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CD/DVD Releases: Pink Floyd Classic Inspires Two Releases From G. J. Halpern

Posted on Sunday, December 28 @ 21:30:00 UTC by nightowl

Pink Floyd's Legendary & Best Selling Dark Side Of The Moon Provides Inspiration For Dim Side Of Mars & Bright Side Of The Sun Re-releases

Reveal Music announced today [Dec 19] the re-releases of two self-styled musical recordings by G. J. Halpern - Dim Side Of Mars and Bright Side Of The Sun. Both were inspired by the 1973 Pink Floyd mega-success classic recording Dark Side Of The Moon. Thirty five years later Dark Side... has become one of the greatest selling recordings of all time due to its enduring classical communication which has continued to connect with each successive generation of rock music lovers. The original works borrow stylistic elements from early Floyd to put across their own very different messages.



According to Brain Damage Magazine, "The performance and mixes are top-notch. To have created theme albums this good based on the best selling record of all time is no small feat. The work is a bit of a surprise." As the name suggests, Bright Side... is the flip side of Floyd's stormy, Vietnam-era mood piece and Dim Side... addresses today's negative declining environment. "On both projects, the lyrics have open symbols and multiple meanings. Words are used to create a message of hope on the Bright Side and a message of apathy in society on Dim Side," said G. J. Halpern.

In an earlier review, music critic Kevin Williams broke down Bright Side Of The Sun. He said, "a defiant and raunchy first cut called 'Dream' asks 'Have you ever had a past? Were you ever really high?' It sets the tone for what is basically a classic 70's sound. Halpern has engaged veteran 70's era players. Bob Mraz former lead singer with Crow and brief Ted Nugent stint, Dennis Johnson of the old Survivor, Steve Eisen formerly with Styx on saxophone, Roger Adler - previous Best of Midwest Guitar winner and Motown styled singer Kate Shea to bring Bright Side the strong punch it needs to make it a credible response.

"Systematically, the message is layered, first the aggression of the opening dissolving into the sobering second half. Along the way, slivers of other artists -- a little Bowie at the head of 'Dream Reprise,' a talking bit ala Prince on 'Light At The End Of The Tunnel,' and a preening guitar on 'We The People' straight out of Chris Isaac's 'Wicked Game' peer in, but Halpern's transcendentalist spirit reigns throughout and it gathers force. The payoff is the fierce ballad at the end - 'New Light' which has a mystical edge with Kate Shea doing a mean Claire Torrys, the memorable diva from Dark Side Of The Moon. The centerpiece though is the euphoric 'Cloudy,' the most formally impressive piece in the album. Adapting a loose, jazzy structure, it brings a moody balance to all the energy and enthusiasm of the rest of the work," says Williams.

"The fifth cut 'Light At The End Of The Tunnel' comes at you with the kind of jam-out guitar build-up and solo that typified Skynard's 'Free Bird' and the Rock and Roll theme albums of the seventies, and yet like the rest of the work it conjures up many of the purely musical feelings from Dark Side," added Williams. "'New Light' arrives at the end with its spine-tingling floating guitar slides. All throughout the end in fact, Bright Side's new age mysticism set against a background of storms and ethereal textures set off some dynamic tension in the album."

In the newer work Dim Side Of Mars, Halpern hits the Dark Side Of The Moon target with a bit more accuracy and less musical diversion in part because there are more of the foreboding sounds to compliment its negative theme of pro-active apathy in our world today. Other than some traces of the Beatles (circa the White Album) on the sixth cut "No Reflection," several of the other cuts such as "Alpha State," "Heartbeat," "Political Jujitsu," and "Myopia" could have been quite comfortable as additions to the actual release of Dark Side Of The Moon back in 1973. Halpern taps a more progressive bunch of studio pros on Dim Side. Rex Carroll of White Cross Band does a superb David Gilmour imitation throughout the seven cuts. Rene LeDesma does a melodic, yet mildly grungy, lead vocals with backups by an outrageously sultry Suzanne Palmer, and Jeff Thomas is Nick Mason-like on drums.

"I can say this," said Williams, "these recordings are worth a listen if you liked the original or not. They feel like a logical extension of early Pink Floyd." Of the 80+ minutes of actual music on the two recordings, approximately half can be listened to for free as high quality mp3s at the two web sites listed below along with the full story of how the music evolved.

About Dim Side Of Mars: The full story behind Dim Side Of Mars (a follow up recording to Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon) can be previewed along with a generous supply of mp3 tracks at pinkfloydismyhero.com and is also available for download at iTunes and eMusic.com or purchased in CD format at amazon.com.

About Bright Side Of The Sun: The full story behind Bright Side Of The Sun (a follow up recording to Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon) can be previewed along with a generous supply of mp3 tracks at http://ilovepinkfloyd.com">ilovepinkfloyd.com and is also available for download at iTunes and eMusic.com or purchased in CD format at amazon.com.

[Source: Reveal Music]

Posted in Album Release News