January 23, 1977 - Animals

Another long gap, 16 months, since "Wish You Were Here" Pink Floyd released their tenth album "Animals" on January 23, 1977. Their last two albums were both massive successes and Roger Waters had taken more control over these recordings. This trend would continue on this new album as Waters wrote all the music and lyrics for this album aside from one song which was co-written by David Gilmour. This would mark the first time ever that Richard Wright would not receive a writing credit and tensions started to form between Wright and Waters during the recording. "Animals" is a concept album that is a critique of capitalism and what they deemed as the social and moral decay of society. Can Pink Floyd keep the amazing albums flowing? Let's find out!

Like their last album, Pink Floyd split a song so that it both opens and finishes the album. This one is much shorter than the last one though as "Pigs On The Wing (Part 1)" is only a minute and a half long. It features only Waters, who sings and plays a nice acoustic guitar riff. He only sings a few lines in this short opener that is reminiscent of some of their earlier material. Track 2 is the 17-plus minute "Dogs", the only song on the album co-written by Gilmour and it also has he and Waters both on lead vocals. Having only one Gilmour-sung tune is a little disappointing I think, but at least it's a long, progressive one! Gilmour plays all the guitars on this one as the song fades in with him playing a cool acoustic riff. Wright adds some trippy keyboards intermittently and Gilmour is the first to sing and his wonderful voice sounds great as always. Waters comes in on bass and Nick Mason with a simple drum beat to round out the riff as Gilmour sings quickly along to his guitar. He takes off for an electric guitar solo that sounds quite epic and brilliant before they bring it back for another verse. Wright's synths segue into a new part that is slow but sounds very epic. Gilmour plays some slow lead guitar but it just sounds so great as these guys are masters of keeping it simple but still sounding amazing! Mason's slow drum fills fit the mood nicely and Waters' bass is solid as well while Gilmour and Wright both lead the way. They segue nicely into another slow acoustic riff as we hear several dogs barking in the background. After setting the tone with his acoustic, Gilmour once again goes off for a lead electric solo and he is one of a kind as he spins off another fantastic solo! They settle into another slow verse as Gilmour serenades us with his singing again. Wright plays some cool piano and Gilmour starts on another nice guitar riff. This is short-lived though as everything dies down and we're left with a Gilmour echo and some slow, trippy synths by Wright. The dogs return in this slow trippy section and then Wright really starts to go off. He plays some crazy trippy stuff overtop his trippy background keyboards and it's all pretty insane. Mason slowly drums along while Wright plays all sorts of cool stuff. Just as his solo is ending, Gilmour resumes the original acoustic riff from the beginning of the song. Waters sings this verse and he sounds pretty good; but not as good as Gilmour in my opinion. Roger still does a good job for sure as they play another cool verse and at the end it's time for another Gilmour solo! He does a fantastic job again and they move nicely back into the slow, epic riff from earlier. This moves into a different Waters-sung verse and this new part sounds pretty good as well. Mason plays some great drums in this part as the rest of the guys slowly jam along until they finally bring this song to an end. I thought that was expertly done and another awesome Floyd song! They just keep the greatness coming!

Side two begins with "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" as Waters wrote and sings lead vocals on all three songs on this side. It opens with some pigs snorting followed by a cool keyboard riff by Wright. Gilmour actually plays bass and lead guitar on this song while Waters plays rhythm guitar. Gilmour plays some cool bass in this opening and Waters adds some nice-sounding guitar. Mason's drums cue the start of the verse and Waters' vocals sound pretty good leading this slow beat. Mason plays a catchy wood block in his drum kit as they move into a new cool verse that has some cool keyboards by Wright, then it's back to the guitar-led first verse. Both these parts sound solid and after a couple rounds of each they move into a new section with more pigs snorting. Waters plays a catchy guitar riff that carries this part while Gilmour plays some slow, trippy lead guitar overtop. Wright goes off with some harmonica-like keyboards that sound pretty great as he and Gilmour both play some sweet lead music. Wright settles things down with the same keyboards that opened the song as we seem to have come full circle. This epic part still sounds good the second time around as they move into another verse with more solid singing by Waters. Gilmour gets a chance to shine as he plays another fantastic lead guitar solo that sounds amazing! The nice bass we hear is Gilmour as well as he is just such a talented guitar player! He continues to solo until the song slowly fades to an end and these guys have done it again, another superb song! At the very end we hear some sheep baaing quietly as it segues into the next track, "Sheep". Wright kicks it off with some great-sounding keyboards as he plays lots of cool stuff in this opening part. Once again, the bass we hear is played by Gilmour and it sounds very low and pretty epic. Mason joins in on drums and they're quickly into the first toe-tapping verse. Waters' singing is decent, but in this setting I feel like Gilmour would've sounded really great! Wright continues to play lots of great keyboards and Gilmour plays some solid guitar as well. It moves into a slow trippy section that sounds like "Dogs" in an interesting throwback. Wright takes it in a new direction though with some slow, epic synths. Gilmour's guitar and bass playing are both great once again and after a bit of jamming Wright plays a loud, epic note that signals another shift. Gilmour plays some great bass to keep the beat going while Wright slowly plays his epic notes. Waters uses a talkbox in this part as well which only adds to the eerie, robotic sense the music is giving. They return for another verse with Wright playing some awesome synths. They jam out the last couple minutes to another nice guitar-led riff that also has lots of nice drum fills by Mason as it slowly fades out again. We hear some more baaing as it moves right into the album closer "Pigs On The Wing (Part 2)". It's just Waters and his acoustic once again as he plays the same soothing riff that opened this wonderful album. It's a very fitting finish as Waters strums along and brings this record to an end.

That is the end of "Animals" and I thought it was another excellent progressive rock album. David Gilmour is such a great guitar player, and when he's allowed, he's a wonderful singer as well. I lament that Roger Waters started to really take over the creative process: not because he doesn't have wonderful ideas, but because he seems increasingly unable to share the writing and performing credits. Nonetheless, this is another fantastic addition to an already great collection. I don't think it was quite as good as their last two albums, which were both otherworldly, but I think it's easily better than the majority of their previous albums. Pink Floyd's albums belong in different leagues really with "Wish You Were Here" and "Dark Side" in a league of their own. The next league down has other great albums like "Meddle" and "Atom Heart Mother" and I think "Animals" not only also belongs in this league, but that it is the best of these three! Their last 3 albums have been their best ones in my opinion and I cannot wait to see what Pink Floyd will do next!