Composer/Musician Reacts to Pink Floyd - Dogs (REACTION!!!) 

It's fun that Animals was, in a sense, was Pink Floyd's reaction to Punk, and it ended up being one of their proggiest albums (the album has two other 10+minutes tracks and is bookended by two short, under a two minutes acoustic tracks) and one of their most socially conscious ones. This track was actually released on 1977. It is a concept album based on Animal Farm by George Orwell. This track explores the Dogs, which are basically the "police" of the Orwell story. This album was the beginning of the end of a Pink Floyd era too, as the band got took over by bassist Roger Waters and deliver two rock operas after this one (The Wall and The Final Cut), losing their keyboardist on the next album and finally exploding after The Final Cut, with Waters leaving the band and guitarist David Gilmour reinventing it as a more ambient-tingled proggy rock band. There's a lot of groove and funkiness to this Pink Floyd era which you could argue starts with Meddle, solidifies on Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here and finds an ultimate conclusion with The Wall. Animals is in a sense their darkest record from this era when it comes to sound (lyrically, anything from Dark Side to Final Cut is definitely heavy and dark conceptually), and the choppiness really fits the concept. Great insight as always Bryan, I'll see if I add anything as I finish watching but so far that's all I have.

Hey you don’t need to tell pink floyd fans how to get ready for 17 minutes

As a super Floyd fan, I find the "Animals" album to be them at the top of their game, musically speaking.

It's not a optimistic song. Once you read and understand the lyrics the heaviness will make sense.

Yes Brian, they are a big deal, they're the 2nd most popular British band ever, after the Beatles of course.

And next up from Pink Floyd "Shine on your crazy diamond" (full length parts I-IX!!!!!)

My personal favorite Pink Floyd song. At least this or Shine On You Crazy Diamond. Excited to get back into more classic prog. Appreciate the special selection. I love the guitar solos and how they're so sharp, especially the first one when the lyric right before it is "So that when they turn their backs on you, you'll get the chance to put the knife in." Definitely check out the lyrics, they go hand in hand with the song for sure. As people are saying the album is at least partly inspired by Animal Farm. There's songs called Pigs, Dogs, and Sheep where each are referring to types of people. Dogs are the cutthroat businessmen who will do whatever it takes to get ahead but end up "Just another sad old man all alone dying of cancer" and "Who was dragged down by the stone."

Pink Floyd are known for not being in a rush to do anything musically and providing plenty of space between notes... If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times...when you world turns to shit and you've had a crappy day, you come home, pour a scotch (or similar), or glass of red, drink that offing it down. Then, pour another, woof that down too, then pour a third one and go turn off all the lights. Put this or any Pink Floyd record on. Go find a bean bag or deep leather couch, put your headphones on and sink down into your chair, close your eyes, sip away the final drink, and let the music sooth your soul !!!

I'll also start by saying that this is my favorite Pink Floyd song. The lead guitar tone and attacking style is such fun to hear, and it suits the theme. But, this is definitely a lyric-driven song and album, IMHO. As others have said, at this point in their career, bassist/lyricist Roger Waters was the "leader" of the band. The somewhat angry lyrics that he wrote for this album do seem to be inspired by George Orwell's Animal Farm. But, instead of pointing out the dangers of communism through the actions of different types of animals, Waters points out the dangers of capitalism through the actions of Pigs, Dogs and Sheep. The two short bookend songs on the album are more personal to Waters' position in this allegorical tale. A simple analysis would have the Pigs as the rich and powerful in society. The Dogs would be the the workers who keep the Pigs rich and powerful. The Sheep would be the masses at the bottom of society who are abused by the Dogs at the bidding of the Pigs. The dirge-like tempo of most of Pink Floyd's songs by the 70's worked well in large venues filled with artificially relaxed listeners (stoned...stoned...stoned...). Up-tempo be-bop jazz would not go over well in such venues. The Floyd were famous for "leaving space" in their music, often filled by the echoes coming out of their Binson Echorec's or taped samples of found sounds appropriate to the theme of the concept album. They definitely hit on a formula in the 70's that made them uber-successful ever since. BTW, I'm also not sure that I would put them in the prog camp either. They're named after a couple of blues musicians, they came to prominence as a psychedelic band, and they play very inventive popular music. I think that they had the appearance of a prog band because of the concept albums, the length of their songs, the adoption of the latest technology, the artsy visuals on the albums and stage, the promotion of the band concept over the individual "star" musicians, etc.. But, the sheet music for Pink Floyd is much different than the sheet music for Yes, Genesis, King Crimson and ELP. Regardless of the categorization, Pink Floyd deserves all of their success. They delivered great entertainment to us for decades.

