Loosely based on George Orwell's political fable Animal Farm, the album's lyrics describe various classes in society as different kinds of animals: the predatory dogs, the despotic ruthless pigs, and the "mindless and unquestioning” herd of sheep. Whereas the novella focuses on Stalinism, the album is a critique of capitalism and differs again in that the sheep eventually rise up to overpower the dogs.The album was developed from a collection of unrelated songs into a concept which, in the words of author Glenn Povey, "described the apparent social and moral decay of society, likening the human condition to that of mere animals
Read the book animal farm. Pigs politicians control. Dogs managers do the deed and the sheep followers bow the knee and do all the work. The album is a metaphor. Extremely deep once you realise where the lyrics comes from. Welcome to floyd lads. This is what i grew up with.
I almost choked on my coffee when he said the dogs all alone as his owners dying of cancer. Lol Hopefully after 3 months they've read your comment. As it was correctly stated. I've been a fan of theirs since 68. Was mostly country then. But as my brothers and I were hauling hay out of the field listening to the old scratchy AM radio in the hey truck. We heard Interstellar Overdrive. I then mail ordered Piper at the Gates of Dawn. ✌️ 🤠🏞️🐂
In the special collector's edition of Rolling Stone magazine dated February of 2014 there's a section in it near the back called "Children of the Moon". And a bunch of famous musicians and rock stars give their impression of Pink Floyd and a gentleman named Tom Morello great guitarist for Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave sat down in a room with a gentleman called Adam Jones of of the band Tool who sat him down and said listen to this! He had a bunch of incredible stereo equipment and turned on "Animals" in a room in Libertyville Illinois in 1979. When that album was over Mr Morello said that David Gilmour is one of his top three guitarists of all time and made the statement that he fuses the classic Blues idiom of Albert King and took it on a space warp where it spoke to the entire planet!! He said his jaw unhinged after he heard this album!! There are other groups interviewed from the Smashing pumpkins, MY Morning Jacket, Metallica and so on who are interviewed in this section of Rolling Stone magazine! Pink Floyd has influenced a lot of people and this particular Rolling Stone magazine has some really interesting information about them!!
The "factory" is Battersea power station in London. Apple were going to turn it into their headquarters at one point, but I believe now its been open as a shopping mall. It sat derelict for many years mind you, so glad they saved it.
Animals came out when I was a sophomore in H.S. and I saw Pink Floyd live at Soldiers field on that tour. It was amazing. I've got about 45 yrs of PF experience. My list goes WYWH, Dark Side, Animals, Division Bell 😻. Good job guys.
I have an entire lifetime of memories married to this song as with so many other Pink Floyd songs. It continues to be a muse to this day to me as an artist.
My favorite album by them. This song is incredibly dark when you think about it, and in a world with only three choices, who are you? Dog, Pig or Sheep? This is why the bookends of this album are so important. "Pigs on the wing," parts 1 and 2. Clearly Waters is considering himself a dog, but he offers hope to escape the plight of *this* dog. Part 2 especially to paraphrase, Now that I know you care for me and I care for you, I don't feel alone, or the weight of `the stone` now that I've found somewhere safe to bury my bone. Cuz every fool knows a dog needs a home, as shelter from Pigs on the wing." - In this song he refers to it "Who was breaking away from the pack? Who was only a stranger at home?" - That's how *I* see it anyway.
Sorry to disappoint, those are all Roger Waters' lyrics. Roger wrote the lyrics for the entire Animals album. His concept, his lyrics. David Gilmour composed much of the musical parts for "Dogs".
Roger Waters wrote the lyrics for this entire album and David Gilmour came up with a lot of the music. And when you say Roger came in on the base, actually David Gilmour plays the fretless bass in this song which is why it sounds so good!! Roger Waters played rhythm guitar in this but again Roger wrote this entire album and David Gilmour wrote some of the music.
You’re sadly mistaken Jon . I think you may be thinking of pigs three different ones. Roger waters is on base for dogs we can clearly hear it. 90% of music came from David. ApparentlyWith of course absolutely great arrangement from Richard. Not credited as a composer but open your ears. Great work on drums by Nicholas Berkeley Mason. Is the Floyd need I say more..
