Published on Sep 11, 1997
With all the talk about whether or not Roger Waters is rejoining
Pink Floyd (my opinion: I hope not – let’s let the past be) and the
upcoming re-release of the band’s Columbia catalogue,now seems as
good a time to dip into the Pierce Memorial Archives (hey, who’s
been baking brownies in here?) for one of their most overlooked
albums – 1977’s
Animals.
For the British foursome, you’re in a sticky situation. Your
last two albums,
Dark Side Of The Moon and
Wish You Were Here, have been incredible successes. But
internal squabbles are beginning to fester in the band, and the
group seems to be torn over whether to continue in a pop vein or to
turn back to their psychedelic roots. The answer at the time: why
not combine both? The end result: five songs, two of which are
bridges to start and end the album, all vaguely connected by a
theme surrounding animals. The jams are incredibly drawn out, and
the musicianship is at a high.
So what does this all mean? Simple: while
Animals showed that Pink Floyd couldn’t go home again to the
world of psychedelia, their songwriting was still riding at its
peak.
The two snippets, both titled “Pigs On The Wing,” are of little
consequence to the album – let’s pass on these tracks and
concentrate on the remaining tracks. They all seem to have some
touches of social commentary in them – though I will freely admit I
haven’t picked up all the nuances yet. The first real track,
“Dogs,” seems to criticize the way we behave in the human race –
almost as if
we are the real animals.: “You have to be trusted by the
people that you lie to / So that when they turn their backs on you
/ You’ll get the chance to put the knife in.”
David Gilmour’s guitar work has rarely sounded better than on
this track – his lines are controlled, yet powerful. Waters has
never been a really happy person, though lyrics like these give us
the first signs of the dark nature they would soon take. (Okay, I
lied: on “Pigs On The Wing,” you can almost hear the core of
“Mother” which would stand out on
The Wall.)
I don’t want to take away from the work of Nick Mason and
Richard Wright, however; their work on drums and keyboards also add
a special panache (brother, don’t think I haven’t been looking for
a reason to use
that word) to the music. Wright’s keyboards help to add the
touch of psychedelia that Pink Floyd was trying to recapture. And
Mason, as always, provides a solid backbeat.
The highlight for me on
Animals– in fact, the reason I bought it when I first heard
the song on a local metal show – is “Pigs (Three Different Ones).”
It is here that the band is at their tightest, with the keyboards
perfectly meshing in with the guitar lines, and the bass creating a
melody all its own. It’s one of the best moments of Pink Floyd’s
career in my book – though here is where I have a problem
unearthing the social commentary.
“Sheep,” the last of the “tracks” on this album, will sound
familiar to those who only know Pink Floyd from their 1983 best-of
A Collection Of Great Dance Songs. If the band has been
using a talkbox, then I will stand corrected when I’ve said it’s
best used sparingly. The synthesized vocals in the middle of the
track are eerie, and while they become inaudible near the end,
their message still rings out clear. Also it’s worthy to note that
a short tape lop first used back on “Dogs” returns to haunt you,
connecting the track and the “enemies”.Waters also lays on a rather
heavy dose of social criticism again – there is no doubt that we
are the sheep he was writing about.
The sad thing about
Animals is that it’s not known for the music it holds.
Rather, the minor connection people will make is with the
inflatable flying pig that appears at Pink Floyd shows. (For that
matter, I don’t remember the last time I heard about the band
playing anything from
Animals on recent tours.) The fact is that this album is
probably the one which is least known.
Atom Heart Mother is known for the cow on the cover,
Meddle is known for “One Of These Days”… while
Animals sits in relative obscurity.
And while I love
Wish You Were Here and can tolerate both
Dark Side Of The Moon and
The Wall, I think it’s criminal that so few people these
days know about
Animals. It’s almost as if – no, scratch that, it
did get lost in between the mega-hit,overplayed albums.
This, kids, is what we call a God-Damn Shame.
Fortunately, with the album being remastered as kind of a 20th
birthday present (gee, and all I got when I turned 20 was an
electric razor), we all have a chance to re-discover
Animals. Don’t let the length of the tracks fool you – the
time passes very quickly with them, making you want to listen to
the album again and again.
Animals is an album that does not deserve to be forgotten –
pick up a copy today and adopt it for your own.
Christ, I sound like a Beanie Babies ad…