Nick Mason, the drummer of Pink Floyd, recently shared his thoughts about former bassist Roger Waters re-recording the band’s classic 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon, for its 50th anniversary.
Speaking at the original album’s playback event held at London’s Dolby Atmos Immersive Studio, Mason revealed that he had heard rumors about Waters working on his own version of the album. However, after receiving a copy of Waters’ work, Mason described it as “absolutely brilliant” and “an interesting add-on to the thing.”
“He actually sent me a copy of what he was working on and I write to him and said, ‘Annoyingly, it’s absolutely brilliant!’ It was and is. It’s not anything that would be a spoiler for the original at all, it’s an interesting add-on to the thing.”
Mason has often acted as an intermediary between Waters and Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. Both Pink Floyd and Waters have been celebrating the album’s anniversary, with the band reissuing the album with additional material and Waters re-recording the entire LP. Waters originally left Pink Floyd in 1985 after the release of The Final Cut in 1983, and Gilmour and Mason continued the band without Waters, releasing three albums between 1987 and 2014. During this period, founding member and keyboardist Richard Wright joined Gilmour and Mason, having been fired by Waters in 1981 after touring The Wall.
Despite the ongoing feud between Waters and Pink Floyd, Mason recently lent his name to a petition calling for the overturning of Waters’ canceled concerts in Germany over accusations of antisemitism. The petition argues that Waters’ criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is part of his long-term advocacy for human rights worldwide.
The petition claims:
“Waters’ criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is part of his long-term advocacy on behalf of human rights across the globe. Waters believes ‘that all our brothers and sisters, all over the world irrespective of the colour of their skin or the depth of their pockets deserve equal human rights under the law’.”
Mason’s support for the petition has been deemed controversial by some fans of Pink Floyd, and his praise for Waters’ remastering work on The Dark Side of the Moon has only added fuel to that narrative.