Send "Pink Floyd " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Popmatters |
 Pink Floyd was my first musical love, and the album Animals was my first experience in encountering and cherishing something that others did not care for. As me, my brother, and various acquaintances of his were pillaging the band’s back catalog to find out what made this wondrous band tick, I was repeatedly told to steer clear of 1977’s Animals. As I grew older, people’s negative opinions of this album became better articulated for me: The band was beginning to be all about Roger Waters at this point, as David Gilmour’s influence in Pink Floyd was sinking to its eventual low-point, they were losing their audience to the punk kids: yadda yadda, four legs bad. But I’ve always felt, before and after the recent EMI remaster campaign complete with the celebratory flying of a replica pig over Battersea Power Station, that with a slight shift in perspective, Animals can be every bit of as surprising and steadfast a milestone as Dark Side of the Moon. The music that Pink Floyd accomplished during the ‘70s has never felt like an artifact of the ‘70s, nor does it sound like a compartmentalization of the ‘60s. You can’t really say that it was ahead of its time because, in some cases, it feels like time has yet to catch up with them. The most magically aligned moments of Animals feel like they belong to a decade that never really existed. The rest of it stands the test of time as good old-fashioned anti-conformist rock and roll.Since this is a reissue, we will get the repressing details out of the way first. Does the 2011 reissue of Animals sound better than the 1994 reissue? The short answer is yes. This new edition is louder, but it’s not a tremendous difference. Unlike the reissue jobs on old albums by Yes and The Who, the regular Pink Floyd albums don’t have any bonus tracks or liner notes (Extras are supposedly saved for the Immersion boxsets). Everything is much like it was before: lyrics, credits, some really attractive photographs, and the music. Animals’ iconic image, the large inflatable pig that once escaped a photo shoot, teases the eye with a now-you-see-me-but-not-fully manner that only added to Pink Floyd’s overall stubborn mystique. Everyone knows the thread going through Animals; three long works are bookended by the acoustic love ditty “Pigs on the Wing.” “Dogs” are the aggressors; “Pigs (Three Different Ones)” are the greedy ones who manipulate the dogs; and the “Sheep” are the spineless conformists that do whatever the dogs and pigs tell them to do. Conveniently ignoring the existence of sheepdogs, Waters strangely enough makes the sheep the victors here, announcing “Have you heard the news? / The dogs are dead” but then reminds them that they “Better stay home / And do what you’re told.” The dogs aren’t immune to this easy corralling either. In the outro of “Dogs” (every lengthy song on this album boasts a certifiably distinct and wonderful outro), Waters rattles off the things that slowly killed the dogs’ spirits. This includes, appropriately enough, “who was trained not to spit in the fan” since later that year, Roger Waters did find himself spitting on a Pink Floyd concert goer in Montreal. Their crime? Setting off firecrackers while Waters was trying to sing “Pigs on the Wing.”...full text |
| Sputnikmusic |
| Animals is Pink Floyd’s greatest album. Such a statement will be forever refuted by those who fervently admire any of Pink Floyd’s other masterpieces; it’s arguable as to which album is the pinnacle of their success. Of course, it always comes down to a matter of opinion, but with this review I intend to ardently argue Animals’ case; not only as the greatest Pink Floyd album, not only as one of the greatest records to have ever been made, but also as a triumphant and pessimistic reflection of the world’s descent into capitalism. In addition to the musical achievement that is Animals, it is a radiant and contemptuous piece of political literature, akin to its Orwellian influence. The metaphorical value of ‘Dogs’, ‘Pigs’ and ‘Sheep’ are extensively ingrained in the criticism of the society which we take for granted, and Animals eloquently lays down a sweeping mockery of the system. In regards to the album’s position amongst Pink Floyd’s far-reaching discography, Animals is situated in a transient period; bearing marks of the band’s psychedelic and drug infused past, building on the largely tentative previous two albums, all while paving the way for The Wall’s concreted concept. It is because of this unique position that Animals holds as to why it is distinguishable from the Pink Floyd catalogue. It does not rely on musical