Animals

From Pink Floyd

Title: Animals
Artist: Pink Floyd
Released: January 23, 1977 (UK), February 2, 1977 (US)
Total Length: 41:49
Label: Harvest Records, EMI (UK), Columbia Records, Capitol (US)

Contents 1 Track Listing 2 Review 3 Credits 4 Info

[edit] Track Listing

1. Pigs On The Wing 1 (1:24)
2. Dogs (17:06)
3. Pigs (3 Different Ones) (11:28)
4. Sheep (10:21)
5. Pigs On The Wing 2 (1:27)

[edit] Review

• Song Review: 5 / 5
• Overall Rating: 5 / 5
• Best Song: Pigs (3 Different Ones)

[edit] Credits

• Roger Waters - Vocals, Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Rhythm Guitar On "Sheep", Vocoder, Tape Effects, Sleeve Design
• David Gilmour - Guitar, Bass On "Pigs (3 Different Ones)", "Sheep", Vocals, Talk Box, Synthesizer
• Richard Wright - Hammond Organ, Fender Rhodes Piano, Yamaha Piano, ARP Synthesizer, Backing Vocals
• Nick Mason - Drums, Percussion, Tape Effects, Sleeve Graphics

with 

• Snowy White - Lead guitar on "Pigs On The Wing" (8-track version only)
• Brian Humphries - Engineer
• Storm Thorgerson - Sleeve design
• Aubrey Powell - Sleeve design
• James Guthrie: Remastering producer
• Doug Sax: Remastering

[edit] Info

• The giant, helium-filled pig seen on the cover was actually flown over Battersea Power Station for the photo shoot. 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, the next day, a strong wind gust 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 flights at London Heathrow Airport to be delayed. A police helicopter was sent up to track the pig, but was forced to return after following the pig to 5,000 feet. A warning was sent out to pilots that a giant, flying pink pig was loose in the area. The CAA lost radar contact on the pig near Chatham in Kent, at 18,000 feet and flying east towards Germany. It finally landed in a farmer's field (without much damage). They repaired the pig, and flew it a third time. The resulting pictures were deemed unsuitable on their own (as the clear sky on day 3 was much less evocative), and the final image was of the power station from day 1 and the pig from day 3.
• Similar inflatable pigs have since been featured in Pink Floyd concerts.
• The album had custom picture labels with Nick Mason's writing for credits. Side one depicted a bird's eye view of a dog and the English countryside. Side two was similar, but featured a pig and sheep instead.
• This was promoted by the In The Flesh tour. It was grueling and made the band members miserable. As time went by, the nature of the concerts caused Waters to become detached from the audience and see himself as the superior figure. On the final night of the tour, Waters was starting Pigs On The Wing 2, and an audience member set off a firecracker near the stage. He stopped singing and shouted this to the crowd: "Oh, for fuck's sake. Stop letting off fireworks and shouting and screaming. I'm trying to sing a song." The crowd cheered at this. "I mean I don't care. If you don't wanna hear it, you know...Fuck you! I'm sure there's a lot of people here who do want to hear it. So why don't you just be quiet...If you wanna let your fireworks off, go outside and let them off out there. And if you wanna shout and scream and holler then do it out there but...I'm trying to sing a song that some people want to listen to. I want to listen to it!" He then continued on, but things just went severly downhill from there, and during "Pigs (3 Different Ones)", Waters watched incredulously as a fan climbed the netting that separated the audience from the band and in disgust, Waters spat in his face. Near the end of the show, Gilmour is reported to have walked disgustedly off the stage, sitting out the final encore. Afterwards Waters regretted his actions, and lamented the separation between the audience and band. It was this which caused Waters to come up with their subsequent album, The Wall.
• The album is heavily inspired by George Orwell's Animal Farm as, through the central three songs, Roger Waters uses three animals as metaphors for human behavior: Dogs, Pigs, and Sheep. Dogs represent businessmen who are finished by being dragged down by the very weight they needed to throw around. Pigs represent corrupt politicians, and moralists. Those who do not fall into either of these two categories are Sheep, who follow blindly, without any self-thought. "Sheep" was originally titled "Raving And Drooling" when performed live in 1974 and 1975.