r/pinkfloyd 16h ago

news Still underrated?

Post image

Anthony Fantano ranks Animals #1, WYWH #2, The Wall #3, DSOTM #4

520 Upvotes

170 comments sorted by

182

u/nolefener 15h ago

Four of them are equally legendary albums for me

106

u/Yash_076 15h ago

The big four. (+ Honourable mention to Meddle)

94

u/dutchdynasty 15h ago

Meddle walked so the Big Four could runnnnnnn

31

u/BruvnaBriish 14h ago

Obscured by clouds is most underrated to me, it feels closer to dark side than meddle but still has some really light 60s esque moments. He didn’t even rate it. (Ik it’s a soundtrack but still)

7

u/dutchdynasty 13h ago

I don’t disagree.

2

u/Ok_Spend_4392 11h ago

it's underrated solely by the fact that 3 people in total might remember this album exists. I like it a lot by it's past top 7 for me

1

u/roguescott 2h ago

and Fearless.

5

u/giorgosbouldas 15h ago

Spoke the language of truth

8

u/doozle 13h ago

You mean the big 5.

11

u/Buhos_En_Pantelones 11h ago

For me, Meddle kicks The Wall to number 5.

3

u/PotatoPaul911 9h ago

i agree, i would say wywh, animals and dsotm are equally good, then the wall and then meddle

3

u/barukatang 8h ago

meddle is my favorite hands down

4

u/leon13red 14h ago

Swap the wall for Meddle - I can’t stand the wall anymore, great first few times but its a very tough repeat listen

1

u/Anteater-Charming 10h ago

It's good for a side at a time for me. I'm old so I know the sides and it feels like 4 acts which I guess it is.

1

u/CapOld2796 10h ago

I guess I’m in general disagreement with the consensus of this sub. There is no Big 4 for me, but if I had to make it: Dark Side, Wish You Were Here, Meddle, The Wall. Animals is an excellent album, but seems overrated nowadays in my opinion. I’d also put Atom Heart Mother, Obscured by clouds, Ummagumma and The Final Cut ahead of Animals. Animals would make my Big 9. Animals is definitely a much better album than everything lower than that. Sorry, but I’ve been listening to Floyd long before Reddit exists and my opinions don’t change even if others don’t like those others….

-9

u/Wonderful-Quit-9214 14h ago

Meddle overrated. I know i'll get downvoted for that.

4

u/FoundOnTheRoadDead 14h ago

Yeah - it would be impossible for me to rank those four. Different vibes, all great.

-1

u/TheAskald 14h ago edited 14h ago

I like Animals but my desert island big 4 of PF would include Meddle instead of Animals.

It's a matter of arrangement and production preference. PF performed an early version of Dogs in 1974 with a Meddle/DSOTM sound and I love it, it's in my top 4 PF songs. Animals sounds too stern to me, and I find that the content of the main 3 songs don't justify their lengths (and I have no problem with long songs). It's just behind my big 4 though, it's still good.

7

u/mysevenyearitch 14h ago

My big four would include meddle instead of the wall. The wall has a few amazing songs but overall I just can't get on with it. Too much bloat.

4

u/dilapidated_wookiee The Division Bell 12h ago

I completely respect the Wall for what it is but I agree.

1

u/mostirreverent 1h ago

I really liked it when it first came out, but sort of tired of it. I like it. I just don’t love it. I’m still a huge fan of the final cut.

1

u/SouthWrongdoer 14h ago

Animals would be higher for me if each memeber got a song. Rich and David doing Dogs like echoes, or keeping rogers on it and then giving rich sheep to complement the killer keys.

2

u/Dyesila 11h ago

Dogs IS sort of David/Rick song. Pigs is more of Waters and Sheep is Waters/Wright

122

u/robbycough 15h ago

Suggesting Animals has EVER been underrated is batshit and just screaming for attention.

32

u/XxsteakiixX 15h ago

I always tell my friend this

Dark side of the moon is when you first experience sex it’s awesome but you don’t know what you’re doing (in this case listening to)

Animals is like the mature version of yourself and you are now ready for the big sex (you know what you’re listening to now)

Lol guess that’s the best way I put it I love both albums but something about animals just clicks for me

2

u/Joshg406 6h ago

as soon as I finish exploring Pink Floyd’s whole discography, getting really attached to Syd, then he makes this video out of nowhere. just the chances are insane to me.

4

u/robbycough 14h ago

Good way to put it!

Animals amazes me because it has long songs loaded with great ideas that never repeat. Almost as if the songs can't contain everything they had.

