ANIMALS

My all-time favorite from Pink Floyd, "Animals" is an essential album for those who are either starting to get into Pink Floyd or who are completing their collection (or somewhere in between). The concept is simple on the surface, Roger Waters compares people to farm animals the same way George Orwell does in his masterpiece, "Animal Farm", yet he goes even further by reversing the concept, this time commenting on our own Capitalist society and its major flaws.

The opener, "Pigs on the Wing (Part One)", is a short, one minute track with a pleasant acoustic guitar, contrasted with Waters's slightly depressing vocals (apparently this and Part Two were based on Waters's relationship with his then-current wife.) Then, the 17-minute epic, "Dogs", compares megalomaniac businessmen to "man's-best-friend". The song is the centerpiece of the whole album, and never really lets down [the synth solo towards the end might bore some listeners, but in actuality it is preparing you for what I am sure is the best finale of a Pink Floyd song, next to "Echoes" and "Atom Heart Mother (Suite)"] The two guitar solos by David Gilmour are also magnificent, performed with two harmonizing guitars simultaneously, and evokes a certain, indescribable mood in one who listens to it. This is my favorite song on the album (and quite possibly my favorite Pink Floyd song). Gilmour wrote and performed most of the song, with the exception of Waters's lyrics.

On the next side, we start with "Pigs (Three Different Ones)", a harder song, and seems to contain most of the anger inside the album. The song details three types of "Pigs", who are the people who run the government and make the choices in the world. They use the "dogs" as their pawns in order to get what they want. "Pigs" is well done, but doesn't seem to hold up to "Dogs" as well as the next track.

In fact that particular song, "Sheep", is full of energy from start to finish, and even has a version of the Lord's Prayer ("The Lord is my shepherd...", they had to make that pun!). The "Sheep" are pretty much just ordinary people, living their everyday lives until they "follow the leader down well trodden corridors into the valley of steel", were they will be "[converted]... to lamb cutlets". The lyrics are superb on this track, even excelling the poetics of "Dogs" Not only that, but the energy emitted by the band is powerful and wonderful, Gilmour's guitar along with Richard Wright's keyboards are other highlights. Finally, the album closes with "Pigs on the Wing (Part Two)", almost identical to the first track, yet with a more optimistic view of society (and Waters's relationship with his wife).

Overall, "Animals" has few flaws, and is one of the greatest examples of combining great lyrics with equally great music. Everything is balanced, nothing is uneven or irregular. I would put this up there with "Close to the Edge" and "Thick as a Brick" instead of "Wish You Were Here", although that is my second favorite offering from Floyd (Most prog fans will think I'm crazy for saying that, but I don't care).