ANIMALS

Floyd have already given us Piper, Saucerful, Dark Side... and Wish You Were Here, and still continue to blow our minds with this amazing album, 'Animals'. During 1973, the band reached almost unfathomable success with 'Dark Side of the Moon', and then decided to advance deeper into the prog portal by creating such highly inspired instrumental/lyrical displays like WYWH, and 'Animals'. That being said, the core of this album was composed during 1974, and did appear on several bootlegs (yes, guilty..) as 'You Gotta Be Crazy' (Dogs) and 'Raving and Drooling' (Sheep).

Central to the whole concept is Water's cynical view of the human race, likening various personalities within society to various animals via the epic compositions 'Pigs', 'Dogs', and 'Sheep'. The lyrics are hard-hitting and quite understandable. The music behind all this is not so complex, but superbly crafted and passionately performed. Wright's keys ( Mini-Moog, Fender Rhodes, Hammond, Piano, String-Synth) serve as a full sounding, symphonic back-drop to Gilmour's phenomenal guitar leads, and Waters shows his skill as a competent and able Bass player. Mason supplies the rhythmic back-bone to the whole affair. The 3 epic tracks are book-ended with 2 delicate, acoustic ballads, 'Pigs on the Wing - Parts I and II'). Yet another essential prog album.