Music Banter - View Single Post - By the way, which one's Pink?-Pink Floyd reviewed

jackhammer · 05-23-2008, 06:22 PM

ANIMALS (1977)

An album that musically seems out of sync with their ever increasingly polished 70's output, Animals sticks out like a sore thumb. The Wall may have came 2 years later and seemed like the black sheep, it was still a continuation (for better or for worse) of the Floyd Journey.

This is the conumdrum of the Animals album. It does'nt fit somehow. The production is slightly below par. The songs are not as immediate or as catchy as the previous two releases. It shares it's own specfic thematic content yet it is musically a different beast altogether compared to the lush landscapes on offer before.

The album cerainly has a contradictory nature. Coming just before The Wall, five out of the albums six tracks are sole Waters compositions and the sixth is wrote with Gilmour, yet (lyrics notwithstanding) it is an album with Gilmours stamp all over and is one of the few albums that showcases Gilmours solo and exceptional rythmn work.

The album is bookended by Pigs On The Wing (Parts 1 and 2), which are short acoustic pieces that set up the themes on the album. (A treatise on the class system in the UK which in turn has it's roots in George Orwell's Animal Farm).

Dogs follows and builds it's lazy insouciance with one of Gilmours most famous guitar phrases that is infamously triple tracked and remains a quintessential signature of Gilmour's style of play. There seems so many individual guitar tracks vying for attention on this track, yet through careful arrangement you are never overwhelmed. The ambient breakdown showcases some of Wrights best ever keyboard work for Floyd and it is a shame that he never got a songwriting credit on this track at least.

Pigs is a mid tempo track that works on a simple bass line and guitar riff that reveals hidden layers upon subsequent listens. Lyrically it is amongst Waters best work and tapped into the U.K's economic problems at the time as well as the onset of the nanny state.

Sheep concludes the bulk of the material and is based upon a superb bass line and a quicker tempo to the usual Floyd track. The track opens with some beautiful hazy hammond organ before the throbbing bassline kicks in and leads us onto a keyboard note that segues into a guitar note. This simple 2 stage evolution is extremely effective and gives the song a simple drive and impetus.

The album has an interesting throwback in that it features many countryside sounds that were prevalent in their early recordings and is maybe asmall reminder of the band before ego.

I have tried to be emotionally detached from this album as I could be, yet it is scarcely a secret that Animals is my all time favourite album and listening back I know emplicitally why it is, yet i do feel that it is definitely an underachiever and lost amongst the the Floyds better known releases. Give it a listen..who knows?

Sheep:

05-23-2008, 06:22 PM	#42 (permalink)
jackhammer Ba and Be. Join Date: May 2007 Location: This Is England Posts: 17,331	ANIMALS (1977) An album that musically seems out of sync with their ever increasingly polished 70's output, Animals sticks out like a sore thumb. The Wall may have came 2 years later and seemed like the black sheep, it was still a continuation (for better or for worse) of the Floyd Journey. This is the conumdrum of the Animals album. It does'nt fit somehow. The production is slightly below par. The songs are not as immediate or as catchy as the previous two releases. It shares it's own specfic thematic content yet it is musically a different beast altogether compared to the lush landscapes on offer before. The album cerainly has a contradictory nature. Coming just before The Wall, five out of the albums six tracks are sole Waters compositions and the sixth is wrote with Gilmour, yet (lyrics notwithstanding) it is an album with Gilmours stamp all over and is one of the few albums that showcases Gilmours solo and exceptional rythmn work. The album is bookended by Pigs On The Wing (Parts 1 and 2), which are short acoustic pieces that set up the themes on the album. (A treatise on the class system in the UK which in turn has it's roots in George Orwell's Animal Farm). Dogs follows and builds it's lazy insouciance with one of Gilmours most famous guitar phrases that is infamously triple tracked and remains a quintessential signature of Gilmour's style of play. There seems so many individual guitar tracks vying for attention on this track, yet through careful arrangement you are never overwhelmed. The ambient breakdown showcases some of Wrights best ever keyboard work for Floyd and it is a shame that he never got a songwriting credit on this track at least. Pigs is a mid tempo track that works on a simple bass line and guitar riff that reveals hidden layers upon subsequent listens. Lyrically it is amongst Waters best work and tapped into the U.K's economic problems at the time as well as the onset of the nanny state. Sheep concludes the bulk of the material and is based upon a superb bass line and a quicker tempo to the usual Floyd track. The track opens with some beautiful hazy hammond organ before the throbbing bassline kicks in and leads us onto a keyboard note that segues into a guitar note. This simple 2 stage evolution is extremely effective and gives the song a simple drive and impetus. The album has an interesting throwback in that it features many countryside sounds that were prevalent in their early recordings and is maybe asmall reminder of the band before ego. I have tried to be emotionally detached from this album as I could be, yet it is scarcely a secret that Animals is my all time favourite album and listening back I know emplicitally why it is, yet i do feel that it is definitely an underachiever and lost amongst the the Floyds better known releases. Give it a listen..who knows? Sheep: __________________ It be my music and film collection. “A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.”