Album Cover analysis - Dark Side Of The Moon - Pink Floyd

This is the album cover for Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon" which is the 3rd best selling album of all time. At first glance it doesn't look like much at all. There is no sense of normality or convention.

First of all there is no album name, nor is there the artists name. Why? Somehow or another this has been one of the most effective artworks ever created nd yet they have managed to achieve this without the audience even knowing what band has created it, or the name of the album. It could be argued that in fact the lack or identification on the front would confuse the audience and bring out their curiosity, forcing them to look at the album closer. But surely it would make more sense to say that most people wouldn't be that bothered by it and would walk straight past it if it was on the shelf of a record store. This may have been the case since it didn't actually sell that well in the UK originally, it was much bigger in the US.

But lets look at what actually is there. The symbol in the middle is something recognised by scientist and is to do with the refraction of light through a prism. This denotes that the band are actually quite well educated if they know scientific symbols but then at the same time connotes what the album is actual about; conflict, greed, ageing, and mental illness. A lot of issues in the society they lived in. So I would say that they symbol is actually a metaphor for life itself. The first years are great, all they way on the go, nothing to stop you, and then suddenly, everything changes, and you have all these problems in your own little world. I also get the impression that this idea is followed through by the black background; as if to say that is literally it, life is just there, in the middle of nothing with no apparent meaning. It is very hard to depict from something so simple and plain.

Other people have come up with all sorts of ideas. That it is a symbol of love or relationships, some say that it is about war and government empowerment. Who is to say which is right but it does bring up a valid point, that is it very abstract and left down to audience interpretation which is normally done with post modern art. Doing with artwork for an album cover is quite risky in my opinion because I believe that an album cover should have all the vital information on it first before metaphorical pictures come anywhere near the design. But that's the great thing about music, everyone has their own way of displaying it and interpreting it.