Pink Floyd is one of those bands some people have an almost religious-like devotion/fanatacism for. I'm not one of them, but they have some stuff I love and some stuff I'm more indifferent to. They also had a fascinating history and evolution. They essentially started out as psychedelic rock in the late 60s and their debut with Syd Barrett, Piper at the Gates of Dawn, is still considered one of that genre's masterpieces. After that Barrett left and they kinda flitted around trying to find their sound throughout the 60s, releasing a lot of albums in different styles including a movie soundtrack. When they finally released Dark Side of the Moon in the early 70s they got into their middle (and most celebrated) period and almost every album from that decade is beloved by fans, with everyone having their favorites. My personal favorite is Wish You Were Here. Animals was probably their proggiest album, but it's never been a personal favorite. Too much of it is meanding and repetitive for my tastes, and I don't think it highlights what Pink Floyd does best. One way to think of Floyd rather than "prog" rock is "art" rock and THE key precursor to post-rock. They were the original slow burn, atmospheric, "this is gonna be a trip, man" band, and also one of the innovators of conceptual music that was really pushing the envelope of what rock could do. Like with the post-rock bands it's always about whether you can curl up inside that atmosphere and let it overwhelm you or not. Animals has never really pulled me in, though I can respect it... The Wall and Meddle pulls me in for parts and loses me at parts... but Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here? Those are still my jams.

The lyrics and the concept is the heart and soul of this album for shure! It’s conceptualy inspired by George Orwell’s book animal farm.

By my understanding, the guitar solos were intended to infer the gnashing of teeth by a dog. Also, I'm REALLY curious now how you would categorize Pink Floyd's "Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together in a Cave and Grooving With a Pict".

YOU LISTENED TO THE REMASTED VERSION FROM 1997..THEY SONG AND ALBUM CANE OUT IN 1977..

HOWDY FROM NEW ENGLAND...MAN I REMEMBER BACK IN THE DAY I HAD A CASSETTE OF P.F. DOING THE ENTIRE ANIMALS ALBUM THEY DID ON THE TOUR FOR THE ALBUM...I PLAYED THAT NIGHT AFTER NIGHT WITH THE AID OF SOME ADULT SAGE AND GOT LOST..WHAT A BAND...PEACE

Regarding one of your statements, you damn right it's experimental cuz when this came out 1977 nobody else was even close to making something like this! I saw them do this live in 77 along with the entire wish you were here album they played all of animals and half a dark side of the moon for their encore! I hope you enjoy music like some of us do! Reason I say that is when you're real busy analyzing how and why in a song Sometimes you might stop listening... not saying you do and you also bring kind of new way of reacting to music or a song with the way you do it. Anyway just wanted to point out like I see so many others did, this came out in 1977 not 97.

I'm writing at 9:00 so you may have already figured this out, but the "dogs" are in fact organ or other keyboard and not a sample. It's most evident in the more ambient middle section of the song. Cheers from Montreal!

In my opinion Floyd's best song

Dunno about you other Floyd heads, but these reactions bring me to my first times listening to these songs. Love the breakdowns and listening to a neutral's reactions really help understand the whole band's Gilmour v Waters thing, it truly is a symbiotic relation between the lyrics and the music. Btw, when i say Gilmour i do most definitely recognise the contribution from Wright and Mason, i believe they are all playing their role perfectly. It’s just more common for Guitar and Lyrics to prevail.

7:29 My absolute favorite Gilmour guitar solo.

Well you can’t just do this song and not do Pigs and Sheep from this same album! Btw you are very intelligent! I never hear people describe this music the way you describe it

This was released in 77 not 97 idk why it says 97 on the video, also i'd consider this their most proggy album after wish you were here. They could also be classified as art rock.

