Animals
Although not in the same vein as the deliciously hallucinogenic earlier Floyd works such asUmmagummaandDark Side of the Moon,Animalsis innovative and musically diverse in its own right. Inspired in part by George Orwell's political fableAnimal Farm, Roger Waters condemns the avarice and inequalities of capitalism, metaphorically and musically grouping humans as pigs, dogs, and sheep. The pigs are self-righteous hypocrites inflicting their beliefs on everyone else, the dogs greedy money-grabbers, and the sheep witless followers. Dark, cynical, and brilliantly composed,Animalsis an ingenious and under-acknowledged album.--Naomi Gesinger