Lunacy

"Kruth is a well-studied music historian whose writing skills are mellifluous. --Al Kooper Lunacy is a standard-bearing rock-album vivisection for anyone interested in how a work of art can capture the zeitgeist, deservedly or not. --Nell Beram, author and freelance writer -- ""Shelf Awareness"" Lunacy: The Curious Phenomenon of Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon, ' 50 Years On is John Kruth's exuberant but shrewd homage to one of the bestselling albums of all time and the band, place and era that begat it. Recognizing that the ""story of Dark Side of the Moon is inseparable from rock's transformation from the counterculture's cherished soundtrack to mainstream media's played-to-death theme song,"" Kruth approaches Pink Floyd's 1973 album from every angle: musical, lyrical, philosophical, metaphysical and more. (In a foray that is probably knowingly Spinal Tap-ish, Kruth interviews an astrophysicist and poses the musical question ""Does the dark side of the moon exist?"") Kruth interrupts his song-by-song breakdown of the album with sidebars devoted to, among other topics, Dark Side tributes and, of course, the album's uncanny-seeming (and unintentional) sonic synchronization with The Wizard of Oz. Kruth, who has also written books toasting the semicentennials of the Beatles' Rubber Soul(This Bird Has Flown) and Plastic Ono Band (Hold On World), enriches his inquiry with snippets from interviews he conducted with a range of music-world figures who have something to say about Dark Side, not all of it positive. Offers musician Victor Krummenacher: ""Though I have a love of Pink Floyd, this for me, is where things started to go badly. But it is where they made money, and good for them."" And good for Kruth: Lunacy is a standard-bearing rock-album vivisection for anyone interested in how a work of art can capture the zeitgeist, deservedly or not. --Nell Beram, author and freelance writer -- ""Shelf Awareness"" Magical . . . John Kruth is a fantastic writer! --Jim Jarmusch Takes you deeper inside the creation of this enigmatic work and its cultural reverberations that have echoed across the decades John Kruth sets the stage nicely, with a concise summary of the band's story before digging into the album track by track. -- ""Grammy.com"" Singer/songwriter/music journalist Kruth (A Friend of the Devil) examines both Pink Floyd's development as a band and their iconic 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon, which he analyzes track by track. He also takes interesting side trips into somewhat related territory, such as an interview with Delaware State University astrophysicist Matthew Bobrowsky about the moon itself. Kruth grounds Pink Floyd's endeavors in the British blues explosion, the onset of widespread use of electronic sounds, psychedelic rock's appearance, and the surprisingly long history of the concept album. Copious quotes from the band members, whose personalities come across clearly, as well as remarks from contemporary musicians set the narrative. Since Pink Floyd used the same Abbey Road studios as the Beatles, whom the musicians acknowledged as influential, readers will see two vastly different paths music took in the 1960s and 1970s. A playlist, bibliography, and index are useful addenda. For fans of The Dark Side of the Moon, this book is especially welcome. Those not familiar with Pink Floyd or this particular venture will still likely appreciate the well-researched and swiftly flowing tale that combines musical intricacies with cultural context. -- ""Library Journal"""