Interesting interpretation about instruments not wanting to play! Part of that may have been the continuing division between Waters and the rest of the band, which started in WYWH album. Still, I remember when each of their albums came out, and this one I summed up with "Pink Floyd in shining armor." Saw their concert in 1977, was undoubtedly the best of many I've experienced. They played the entire "Animals" album and entire "Wish You Were Here" album, followed by a 30 - 40 minute period of crowd wanting an encore, it was amazing, people didn't let up, they finally came back out and played "Money".

To achieve this level of perfection we are hearing some surgical editing to the multitrack analog tapes. Decades before Pro Tools, engineers would do a "Window Edit'. The splicing and editing of an individual track on the 16 or 24 track tape. A lateral edit to replace an individual track section. Open heart surgery is easier.... You can hear this at 7:25 clearly, the click/pop. It happens in other places on this beautiful song if you listen closely.

"The organ experimentation" section was part of their theatrical put on stage. During this part, while Rick Wright kept playing this dog-sounded keyboards, the rest of the band reunite on the stage and played poker and had some drinks, while other people served them. It's very much abuout the idea and the concept of the song/album. Maybe you could watch (by your own) Roger Water's live performance of this song and get the whole idea.

You gotta remember those of us who heard this 1st time around - pink Floyd where the band to fill the SPEAKERS (and headphones) . You can't pigeon hole PF . In a category of their own - away from ProgRock

Oh I adore this album so very much. It was my introduction to Floyd in junior high. My sister showed them to me and I'm ever grateful I asked her to. Pink Floyd have such a diverse discography that you're probably gonna get a hundred different suggestions for reactions. And tbh I won't bother explaining their concepts because they're really esoteric usually, and I have no doubt you'll have plenty of commenters doing that already. Based on what I know of you though, I'll add a few song suggestions I think you may like in your spreadsheet, and reiterate them here. They really hit so many different flavors of rock and psychedelic, so if you went down the Pink Floyd train you'd be in for a new experience every time. - Us and Them - Fearless - Sheep - Sorrow - Take It Back

Dogs is my favourite song from them with Shine On You Crazy Diamond and Welcome to the Machine. Amazing song, espacially Gilmour's guitar work. And love protest lyrics from Waters too.

It's 1977 and musically it's a response to the growing punk movement. Hence the choppiness and harshness.

My favourite Pink Floyd song from my favourite Pink Floyd album. I shed tears the first time I heard this all those years ago. I don’t think any of their other songs comes close to this.

Thanks for this interesting review. I love all songs of Animals. When I started to dream to Shine on and Dark Side I could not find the same on Animals. But when I found the bootlegs of the 1977 tour I was just lost to that time of Pink Floyd history. Especially Oakland. What a concert!

Had this on 8track in 78-79, drivin around in my 69 Beetle with a leaky sun roof. Good Fun.

I'm not sure if you noticed but the guitarist David Gilmour sung the first half of the song and the bassist Roger Waters did the last few verses.

32:20 -- Yes, I agree, but Pink Floyd has typically a "British rock style", not an "American rock style" after all. Otherwise, it wouldn't be so interesting and different. If all progressive rock bands were the same, it would be redundant and really boring, to be honest. That's why Pink Floyd was different, and still is different. For example, Mozart had his style, Johann Sebastian Bach (my favorite) had his style too, or even Vivaldi, but all of them composed classical music anyway. By the way, Pink Floyd albums must listen to entirely because it tells you a story, that's why you feel the song ends abruptly or leads nowhere, that's why. There is always a theme. They rarely made completely different songs in their albums.

You were talking over the guitar laughter... best part of the lead,. dude! PS - Someone has probably told you by now... it was 1977.

