Animals (album)

Infobox Album
Name = Animals
Type = studio
Artist = Pink Floyd


Released = 23 January 1977 (UK)
2 February 1977 (U.S.)
Recorded = April 1976 – November 1976 at Britannia Row Studios
Genre = Progressive rock
Length = 41:46
Label = Harvest (UK original)
EMI (UK reissue)
Columbia (U.S. original)
Capitol (U.S. reissue)
Producer = Pink Floyd
Reviews =
*Allmusic rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=Asc91z82ajyv4 link]
*"Blender" rating|4|5 [http://blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=2306 link]
*Review-Christgau|B+|album=2776
*Pitchfork Media Rating|10|10 [http://pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/20884/Pink_Floyd_Animals link]
*Rolling Stone (unfavorable) [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/pinkfloyd/albums/album/89221/review/5943065/animals link]
*Yahoo! Music (favourable) [http://music.yahoo.com/read/review/12035407 link]
Last album = "Wish You Were Here"
(1975)
This album = "Animals"
(1977)
Next album = "The Wall"
(1979)

"Animals" is a concept album by English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 23 January 1977 in the UK and on 2 February 1977 in the U.S.

The album proved a success in the United Kingdom, where it reached #2 in the era of punk music. It was also a success in the U.S., reaching #3 on the Billboard album charts (#1 and #2 were "Hotel California" by The Eagles, and the soundtrack to the Barbra Streisand film "A Star Is Born"). However, it was on the American charts for only six months even though it has continued to sell solidly, to the extent of its having gone quadruple platinum, according to the RIAA.

In the UK, the British Phonographic Industry awarded the album Gold (100,000 units) in 1977. It has yet to achieve Platinum.

Album information

"Animals" is a concept album, based on the flaws of capitalism. Various castes in society are represented as different types of animals (Dogs as the businessmen, sheep as the powerless pawns, and pigs as the ruthless leaders). Although this album mainly attacks capitalism, several components are similar to George Orwell's novel "Animal Farm": In the book various animals (mainly pigs, sheep, dogs, etc.) represent different roles assumed by individuals in a communist society.

While singer and guitarist David Gilmour is only credited for the music of one track, the epic "Dogs" (which had the working title of "You Gotta Be Crazy"), this song and "Raving and Drooling", a Waters song which would later become "Sheep", were created at the same time as "Shine On You Crazy Diamond", and originally intended for "Wish You Were Here". Their creation process was similar to the method the band used during the late sixties and early seventies. They would adapt and expand their compositions by performing them live, and later in the studio find a more coherent form and concept for the whole album, with Waters writing the lyrics. "Animals" was the last Pink Floyd album created in this way, as the subsequent "The Wall" and "The Final Cut", were primarily conceived by Waters and worked out in the studio with some input from Gilmour. Although Rick Wright admittedly did not contribute much compositionally, he had some influence on the arrangement of the songs, including solo playing on "Dogs" and "Sheep". As with "Welcome to the Machine" and "Wish You Were Here" on "Wish You Were Here", Waters wrote "Pigs on the Wing" and "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" to tie together the other songs in the album's concept. His dominance in the writing credits and the discrepancy with the actual creation process is directly related to the increasing tensions within the band.Fact|date=August 2007.

The three core songs are bookended by a pair of love songs written by Waters for his then-wife Caroline:Fact|date=February 2008 "Pigs on the Wing, Part 1" and "Pigs on the Wing, Part 2". Both are in stark contrast to the misanthropic middle three songs, and suggest that companionship can help us overcome our flaws – though the final lines suggest that the singer is or was once one of the dogs. For the 8-track cartridge release, which looped, Parts 1 and 2 were linked by a guitar bridge performed by Snowy White (subsequently available on White's 1996 album "Goldtop: Groups & Sessions"), and the 17:08 song "Dogs" was cut into two tracks.

The giant, helium-filled pig seen on the cover was actually flown over Battersea Power Station for the photo shoot (under the direction of Storm Thorgerson). On the first day of shooting, a marksman was on hand in case the pig broke free. However, according to Thorgerson, this was considered an "insurance problem", and he was not hired for the second day of shooting. Ironically, on 3 December 1976, during the second day, a gust of wind broke the pig free of its moorings. Because there was no one to shoot the pig down, it sailed away into the morning sky. A passenger plane reported seeing the pig, causing all the flights at London Heathrow Airport to be delayedFact|date=January 2008. A police helicopter was sent up to track the pig, but was forced to return after following the pig to an altitude of 5,000 feet. A warning was sent out to pilots that a giant, flying pink pig was loose in the areaFact|date=January 2008. The CAA lost radar contact on the pig near Chatham in Kent, at a height of 18,000 feet and flying East. It finally landed in a farmer's field, without much damage. They then repaired the pig, and flew it up for a third time. The resulting pictures were not deemed suitable on their own (as the clear, blue sky from day three was thought to be much less evocative), and the final image was made as a composite of the power station picture from day one and the pig from day three.

The album had custom picture labels, using drummer Nick Mason's handwriting as a typeface, as did the lyrics on the liner sleeve. Side one's label depicted a fish-eye lens view of a dog and the English countryside. Side two's was similar, but featured a pig and sheep instead of the dog.

Originally released on Columbia Records in the U.S. and Harvest Records in the UK, "Animals" was then remastered in 1992 for its inclusion on the Shine On box set. The remaster was subsequently released on its own by EMI in 1994. In 1997, Columbia Records issued an updated remaster in the United States, Canada, Australia, South America and Japan. "Animals" was again re-released in April 2000 by Capitol Records in the US, and on the EMI label in Japan, Canada, South America and Australia again using the 1992 Shine On remaster along with the artwork from the 1994 EMI Europe reissue.

Quotations

- David Gilmour, May 1992, "Pink Floyd: The 25th Anniversary Special", Westwood One.

– Rick Wright, November 1994, BBC Omnibus Pink Floyd Special 1994.

Track listing

All songs written by Roger Waters except where noted.
All lead vocals performed by Roger Waters, except "Dogs" with lead vocals by David Gilmour and Roger Waters.

Original LP and CD versions

ide one

# "Pigs on the Wing 1" – 1:24
# "Dogs" (Gilmour, Waters) – 17:06

ide two

# "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" – 11:28
# "Sheep" – 10:21
# "Pigs on the Wing 2" – 1:27

Cassette version

ide one

# "Pigs on the Wing 1"
# "Dogs"
# "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" (Part One)

ide two

# "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" (Conclusion)
# "Sheep"
# "Pigs on the Wing 2"

8-track cartridge

Program one

# "Pigs on the Wing (with Snowy White guitar solo)" – 3:26
# "Dogs (Part 1)" – 6:47

Program two

# "Dogs (Conclusion)" – 10:23

Program three

# "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" – 11:20

Program four

# "Sheep" – 10:20

Charts

Album

Personnel

*Roger Waters – vocals, bass, acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar, sleeve design
*David Gilmour – guitars, bass, vocals, talk box, synthesizer
*Richard Wright – Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes piano, Yamaha piano, ARP synthesizer, backing vocals
*Nick Mason – drums, percussion, sleeve graphics

Additional personnel

*Snowy White – lead guitar on "Pigs on the Wing" (8-track cartridge version only)
*Brian Humphries – engineer
*Storm Thorgerson – sleeve design
*Aubrey Powell – sleeve design
*James Guthrie – remastering producer
*Doug Sax – remastering

Covers

The album was also covered in its entirety and released as the live album "Live Frogs Set 2" by Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade.

External links

* [http://www.pinkfloyd-co.com/disco/animals/animals_album.html Lyrics and trivia]