Pink Floyd, "Animals" (Columbia, 1977)

From the mid- to late '70s, Pink Floyd's status changed from a kind of strange-sounding cult band to ... well, Pink Floyd. The progression of multi-platinum albums during that period - "The Dark Side of the Moon," "Wish You Were Here," "The Wall" - propelled the band to the ranks of the legends.

The one Pink Floyd album of the era that most people forget about is "Animals." Unlike the more well-known recordings, none of its tracks ever appear on "classic rock" playlists. In fact, the bulk of the album consists of just three songs, each 10-plus minutes, bracketed by the two parts of "Pigs on the Wing," brief snippets featuring just acoustic guitar and Roger Waters' vocal.

Waters, in fact, dominates this album, a harbinger of his basically taking over the band for the execution of the conceptual "The Wall." On the surface, "Animals" appears to be a concept album as well, with the song titles - "Dogs," "Pigs (Three Different Ones)" and "Sheep" - sharing an obviously common theme. Fact is, two of the songs are basically rewrites of material performed in concert by Pink Floyd a few years previously, with some elements added to keep up with the "Animals" continuum.

That being said, the album stands as the lost gem in the Floyd catalogue, evidence that the band could really rock out when it chose to do so. The groove in the middle of "Pigs (Three Different Ones)," for example, is infectious, and the porcine sound effects distributed throughout add to the Orwellian feel of the entire album. And for sheer drama, the concluding part of "Dogs," both musically and lyrically, stands up to anything on the band's more famous outings.

Roger's rewrite of the 23rd Psalm in "Sheep" is pretty good, too, although he recites it through a Vocoder, so you'll need a lyric sheet to make up what he's saying.

The album's format supposedly hurt radio play back when it was released - although "Wish You Were Here" is constructed along somewhat similar lines, and it hasn't exactly suffered accordingly. Whatever the case, if you're looking to dig a little bit deeper than Pink Floyd's supermegahits, here's a fine place to start.

PS - Folks who bought "Animals" on 8-track tape way back when might remember that "Pigs On the Wing" appeared as a single track, with the two parts connected by a bridge featuring a fluid solo by guest guitarist Snowy White. Unfortunately, subsequent CD releases of the album have not contained the alternate version, which still appears to be available only on 8-track, unless you can download it somewhere.