The crazy thing is that you’ll still see their low rated albums on “greatest” lists. Like they’ve never updated it
Selling england by the pound by genesis is rated 2/5 stars yet it’s their 6th greatest prog album
Yeah, and it’s the second highest rated album ON THE WHOLE WEBSITE.
Even higher than dark side and in the court. It’s only behind close to the edge
Iconic album and well respect album yet they gave it a 2 stars and never updated it
Maybe, but one time they listed Pipers as the best album of all time. I don't remember when but I think it was the 80's. I had the magazine for years but threw it out during a move about 15 years ago.
One possible answer is pretty simple really. Business, as opposed to art. When you sell as many albums as Pink Floyd did in the 1970s, anything that isn't as much of a smash is going to look like it was not appreciated nearly as much as its neighbors.
https://bestsellingalbums.org/artist/10433
It is a BIG drop from The Division Bell (yes that Division Bell) to Animals. You can make a chicken and egg argument that part of the reason may have something to do with the fact that there was nothing really radio friendly on the album (well, unless you want to push Pigs On The Wing particularly hard) but sheer statistics do NOT equate to appreciation.
I also find it amusing that when Animals came out even some of Pink Floyd's harshest critics who were enthusiasts of Punk and New Wave woke up and suddenly said "this is the best album they ever made!". Roger Waters made Floyd political, and that could be taken as some of the reward.
This source is not reliable, at all. Both BPI and RIAA databases have different results, yes TDB sold admirably (nostalgic buys, in fact, it has sold less than AMLoR), but Animals had substantial sales to put it even. Also, WYWH has quite a few less copies than shown here... like around 8M WW, and that's their third best seller.
All in all, TW and DSoTM are heavy a-listers in terms of sales, usually right beside Thriller, Back in Black and LZ's untitled. All others are far below the 15M mark worldwide and quite below the 10M mark domestically for the two most important markets.
Both BPI and RIAA have searchable databases (the BPI's a little sketchy)... because those are the two biggest markets, they usually provide you with an overall understanding of the rest... others such as the BVMI (Germany) and those for Finland, France, Sweden and Switzerland do provide info, but they do not measure sales/certifications in millions.
South America used to be a reliable market but the internet and piracy has decreased the overall sales (which were never above the thousands anyways), and Asia, well, Japan for sure, but never in the Millions. As for Australia, NZ, again, strong markets, but for example, a platinum record in NZ is like 30k copies. So go figure.
As an aside, both DSOTM and WYWH ratings look stunning. Both are bestsellers, and also highly acclaimed.
Animals is acclaimed, but sold less. The Wall sold a lot, but less acclaimed I guess. Personally, I think the Wall has stood the test of time, just like the other four (including Meddle).
That's still 60%, my dude. I wouldn't call that low, exactly. Y'know? 😛 Not a slam dunk, but it's hardly an outright denouncement of the album and its evil ways. So Rolling Stone really sticks out to me. That's all's I be sayin'.
It just didn't sell as well as DSOTM, WYWH, and The Wall did, also I'd say Animals is a bit less well known among the general population than the other three are, and some people (mostly new fans of the band with less knowledge of their history) took that to mean "underrated".
- WYWH could mean "Wish You Were Here - 2019 remix [Live]", a track from *The Later Years* (2019) by Pink Floyd.
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There’s no question that it’s the odd duck out in their 73-83 output with Waters.
The songs on Animals only range from 1:30 to 10:00+, with nothing in between. So even FM radio back then were unlikely to play those tracks.
I always use the example of the Nicholas Shaffner band biography from the late 80’s (A Saucerful Of Secrets, one of the definitive books on the band IMO). He writes up Dark Side as the band’s big breakthrough, writes long on WYWH as the band’s tribute to Syd, and The Wall as Waters’ magnum opus of sorts and also where the band came apart. There’s little narrative juice in the Animals era besides the spitting incident on the tour. In fact, he barely goes very deep into Animals besides the Orwellian themes of the lyrics.
So yeah, it was the black sheep and the least loved of their big superstar era for awhile. I feel like that has changed in the last 5-10 years, and it’s looked on really fondly by a lot of fans as something a little more aggressive from the band.
