Released in January 1977, Animals by Pink Floyd is certified four times Platinum in the U.S. And yet in the vast majority of times when I’ve seen people talk about the album, the word “underrated” is used. For most bands, a multi-Platinum album would definitely not be considered “underrated,” but Pink Floyd is not most bands. The album before Animals went seven times Platinum, and the album before that was The Dark Side Of The Moon.
What might have hurt Animals (as much as an album that hit #1 in six countries could be hurt) was the band’s decision to not release any singles. In fairness, Animals didn’t easily lend itself to singles. The album had only five songs, but three of them ran over ten minutes. However, the AOR stations didn’t let that stop them. All three of the songs over ten minutes – “Dogs,” “Pigs (Three Different Ones),” and “Sheep” – got rock airplay.
So how is the album? Unsurprisingly, it’s good. This being made by Pink Floyd, it’s a concept album. It’s loosely based on George Orwell’s book “Animal Farm,” but while the book is about Stalinism in the Soviet Union, the album is about the sociopolitical conditions of mid-Seventies capitalist Britain. The album also has a happy ending, unlike the book. The main thing that the two works have in common is that they use animals to represent different social classes. Two of the songs on Animals are called “Dogs” and “Sheep” while the other three are named after pigs. In the album’s world, dogs use force to keep the sheep in line and protect the interests of the pigs, but the sheep eventually rise up.
I wrote this review before the U.S. midterm elections, so I’m assuming that ending didn’t happen. At least it made for a good album, though. If you’re not a Pink Floyd fan, or you just hate Roger Waters as a person, then Animals probably won’t convert you. I think of this as the kind of album where you should already be a fan of the artist to get the most enjoyment. If you are already a fan, everything you love about Pink Floyd is on full display: the emotion, the atmosphere, the instrumentation, David Gilmour’s hypnotic guitar work, and of course, Battersea Power Station. You know, the factory on the cover… which was later converted into luxury condos.
I think that’s a metaphor for something.
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