ANIMALS

This is my favorite studio release from the band's mid-1970's releases. I think on these three ambitious concept record epics the band evolved with this album to their greatest heights. Wrapped inside a short piggy theme reside three long songs, which seem to describe different kind of human personalities via animal comparisons. The compositions are great, not being very complex, but hypnotic and quite dark. The use of effects is tasteful, and it is easy to return to listen at this album still after owning it over a decades. The record allows time for dramatic curves to bend with necessary time, and the psychological feeling of the album wholeness seems very inviting. On the earlier albums there were fine moments, but I think scrutinizing forty minutes of compact rock music to an album without distracting moments or details is a fine accomplishment. Working their way to this statement is a source of rejoicing. After this release I think the group's megalomania on epic concepts and compositional contradictions got crushed between the walls of artistic ideas and commercial pressures clash.