ANIMALS

I'm giving this album another go. It's still the least-good of Pink Floyd's late period (I don't count "The Final Cut," and I pretend the Gilmour days never happened), but it's pretty alright. You should pick it up if you've already enjoyed Dark Side, Wish You Were Here, Meddle, or The Wall.

The album begins with "Pigs on the Wing (Part One)," an entirely acoustic Waters number which sort of preludes the cynicism to come (and acts as a balance). It somehow softens the blow.

"Dogs." This is an excellent song, about those who cannot trust anymore. It drags in a lot of places - there is a lot of filler - but many of the themes (musical & lyrical) are absolutely classic.

"Pigs (three different ones)" is a sort of quasi-punk anger anthem. It's got a sardonic edge, but I have trouble really getting into it. It is rather funky, and more indicative (musically) of were Floyd would go with "The Wall" than anything else. Pink Floyd's classic "space" sound really started to deteriorate on this album.

"Sheep" is pretty good - dark bass lines creep up on some unsuspecting keyboard licks at the introduction. The song proper is again more hard-rock than Pink Floyd used to be, but it's pretty nice. Not exactly exceptional, but pretty nifty.

The second part of "Pigs on the Wing" takes over from there. It's a nice, optimistic way to close a very pessimistic album.