rock to entertain their fans. Our review of the Rick Rubin book The Creative Act: A Way of Being also represented 2023 with a top notch look into how creativity works in music production and other fields as well.

(Cover art for the 2011 Tedeschi Trucks Band album Revelator).

The 2011 release of the album Revelator by the Tedeschi Trucks Band offers the first of two albums from the 2010s in our annual review. Offering a taste of American traditional rock, blues rock and roots rock from a guitar virtuoso opens an album that I can and do listen to over and over again. The 2010 A Christmas Cornucopia album by Annie Lennox also presented a more contemporary music mix.

(The biopic Walk the Line depicted aspects of the lives of Johnny Cash and June Carter).

The movie Walk the Line (2005) provided a mostly autobiographical portrayal of the musical life of country musician Johnny Cash and his second wife, June Carter. Music from both performers were featured throughout the movie, which offered a compelling movie experience of the respective lives of the couple up to the point of their marriage.

(Cover art for the R.L. Burnside album Mr. Wizard).

A modern sound for the delta blues comes to us with the 1997 album Mr. Wizard by R.L. Burnside. The music tends to more of a jam format than some of Burnside‘s earlier work with influences on musicians making music into the current day.

(Cover art for the Van Halen album OU812).

The 1988 album OU812 (Oh, you ate one too!) by Van Halen incorporates the most hard rock or pop metal sound for the three albums we reviewed for the 1980s. Both the 1986 album The Way It Is by Bruce Hornsby and the Range and the 1985 No Jacket Required album by Phil Collins delve more into the so-called adult contemporary genre with a focus on message and sound this still hit for a somewhat different audience.

(Cover art for the Christopher Cross album Christopher Cross).

We’ve taken the 1970s decade seriously with a review of nine separate albums. The self-titled 1979 album Christopher Cross by Christopher Cross continues the adult contemporary appeal before the 1974 soft rock appeal of the Jackson Browne album Late for the Sky. Second Helping by Lynyrd Skynyrd gave 1974 a more southern rock or boogie rock sound with their second album.

(Cover art for the Dr. John album In the Right Place).

The 1973 Dr. John funk and piano blues album In the Right Place gives way to the more progressive rock sounds of Pink Floyd‘s 1973 album The Dark Side of the Moon and Yes‘ 1972 album Fragile.

(Cover art for the Chuck Mangione Quartet album Alive!).

The contemporary jazz and easy listening album Alive! by Chuck Mangione Quartet from 1972 introduces the final three albums with a largely instrumental sound. The soft rock album Teaser and the Firecat by Cat Stevens stands next to the blues rock, hard rock and heavy metal sound of Led Zeppelin IV by Led Zeppelin for the music of 1971.

(Cover art for the Miles Davis album Sketches of Spain).

Jazz and rock and roll provide our 2023 soundtrack for the 1960s. Holiday music for 1968 leads us to Christmas Album by Herb Alpert & Tijuana Brass. The seventh album for The Beatles gave us the rock and roll in the form of 1966’s Revolver. The John Coltrane album Giant Steps and the album Sketches of Spain by Miles Davis round out 1960 with jazz performances that warm our heart.

Matt Lynn Digital appreciates your continued interest in the content we offer. Should you have albums that you’d like us to review, please be sure to let us know.

Matt – Friday, December 29, 2023

Pink Floyd and the album ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’

Milestones are fun touchpoints for remembering popularly received albums. Originally released on March 1st, 1973, the eighth studio album for Pink Floyd was first shared with the world. The Dark Side of the Moon would land the first of a wider recognition in North America for one of England‘s premier progressive rock bands.

(Shown here is the cover art for The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd‘s eighth studio album).

Speak to Me opens The Dark Side of the Moon with, as quoted from here, a “heartbeat, followed by sounds representing things that can drive you to madness: spoken bits, a clock ticking, a cash register, coins clinking, synthesizer, then at the end, a mad shriek.” The song is preliminary to the second album track, with writing credit going to Pink Floyd‘s drummer, Nick Mason.

Presented here with the Speak to Me introduction included, Breathe (In the Air) is the second track from The Dark Side of the Moon. With writing credits granted to Richard Wright and David Glimour, there are interesting facts about the song related here. “This song is about an older man speaking to a baby, [describing] the unfortunate working life the baby will have to face.” While implying a message to do what inspires us, while interestingly being synchronized to parts of the movie The Wizard of Oz (1939).

With a synthesizer as the lead instrument for On the Run, as noted here, the song is also considered an early example of technology driven music. “This song deals with the pressures of travel, which Rick Wright said would often bring fear of death.” The song is clearly an instrumental without lyrics.

(Time was the fourth track on the Pink Floyd album The Dark Side of the Moon. The song was released as a single in the United States).

Time “is about how time can slip by, but many people do not realize it until it is too late. Roger Waters got the idea when he realized he was no longer preparing for anything in life, but was right in the middle of it. He had just turned 28.” As noted here for the previous and next quote, “[t]his song takes on the topic of mortality.”

The Great Gig in the Sky continues the exploration of “life…gradually descending into death,” as noted here. With writing credits recognizing Richard Wright and Clare Torry, the song includes an “angrier and more intense first half” getting into realizing death is coming. The second half that is “is gentler, as the dying person gives into the inevitable and fades away.”

(Money was the sixth track on The Dark Side of the Moon album. The song’s release as a single helped make it a hit for Pink Floyd in the United States).

Money charted as high as number 13 in the United States, as indicated here. “This song is about the bad things money can bring.” I had a pretty cool teacher in the ninth grade that encouraged students to practice learning to type accurately and faster on typewriters synchronously with this song.

(Us and Them earned some modest success in the United States and Canada when released for the Pink Floyd album The Dark Side of the Moon).

Us and Them serves as the longest song on The Dark Side of the Moon album, running at 7-minutes and 49-seconds. The song originally “came up with while [Richard Wright was] working on the soundtrack to the 1970 movie Zabriskie Point.” The movie in its original form was rejected for that album, with the song incorporated into the effort for this album.

(Any Colour You Like is the eighth song from Pink Floyd‘s eighth album, The Dark Side of the Moon).

As mentioned here, the instrumental Any Colour You Like was named in recognition of “a catch phrase used by former Pink Floyd road manager Chris Adamson. When asked for a guitar, Adamson would respond, “Any colour you like, they’re all blue.”” The songfacts.com website further mentions that this song is a reprise of the song Breathe (In The Air) from earlier in the album.

Brain Damage “is probably about insanity, something the band was quite familiar with,” as noted here. “Ex-singer/guitarist Syd Barrett‘s experiments with hallucinogens caused his unfortunate fall in the late ’60s.” The song lyrically invokes the album title, The Dark Side of the Moon.

Frequently played on the radio immediately after Brain Damage, Eclipse again reprises the song Breathe (In The Air) from earlier in the album. The notion here expresses a relatable descent into the insanity suggested by Brain Damage, with the notion of an eclipse being a metaphor for descent into insanity.

(From left, Roger Waters, Nick Mason, David Gilmour and Richard Wright of Pink Floyd).

The primary musicians for The Dark Side of the Moon were David Gilmour of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, Nick Mason of Birmingham, England, Roger Waters of Bookham, Surrey, England, and Richard Wright of Hatch End, London, England. Additional musicians on the album included Dick Parry of Kentford, Suffolk, England, Clare Torry of Marylebone, London, England, Doris Troy of Bronx, New York City, New York, United States, Lesley Duncan of Stockton-on-Tees, Durham, England, Barry St. John of Glasgow, Scotland and Liza Strike of the United Kingdom.

Matt – Wednesday, March 1, 2023