Nuts, Bolts, and Animals

In the interest of transparency I'll lay out my self imposed rules for this process:

1. I will review one album every day unless I am feeling lazy
2. I will review every album in my collection
3. In the event of multiple pressing of the same album, I may or may not choose to listen and review each pressing
4. 45s are excluded from the review process unless I want to include them
5. The reviews will be pressing specific - I will give the release details of every album I review and the review will focus on that particular pressing of the album
6. I will post pictures of the actual album being reviewed (except today, I can't find the camera)

Alright, this seems fair. So we've got nuts, bolts and...What else is there? Oh yes...

Pink Floyd - Animals

This is the first album I purchased, and seems like a reasonable jumping off point in this effort. A little over five years ago I began working in a record store. A gentlemen came in and sold a small collection of Pink Floyd albums. At the time I did not even own a turntable. To be honest, I did not even have anywhere to keep a turntable.

At this point in my life I was couch surfing and sleeping in my car. I had been kicked out of college a year or so earlier and was really just wandering my way through early adult life. Realizing the twenty dollars a week from my mom was not an adequate income, I strolled into the first "cool" business I saw and flagged down the owner. Long story short, I began working there a short time later and continue to work there to this day.

Back to Animals, I bought it. I bought the shit out of it. Something about the packaging, the size, the custom sleeve and labels; I wanted that fucker. So I bought it. There is something intrinsically desirable about vinyl that I find hard to express. Something about it is just...cool. I am a lifelong collector, bordering on hoarder. It started with rocks (agates in particular), then pennies, then on to Magic cards, then there was about five years of heavy marijuana and drug use, then records. I still dabble in Magic cards (currently the online variety, you can find me in Daily Events on MtGO), but for the most part my extra cash goes into my record collection.

"Enough masturbatory back story," you say. I agree, let us delve into the specifics of this pressing.

Technical Details

http://www.discogs.com/Pink-Floyd-Animals/release/495664

This is a pretty common press of this album, the one I have must be a later run as its proudly displays a stark white barcode over the back cover art. Other than some light surface marks and a little dust, the vinyl looks really good (were I operating in my official capacity I would grade the jacket at VG and the vinyl at VG+).

I'll start with a quasi-intellectual interpretation of the symbolism embedded in the album art. The album art wraps around the spine and continues on to the back cover. It depicts the Battersea Power Station, rendered in varying shades of dystopian brown. The photograph is devoid of life, excepting a curious pink pig floating between the smoke stacks of the power station. Interpreting this through the lens of Animal Farm, this symbolizes the "pigs" in our society overseeing and controlling the means of production. I would assume, were we to obtain a cutaway of the building, we would find it filled with mules, sheep, cows and menagerie of other barn yard creatures toiling away and secretly plotting to become a true Marxian proletariat. The interior of the gate fold showcases a series of black and white photographs that serve to reinforce the feeling of emptiness that accompanies class exploitation.

Welp, that's enough of that. Let's listen to some fucking music. I have never actually reviewed an album. I don't really even read album reviews, and have very little musical knowledge from a practical perspective. So I'm just going to wing it, here goes:

Track One - Pigs on the Wing

Technically, I can hear some small hissing and popping, this album has been fairly well played. Excepting that (or maybe due to it), the vocals and guitar sound removed and hollow. It fits very well with the themes in the lyrics.

Musically, I fucking love this track. It makes me feel that musical frisson. The simple guitar and vocals are melancholy yet beautiful. Also, as a man who pretends to play guitar, I think I could actually hammer this one out and it would sound decent. The track is very familiar, I think everyone can relate.

Lyrically, this track seems to be from the perspective of the under class. It evokes a feeling of resignation, but Pigs on the Wing is bittersweet. One can picture two blue collar factory men walking home under a grey sky. They use their comradery as a panacea to ward off their feeling of anger towards the upper class.

