15 Brain-Twisting Concept Albums That Are Endlessly Rewarding
15. Animals Pink Floyd
Few bands are more famously associated with the concept album than Pink Floyd. The cover to Dark Side of the Moon captures the bands stately mystique while The Wall had a huge concept that featured a stage show with enormous puppets and props. But although it may be lesser known, 1977s Animals is the most effective album in their entire storied catalogue. Its as tight and forceful as anything the band ever did, so much so that its been nicknamed a Punk Floyd album. In terms of message, its even more aggressive than that Animals borrows Orwells allegory from Animal Farm, but Roger Waters overlays lyrics that paint contemporary society in a brutally Marxist fashion. Pigs represent the ownership class, sheep represent the majority, and dogs represent the business and professional classes that serve as a bulwark between the two. There is no love lost between Waters and the subjects of his songs. Each class gets its own extended treatise, and Waters takes them apart with lyrics like, Its too late to lose the weight you used to need to throw around, and the oft-repeated refrain, Ha ha, charade you are! The two short, disarming acoustic songs that bookend it give Animals a charming narrative cohesion and make it one of the finest total packages in concept album lore.
Kyle Schmidlin is a writer and musician living in Austin, TX. He manages the news blog at thirdrailnews.wordpress.com. Follow him at facebook.com/kyleschmidlin or twitter.com/kyleschmidlin1.