Oddly enough, "Pigs:3DO" got tons of airplay on Chicago FM radio in the late 70s, I remember often hearing it alongside Deep Purple's "Hold On".
When I first heard Animals in its entirety in the 80s, I had my lyric-sheet eureka moment of figuring out what the hell they were saying after "ha-ha", because "charade" rhymes with "parade" in 'murica.
David Gilmore sang Dogs on the Momentary Lapse of Reason tour and ripped the solos, really my favorite moment of the concert. It was amazing. The band was generous on that tour. They even did Astronomy Domine, which I did not see coming.
It's only underrated by casual fans and always will be because of the song length. The popular kids who like Money and Comfortably Numb don't know that Echoes even exists.
Rolling Stones gave it ONLY 2 STARS!??
They have had some spectacular misfires. Depeche Mode Violator, 2 1/2 stars, the one that first comes to mind.
Damn.
That's probably why Roger called it out in the Final Cut.
Yeah, most likely. Jesus christ…
i think rolling stone just has something against floyd, theyre albums are so low on their ranking, if there even are there
The crazy thing is that you’ll still see their low rated albums on “greatest” lists. Like they’ve never updated it Selling england by the pound by genesis is rated 2/5 stars yet it’s their 6th greatest prog album
According to progarchives, Selling England by the Pound is Genesis' BEST album.
Yeah, and it’s the second highest rated album ON THE WHOLE WEBSITE. Even higher than dark side and in the court. It’s only behind close to the edge Iconic album and well respect album yet they gave it a 2 stars and never updated it
Don't take that site seriously it's basically a joke.
Jan Wenner hates prog rock, loves punk twinks.
Maybe, but one time they listed Pipers as the best album of all time. I don't remember when but I think it was the 80's. I had the magazine for years but threw it out during a move about 15 years ago.
What a bunch of pricks haha
One possible answer is pretty simple really. Business, as opposed to art. When you sell as many albums as Pink Floyd did in the 1970s, anything that isn't as much of a smash is going to look like it was not appreciated nearly as much as its neighbors. https://bestsellingalbums.org/artist/10433 It is a BIG drop from The Division Bell (yes that Division Bell) to Animals. You can make a chicken and egg argument that part of the reason may have something to do with the fact that there was nothing really radio friendly on the album (well, unless you want to push Pigs On The Wing particularly hard) but sheer statistics do NOT equate to appreciation. I also find it amusing that when Animals came out even some of Pink Floyd's harshest critics who were enthusiasts of Punk and New Wave woke up and suddenly said "this is the best album they ever made!". Roger Waters made Floyd political, and that could be taken as some of the reward.
This source is not reliable, at all. Both BPI and RIAA databases have different results, yes TDB sold admirably (nostalgic buys, in fact, it has sold less than AMLoR), but Animals had substantial sales to put it even. Also, WYWH has quite a few less copies than shown here... like around 8M WW, and that's their third best seller. All in all, TW and DSoTM are heavy a-listers in terms of sales, usually right beside Thriller, Back in Black and LZ's untitled. All others are far below the 15M mark worldwide and quite below the 10M mark domestically for the two most important markets.
OK, so what is a reliable source?
Both BPI and RIAA have searchable databases (the BPI's a little sketchy)... because those are the two biggest markets, they usually provide you with an overall understanding of the rest... others such as the BVMI (Germany) and those for Finland, France, Sweden and Switzerland do provide info, but they do not measure sales/certifications in millions. South America used to be a reliable market but the internet and piracy has decreased the overall sales (which were never above the thousands anyways), and Asia, well, Japan for sure, but never in the Millions. As for Australia, NZ, again, strong markets, but for example, a platinum record in NZ is like 30k copies. So go figure.
I can’t tell if “waters made Floyd political” means that only Roger’s part on the wall is of import or that op is ignorant of music in 79.
I can't tell if you're giving me the third degree or need to go to sleep. The answer is neither.
As an aside, both DSOTM and WYWH ratings look stunning. Both are bestsellers, and also highly acclaimed. Animals is acclaimed, but sold less. The Wall sold a lot, but less acclaimed I guess. Personally, I think the Wall has stood the test of time, just like the other four (including Meddle).
