Animals is the tenth studio album by Pink Floyd, released on 21 January 1977 by Harvest and Columbia Records. It was recorded at the band’s Britannia Row studios in London in 1976 and was produced by the band itself. The album continues the extensive songwriting style found on their previous works, including 1975’s Wish You Were Here. The album received positive reviews and was commercially successful, reaching No. 2 and No. 3 in the United Kingdom and the United States, respectively. Since its release, it has sold over 5 million copies worldwide.

Musically and lyrically, Animals is a concept album, which makes a scathing critique of the socio-political conditions of 1970s Britain and presents a sharp change in musical style from their previous work. Its production was marked by early signs of tension within the band, which would later culminate in the departure of the band’s organist Richard Wright. The album’s cover art, depicting an inflatable pig flying between two chimneys of Battersea Power Station, was the brainchild of the band’s bassist and main songwriter Roger Waters and designed by the band’s long-time collaborator Storm Thorgerson.

Although Floyd did not release a single from the album, it was promoted through the In The Flesh tour, which featured an incident between Roger Waters and a spectator that enraged the crowd, giving Waters the impetus and inspiration for Floyd’s next album, 1979’s The Wall.

The album’s lyrics are based on George Orwell’s novel, “Animal Farm,” which classifies different social classes into animal categories. The fighting dogs, the despotic ruthless pigs, and the stupid and indifferent flock of sheep. While the novel focuses on Stalinism, the album is a critique of capitalism and differs from the book in that the sheep eventually rise to dominate the dogs.

The album evolved from a collection of unrelated songs into a concept that, in the words of author Glenn Povey, “describes the apparent social and moral decay of society, likening the human condition to that of simple animals.”

In “Pigs (Three Different Ones),” the “Pigs,” as in the animals, represent the people who Waters considered to be at the top of the social ladder.

The song is similar to “Have A Cigar” from Wish You Were Here, with the bluesy guitar filling in the bass lines.

In his 2008 book Comfortably Numb, author Mark Blake argues that “Dogs” contains some of David Gilmour’s finest vocals, with Gilmour himself performing the song explosively. The song also features Richard Wright’s notable contribution, which consists of the synthesizer sounds used on the band’s previous album, Wish You Were Here.
“Sheep” contains a modified version of Psalm 23, which continues the traditional “The Lord is my shepherd” with lyrics such as “he hangs me on high hooks and turns me into ribs”. Towards the end of the song, the eponymous sheep rise up and kill the dogs, but later retire and return to their homes.

The album ends with “Pigs On The Wing (Part 2)”, a simple love song that gives a sense of hope despite the anger expressed in the other three songs on the album. The first and second parts of the song show the contrast of Waters’ emotions, which were strongly influenced by his relationship with his then-wife.

From this excellent album I select “Dogs”.

Tracklist

A1. Pigs on the Wing (Part One) 1:24
A2. Dogs 17:04
B.1. Pigs (Three Different Ones) 11:28
B.2. Sheep 10:20
B.3. Pigs on the Wing (Part Two) 1:24