oddities, vast soundscapes or experimentation; it is a composition perfect at its very core, from the pure genius of its songwriting, to a concept to beat all concepts in its relevance and societal value. Animals is, without a doubt, one of the greatest albums of all time. The profound left uprising of the 1970s is a large determinant of the ideology evident on Animals; the after effects of the Vietnam War, a stalemate between the opposing sides of the ideological spectrum, left the world in a disarray, seemingly disillusioned by the supposed sanctity of capitalism in contrast to the ‘Evil Empire’. Economic crises gripped Britain (along with other Western nations, but particularly Britain in respect to Pink Floyd), a pressure borne by the working class. It was these conditions and others like them that ultimately led to the deep seeded cynicism apparent on Animals. The album’s construction is purely metaphorical: ‘Dogs’, ‘Pigs’ and ‘Sheep’ represent the different tiers in the capitalist hierarchy, each song creating a representation of its respective character through ingenious lyrics and at times, musical expressions that are reflective of a particular character’s nature. Beginning with 'Dogs', Pink Floyd paints the portrait of a ruthless and self-obsessed bourgeoisie, the hounds of the upper class. In layman's terms, businessmen, utilizing the free market system to their own and their superiors' advantage; ultimately to the disadvantage of the lower classes, who are forced to bear the brunt of actions from the likes of H.E. Pennypacker, wealthy industrialist and philanthropist, an alias brought to life by Seinfeld's Cosmo Kramer. Such a personality is immortalized in the lines: You got to be able to pick out the easy meat with your eyes closed And then moving in silently, down wind and out of sight You gotta strike when the moment is right without thinking The vehement scorn of Pennypacker and co. is brought to light after an atmospheric interlude, one which harkens back to the musical techniques more commonly associated with Pink Floyd’s past; the barking of dogs layered over a synthetic backdrop does well to set the mood and build up towards one of the greatest imaginable finales to a song. Cleverly using the metaphor of a dog, the song alludes to the action of tying a stone around a dog’s neck, subtly referring to the inevitable downfall that awaits the bourgeoisie....full text |
| Pitchfork |
| It begins somewhere for everyone. There's the first song that grabs your attention and seizes the imagination, the first album that demonstrates such overall strength and originality that it becomes something more for most listeners, just as there is the first kiss that awakens the soul and forever changes the vision. I admit without qualm that it began for me with Animals. My brother was in college, and one day I went through his records and listened to the ones with the coolest covers. Animals fascinated me then as it still fascinates me today. It is the acute anthropomorphic fantasy, possessing a timeless quality that has thrust it into the category of "classic," though it may remain forever in the shadow of its more commercially successful older brother, Dark Side Of The Moon. Consisting of three tracks each longer than ten minutes and two tracks under two minutes, Animals is not for the attention- span- deficient. However, within this impenetrable fortress of radio- unfriendly tracks, we hear Dave Gilmour's guitars at their absolute best, get a full-on dose of Roger Waters' powerful lyrical imagery, and are presented with the worst elements of our own humanity- packaged in the skins of "Sheep," "Dogs" and "Pigs (Three Different Ones)". For those weaned on The Wall and Dark Side, you'll find Animals to be a whole new bag of feed. Where Floyd's two most recognizable albums made their mark with operatic aggression and fear, Animals deals in dirt- under- the- fingernails reality, the common smallness that simultaneously binds and repels us all. "Dogs," a 17-minute study in the commonest of all faults, lazily dispenses bite after venomous bite into the desires that drive us to seize the fast buck and screw anyone that gets in our way: You have to be trusted by the people that you lie to, So that when they turn their backs on you, You'll get the chance to put the knife in. All this wrapped up in the flaky coating of two hauntingly similar and musically identical tracks casting opposite views of cynicism and hope on the proceedings. Animals is like George Orwell's Animal Farm run through a full- audio acid test- spectacular in every aspect and now in full color....full text |
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