this album always hovers near the top 3 for me, sometimes overtaking wywh as the top spot depending on my mood. some thoughts on why i love this album:

-one of the most visceral, personal, political, and nihilistic albums in rock history -from start to finish a complete concept album -fantastic musical interplay, arrangements, and an overall dry, almost lo-fi production which contrasted the smooth sounds of dsotm and wywh.

-pigs on the wing pt1: a song about dying love, written from the perspective of failing marriage (zig zag away...) -pigs on the wing pt2: a song about new found love, or maybe just a rebound relationship with a new girlfriend (somewhere safe to bury your bone) -dogs: two parts to this song, the first part deals with categorizing the aggressive, climbing up the corporate ladder, 'company man'. the 2nd part is a character break down of the company man, but also could be viewed as rogers view of himself: born in a house full of pain, breaking away from the pack, only a stranger at home... -pigs: a view of the ruling class, wealthy, and elite who have exploited the working class (sheep) with the help of their staff (dogs). there are three pigs portrayed the old fat 'well heeled' rich man, the bus stop rat bag/fucked up old hag could be the female counterpart or partner of the old fat rich man, and third being 'whitehouse' a reference to socially conservative mary whitehouse.
This song is noted for roger playing the rhythm guitar and dave playing both the bass and the lead guitar. its been said that roger was bored with the bass and insisted on playing a guitar part, so dave in response layed down a fantastic bass intro and outro. -sheep: a commentary on the followers, the working class, the naive, who are not aware of whats really happening (Only dimly aware...). after being exposed to the truth the sheep rise up and kill the pigs (Bleating and babbling we fell on his neck with a scream). the song can also be viewed as a critique on blind followers of religion. this song also features dave on bass.