The last 1973 album among my personal favorites is Pink Floyd’s classic The Dark Side of the Moon. This is, of course, one of the most celebrated and beloved albums of all time.

In terms of sales, Dark Side is fourth on the all-time worldwide list, having sold more than 45 million copies while spending over 900 weeks on Billboard’s Top 200. It’s really pretty amazing that an album full of sound effects and instrumentals, and so few traditional songs, is nestled among Michael Jackson’s Thriller, The Eagles’ Greatest Hits, the Saturday Night Live soundtrack and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours as one of the most popular albums of all time.

It’s also interesting that, though Pink Floyd released 15 studio albums over the course of their 47-year career, it’s really a four-album stretch in the 70s, starting with this one, that made them legends.

The Dark Side of the Moon was followed by Wish You Were Here and Animais, and then 1979’s double-record The Wall… four albums that blew up my teenage brain and ones I still know by heart to this day. Sure, I dabbled in the earlier release Meddle, 1983’s The Final Cut and the Roger Waters-less A Momentary Lapse of Reason in ’87, but my Floyd fanaticism was always about those four.

I don’t know where I’d rank The Dark Side of the Moon among them — probably second to The Wall — but it’s hard to deny this album’s innovation and impact, especially listening to how fresh it still sounds 46 years later.