Dogs

The rest of the A side is filled with Dogs, one of my favorite Pink Floyd songs. The person who owned the album before me must have felt the same way, this track is heavily played. The portion with "Who was..." sounds pretty awful. The "stone drone" is really washed out, it kind of makes me sad.

Musically though, this track is amazing. Their is a funky discoish guitar riff under an ethereal layer of synthy goodness. It builds and falls a number of times and really takes you on a roller coaster ride, but I ain't 'fraid a no rolly coaster. Gilmour's solos really showcase his control of tone. Nothing technically superior, but emotive as fuck. I love Gilmour's guitar work, that is all. Water's base underpins and drives the movement of the track.

Lyrically this song depicts the rich but momentarily impoverish members of society. Those who think that one day, if they do everything right and work hard, they too can become a "pig." From the perspective of a dog, it truly is a dog eat dog world. The lyrics describe the futility of this perspective. "When you lose control, you'll reap the harvest you have sown." There is a moment when the dog seems to see through the illusion of class mobility, but "you just keep on pretending." The lyrics flirt with transcendence, but in the end it seems unattainable. In the end the dog dies alone. Feels bad, man.

Pigs (Three Different Ones)

Side B of this album seems nearly unplayed. Very little scratching and hissing, no pops. The recording sounds really good, I can hear all the layers. Pigs sounds really clean. I haven't listened to this on vinyl in a long time and I am genuinely impressed by the quality of even this lame pressing.

Musically Pigs is a continuation of dogs. The riff is heavier and the syncopation is changed, but you can hear it all the same. There is cowbell, enough said. The vocals sound snide, the voice of someone with deeply held contempt. Water's bass on this album is excellent and not overstated. This track features more of Gilmour's awesome solo work, did I say that I love his guitar work?

Lyrically, this song describes three different kinds of "pigs" (no shit right?). The first pig is a "big wheel." A corporate cog concerned with gluttony and wealth. His chin is stained with slop as he gorges himself. The second pig I would describe as "old money." A sad old figure clutching tightly the remnants of wealth. This pig sees the others with so much scorn, it would not hesitate to gun them down were they to threaten it's control. The third pig is a government man. Working to oppress and control the under classes and "keep their feeling off the street." From the perspective if the lyricist these figures would be no more deserving of pity than scorn. They would be almost comical if they were not so sad and depraved.

Sheep

Wake up sheeple!!!11!!1

Sorry, had to get that one out. This copy of Sheep didn't hold up as well as Pigs. There are quite a few pops and a fair amount of hiss. It is pretty listenable, though at this point I think I'll grab another copy of this album, this one is definitely not in its prime. So if anyone would like to donate a nice, unopened, MFSL press that would be great, thanks!

This track starts out with some animal noises beneath jazzy keys. A typical dun, dun dun dun dun dun Water's bass line thumps below. The vocals build repeatedly into distorted and phased synth. The guitar explodes unexpectedly in to the track and really focuses what I would consider the catharsis of this album, the dogs are dead. The interlude of the Lord's Prayer is a nice respite before the track really begins to fucking rock. Love this track, and seriously, the dogs can go fuck themselves.

Lyrically, this track expresses both sympathy and scorn for the sheep. Those that choose not to see beyond the veil, so to speak. In the end though, it seems the pigs have won. The dogs are dead and the sheep are in line.

Pigs on the Wing (Part Two)

The album ends where it began. "Any fool knows a dog needs a home," really resonates with me, I can't say exactly why.

All in all, this is my favorite Pink Floyd album. DSOTM can suck it. If you do not own a copy on vinyl, I would definitely recommend picking one up, I don't find the Pink Floyd CD masters to be very good, excepting the MoFi gold discs, which are pretty tasty.

This ended up being significantly more involved than I imagined, yet I will endeavor to make good on my goal to review an album a day until they have all been reviewed. Comments are welcome, suggestions as well. Eventually I will post a catalog of my collection and if you want something reviewed, just ask.