What The Hell Happened To... 02:11.08: Pink Floyd - Animals

Posted by Dan Marsicano on 02.11.2008

This week, 411's Dan Marsicano takes a trip to the 1970's to look at Pink Floyd's Animals, one of their most underrated albums. Why hasn't Animals caught on with people and mentioned alongside Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall as one of Pink Floyd's classic records?

The Introduction

Welcome one and all to another brand spanking new edition of What The Hell Happened To. I am the host with not enough time on his hands, Dan Marsicano.

This week, I am going back to the 1970's to look at an album by one of the most popular progressive rock bands in history, Pink Floyd. Pink Floyd has literally influenced hundreds of bands since their rise to success in the 70's, which was driven by Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and The Wall.

When you ask a fan of Pink Floyd what their favorite album of theirs is, most of them will pick one of those three or maybe even an earlier album, like A Saucerful of Secrets or Meddle. However, there is one album of the band's that has been regaled to the background, always being overlooked or just brushed aside.

1977's Animals would be the beginning of the end for Roger Waters' involvement in Pink Floyd. After the success of Wish You Were Here, Waters took over much of the band's creative output, throwing himself into the music, but leaving all the other band members to the side. This would start the tension in the band that would break the band apart in the early 1980's.

What sets this album apart from the other Pink Floyd "classics" of the 1970's? Well, it's no better time than now to find out!





The Band

Roger Waters-Vocals, Bass Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
David Gilmour-Guitar, Bass, Vocals, Synthesizer
Nick Mason-Drums, Percussion
Rick Wright-Keyboards, Hammond Organ, Backing Vocals

The Track Listing

1. Pigs On The Wing Pt. 1-1:25
2. Dogs-17:05
3. Pigs (Three Different Ones)-11:26
4. Sheep-10:18
5. Pigs On The Wing Pt. 2-1:25

The History

Pink Floyd was formed from the remainders of several British bands in 1964. The line up became Syd Barrett on vocals and guitar, Roger Waters on bass and vocals, Nick Mason on drums, and Rick Wright on keyboards.

The band released a few singles and toured in the clubs of the UK for the next couple of years. In 1967, Pink Floyd would release their first album, Piper at the Gates of Dawn. It became a landmark release in the genre of psychedelic rock. However, this proved to be the last album with Barrett involved, as drugs had taken its toll on Syd. Syd would be replaced by David Gilmour and this line up would stay together until the early 1980's.

The band released three albums that were moderately successful, A Saucerful of Secrets, Ummagumma, and Atom Heart Mother. The band's sound was progressive, with songs that would go on for 12-20 minutes. Live shows would have even more extended jams, with the band using lights and sound to create a masterful stage show.

With 1971's Meddle, the band began its rise to the top of progressive rock. With Meddle, the band sounded more focused. Of course, we all know about the success of Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here. These two albums would become the most successful albums of Pink Floyd's career and put them at the front of the progressive rock movement that was gaining speed in the mid-1970's, which included Rush, King Crimson, and Yes.


The Analysis

Animals is the darkest album that Pink Floyd has ever created. Unlike Wish You Were Here, which had a sad, yet hopeful, vibe to it, Animals is as bleak as it gets. Roger Waters wrote Animals as a concept album based on George Orwell's "Animal Farm."

For those unaware of the story of "Animal Farm," the book tells the tale of communism in Soviet Union by using basic farm animals. The pigs are the communist rulers that take over the farm from the humans and promise great things for all the other animals. However, greed and power take over the pigs' minds and the farm becomes its own mini-communist society.

Animals is only five tracks long, with two short tracks surrounding three epic ones. The album is important because it shows the direction Waters was going in with the band. Animals has some of the best guitar work of David Gilmour's career and the band is able to successfully keep the attention of the listener for 41 minutes.

That's not to say that Animals appeals to everybody. Critics were less than enthusiastic about the album when it was first released and would only be a moderate success in the US, compared to the millions of sales for their past two albums and their future 1979 album The Wall. A casual listener of the band, one who only knows the singles and the hits played on the radio, will find little to like about Animals.

Hell, even the band members didn't like the album. Rick Wright, in particular, down right hated the album. I can understand his situation, as Wright was being pushed aside by Waters, not getting any chance to help in the songwriting process for Animals and having his brilliant keyboard work pushed into basic background sound, only getting a few chances to shine.

Animals is bookended by one song split into two parts. "Pigs On The Wings Pt. 1 and 2" are the most subdued moments on the album. When put together, "Pigs On The Wings Pt. 1 and 2" is like a dark love song, with just Waters singing lead vocals and a single acoustic guitar driving the main melody. These two songs are the only moments on the album that brings a feeling of hopefulness behind it.