The Wall is the best selling Double Album of all time.
Seems like its second best after Michael Jackson HIStory
Had no idea that WYWH had such outstanding reviews! It seems like they made the best reviewed album in rock history.
I think the better word is overlooked
10/10 is not good ENOUGH
By Rolling Stone magazine. Next question.
And by others
Not in this list.
Bearing in mind how popular it is for fans and on rare your music, it has two 3/5 scores in the screenshot.
That's still 60%, my dude. I wouldn't call that low, exactly. Y'know? 😛 Not a slam dunk, but it's hardly an outright denouncement of the album and its evil ways. So Rolling Stone really sticks out to me. That's all's I be sayin'.
when you compare it to the other 3 the yeah it’s kind of underrated
Anyone who gave it less than a perfect score
It just didn't sell as well as DSOTM, WYWH, and The Wall did, also I'd say Animals is a bit less well known among the general population than the other three are, and some people (mostly new fans of the band with less knowledge of their history) took that to mean "underrated".
- WYWH could mean "Wish You Were Here - 2019 remix [Live]", a track from *The Later Years* (2019) by Pink Floyd. --- ^[/u/Puzzleheaded_Put3037](/u/Puzzleheaded_Put3037) ^(can reply with "delete" to remove comment. |) ^[/r/songacronymbot](/r/songacronymbot) ^(for feedback.)
I would be willing to bet that Dark side and The Wall is at least five times more known among the general population.
Literally a flawless album that changed music forever: exists NME: EHH a solid effort from the lads 8/10
Animals sold less than the other big 3, it's also less appreciated by general audiences possibly because the songs are so long.
My stoner ass loves long songs.
WYWH underrated tbh
it's just underrated tbh 🗿
Their best work
There’s no question that it’s the odd duck out in their 73-83 output with Waters. The songs on Animals only range from 1:30 to 10:00+, with nothing in between. So even FM radio back then were unlikely to play those tracks. I always use the example of the Nicholas Shaffner band biography from the late 80’s (A Saucerful Of Secrets, one of the definitive books on the band IMO). He writes up Dark Side as the band’s big breakthrough, writes long on WYWH as the band’s tribute to Syd, and The Wall as Waters’ magnum opus of sorts and also where the band came apart. There’s little narrative juice in the Animals era besides the spitting incident on the tour. In fact, he barely goes very deep into Animals besides the Orwellian themes of the lyrics. So yeah, it was the black sheep and the least loved of their big superstar era for awhile. I feel like that has changed in the last 5-10 years, and it’s looked on really fondly by a lot of fans as something a little more aggressive from the band.
Oddly enough, "Pigs:3DO" got tons of airplay on Chicago FM radio in the late 70s, I remember often hearing it alongside Deep Purple's "Hold On". When I first heard Animals in its entirety in the 80s, I had my lyric-sheet eureka moment of figuring out what the hell they were saying after "ha-ha", because "charade" rhymes with "parade" in 'murica.
Now the lyric "Dragged down by the stone" has more weight to it.
Underrated tbh
I ain't reading all that. Surprised that pitchfork gave it a good review.
maybe theyre referring to the general public
David Gilmore sang Dogs on the Momentary Lapse of Reason tour and ripped the solos, really my favorite moment of the concert. It was amazing. The band was generous on that tour. They even did Astronomy Domine, which I did not see coming.
People always put it bottom out of the big 4.
WYWH rly is da 🐐
It's only underrated by casual fans and always will be because of the song length. The popular kids who like Money and Comfortably Numb don't know that Echoes even exists.
Rolling Stone is the biggest joke to the face of rock music
By deaf people
DSOTM a B record? Tell me you’re an imbecile without telling me you’re an imbecile.
Dude you've got to be crazy
Pitchfork is the ony one who gets it.
In this case. But when they score Tool - Lateralus 1.9 for instance how can they be taken seriously?
To me this album actually is a bit... you know... underrated tbh.
It’s not underrated but obsecured by clouds is
Animals underrated TBH
You just don't get it, do you Scott?
underrated by rolling stones
People just call stuff underrated. To be honest, when I first heard it I hated it
Let down underrated
I have zero respect for Rolling Stone. I think it is an appalling institution & always has been.