The Dark Side of the Moon Redux (2023)

When news broke Feb. 4, 2023, in the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung, it would have been a better fit for April Fools' Day: Roger Waters was planning to re-record Pink Floyd's seminal 1973 album "The Dark Side of the Moon" as a solo project.

The idea was hatched during Covid19 lockdown in 2020-21, when Waters remotely joined members of his latest backing band to re-record a collection of Floyd and solo numbers. (That collection, "The Lockdown Sessions," was first released to streaming services Dec. 9, 2022, and then on physical media June 2.)

"The 50th anniversary of the release of 'The Dark Side of the Moon was looming on the horizon. It occurred to me that 'The Dark Side of the Moon' could well be a suitable candidate for a similar re-working, partly as a tribute to the original work, but also to re-address the political and emotional message of the whole album,” Waters explained in a promotional email.

"I discussed it with Gus (Seyffert) and Sean (Evans), and when we’d stopped giggling and shouting 'You must be ****ing mad' at one another we decided to take it on.

"It’s not a replacement for the original which, obviously, is irreplaceable. But it is a way for the 79-year-old to look back across the intervening 50 years into the eyes of the 29-year-old and say, to quote a poem of mine about my Father, 'We did our best, we kept his trust, our Dad would have been proud of us'," he added.

"And also it is a way for me to honor a recording that Nick (Mason) and Rick (Wright) and Dave (Gilmour) and I have every right to be very proud of."

Joining Waters on the recording are:

Jon Carin, Keyboards, Lap Steel Guitar, Organ, Synthesizer; Azniv Korkejian, Vocals; Via Mardot, Theremin; Gabe Noel, Sarangi, String Arrangements, Strings; Gus Seyffert, Bass, Guitar, Keyboards, Percussion, Synthesizer, Vocals (Background); Johnny Shepherd, Organ, Piano; Robert Walter, Piano; Joey Waronker, Drums, Percussion; and Jonathan Wilson, Guitar, Organ, Synthesizer.

Waters produced the album with Seyffert.

Variety magazine named the redo of "Money" contained on the album the 5th worst song of 2023.