@@pauldocmusic2411 Yes. Gilmour played bass on two of the three songs that had bass on this record. Roger is playing bass on Dogs. It's not true, however, that Gilmour played much of the bass on the album recordings of Pink Floyd. Roger Waters is a very capable bass player and played virtually all of the bass on the recordings of Pink Floyd. Contrary to what many Gilmour stans will say, Waters was a very respected bass player in his day. Many rock musicians will say that and there's been many articles discussing Waters' style of bass. Gilmour is a more technical player, but the people who say that Waters isn't really a musician are absolutely ridiculous. Waters plays guitar, bass, piano, sings and writes music. Not even mentioning his lyrics, which are some of the best in the entire business.
July 6, 1977 is a date that will forever be etched in my memory. It was the first time I saw Pink Floyd in concert, during their "In The Flesh" tour. Montreal was the last performance of this long and grueling tour for the members of Pink Floyd. It was also their first tour to visit huge stadiums, with crowds of over 50,000 spectators. The 55-show tour kicked off on January 23 in Dortmund, Germany, and ended 165 days later on July 6 in Montreal, Canada. The Pink Floyd concert in Montreal was the first big thing to happen at the Olympic Stadium since the actual Montreal's Olympics in 1976. There was a lot of hype about the show because it was general admission, and since it was general admission, people invaded the place as soon as the stadium opened its doors. The concert itself set an all-time record attendance at the Olympic Stadium of somewhere around 80,000 people. Imagine that a couple thousand people get there a few hours early, so around 6 PM, over 30,000 people were inside already, but the band is obviously not going to play until 8 PM comes around. Now you have more than 30,000 people, anxiously waiting what has been advertised as the show of their lives, and they’ve got 2 hours in front of them of “doing nothing”. What do they do? They get rowdy and they drink beer. For the continuation of this story, see my comment to your reaction to the song "Pigs (Three Different Ones)".
Where I live, we have a Pink Floyd Tribute band who played this whole album cover to cover, and I tell you, they fuckign NAILED it. Any Canadian listeners : If "Pigs - Canada's Most Authentic Pink Floyd Tribute" comes to your town, get tickets. They don't always do material from Animals, but they are PHENOMENAL, and I guarantee that if you get a chance to see them, you WILL NOT be disappointed.
This if you will, is the musical version of George Orwell's Animal Farm. Which uses animals to describe those that use and abuse people who are the Sheep that blindly follow. The whole album is timeless as is the book. I have been a Pink Floyd band since purchasing Piper at the Gates of Dawn 1968. Then proceeded to collect everything they recorded on vinyl. Seen the Dark Side of the Moon, Animals, the Wall, and Momentary Lapse of Reason concerts. MLR was longer than the Wall concert. Not only covering songs from all albums, but played dark side metal and animals completely. The first concert was such a success they announced a Encore concert for the following night. Oh yeah we went again. I suggest reading Animal Farm it's both entertaining and enlightening. I read it for School in 1969-70. 🤠🐂🏞️
It's not about dogs literally. It's about being used as a tool of the pigs only to die all alone, of cancer,on the phone. I'm glad you liked one of my 3 favourite songs off all time. Cool react 👍
Great reactions guy it hits you perfectly. The factory 🏭 is an old power station in Battersea south London. Its now a shopping centre and exerbition of the old power station you can actually ride a lift into one of the funnels and see the whole of London it's about 150 feet. I plan on going there soon
The first Pink Floyd album I bought in the 70s and I still have it. Seen David Gilmour pink floyd at the Astrodome in Houston in 1987 and Roger Waters tour in Austin Texas this past October with my daughter. Never get tired of Pink Floyd.
High School when this came out Senior year...We would hooky and get SO WRECKED and just play this over and over...I smile to think about it...Only two of us left now...
I was just out of high school when this album came out. I loved it but most of my friends didn't seem to like it as much as all the other Pink Floyd albums. I get tired of hearing so many songs off of Pink Floyd The Wall but you never hear anything from animals and this album is Epic! Thanks for reviewing it guys.
