Following up Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here seems like a near impossible task for any band. For Pink Floyd, it’s just another brick in the wall. The answer was Animals. Animals was released on January 21, 1977 reaching number two in the U.K. and number three in the U.S. The album was only 5 songs, but filled with quality.
The idea of the album came from George Orwell’s Animal Farm in which a group of anthropomorphic animals rebel against their human farmer. The album is a critique of capitalism and tells the story of who these animals are and what they do. All five tracks were written by Roger Waters with a co-write on Dogs by David Gilmour. The first song, Pigs on the Wing Pt. 1, is an easy listen about a story of a couple.
Dogs is the second track of the album, and also the most highly regarded. The dogs in the song represent the aggressive, ruthless competitive world of business, as it describes a high powered businessman. Lines like “You gotta strike when the moment is right without thinking,” and “Like the club tie, and the firm handshake,” paint the picture of a businessman doing whatever it takes to make money.
The next track is my personal favorite, Pigs (Three Different Ones). This track starts rather chaotically with an abundance of animal songs and other noises. It introduces three pigs, all representing different greedy and powerful businessmen. The song contains many instrumental solos and is an overall unique listen.
Sheep, the next song, has a similar opening to pigs with animal noises and an intense opening. The sheep represent lower class people and the confusion and fear that is felt from the less lower class. They do rise up in the end and overthrow the dogs. The song then transitions to Pigs on the Wing Pt. 2, with a similar sound to part 1 of the song, only this time the animals are tame and past the greed of the business world.
This record very much commentated on the types of people that existed in our society in 1977 but it could also be relevant today. For a lot of people this is their favorite Pink Floyd album and I agree. Although it is not as famous as their other albums, it has just as much quality. I would recommend this for those who want to try something new. It’s a 10/10 for me and rivals Pink Floyd’s other fantastic albums.