"Dogs" is the longest song on the album, taking many different musical directions throughout its 17 minutes. "Dogs" was played live all the way back in 1974, with a different title ("You Gotta Be Crazy").The lyrical content involves businessmen who work themselves to death, only worrying about their own egos and the power obtained by rising up the corporate ladder. Starting with just acoustic guitars and keyboards, the whole band eventually comes in, but the acoustic guitars are ever present. "Dogs" is the only song with David Gilmour doing lead vocals along Waters.

The song features one of the best harmonizing solos Gilmour has ever done, in my opinion. The emotion runs deep in the solo, as you can feel every bluesy note that Gilmour blasts out of the speaker. This harmonizing section leads to an extended jam section, with Gilmour playing his heart out for about three minutes. Wright gets a chance to play a synthesizer solo about nine minutes in. It's a good solo and one of the few moments on the album where Wright's presence is felt in a great capacity.

"Pigs (Three Different Ones)" is a song that features some of the most unique musical elements and experimentation that the band has tried. For one thing, this is the first song where David Gilmour uses a talk box for one of the solos. This is used to mimic the sound of pigs, which makes sense in the context of the song.

In this song, the pigs are represented of all the powerful leaders that have control over everything. These leaders are cutthroat and will do anything to make sure that they still have power over all aspects of society. The song gained a note of controversy, as the American government thought the band was anti-American for the lyric "Hey there White House, ha ha ha ha, charade you are," even though they weren't talking about the actual White House. You got to love that American government. The band was actually talking about Mary Whitehouse, a British activist who campaigned for moral values in the media. Whitehouse criticized Pink Floyd's music and their message; hence, the reason she was spoken of in such harsh terms. The band also has some words for Margaret Thatcher, basically calling her, and I quote, "A fucked up old hag."

"Pigs (Three Different Ones)" is a dark song lyrically, but has a groove to it that the band doesn't display too often. Cowbell and funky bass lines dominate the first half of the song. Gilmour, yet again, gets a great solo in with the talk box used to perfect effect, not hampering the song yet able to get the point across.

The last epic song is "Sheep" and is one of my personal favorites on here, just beating out "Dogs." The lyrics deal with the "sheep," the common folks just like you and me, the ones who just follow with everybody else and listen to what others tell us to do. The song starts off with a keyboard piece by Wright that heightens the mood and atmosphere to maximum effect. Once the band gets in, the song picks up greatly, being one of the fastest songs on the album…well, as fast as Pink Floyd can get anyway.

The song slows down for a brief minute before the band brings the instrumental section on with fast played guitar and keyboards. Then the song gets weird, as the band gives us their version of Psalm 23, a popular verse from the bible.


"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want
He makes me down to lie, Through pastures green, He leadeth me the silent waters by.
With bright knives, He releaseth my soul.
He maketh me to hang on hooks in high places.
He converteth me to lamb cutlets.
For lo, He hath great power, and great hunger.
When cometh the day we lowly ones, Through quiet reflection, and great dedication,
Master the art of karate, Lo, we shall rise up, And then we'll make the bugger's eyes water."


The song ends on a high note, with the band sounding the most energetic on the entire album. Don't get me wrong, the song is still bleak as hell, but at least the band sounds lively.

Animals is a tough album to initially get into. The lyrics are dreary and confusing at times and the band takes many chances with their sound. It could be the effect of Waters taking over the band's songwriting or it could just be the changing times (punk rock coming in, disco on the horizon), but Animals is the sound of a progressive rock band at their darkest and heaviest. I personally love Animals and wish it would get more recognition.

You won't hear any of these tracks on the radio and for good reason. Who wants to hear a 17 minute song on the radio? In this day and age, it's a miracle people can listen to a song longer than five minutes. That's why The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon appeal to the mainstream. Sure, they are concept albums, but radio takes the ideas the band was getting across and throws them away for radio playability. Who has time these days to sit back and listen to a whole album from front to back?

That may have seemed like a bit of a rant, but it is true. You know it, I know it, the music industry knows it. People want the singles; they want the songs they know, and nothing else. It's a fucking shame, but at least there are people out there who can appreciate albums like Animals for what they are: a band pushing itself creatively. Isn't that what people make music for anyway?

So, when it is all said and done, Pink Floyd's 1977 Animals is as underrated as they come. Well, at least when it comes to their 70's output. I could write a book on how underrated Pink Floyd's catalog before Meddle is, but I think I will save that for another column.


The Conclusion

Well, my friends, that is it for another edition of What The Hell Happened To. I hope you all enjoyed my trip into the 1970's and into one hell of an underrated album by the kings of progressive rock.

So, leave some comments on the bottom, let me know what you liked, didn't like, if you liked/hated my rant, think I'm a genius, etc. Next week, I'm moving ahead, a bit, to the 1980's, with a band who you probably hate with a passion because of one cheesy synthesizer-driven song about a trip in space that includes a stop to Venus.

However, believe it or not, this band actually has a few decent albums under their wing and I'll look at their 1983 debut. It's going to be an interesting edition next week, so come on back and until then, put those devil horns in the air!