Review Summary: Pink Floyd's Black Sheep
Every band has that one album. The album that everyone seems to ignore but are loved by those who listen to it. For Led Zeppelin, it's everything after Physical Graffiti, for Megadeth it's So Far So Good So What, and for Pink Floyd it's Animals. Now, Animals isn't on the same level of obscurity, it sold fairly well and has gained a cult following of it's own, but when people talk about PF they always talk about DSOTM, The Wall, or Wish You Were Here. Now, those albums are amazing and genius no doubt, but so is Animals and it's a shame that it isn't talked about as much as it should be.
Animals is a dark album. I wouldn't call it depressing or anything, but this is by no means the kind of album you're going to listen to while out on the town. Even compared to Pink Floyd's other albums, Animals demands to be listened to in a more intimate way. If you aren't sitting down and paying attention to it, you're doing it wrong. Honestly the best way to describe it is prog punk. The songs are angry and all have a feeling to them that wouldn't be too out of place on most punk albums, but instead of 2 minute songs they're over ten minutes long. If long songs aren't your thing, this album won't change your mind. The lyrics match the angry music, with the three main songs each being about different kinds of people. Dogs being the cut throat business men who step on others to get their way, Sheep about people who blindly follow the crowd, and Pigs being about people who see themselves as moral authorities who have the right to control others. It honestly can come across as pompous at times, but it's Pink Floyd so what do you expect? Other than that, the lyrics are among the best on any Pink Floyd album and the concept is pretty cool.
Pigs on the Wing (Part One)- Well, there isn't much to say about this one because there isn't much song. It works well as and intro, but it's unfair to talk about it as it's own song. You wouldn't judge "The Slip" by NIN because of "999,999" (you'd judge it because it sucks), so why judge this by its intro.
Dogs- Here is where the album really starts, and starts it does. It starts out with a cool acoustic riff that slowly builds with the help of synth. The song continues to slowly build until the drums kick in and the song takes off. While the "normal" part of the song is great now doubt, it's the solos that make this song. Despite listening to literally hundreds of underground bands, there is no doubt in my mind that David Gilmour is the best guitarist I've ever listened to (@Iron Giant, just because my opinion is different than yours doesn't mean I "need to listen to more music" stop being an elitist twat). Sure Jimi is influental, sure Satriani has the technical abilities, and of course Eric Clapton just sounds cool, but no one can play with the emotion that Gilmore has. If you need proof, this song alone does it. Other than the amazing solos, it's the great atmosphere during the psychedelic section that also makes this song stand out. It allows you to drift, but not to the point of zoning out. It's hard to explain honestly, you just need to listen to it.
Pigs (Three Different Ones)- While Dogs may be the best song on the album, it doesn't get that title without some fierce competition. Pigs is honestly a pretty straight forward song, at least as straight forward as a 10 minute Pink Floyd song can be. It starts with a snort and a synth... noise. While it dates the song, I still think it adds a bit of charm to it. From there the bass and synth kick things off until guitar plays some chords over it. It's a pretty ok intro to the song, but it's forgotten once Roger starts to sing. I've never been a huge fan of his voice, but here it works perfectly. His almost relaxed anger fits the songs tone perfectly. While it isn't funk or anything, the riff here is "groovy". The albums best lyrics are here too.
Sheep- A great song, just like the others. It starts with a piano riff, and it sounds awesome. However, it doesn't fit the rest of the song so I'm not sure why it was used on this song. While the other two main songs were clearly angry, this is a much more direct anger. Roger's voice doesn't work nearly as well here as on Pigs, but still fine. The song is pretty good, but is honestly too repetitive. It has it's fans, but I'm not one of them. It's fine no doubt, in fact it's great, but not on the same level as the others.
Pigs on the Wing (Part Two)- Pigs on the Wing (Part 2) is basically the sequel to Part 1. Same riff and the same feel to it. Like Part 1, it serves as a good bookend, but it's not something you're going to listen to outside the context of the album.
In short, listen to this album. Listen to it. That's all, just listen to it now.
