Pink Floyd Animals released

Animals Pink Floyd

Released: January 23, 1977 Peak: 3 US, 2 UK, 12 CN, 3 AU Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, 0.1 UK, 12.4 world (includes US and UK) Genre: classic rock/progressive rock

Tracks: Song Title (Writers) [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. Pigs on the Wing, Pt. 1 [1;24] Dogs (Gilmour, Waters) [17:04] (9 CL) Pigs (Three Different Ones) [11:28] (10 CL) Sheep [10:20] (12 CL) Pigs on the Wing, Pt. 2 [1:24] All songs written by Roger Waters unless noted otherwise. Total Running Time: 41:40 The Players: Roger Waters (vocals, bass) David Gilmour (vocals, guitar) Nick Mason (drums, percussion) Richard Wright (keyboards)

Rating: 4.004 out of 5.00 (average of 26 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Of all of the classic-era Pink Floyd albums, Animals is the strangest and darkest, a record that’s hard to initially embrace yet winds up yielding as many rewards as its equally nihilistic successor, The Wall. It isn’t that Roger Waters dismisses the human race as either pigs, dogs, or sheep, it’s that he’s constructed an album whose music is as bleak and bitter as that world view.” AMG “Arriving after the warm-spirited (albeit melancholy) Wish You Were Here, the shift in tone comes as a bit of a surprise, and there are even less proper songs here than on either Wish or Dark Side. Animals is all extended pieces, yet it never drifts – it slowly, ominously works its way toward its destination.” AMG “For an album that so clearly is Waters’, David Gilmour’s guitar dominates thoroughly, with Richard Wright’s keyboards rarely rising above a mood-setting background (such as on the intro to Sheep). This gives the music, on occasion, immediacy and actually heightens the dark mood by giving it muscle. It also makes Animals as accessible as it possibly could be, since it surges with bold blues-rock guitar lines and hypnotic space rock textures.” AMG “Through it all, though, the utter blackness of Waters’ spirit holds true, and since there are no vocal hooks or melodies, everything rests on the mood, the near-nihilistic lyrics, and Gilmour’s guitar. These are the kinds of things that satisfy cultists, and it will reward their attention – there’s just no way in for casual listeners.” AMG

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Pink Floyd WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/22/2008; last updated 9/1/2021.