Dogs are businessmen, that will become apparent with another listen with lyrics, the other songs from the album are PIGS ON THE WING, this is split into two songs and is one of the very few love songs of theirs, they book end the album, after DOGS is PIGS (THREE DIFFERENT ONES), this is about three different characters, politician maggie thatcher, politician/social commentator mary whitehouse and the third is up for debate but is probably a politician, after PIGS is SHEEP, this is about the common folk who rise up against the DOGS

Tell Gilmour how to play. LOL its like telling Michelangelo that on David, there are surfaces to work out more fine, or may be a muscle could be more noticeable to be something more whatever. But, ultimately, this one is remembered for looooooong time, and this is came out from PF how THEY wanted it. Period

Wow...that was painful to watch. As mentioned below, this album came out in 1977 not 1997. My only suggestion is that you sit quietly by yourself and experience the entire Dark Side of The Moon album from start to finish, uninterrupted...and remind yourself from time to time that what you are hearing was recorded, engineered & mixed nearly 20 years before the first version of ProTools was released...after that if you don't see how PF influences music to this day, maybe stop there. If not, there's always the rabbit hole of the PF library...if you are not afraid of what might be revealed about your sense of music on the other side. Peace.

wkrp in cincinnatti arthur carlson "do i hear dogs"? johnny fever: "i do".

1977...buddy u need to listen to this song again with the lyrics in front of u..maybe after a doobie too...cheers

Dude, try to understand the lyrics then it will all make sense. This is one of the scariest songs. The hero (the dog) seems to be on the top of his game and in control only to realize way to late that he has been taken advantage of and wasted his life. It is a timeless theme and a moral story. I see people like this every day. No wonder you cannot divide the lyrics from the melody. They are not meant to be separate. The music emphases the story. You have someone dedicated to his crier and craft in order to succeed and please at any cost only to end up sick, alone and used up. How many people do that at the expense of their integrity, family and friends. Way too many. Is the song draggy at times? Yes, just like the life itself. I am glad that this was the formative music for me and my time. Today's music sounds superficial and dumbed down to me, everything is auto-tuned and sampled 4 cord and beat-box rhythms.

Songs from the album in order 1. Pigs on the Wing, Part 1 2. Dogs 3. Pigs 4. Sheep 5. Pigs on the Wing, Part 2. Now, Dogs=Businessman , Pigs=Politicians , Sheep=Us, regular people

The guitar solo sounds "jagged" because the chords he's soling over change Keys frequently. That's not "how" it fits but "why" it fits. Gotta follow the changes.

Floyd"s always been on the fringe.

Animals was a big album of my early 20s.

I love your reviews and reactions. You summed it up really well. It's like the song doesn't really want to be played. It's struggling to get out. I've never been able to put my finger on it, but that's it.

This is Sitting in a boat on a lake, At 3 am on a warm summers night Cat fishing music.

At the time that their previous album came out, I remember them doing an interview (can't remember where) in which they said (to paraphrase) that they wanted to use sound quality, timbre, to influence the reaction of the listener. Here this is immediately noticable in the grinding quality of the chords under the opening lyrics, designed to put you on edge. In the long slow section there is a feeling of tension and forboding built up, partly due to timbre but also the uncomfortable vertical spacing of the parts leading to a sort of hollowness, and note that the dogs steadily become less natural sounding, more modified and echoing as the tension builds. The whole composition is profoundly but brilliantly disquieting.

My favorite Pink Floyd song

The greatest band ever

Should listen to echos live at pompeii , absolute classic

I'm just gonna put it out on the table: Dogs is the finest rock song of the last 50 years. There's nothing bright or happy about this art but it tells nothing but truth. Especially in this instant gratification society we live in where some people will destroy anything or anyone to claw their way to the top of whatever ladder they're trying to climb.

Once you understand the song, the composition is genius

I believe the absence of a melodic line is the perfect metaphor of the absence of a message, of sense of life, of love and hope. A fragmented heart th tries to grasp any signs of power and success, even just an impression of it.

Idk man... you didn't understand the guitar solo? The entire point of David Gilmour is that he has never chosen the wrong note lol. To me it makes sense on like... a cosmic level. I see this band as musical perfection. David's guitar solos fill me with so much emotion...