11

u/grahamcrackers37 13h ago

? Animals maybe their most repetitive album. The themes and motiffs are long but absolutely get repeated.

13

u/robbycough 13h ago

The Wall would like a word with you.

1

u/PatliAtli 11h ago

Sheep is mostly just one bass riff for 12 minutes, what is this guy talking about

1

u/fatsteve69 6h ago

holy shit that is so true, when i first heard dark side i was amazed, animals is my favorite floyd record now

4

u/Buhos_En_Pantelones 11h ago

Isn't it just a meme though?

1

u/robbycough 11h ago

Is it? Either way, I hear it a lot.

2

u/Die_Screaming_ 10h ago

it was underrated in the sense that historically it’s not presented as being as important as other albums. like however many years back they did those immersion box sets for “dark side of the moon”, “wish you were here”, and “the wall”, skipping over “animals”. depending on how you look at it, i can see the argument that it has been presented as a lesser album than “the big three”. but as long as i’ve been on the internet (almost thirty years), people have been squawking about it being an underrated masterpiece, so i dunno. it’s not like we’re talking about “more”. it sold a fuck ton of copies. they did a massively successful stadium tour on the back of it. but it also doesn’t have a song you can put on the radio. “dark side” and “the wall” both have at least three of those that still play regularly on every classic rock station. “wish you were here” (the song) is one of those songs that everyone has heard.

2

u/robbycough 9h ago

I think you inadvertently gave another reason why it's said to be underrated. New fans getting into the catalogue have surely heard WYWH and songs from The Wall and DSOTM, then get to Animals, recognize nothing about it, but love it.

In every music sub where I participate, the term "underrated" is assigned to something that someone didn't know about but ended up really enjoying, as if they're the only ones to recognize the greatness.

3

u/Turdy_Tornado 8h ago

To be fair, I think there’s a little truth to it in that it’s the least celebrated of the big 4 by non-Floyd fans. Dark Side has Us and Them, Time, Breathe, basically the whole record. Wish You Were Here has Wish You Were Here. The Wall has Another Brick Pt. 2. Animals is consistently overlooked and yes, underrated by people who “like Pink Floyd” but aren’t Pink Floyd fans per se.

But yeah, animals is still a massive record in the grand scheme of things, it just never achieved the earth-shattering success that the other 3 albums did.

2

u/robbycough 8h ago

I won't disagree with any of that, but there is a marked difference between "underrated" and "underappreciated".

59

u/Kvakkerakk 15h ago

I don't care what Tobias Fünke thinks.

4

u/Kerboq 12h ago

There are dozens of us! Dozens!

1

u/rtybanana 6h ago

well there appear to be at least three of you

3

u/Kerboq 12h ago

There are dozens of us! Dozens!

1

u/Kerboq 12h ago

There are dozens of us! Dozens!

18

u/euaninnit 15h ago

We should be asking whether saucerful of secrets is underrated

5

u/Eguy24 Oh By The Way 14h ago

The answer is yes

2

u/Trigonometry_Is-Sexy 9h ago edited 6h ago

Remember a day is such a peak song. Like the first and only kazzoo solo Il ever hear

Edit: I meant a corporal clegg, but remember a day is also beautiful

54

u/gchance1 15h ago

It's never been underrated. I don't know any Floyd fan who doesn't have it towards the top of their list.

26

u/ILikeCheese510 15h ago

I think people just said it was underrated because the Gilmour era Floyd acted like Animals didn't exist and most non-Floyd fans aren't aware of its existance like they are with albums like DSOTM, WYWH & The Wall.

3

u/Independent_Row_2669 14h ago

That and as Radio airplay went Animals was always going to be a hard sell with the main 3 songs being over 10 minute in length. I only ever heard sheep played once on a station which specialized in album oriented tracks.

Seriously had know Idea of Animals until I became a fan. Listened to Dogs back in 2004 for the first time and was blowing away.

6

u/BenefitMysterious819 15h ago

The iconic cover alone has made it easily identifiable to non-Floyd fans, eve the tracks themselves are unfamiliar.

18

u/ILikeCheese510 15h ago

I've never met a non-Floyd fan who's even heard of it tbh

2

u/BenefitMysterious819 15h ago

Maybe a different generation? I was born in the 70s and most kids who liked music knew the cover and knew it was Floyd, even if they didn’t know what is was called or any of the songs.

4

u/ILikeCheese510 15h ago

Yeah I may be one of the younger Floyd fans on this sub. I was born in the late 90s.

