ANIMALS

At the time this was released, I recall I really didn't like it, particularly as it seemed so bleak compared to the other more upbeat releases by Prog giants in 1977, especially Yes' Going for the One. But over time this has come, for this listener, to be the best of all the Floyd albums. Why? It's the most consistent, best realised of their music. The album is book- ended by the forgettable "Pigs on the Wing", but in between is probably the best music Floyd produced before they started to fall apart on the next album, "The Wall". Here, Waters' savage themes and lyrics are restrained - no, that's not the right word, they are balanced by Gilmours' drive to produce memorable music.

The album uses animals as descriptions for types of people; "Dogs" is an attack on businessmen with ambition and no scruples; "Pigs" is a sequence describing three different individuals who are all self indulgent, selfish, self righteous prigs (sic); and "Sheep" describes the vast unwashed ignorant majority (as Waters sees it) who meekly accept all that happens to them.

The music is the most consistent of any Floyd album, and the lyrics are far and way the best - lyrics, what am I talking about? How many Prog albums can be noted for their lyrics? Well, this one can. Waters' lyrics attack and sting - but they stop short of some of the melodrama of his later work. While Dave Gilmour may not be "technically" the greatest guitarist, every note here is considered, nothing is excessive or wasted. The riff that ends "Sheep" stays long in the memory after the album has finished.

The album cover merits mention - one of THE great covers, with its fantastic image of the balloon pig flying through the chimneys at Battersea Power Station.

This is - was - Floyd at its best. Essential stuff for any music fan - of any genre.