I don't think anything captures the feeling of loneliness and despair better than the guitar solos

now do SHEEP from this album (animals) :-) you can find the songs with lyrics running

Heaviness definitely makes sense. For the whole concept of the album and from the period the band was facing, also in identifying the role of music in the society. Dogs in particular is the sense of hopeless fighting for survival; the loss of dignity and love; the absolute absence (theme developed from the previous wish you were here).

It's funny how you said "so we got a little bit of brightness to this" literally as Waters sang "who was born in a house full of pain." 🤦🏼‍♂️

Nice breakdown Just want to add that "progressive" is more of an area of genres just like "metal" where the later is defined by just being harder/more aggressive than other styles and the first is defined by inventiveness - going outside boarders of traditional song measures/meters or whatever you should call it. Whether it is rhythmically, diversity in style-mixing, mood changes, lots of melodic ideas, epic storytelling outside the format of just verse-chorus repetition or whatever. The "movement" started in opposition to most "pop songs" beeing a repetition of format in style both musically and lyrically. The "modern" prog beeing focused on odd times is just ONE (big) continuation of the "progressive take". There's still lots of other modern progressive takes 😊

This is the first album they recorded at Britania Row stuios, their own studio and storage facility. I don't think it was as well equipped as say Abbey Road but the rawness of the recording ads to the heaviness.

Just found you, cool premise for a video. Subbed.

when you get to their album DARK SIDE OF THE MOON it is very mandatory to listen to the whole album in one go. DSOTM is arguably the most influential album of all time (alongside the beatles sgt pepper album) and is among the 4 highest sold albums of all time. that being said: they have especially four concept albums which should be consumed as a whole because they are story concepts. 1) dark side of the moon 2) wish you were here 3) animals 4) the wall

Love this !! I think it's the music being driven by the lyrics. Love to hear your thoughts on Dog Breath Variations/Uncle Meat- Frank Zappa and Ensemble Modern- The Yellow Shark !!

The last official album by pink floyd came out in 1994 called the division bell and that is a lot less dark without Roger Waters being in the band, I recommend listening to that album. Well I recommend most pink floyd albums tbh

Waters: "Who was born in a house full of pain" CR: "Uh...So we got a little brightness to this"

great analysis. Despite me not agreeing with everything you said I still subbed and plan to watch more of your analyses. I'd like to see you listen to the whole album a dozen times or so and then revisit this with a secondary analysis. I think that'd be very interesting. anyone agree?

Cool video. BTW Pink Floyd albums are best when listened to all the way through.

I always interpreted the staccato stuff in this song as kind of a musical take on the behavior of an attack dog.

97 is the year of OK COMPUTER

lol. You found brightness when the song transitioned into explaining why the beat down dog is the way it is.

Great reaction. REally enjoyed this.

I think their best work are some songs from the Dark Side Of the moon. I think its the most must-do album react , if you ever do album reacts. The production and layering is Amazing, and the album is timeless, it hasn't aged at all. Songs aren't too long, neither too short, and the buildup in the songs is phenomenal, the aura is legendary.

Most reaction videos : wow what a great song, I really loved it. THANKS EVERYONE DON'T FORGET TO LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE. I'm glad you actually give an analysis which makes quite a lot of sense.

You gotta do atom heart mother by them it has a whole orchestra and it’s sound sick

Nice reaction. Only one I’ve heard notice the 6/4 so quickly.

Nice a song off my favorite Floyd Album :) Personally like Sheep more

The album came out in 77. It was a concept on George Orwell's animal farm. The dogs are the business men and cops. The oppressors who think they're in charge. The pigs are the ones really pulling the strings without morals. The sheep are everyone else. In the end the sheep rise up and kill the dogs, but the pigs remain, and some sheep become the new dogs. The book ends are his love song about how love is the only escape from society and it's pit falls.

Love your channel. Consensus is this is PF most underrated album. Commentary on business of music industry.

i'm glad you realized that the lyrics are as much a part of this (or any) pink floyd song. the whole album has a very dark mood,so expecting anything more will disappoint you. if you were a composer/musician/lyricist you would understand better the marriage between words and music with pink floyd. they create soundscapes within which are stories and observations of the human condition. i do appreciate your analysis of the music, but next time please read along with the lyrics for the complete experience.