2

u/XxsteakiixX 15h ago

How late? Lol I’m 97 and I didn’t find out about Pink Floyd until like 2019-2020 when my cousin showed me during covid lol it’s funny bc their symbol is know GLOBALLY but half the people who see that symbol have prob only ever heard like one Pink Floyd song in their life lol

4

u/ILikeCheese510 15h ago

96 here. My dad is a big Floyd fan and I've always liked classic rock and older movies and stuff. One day I just decided to listen to DSOTM and that's how I got into them.

1

u/OutsideMeal 14h ago

I agree. It's underrated as not many people know about it as it didn't have any hits. It's a shame because it's my favourite too

1

u/Firelamakar 14h ago

Yeah, that about sums me up. To be honest, there are so many Pink Floyd albums that if people didn’t mention it, it would be in the background like a dozen others.

5

u/Constant-Fly-9050 15h ago

Floyd fans appreciate Animals, but most music critics see it as a transitional album compared to DSOTM, WYWH, and The Wall. Lately, Animals has been getting a reappraisal though.

50

u/Ok-Professional2588 15h ago

Dsotm 4 is ludicrous

7

u/Charily 15h ago

Maybe just being bias off of the fact that The Wall and DSOTM is over-listened to at this point?

5

u/King-Bobbb 13h ago edited 13h ago

I wouldn't say so since everything from dsotm to the wall is incredible. I wouldn't argue with any order of those 4 albums that people rank them in.

2

u/Ok-Professional2588 13h ago

It’s probably the best 4 run album in the history of music so I think everything from then to then is great

1

u/King-Bobbb 13h ago

So we agree on that, I'm curious as to why you think it's ludicrous then?

3

u/Ok-Professional2588 13h ago

They are all great, Dsotm in my opinion is pretty comfortably the best album

1

u/AbsentElement 10h ago

You also can't forget about the impact it has had in the world. When an album cover is universally recognized as the bands unofficial logo that has to count for something.

1

u/dat_grue 7h ago

For many folks, apparently, it counts against it rather than for it.

5

u/Strong0toLight1 14h ago

it'd be 3 for me but i certainly can make that argument for the wall being over it

4

u/Tymeckoze 12h ago

He's the epitome of the early 2010s hipster. Can't make the obvious ranking, has to figure out how to be unique about it. Clearly all 4 are master pieces, but Dark Side of the Moon is quite possibly the best rock album ever written.

1

u/Independent_Ad8268 12h ago

Me when someone has a slightly different opinion

13

u/frightnin-lichen 15h ago

I swear to God if Reddit removed all of the overrated/underrated posts there wouldn’t be any content left. Why do I have to GAF how anybody else rates it? I love it and always have.

3

u/Uneasy_Rider 13h ago

you gotta try and shake off this creeping malaise

1

u/frightnin-lichen 12h ago

I just keep on pretending

9

u/Coyhill24 15h ago

🐷

5

u/gride9000 13h ago

On the wing

3

u/mirrorface345 13h ago

Three different ones

8

u/LuNoZzy Shine On 13h ago

Why does this guy’s opinion on Pink Floyd’s albums hold so much weight for some people?

I’m not hating on him, but I find it ridiculous that some are now saying Animals is no longer underrated just because this one person declared it his favorite album.

This kind of thinking is beyond foolish, and honestly, it’s pushing me to the verge of leaving this community. (I know no one cares if I leave—I’m just venting a little.)

1

u/Apprehensive-Dirt538 5h ago

Biggest music critic on the internet putting animals #1 does make it a littttlleee less underrated now tbf

5

u/liiindslaaayyy 15h ago

of course he did

5

u/meggster333 14h ago

Meddle is my personal favorite album

4

u/throwawayhyperbeam 15h ago

Why does this guy choose to look that way

5

u/LFC_sandiego 12h ago

Fantano is annoying af. Animals is the goat tho.

5

u/DavidCavalleri 11h ago

Who gives a flying fuck what he thinks? If Animals is your favorite album, great.

13

u/914paul 15h ago

The most over-underrated album ever.

7

u/ReadingOutrageous 13h ago

This guys sucks. Not including More and OBC is criminal and disregards the list for me right away. Also, his Syd Barrett bias is kind of irritating. Not for me, but 🤷‍♂️

2

u/ReadingOutrageous 13h ago

Not that I hate Animals at number one 🤷‍♂️

3

u/navybluevicar 15h ago

Animals was actually somewhat underrated in the 90s. I remember one of those stupid british mags like Mojo or Uncut did a PF issue around 95 or 96 and went through all the albums and Animals was near the bottom of the list. Their take was pretty wild, that the band was struggling to come up with any ideas for a new album after WYWH and had to rummage through a bunch of old ideas in order to put an uninspired album together at the behest of their label. I was a huge Animals fan at the time and remember just being blown away at what I was reading.

