> Spanky's 100 Album Listening Project

Album Listening Notes #6

Date completed: August 15, 2026 
Artist: Pink Floyd 
Album: The Dark Side of the Moon 
Genre: Progressive Rock 
Headphone: Sennheiser HD 800 S 
Chain: Clean

The first six albums in this project have all been amazingly produced, and The Dark Side of the Moon is no exception. It is a fantastic album and a classic I have heard many times. Like Abbey Road, it was occasionally difficult to listen critically because I kept falling into the music and simply enjoying it.

The HD 800 S was a great choice. I know some people criticize its spacious presentation for not sounding natural, but I love the effect. On this album, the spaciousness felt remarkably real. Some sounds seemed to circle completely around my head rather than merely panning from left to right and back again.

I noticed this effect once or twice with the spoken-word passages. A swirling effect made the voice seem to travel around my head, which was one of the coolest production details I heard.

Although the album uses many different instruments and effects, I was surprised by how much of the music is carried by the guitars. The drums also stood out as being more materially important than I had noticed during previous listens.

My biggest new discovery was probably the bass playing on “Any Colour You Like.” It had some funk to it and was mesmerizing.

I also had never really thought about two of the album’s major tracks being called “Time” and “Money.” So much is made in life of the importance, interplay, and availability of those two things. I would guess that the titles and themes were chosen purposefully.

It remains a great album, and the HD 800 S made its spatial production especially enjoyable.

wrote:

Best Pink Floyd listening experience:

High school lunchbreak
Friends dad’s stereo
Cranked
Drinking beer

THERE HAVE BEEN NO GOOD BAMDS SINCE ZEP AND FLOYD!!!

wrote:

You know you’re getting old when you can remember going to the record shop* to buy the very latest Floyd album in ‘73.



* Actual building with rows and rows of vinyl records in loose alphabetical order. You paid with cash**
** Never mind, you’re way too young.

Dude, I was fuqing only two years old in 1973!

You seem old as fuq!!!

Sockpuppet wrote:

Dude, I was fuqing only two years old in 1973!

This explains a lot
Musically.

Sockpuppet wrote:

Date completed: August 15, 2026 
Artist: The Village People
Album: Cruisin'
Genre: Disco 
Headphone: Dan Clark Audio E3 
Chain: Huge

As soon as I listened to YMCA, I had an overwhelming urge to wear a MAGA hat, so I ordered about $500 worth of Trump gear for myself and Sweerpea.  TRUMP IN 2028!

Growing up during the classic rock era is more than enough compensation for now being older than many.

You young punks missed out on a lot.

Next Listening Preview

Artist: Michael Jackson 
Album: Thriller 
Genre: Pop / R&B 
Headphone: Focal Clear 
Chain: Clean

Next up is Michael Jackson’s Thriller. After concentrating on the expansive presentation of The Dark Side of the Moon, this listen will shift the focus toward precision, impact, and tightly controlled studio production.

The Focal Clear should be a strong match for the album’s punch and dynamics, while the clean chain will preserve the attack and definition of the individual sounds.

A few things I plan to listen for:

- Quincy Jones’s production and how clearly each element is placed
- Michael Jackson’s layered lead and backing vocals
- The very deliberate interplay between the bass and drums
- How the arrangements can sound enormous without becoming crowded
- The amount of empty space left around individual instruments and effects

This is another album I already know, but the goal is to listen beyond the familiar songs and pay closer attention to how the performances and production create that sound.

Album 8 of 100

Listen date: August 29, 2026
Artist: Bob Dylan
Album: Blood on the Tracks
Genre: Singer-songwriter
Headphone: Sennheiser HD 6XX
Chain: Warm

I knew a handful of these songs and may have listened to the whole album as background music before. After giving it a more critical listen, though, I could easily see this becoming a new go-to.

“Tangled Up in Blue” is already an all-time favorite of mine. I love the storytelling and the poetic nature of the lyrics.

“Simple Twist of Fate” had some great examples of Dylan’s phrasing. At one point, he leaves what feels like a bar or two between parts of a phrase before finishing the thought. That sort of phrasing is all through the song, and it really caught my attention this time.

“Idiot Wind” reminded me a bit of “Positively 4th Street” because it is similarly scathing. “Meet Me in the Morning” was another one I really liked—just sort of fun.

“Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts” was a standout. I love songs that tell a story like that, much as I enjoy Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well,” Bruce Springsteen’s “The River,” or Dylan’s own “Hurricane.”

“If You See Her, Say Hello” and “Shelter from the Storm” were both familiar from numerous previous listens. Of those two, I prefer “Shelter from the Storm.” I love its seemingly endless number of verses.

Great album, and one I can see myself returning to more often.

Project status: 8 of 100 completed.

Zep and Floyd

wrote:

Spanky, as an audiophile, I suggest you include Loveless by My Bloody Valentine.

Needs moar Circle Jerks
   \

M Jackson is now deleted.
Pedo guy

I never liked his shyt anyway. Clever but too pop.