For me The Wall is probably my least favorite album of Pink Floyd, I like just about every album of theirs much more than The Wall. Yeah, there's a few good songs on that album, but it wears thin on me very quickly. I'm just not into that kind of sound from them. I like the more mellow, spacey sounds from PF. Animals is def one of my favorites, as is Meddle and Wish You Were Here. Heck, I even like the post-Wall Floyd albums without Roger better than The Wall itself.
Dogs of war is from the 80s, after Roger buzzed off. The dr Who theme was originally composed in the BBC radiophonic workshop before there were commercially available synthezisers in 1963, using roll-tape recorders and creative physical cut and splice editing, sort of how tone sampling works now
My own list: 1. Animals 2. Dark Side otm 3. Wish you were here 4. Meddle 5. The wall 6. Atom heart mother 7. Division bell But it’s like picking a favorite child
Animals is Floyd's hidden gem that becomes more relevant the older you get..!! I've been into PF since when The Wall got released and I didnt start listening to it properly Animals never really got the hype the other 70's Floyd album's did but that's what makes it speacial and you really appreciate it..Definitely my favourite album lyrically and musically
You guys are right, this is an oft-overlooked album (by the mainstream, anyway) by Pink Floyd, sandwiched between and overshadowed by WISH YOU WERE HERE and THE WALL...but Floyd fans know. Part of the problem was the lack of radio play; many stations blamed the mix being too dark/muddy, and the songs too long, with no catchy "singles" like "Wish You Were Here" or "Another Brick In the Wall"... Ironically, though, this song was featured on the infamous Thanksgiving "Turkey Drop" episode of WKRP IN CINCINNATI. The stuffy manager walks in on Johnny Fever, who's playing this, and asks, "what orchestra is this?" and Fever replies "Pink Floyd"...
I saw this episode of WKRP a few weeks ago. Was pleasantly surprised by how much of the Dogs track they played. Was very -- excuse the retro 70's lingo -- cool .
I've been listenig to this song and the entire album since I was 10 years old. I'm 55 now. It was intoduced to me by then my future brother in law when he was in his late teens. He explained to me that this song was a diolog between the master (David Guilmore) and his killer dog (Roger Waters). He could have been wrong but it has always made sence to me. Greetings from Managua Nicaragua.
I disagree about the allegorical lyrics, which I think are very cohesive and are brilliant. The pigs are the billionaire corporate overlords of society and political leaders; the dogs are the managers who see everything as a cutthroat competition (or who sometimes break out on their own and are more successful) and who are used by the pigs to keep the sheep (the working class) in line. The owner doesn't get cancer, it is the "dog" himself who is dying alone in the end. The key lyrics are toward the end, "Who was given a pat on the back? Who was fitted with collar and chain? Who was told what to do by the man?"
My favorite album, this is a album in reference to George Orwell's book Animal Farm. It uses animals as a parallel to society degenerating into totalitarianism
All Pink Floyd music is licensed under their own publishing company. No member has to get permission from the other to perform any of the music. in Roger Waters' 2018 tour he does 'Dogs' in it's entirety using another guitarist and vocalist for Gilmour's parts. When Waters toured with "The Wall" in 2013 "Comfortably Numb" was performed exactly how it is on the album, without Gilmour. Look up 'Roger Waters Dogs live' on here to get blown away. The entire iconic Animals cover is recreated across the length of the stadium! "Dogs" is a metaphor for ruthless cutthroat businessmen.
Wait now! If you want to hear more epic prog rock, listen to the Genesis song “Firth of Fifth” from the album “Selling England By The Pound” from 1973. They also have the song “Dancing With The Moonlit Knight” on that album which is another masterpiece. Back then, founding member Peter Gabriel was the front man, and Phil Collins was new to the band, singing backup vocals and doling out the most epic drumming of his career.
The writing credits on this are Roger Waters, David Gilmour. Roger originally conceived it as titled "You've got to be crazy" but changed the name to Dogs.
