Pink Floyd's 'Animals' remix album finally gets release date and bleak new artwork
David Gilmour and Roger Waters end their disagreement
Pink Floyd have finally set a release date for their long-delayed remixed ‘Animals’ album.
Available to pre-order right here, Pink Floyd’s ‘Animals 2018 Remix’ album is released on standard edition formats on Friday 16th September 2022 and on deluxe formats on Friday 7th October 2022.
The seminal concept album was recorded by David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters and Richard Wright in late 1976 and early 1977 at the band's Britannia Row Studios in London, and ‘Animals’ peaked at No.2 on the UK album upon its release 45 years ago.
As the ‘Animals 2018 Remix’ title suggests, the remixed album has been in the can for some four years.
Last June, Roger Waters shared a video and statement accusing David Gilmour of telling ‘porky pies’ and talking ‘gobbledygook’ concerning Pink Floyd’s history.
Waters’ grievance seemingly stemmed from the new mix of ‘Animals’, which he said has “languished unreleased because of a dispute over some sleeve notes” by journalist Mark Blake.
He alleged: “Gilmour has vetoed the release of the album unless these liner notes are removed. He does not dispute the veracity of the history described in Mark’s notes, but he wants that history to remain secret.”
In a separate interview with Rolling Stone, David Gilmour accused Roger Waters on delaying the release.
Commenting on future plans for the Pink Floyd archive, David said: “Well, a very lovely ‘Animals’ remix has been done, but someone has tried to force some liner notes on it that I haven’t approved and, um, someone is digging his heels and not allowing it to be released... We’ve never had liner notes.”
Asked why Pink Floyd are “suddenly having liner notes”, David replied: “Because someone wants them, and they got a journalist to write some, and I didn’t approve them. And he’s just getting a bit shirty. You know how he is, poor boy.”
‘Animals 2018 Remix’ will be released on CD, LP (with gatefold artwork), Blu-ray, SACD and Deluxe Gatefold formats.
The Deluxe Gatefold version includes LP, CD, audio Blu-ray, audio DVD and a 32-page book. The Blu-ray and DVD audio include the 2018 remix in Stereo, 5.1 Surround (both by James Guthrie) and the original 1977 Stereo mix.
The 32-page booklet features rarely seen behind the scenes photographs of the album sleeve shoot along with live images and memorabilia.
Alongside the enhanced music, Pink Floyd’s ‘Animals 2018 Remix’ comes with ‘bleak’ new artwork created by Storm Thorgerson’s Hipgnosis partner Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell. Thorgerson made the original iconic ‘Animals’ sleeve of Battersea Power Station in London.
Commenting on the new artwork, Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell said: “With the original 1977 album cover being such an iconic piece of stand-alone art, I had the chance to update it, which was a rather daunting task, but Hipgnosis took the opportunity to re photograph the image to reflect a changing world, and by using modern digital colouring techniques I kept Pink Floyd’s rather bleak message of moral decay using the Orwellian themes of animals, the pig ‘Algie’, faithful to the message of the album.”
David Gilmour and Nick Mason recent reformed Pink Floyd to record the song ‘Hey Hey Rise Up’ to raise money for humanitarian relief following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Pink Floyd’s ‘Animals 2018 Remix’ track-listing:
1) Pigs on the Wing (Part One)
2) Dogs
3) Pigs (Three Different Ones)
4) Sheep
5) Pigs on the Wing (Part Two)