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Rating: Animals, 1977.
This album is certainly not the best of Pink Floyd, but in my opinion, it is the work that most allows Gilmour, Wright, and Mason freedom as musicians, where an angry yet determined Waters delivers lyrics that seem like cries of protest against those who pretend not to hear.
In this album, the bassist classifies people into three different species:
- Dogs; the rhythmic part of the guitar is convincing and perfectly in sync with Gilmour's voice, the solo divided into two parts suggests that there is something good in people. The song's lyrics refer to all those cunning and exploitative behaviors that man adopts to get ahead.
- Pigs; here Waters takes a jab at those people who, due to their office power, never tire of eating and fattening up. Regarding the music, there is a beautiful chemistry between the various members that makes it pleasant and a bit carefree.
- Sheep; the sheep, the favorite prey of dogs, are the protagonists of this song where the bass part recalls "One Of These Days", a song that always builds up and perhaps a bit subdued compared to the previous ones but still catchy. Of greater interest are the lyrics that refer to the air of fear and subordination that distinguishes the harmless sheep.
Pigs On the Wing is a single song used as both the opening and closing, where, in a way, it leaves a mark of hope for the listener.
Many claim that this record is not at the same level as the previous ones or The Wall, but I believe that here are the true Pink Floyd, those Pink Floyd who, already hailed as masters of psychedelic rock, freely unleash their genius even if at times the musical ideas are not particularly catchy.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
04 Sheep (10:20)
Harmlessly passing your time in the grassland away
Only dimly aware of a certain unease in the air
You better watch out
There may be dogs about
I've looked over Jordan and I have seen
Things are not what they seem
What do you get for pretending the danger's not real
Meek and obedient you follow the leader
Down well-trodden corridors into the valley of steel
What a surprise!
A look of terminal shock in your eyes
Now things are really what they seem
No, this is not a bad dream
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
Bleating and babbling we fell on his neck with a scream
Wave upon wave of demented avengers
March cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream
Have you heard the news?
The dogs are dead!
You better stay home
And do as you're told
Get out of the road if you want to grow old
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Other reviews
By Django
An inexhaustible mine of emotions. With each listen, new nuggets that shine in our hands.
The reference to Orwellian allegory is immediate. Dogs, pigs, or sheep.
By FLOYDMAN
The beloved sound masters unleashed their most aggressive, hostile, and frightening album, the third piece of the trilogy on the squalor of the human condition: Animals.
I don’t think there is an album that better depicts the characteristics of the human race; the powerful, the sycophants, the ignored and blind masses.
By Vinsex
You gotta be crazy, you gotta have a real need.
You gotta strike when the moment is right without thinking.
By DaveJonGilmour
We are in front of those pieces that will never bore, not even on the millionth listen.
Dear Roger, you are the Goliath defeated by a timeless David...
By joe strummer
"Animals is nihilism, pessimism, it is Punk disguised as luxurious rock."
"Waters' cosmic pessimism leads him to create this concept that divides men into pigs, dogs, and sheep."
