The classic Pink Floyd album Animals celebrated its 36th anniversary Monday. In the latest Carter’s Catalog, our own Carter Alan talks about the five-song LP’s dark themes and its progression toward the next Floyd record, The Wall.

Animals would be the last time Pink Floyd did a full world tour with Roger Waters as frontman. They would tour live for The Wall in 1979 and 1980, but not for many dates. It was during the Animals tour where Waters began to conceptualize the themes behind The Wall, sensing a growing disconnect between himself and the fans in the crowd.

Beyond being one of Pink Floyd’s darkest albums, Animals is also one of their most unusually structured – five tracks spanning a vast 41 minutes, including three songs over 10 minutes long and the 17-minute opus “Dogs,” bookended by two shorter tracks, parts 1 and 2 of “Pigs on the Wing.”

In essence the structure of Animals is the opposite of its predecessor, Wish You Were Here, but it still represented a natural progression for the band into the epic double-album that would continue to define their career.

– Matt Dolloff, WZLX.com

More Pink Floyd on WZLX.com:

• Roger Waters To Jon Stewart On ‘The Daily Show’: ‘I’m Trying Desperately To Keep Up With You’
• Year in Review: The Top 5 Boston Concerts of 2012
• Roger Waters, Bruce Springsteen Stun At Stand Up For Heroes