| | Pink Floyd - Animals (Music CD) | |
Description
By 1977 England was in the throes of punk, a musical revolution that held
hugely successful "dinosaur" rock groups in contempt. So ANIMALS, the
album Pink Floyd released that year, found the band as musically stripped down
as they'd ever been. The overabundance of soundscapes, ethereal synths and lush
textures of the past gave way to a leaner, more guitar-driven Floyd.
Yet thematically, Waters and co. still reached for the sky. Inspired in part by
George Orwell's classic novel, "Animal Farm", ANIMALS divides humans
into three categories--dogs, pigs and sheep--and features each classification in
song. The dogs are merciless opportunists, grasping for success at any price;
the pigs are pathetic, self-righteous tyrants; and the sheep are the mindless
followers, being used by the dogs and pigs. This anthropomorphising was Waters'
view of the dehumanising side of capitalism. And befitting such a lofty theme
was the length of the album's three main pieces--none shorter than ten minutes.
"Dogs" was co-written by David Gilmour, and it features some of his
most inspired playing. The greed driving these dogs towards grander heights of
materialism eventually leads to a solitary death from cancer, cloaked in an air
of self-importance. "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" overflows with
biting lyrics that scorn high-minded censors in general, and Mary Whitehouse (a
self-appointed guardian of British pop music morality) specifically. The
grunting of pigs precedes Waters' venomous delivery of each word, as Gilmour's
scratchy playing and unsettling use of a Vocoder box become effective conduits
for the song's malevolence.
"Sheep" starts out with the herd docilely grazing, blissfully unaware
of the dogs lurking nearby. The sheep are led to the slaughter, before staging a
revolt and killing off the dogs. The soundtrack of this defiance opens with
Richard Wright's effect-free electric piano leading a galloping rhythm, before
Waters' bass eases the group into a momentary lull. The pace picks up again, and
Gilmour's slashing leads drive the song into a rousing climax, fading out with
the peaceful sound of chirping birds.
1. Pigs On The Wing
2. Dogs
3. Pigs (Three Different Ones)
4. Sheep
5. Pigs On The Wing 2
Genre: CD - Rock
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