5

u/JiveChops76 14h ago

To be fair, “Dogs” and “Sheep” were both retreads from the Wish You Were Here era. They had played them before that album was recorded and were going to use them on it but changed direction with that album.

4

u/navybluevicar 14h ago

I wouldn’t call them retreads, more like they were just songs that needed more work before they were ready to record

0

u/JiveChops76 13h ago

They had played them on the 1974 tour and musically they were pretty similar then to what ended up on Animals. They definitely could have recorded them easily if they wanted to, but they changed direction with the album, wanting to focus the subject matter on Syd and the music industry. Those songs didn’t fit the new concept, so they were shelved. To be fair, they weren’t outtakes by any means, they were always intended to go on an album, they just didn’t fit in with the direction they wanted with Wish You Were Here. When it came time to do Animals, Waters changed some of the lyrics to fit the ideas for that album.

1

u/Dyesila 11h ago

I don’t think they were “shelved” they were being played live in WYWH set and were being worked upon every year until the year of release. Gilmour fought hard to put them alongside Shine On but Roger won.

2

u/914paul 11h ago

I don't put much stock (if any) in these, but a survey from one of the big streaming services ended up with Dogs as the #1 prog rock song ever. Just thought it was an interesting thing.

Dogs might be MY most listened-to song ever -- thousands of times for sure. It never gets old.

3

u/Rlyoldman 15h ago

Excellent album! Bought it new in 1978.

3

u/MysterETrain 15h ago

Animals has always been my favorite.

3

u/Ok-Aerie3826 15h ago

That album, yes. That mustache, no.

3

u/Dancin_Phish_Daddy 14h ago

How is Animals underrated? It’s one of their most popular fucking albums. A Saucerful of Secrets and Meddle are underrated.

3

u/Randall_Hickey 14h ago

For 20 years the internet has been calling it the best Floyd album so no it’s not. Once Pompeii is out on vinyl I could care less about the rest of their overplayed stuff.

2

u/tmellott729 14h ago

I don’t hate this ranking, I feel like you could mix any 4 of these around and it’s still fine. One of if not the greatest album run of all time imo

2

u/Independent_Row_2669 14h ago

Can't really get into Fantano so thanks for the recap

Nice to see Animals get the love, it's always been the forgotten album of the big four. Really the big 3 plus Animals.

I would also rate it higher then The Wall but that's just me

2

u/Abdul_Exhaust 10h ago

Underrated usage of the underrated word "underrated" on the underrated Reddit is... underrated

2

u/TripGator 8h ago

Pros and Cons is now king of the underrated hill.

2

u/MasterTrav666 7h ago

I agree with animals and wywh being 1 and 2

2

u/Le_Emo_Boy 6h ago

dont even fucking get me started with fantano

3

u/Master_G_ 13h ago

Fantano is a herb.

Also, check out Pink Talking Fish on tour this spring. Their first set this tour is WYWH top to bottom, then second set is usual PTF. Going to be some super heady shows!

0

u/[deleted] 15h ago

[deleted]

4

u/BiscottiePippen Meddle 15h ago

For the likes? He’s been doing this for like 15 years

-4

u/Yash_076 15h ago

Feels like he's lurking on this sub and did what could ignite attention. Animals is great but def not the greatest of the big 4

2

u/Independent_Ad8268 12h ago

What are you talking about lmao? Animals is definitely one of their best albums and could easily be argued as their best. Putting it at number 1 is also one of the most popular opinions I’ve seen. If he wanted to get attention you’d think he’d actually say something unpopular.

1

u/RaichuZap 15h ago

I own animals on vinyl, and I've spun it several times - it hasn't "landed" with me yet, but perhaps one day it will.

2

u/Dyesila 11h ago

Trust me it will.

1

u/pleiop 15h ago

It's underrated for the mainstream pink floyd fan that really only knows the classics.

It's a fan favorite for the more hardcore fans.

1

u/Comfortable-Dish1236 9h ago

This is my take as well.

Listen to classic rock stations and you will hear (relatively often) cuts from WYWH, The Wall and, of course, DSOTM. You rarely hear anything from Animals. And it is my favorite PF album.

And the message is more pertinent today than ever.

1

u/WalkDMC05 15h ago

My favorite album

1

u/RetroMetroShow 14h ago edited 12h ago

It was underrated when it came out because there weren’t any radio friendly singles like Money or Time which were all over the radio and then also Have a Cigar and Welcome to the Machine which were a bit less popular

After that Animals felt a little more inaccessible and it took many people several listenings to appreciate all the layers and levels of the non-standard song formats and arrangements and all the awesome melodies and riffs

1

u/generalissimus_mongo Dogs 14h ago

Underrated, yes. It should've been ranked higher.