I like that you focus on the music. A lot of people immediate start trying to dissect the lyrics and miss a lot of the music. And of course while the lyrics are important - it is after called Music - its like what sounds can you give to the lyrics - whatever the lyrics may be...

My favourite Pink Floyd album.... Love your comments about the beat on this one... so true... Pink Floyd are the masters of giving music space... I don't know if you noticed but there were two singers... Dave Gilmour for the first section and after the middle section the harsher lyric section is sung by Roger Waters. To me there are two bands that are above the scrum of music... and you can't put them into a genre... The Beatles and Pink Floyd. I might be old but sadly I never saw The Beatles but luckily I did see Pink Floyd a couple of times.. Floyd are the only band who didn't need screens... you aren't there to see the band in close up you are there to listen to the music, and see the show of lights and projections. It's always been that case for them from the beginning.

Oh yes... you asked how influential or prominent they were as a band as you were comparing them to avant-guard music and generally that is on the fringes.... I will give you one statistic... Dark Side of The Moon has been on the Billboard charts for 962 weeks.... just think about that. Ok, I will admit that is their best selling album but they are a band that everyone is aware of..

They are best at painting with music.

I think David Gilmore’s best solos in Pink Floyd are here on Dogs.

Someone else may have mentioned it but your hunch about the year was correct. Pink Floyd started in the mid to late 60's. This album was from 1977.

This is my favorite Gilmour guitar work. Yes it's choppy, it's broken up, it's sketchy at times. That's what makes it so perfect.

Did you ever check out the band Änglagård? Maybe other followers know it too and would recommend a certain song? It´s hard to pick one, because it´s all very good. Swedish melancholic prog rock with a prominent classical component, no blues scales at all, but classical not in the way of symphonic, rather modern classical music with chamber music instrumentation, plus drums and guitars, with an emphasis on flutes. Only few songs contain vocals. Also to mention in this context would be the band Univers Zero from Belgium, coming from the genre of RIO (rock in opposition) which is a branch of prog rock occuring in the 80s, less inspired by jazz, rock and older classical music, more by the experimental classical chamber music of the mid 20th century. Änglagård, starting in the early 90s, somehow mixed this RIO style with the classic prog era of Genesis, Yes etc and started a new wave of prog rock

Big deal? Well, one of their previous album Dark Side of the Moon stayed on the Billboard charts for decades.... a total of 955 weeks! One of the 25 best selling albums in the USA ever. Around 60 million sold. Animals sold 11 million.

Bruh... 1977, how did '1997' not get a double take and a double check? Either way, doesnt matter, you have fantastic observational intelligence, your fluency in musical language is admirable to say the least. Every one of your videos I've seen, you crush. CRUSH. I dont monetarily subscribe to YT channels or their patrons... Im willing to make the change

The dogs are business people of the record industry and other industry with the blue and white collar worker (dogs)

1977 Genius before their time

Thank you and yes should you want other Pink Floyd suggestions, yes please, Shine on you Crazy Diamond, all parts

I apologize if I misunderstood Bryan's comments about the date of the album, but did he actually think PF composed/released the album in the '90s?

Well, when you're about 8th in all-time album sales and have the third most popular album ever, you're kind of beyond criticism. Of the 15 studio albums, Animals got fourth best in sales for the band. Not all of Floyd's music is outstanding, but that's because they never played it safe. When they missed, they missed big, but when they hit, they hit big. One of the greatest bands in the history of music.

This Song must be contextualized in the whole work, it is a concept album Like almost all the best Floyd records. The meaning of the album is the decay of man and the band itself seen from the Yes of Roger Waters. In fact, after the de o wonderful works, ( Dark side and Wish you...), something was breaking in the personal relationships of the Group. For me it's a great job.

Most of these artistic choices come down to one word "dogs" think on it.

Would really like to hear if your understanding of the composition and its execution have changed following a close read of the lyrics and the concept of the album.

Their best album to be honest. Btw great channel!

Do some early Genesis, return of the giant hogweed is on of my personal faves. Suppers ready is a good one too

I'm a Pink Floyd fan and also a Kink Crimson fan. I suggest you try King Crimson's 'Lizard' album.