Animals - Pink Floyd > Reviews > "Haha, charade you are"

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Good
Value for Money

Advantages:	Musically the best Floyd album
Disadvantages:	Not easy - listening

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

One of the great ironies apparent in the recent history of politics taking root in the flowerbed of popular music was the assault upon Pink Floyd by those useless over-hyped fiends known as the Sex Pistols. They attacked the Floyd for being stale, and synonymously associated with the ageing hippy generation no longer seen as cool to the record-buying public. Call me cynical, but I'm just saying what I'm seeing.

Some people might say that the Floyds' 1977 album Animals was a direct retort to the Pistols and their sensationalism, others might say it was a natural progression for the songwriting of Roger Waters - having explored madness and greed on their opus Dark Side of the Moon; distrust of the music industry and odes to his acid-fried companion Syd Barrett on Wish You Were Here; it seemed like a natural step for Waters to turn his scouring eye out upon the world in general.

The album itself is split into 3 main sections. There is a main chunk of 3 long and winding songs (Dogs, Pigs and Sheep) in the middle of the album, with two very short, near-identical acoustic ballads on each end acting as opening and closing chapters.

Musically, Animals is divine, innovative, and wide-reaching. David Gilmour is at the peak of his powers with note-perfect guitar work and fantasically unconventional chord sequences which somehow, inexplicably, work perfectly. Even the inconsistent Rick Wright plays keyboard delightfully throughout, augmenting Gilmour in the slower instrumental segments perfectly. Even Waters' slightly bunged-nose-sounding vocals seem to fit the mood of the music like a glove.

Waters' lyrics are not easy going. The running theme throughout the album is almost a reverse personification of humans into animals, as encountered in George Orwell's Animal Farm. He has the bloated, controlling Pig figures, the thieving untrustworthy Dogs, and the mindless sheep, all with token synthesised animal noise effects if you listen closely enough in the quieter moments. A mention must go out to David Gilmour and what can only be described as his bizarre 'guitar effect barking dog impression' solo, which truly is a wonder to behold.

In all, Animals is easily one of the most forward thinking and yet accessibly brilliant albums of the seventies, and it is a testament to the perverse nature of the World that this effort saw Pink Floyd looked upon as yesterday's news, whereas the Sex Pistols achieved notoriety for delivering the same message but with swearing and saliva.

God Save the Floyd.