@31:30: "Why have no other bands come close...there's just no other songs that's this epic..." Oh, contrare, mon fraire! You've only just scratched the surface! (But don't get me wrong, this is EPIC, and one of my top five Floyd songs...) There is some strong competition from other bands... Suggestions: "Machine Messiah" by Yes, from DRAMA* "Karn Evil 9" by ELP from BRAIN SALAD SURGERY The albums TUBULAR BELLS, HERGEST RIDGE, and OMMADAWN by Mike Oldfield "Supper's Ready" by Genesis, from FOXTROT "Magnum Opus" by Kansas, from LEFTOVERTURE (Speaking of Yes: And "Gates of Delirium" from RELAYER, or "Awaken" from GOING FOR THE ONE..And y'all even ain't ready for the entire 4 sides of Yes's TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS...a double album where each four sides is a side-long epic! The king of epics, perhaps.)
Have you ever checked out Echoes by Pink Floyd? I mean, you said it is a complicated and epic song... And then there are even songs that never made it to an official album... And even those songs are great.
I have been watching a lot of reactions to this song lately, and i remember watching a lot of your rush reactions months ago, so its perfect that you just did this one haha
"You have to be trusted by the people that you lie to so that when they turn their backs on you , you'll get the chance to put the knife in". My first concert in'77 along with "Wish you were here"
The guitar solo 10:00 is so amazing. I first heard this album in 1977 when my older brother started playing it. I’ve heard this song thousands of times and every time is as exciting for me as hearing it the first time😊.
Regardless what instrument any in the band were playing it was often fed through its own Moog synthesizer. At the concert they had a few Leslie's speakers adding to the sound effects. They also had a very large pig that flew around the audience. We were Outdoors at a ball stadium. 🤠🏞️🐂
I luv u two u make my days to watch you enjoy the epic Pink Floyd n it will never be repeated that’s why no one has tried. Who wants the b up against their music
All 3 of the songs,, Pigs, Dogs, and Sheep are "dark", but the sheep in the end are triumphant. "Have you heard the news? The dogs are dead!" You're right, this album is one of their best. Your rankings of all their albums are interesting, but it's like you said, "which one of your kids would you save in a fire?" They're all ones you love, it's hard to rate them! Don't ask us! (And you didn't put "Meddle" in the mix to rate, anyway.) Pink Floyd will never be matched! I love all their albums, can't find it in my being to rank them!
One of the things I say about them too. It is so hard to explain what Pink Floyd does to me. The best way for me to explain it is that it is like a religious experience for me and it is different each and every time. For me, I have to listen to the entire album, start to finish to achieve the full experience of their music. Oh and also a dark room and a good doobie, lol. A good doobie makes the experience even better for me.
You fail to consider the final admonition, "You better stay home, and do as you're told, get out of the road, if you want to grow old." To quote The Who, "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."
Most underrated Pink FLoyd Album for sure. I Think this is the apice of their maturity. TDSOTM and WYWH are ceratin hystoric rock masterpeices but ANIMALS is a step up. They kept taking it up a notch from where it seemed there was no getting better. Galactic.
This is very loosely based on Orwell's Animal Farm. Kinda dilutes it to 3 critters, and puts a very compelling Pink Floyd slant on it. Dogs, Pigs and Sheep are symbolic of personality types, stereotyped to the n"th degree. Dogs are the muscle, Sheep are the 90% and Pigs are the jit-bags in charge who care about nothing but their own bottom line. Pretty good summation of the world.
I just watched your reaction to Dogs. Read George Orwell's Animal Farm. This song and album are loosely based on this book. Dogs are business men. This album is my favorite Floyd album. I came out during my high school years. This songs is probably my favorite Floyd song. I saw the Roger Waters Us and Them tour will my sister in August 2017 in Washingto D.C. The played this entire album during this show. A 3 hour show. My albums are listed from top to bottom are Animals, Wish You Were Here, Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall. I once sat in a college dorm room in the spring of 1980 during a 4 hour discussion of The Wall. We were still in conclusive. Go figure!
The finality of the ending is awesome. The pink floyd listomania . How simple, how effective, and yet no one can top it. Eclipse, Dogs, High Hopes. listomania. Is it the precursor to rap? My list WYWH, Animals, DSOTM, The Wall. But the last three are always flipping about.
