Roger Waters Re-Recorded ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’ Without Other Pink Floyd Members

Former Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters revealed in an interview with The Telegraph that he re-recorded the band’s landmark 1973 album, The Dark Side Of The Moon. Waters’ new version was created without involving or telling his former bandmates, which includes guitarist David Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason.

“I wrote The Dark Side of the Moon,” Water told The Telegraph. “Let’s get rid of all this ‘we’ crap! Of course, we were a band, there were four of us, we all contributed – but it’s my project and I wrote it. So… blah!”

Waters re-recorded The Dark Side Of The Moon with his frequent collaborator, multi-instrumentalist Gus Seyffert and vocalist Bedouine (Azniv Korkejian). The album also includes “a Baptist minister on Hammond organ.” Waters’ vocals can be heard across the album, but his lone instrumental contribution is a bass solo on “Us And Them.”

Adding that his Pink Floyd bandmates lacked songwriting talent, Waters explained his frustration with his one-time cohorts, including the late keyboardist Rick Wright who died in 2008:

“Well, Nick [Mason] never pretended. But [David] Gilmour and Rick [Wright]? They can’t write songs, they’ve nothing to say. They are not artists! They have no ideas, not a single one between them. They never have had, and that drives them crazy.”

Waters plans to release his updated version of Dark Side in May. While a “lavish vinyl release” is in the works, due to Waters’ exit from Pink Floyd in 1985, releasing the album might prove to be challenging.

“I’m no copyright expert, but might there be some obstacles to that?” Waters said regarding releasing the reworked album. Waters wrote the 10-track album’s lyrics and is credited or co-credited with composing the music to half of the songs on the record.

Pink Floyd (Gilmour and Mason) recently detailed a 50th-anniversary expanded edition of The Dark Side Of The Moon, which comes out on March 24. The box set contains the remastered original album, the first ever vinyl issue of The Dark Side Of The Moon – Live At Wembley Empire Pool, London, 1974 and more.

Waters’ interview also touched on his recent controversial statements regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Another recent interview the 79-year-old musician gave with a German newspaper drew a scathing response from Polly Samson, who is Gilmour’s wife and wrote the lyrics to several post-Waters Pink Floyd songs.

Gilmour himself showed support for Samson’s accusations — which accused Waters of being “antisemitic,” “misogynistic” and a “Putin apologist” — replying with “Every word demonstrably true.” Waters responded to Samson’s allegations with a statement refuting the “incendiary” claims.

Waters was invited by the Russian government to speak on its behalf yesterday at the UN Security Council hearing on Ukraine. In response to Waters’ address, Ukrainian security council delegate Sergiy Kyslytsya stated:

“It is ironic, if not hypocritical, that Mr. Waters attempts now to whitewash another invasion. How sad for his former fans to see him accepting the role of just another brick in the wall – the wall of Russian disinformation and propaganda. [Pink Floyd was banned in 1979 by the Soviet Union for protesting its invasion of Afghanistan.] Keep strumming the guitar, Mr. Waters. It suits you more than lecturing the security council on how to do its job. No flying pigs here, please.

Waters is set to bring his This Is Not A Drill Tour to Europe in mid-March. The extensive run continues throughout the continent through mid-June.