Frogs On The Wing: The Frog Brigade Part 2

Album: Live Frogs: Set 2
Artist: The Les Claypool Frog Brigade
Genre: Experimental Rock
Year: 2001
Label: Prawn Song

Animals is something of an oddity in the Pink Floyd universe. Not very well known and comprised of three very long songs, an intro and an outro, it’s sandwiched uncomfortably between better known albums Wish You Were Here and The Wall, both of which blew every ones socks off. So when Les Claypool states at the end of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” “We’ll be back in twenty minutes, with more Pink Floyd than any human should ever withstand” It seems unlikely that the crowd expected the Frog Brigade to launch into a rendition of Animals in it’s entirety. Set two of the Frog Brigade’s epic concert experience remains pretty damn true to the original Floyd work. Of course, being preformed by the Claypool and friends, it is subject to a little bit of variation and exciting weirdness. Skerik is a factor as is Eenor, the two musicians providing extra helpings of sound to the mix. Also, Claypool’s bass stands out a lot more than Roger Waters ever did, once again becoming the central element of the music. And then there's the voice. David Gilmour and Roger Waters were both pretty unremarkable as vocalists go; their true talents lay with their instruments and their song writing. Les Claypool isn’t a “good” singer, but his voice is far more distinct than either Gilmour or Waters. But as with most Pink Floyd and/or Les Claypool compositions, the vocals are not the most important aspect (not including The Wall, but Roger Waters really needs to stop whining,) the music is though.

As I already stated in my review of Set 1, the musicians here are all talent, no fooling around. Eeenor and Huth really shine on (you crazy diamond) this album, tackling Gilmour’s guitar solos with intensity and grace. But also of note is the interplay between Skerik and Eenor on "Pigs (Three Different Ones.)" The guitar and saxophone play off of each other and intertwine, getting progressively more and more exuberant. Eventually though, Eenor’s guitar overpowers Skerik’s sax and takes off flying. Jeff Chimenti’s keyboards on "Dogs" are the highlight of that track and he does Richard Wright proud. I’m probably provoking some great cosmological catastrophe by suggesting that The Frog Brigade’s take on Animals is better than Floyd’s, but whatever. I think Les Claypool is a much more talented and respectable musician than Waters is, and I think that having Skerik and Eenor more than makes up for not having David Gilmour. Do I think that Chimenti is a better keyboardist than Wright though? That might actually be blasphemy. Chimenti is fantastic, no question, but better? No. Animals will never be my favorite Pink Floyd album, but Claypool and friends’ tackling of it has raised it pretty high in my eyes. Purists may balk, but let me tell you, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by listening to this rendition of Pink Floyd’s most underappreciated work.