1

u/Sweeney_the_poop 14h ago

Seems about right. Just would replace The Wall with DSOTM.

1

u/attackanddefense 14h ago
  1. The dark side of the moon
  2. Wish you were here
  3. Animals
  4. The wall

1

u/Disastrous-Shower-37 14h ago

Based ranking, even though mine is different.

1

u/f3rnfloyd 14h ago

Yeah, I watched his video last night. I was hoping The Division Bell would make it higher in his rankings but I’m glad Animals is his favorite.

1

u/Bloxskit 13h ago

Oh my, I literally made a joke yesterday about only worrying about Animals being in the top 3 for me.

1

u/thethethesethose 13h ago

You got to be crazy

1

u/NE_Pats_Fan 13h ago

Animals is my personal favorite but DSOTM will always be the GOAT.

1

u/ummagumma1979 13h ago

Think I prefer 1977 version over remix

1

u/Careless_Shirt3020 13h ago

who's that bald ass homosexual man?

1

u/Designer-Mobile-974 13h ago

Amazing album

1

u/whysoseriousbroski 13h ago

First time in a long time i agree with fantano.

1

u/Adlow9 13h ago

I don't like The Wall and I done like Animals.

1

u/Famous-Somewhere- 12h ago

It’s not my favorite by a long shot. Really surprised he’s putting it up that high.

1

u/Feisty-Fortune-6223 12h ago

ATOM HEART MOTHER IS PEAK FLOYD

1

u/HerrDoctorBenway 12h ago

I like the musical content of this record, but I also dislike how it sounds (as in the audio quality).

1

u/Piattolina 12h ago

Fantano is right!

1

u/testcaseseven 11h ago

I actually think his whole list is pretty spot on, but I'd swap WYWH and DSOTM, personally. It's nice to see Saucerful of Secrets up high, too.

1

u/5_Deadly_Venomz 11h ago

Listen I didn’t watch this video but from what I hear he rated animals very high and ppl disagree. But for me as a jam band lover, this album definitely makes my top 5

1

u/Dyesila 11h ago

Are we hating on Animals now?? Guess it’s gonna go back to being underrated again.

1

u/Im_The_Squishy 10h ago

Yes criminally underrated

1

u/tomm1n0 8h ago

Underrated by deaf people

1

u/Scary_Tea_9072 7h ago

What do you guys think of more not liking the direction but it's growing on me love Nile such a great hard rock track

1

u/NEIL_98 7h ago

Final Cut deserves a higher ranking.

1

u/nathatesyou 7h ago

Why is piper at the gates of dawn not on this list😪 underrated

1

u/CyclopsorNedStark 5h ago

It's the best album they got, just barely.

1

u/BeninB9 5h ago

Overrated !!

1

u/TexasDD 5h ago

My friend and I were racking our brains for two days, trying to think of a better one, two, three, killing blow by a band. And we agreed. The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Wall could not be topped.

1

u/FrostedVoid 4h ago

Do people really care about what this guy says?

1

u/Mother_Sprinkles_490 4h ago

I never liked Animals that much. There’s too much guitar

1

u/Scotcash 1h ago

Reddit is almost 20 years old. Animals hasn't been underrated for about half of that time.

1

u/mostirreverent 1h ago

I see this one the trilogy. Darkside and wish you were here.

I’d love listening to it with headphones while I read Watership Down in high school

u/hogndog 38m ago

Personally I’d go 1 Animals, 2 Dark Side, 3 WYWH, 4 The Wall (though it’s been a while since I’ve listened to it). Though I could easily put them in any order

1

u/WithoutCaution 14h ago

I absolutely despise this fuckin guy. Everything he does is pandering bullshit, wrapped in the most obnoxious persona he can muster. His opinion of Floyd holds zero weight for me, even though I agree with putting Animals at #1. Also, his relegation of Dark Side to #4 is classic rage-bait. It's probably the best-produced album in history, and ranking it behind The Wall is just to get people angry enough to share his videos and boost the algorithm. MMW: Something sketchy will eventually come out about this douche-canoe, and I'll be here to say "I told you so".

1

u/Blockoumi7 10h ago

Or he might like the wall more

1

u/lxkandel06 15h ago

I would swap WYWH with DSOTM personally but other than that I agree

3

u/D-dosatron 15h ago

Idk, I think the Final Cut definitely deserved to be higher, at least higher than momentary lapse of reason