This song has nothing to to do with a Pet Dog. It's about the human nature of man. 1975 Wynn Stadium, Hamilton Stadium, Ontario, CA Concert, 2 yrs before this album "Animals" was released has these songs incorporated into the show of tours Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Where Here. What a treat....The audience had no idea what they where listening too.
yes that building was an old coal power station, it's not a business centre and art gallery etc been modernised inside, its very visible in that area from a distance, the pig floated off into aircraft area. i love the album, heard dark side first in the uk animals is famous compared to other places in world, pink floyd is always huge in uk for people before a certain age group. i love pre and post roger waters pink floyd. Meddle is excellent, so are division bell, momentary lapse of reason, the final cut! i rate them all equally good in their own right!
Hi Guys. I Just saw your Reaction and I felt very related with you... My Pink Floyd Ranking is... 1.- ANIMALS 2.- THE WALL 3.- DARK SIDE OF THE MOON 4.- THE DIVISION BELL 5.- WISH YOU WERE HERE.
What guys!!! I can't believe the order you put the PF albums in. Mine are..... Dark side of the moon (the greatest album ever made) Wish you were here. Animals The Wall Meddle (5th) Obscured by Clouds (6th)
I love how the dog barking moves in and out of synths. Very cool. I think maybe people in work settings operate in packs to go get the meat. Very anti establishment.
This is Roger's scathing commentary on life in mid-70s Britain...dogs represent big business, controlled by the pigs (politicians), and the sheep are the average citizens being screwed over by both. FYI, the incredible bass lines on "Pigs" is all Gilmour - Roger played rhythm guitar.
I just saw your ELO reaction to Shangri-la and I wanted to suggest the Time album, as it is even better. Especially the first side, starting with stellar songs, Prologue- Twilight. Their entrance to the 80s.
How do you know it's a great song? When it's 17 minutes long and you're not ready for it to end! Have you guys done Echoes live in Pompeii yet (sorry, too lazy to look)? If not you have to check that out; it's epic!
You guys must listen Meddle!!!! The band was reborn at that point in time & Dark Side fallowed it!Roger was always straight forward,simple & concise! Dogs equal dog eat dog mentally, equals capitalism (even back in 70's before I was born)without"human" face(my kinda sarcastic remark 🙄)Sadly,this masterpiece was last great long song of greatest band ever (in my humble opinion )
After Meddle is Obscured by Clouds. Meddle benefits from Echoes while ObC is closer in tone to Dark Side. The Gunner's Dream and The Final Cut are their last great songs, imho.
Dogs wasn't originally written for Animals according to Wikipedia, the song's original title was "You've Got to Be Crazy". Music was written by Gilmore and Waters, and the Lyrics by Waters. Waters rewrote the lyrics to fit the Animals theme. In my opinion, The Final Cut has to be considered along with the 4 albums you mentioned, that was the last album Waters did with Pink Floyd.
It is a listed building, it has recently been converted to a shopping mall and flats - but keeping the external view Look out for the Animals Remix album - which has a more up-to date pic
Roger Waters wrote mostly all the lyrics to the songs. Gilmour wrote collaborations with the music. Waters-Gilmour were the composers to this song. Animals is my favorite Floyd album & Dogs my song. You said it all, Gilmour's best guitar solos with his bending that nobody can't duplicate & the one in Time. Also Waters does sing on the last verse after the long instrumental break.
I've heard a few reactions recently to Dogs. Always a blast. This song is one of Pink Floyd's best. As many have said here, Animals was a little overlooked upon it's release. Almost no radio play. Understandable due to the songs, for the most part, being long. And the short songs [ 2 of them? ] are very short and not "hit-worthy" , as far as radio play goes. I didn't love the album upon first listen or two when I bought it upon it's initial release. Was dark. Seemed full of "filler sounds", rather than music. But all of a sudden -- I was thinking of the album while at work. It was calling me. I had to listen to it again. Which I did. Again and again. The lead-up to the guitar solo is epic. And "epic" where "epic" is not an overstatement. The solo itself is epic, but the lead up is also. It's like Waters and Gilmour, while writing this song, were thinking -- we know what we have here. Let's tease the fans a little. Or a lot. Let's build up to the "end". O -- k? Anyway -- what a song. What an album. And y'all's reaction was pretty dang cool, too.
It's not a single, guys. It's a concept album. Changing the name of Dogs would ruin the continuity of the rest of the album and deprive it of its Orwell, "Animal Farm" motif.
