Of all the disagreements they had with each other, Roger Waters and David Gilmour during their long and tumultuous relationship, which developed during his recording “The Dark Side of the Moon” it must have been one of the mildest.

It was, however, their first quarrel and, to some extent, it set the stage for all the disputes that followed. Nick Mason, the British band’s drummer, explains it this way in his book ‘Inside Pink Floyd’: ‘These were the first warning signs of fundamental disagreements within the group. The boundaries were being drawn as to what was and was not acceptable, indiscriminately and unintentionally, but they were being drawn.”

Waters wanted a dry sound, the one he later imposed on ‘The Wall’, and Gilmour preferred something grander. Obviously, Gilmour’s vision won out, a consolation prize on an album whose concept and lyrics were Waters’ work. Thereafter, Waters no longer wanted anyone to question his authoritarian leadership of the four-piece band.

This month, ‘The Dark Side of The Moon’ turns 50 years old (it was released in March 1973). But the album’s relevance today isn’t just due to its half-century anniversary: ​​it remains the third best-selling album in history (behind Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ and AC/DC’s ‘Back In Black’).

Its sound and message are still relevant. However, Waters is re-recording the album, without the two surviving band members who recorded the original version (drummer Nick Mason and guitarist/singer David Gilmour – Richard Wright died in 2008 aged 65).

In 1973, Pink Floyd were at a major crossroads. They had released seven albums and overcome the defection of their first leader (Syd Barrett left in 1968, apparently suffering from psychological problems), but the band had yet to find the sound that would take them to the next level and give them decades of endurance . At the time, Waters and Wright were 29, Mason 28 and Gilmour 26.

‘Dark Side of The Moon’ is an album ‘born’ out of Roger Waters’ concerns. Artistically, the work is wildly ambitious and represents our great modern tragedy: it ponders greed, the passage of time, death and mental health. Half a century later, the lyrics (all written by Waters) remain “alive.”

The album consists of 10 songs. The excellent sales of the record took the musicians by surprise and everyone coped with the success as best they could. The prospect of a new version of the album recorded by Waters alone does not inspire much excitement.