
PINK FLOYD
Review Animals Of Empire
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Pink Floyd played only nine dates
in the UK during the Animals tour; five in Empire Pool in London and
four in Stafford.
Animals On Empire on Godfather documents the fourth of the five
London show. Two tape sources are in circulation
but the label use the better of the two.
(The other source is incomplete and sounds much worse).
It is complete audience recording that is very clear and close to
the stage.
The beginning of “Dogs” is somewhat muffled due to the taper
checking the tape in the recorder but it is nothing
serious an Godfather did an impressive work to minimize it.
In general Godfather improved the fidelity and produced a very
enjoyable and overall excellent Pink Floyd title.
The London shows were very important on this tour because, as Pink
Floyd manager told Melody Maker, “After all other concerts are just
concerts, but this is their home ground.
When they play in London it’s got to be right.” The band played in
Wembley in November 1974 and hated the venue
so much they vowed never to play it again.
Originally they wanted to play in either Earls Court or Olympia but
neither venue was available so they settled for
Wembley again.
Before the first London show they were harassed by the Greater
London Council (GLC) who had safety concerns
regarding the giant pig and the light show.
The results of these pressures on the band amounted to what one
letter to Melody Maker complained about the
mechanical performance.
This is true for the first song of the night “Sheep” which plods
along, but things warm up soon after.
“Dogs” sounds much slower than in other performances because they
take their time extracting every bit of
commentary from the notes.
It reachesthe twenty minute mark with some inspired by playing by
Gilmour stretching out the solos in the middle.
“Pigs (Three Different Ones)” likes wise is very good, notable for
the venom in Waters’ vocals.
And in the end he shouts out “23,” numbering the Animals
performances.
The second half of the show continues strongly.
Again, the band take their time with “Shine On Your Crazy Diamond
Parts 1-5.” Someone in the audience lets out
a strange yell at the beginning of “Welcome To The Machine” which
sounds massive in this recording.
“Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts 6-9? has an effective
call-and-response game of echo between Gilmour and
Snowy White.
Their little games on guitar sound very effective in these shows.
The only encore is “Us & Them” which lasts about eight minutes long.
Pink Floyd also occasionally played “Money” as an encore and, most
frequently on the upcoming US tour, would
play them both in sequence.
The slow paced “Us & Them” doesn’t really work as a solo encore
however and is a bit of a let down compared to the intensity of the
rest of the show.
Nevertheless this is a good middle-of-the-run Wembley show.
Godfather have done their best Pink Floyd remastering work for this
title and is worth having.
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