Pink Floyd announce release of long-delayed Animals remaster

Last June, Roger Waters – Pink Floyd's one-time bass guitar player and main songwriter – made headlines when he publicly attacked former bandmate David Gilmour for allegedly vetoing the release of a forthcoming remastered edition of Pink Floyd's 1977 album, Animals. 

Gilmour, Waters said, would not let the release of the new edition of Animals occur until its liner notes – which were written by Mark Blake and centered mostly on Waters' vision for the album and the band's direction at the time – were removed. Waters subsequently agreed to the alleged provision, but only after he posted the liner notes to his own website.

Now, with the public jousting seemingly over, Pink Floyd have finally detailed the Animals remaster.

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Overseen by James Guthrie, the "2018 remix" edition of Animals will be released in CD, LP, Blu-ray, SACD and Deluxe Gatefold formats.

The Deluxe Gatefold edition of the album features the LP, CD, Blu-ray, and DVD, plus a 32-page book with live images and behind-the-scenes photos of the album sleeve shoot, while the Blu-ray and DVD feature the remix in stereo and 5.1 Surround Sound. The Blu-ray and DVD also include the original stereo mix of the LP from 1977.

Sandwiched between two of Pink Floyd's most successful and enduring works – 1975's Wish You Were Here and 1979's The Wall – Animals was notable for its dour themes of societal decay and harder-edged sound, which dovetailed with the punk rock that was in vogue at the time of its release.

Intriguingly, Animals 2018 Remix also features a re-imagining of the original LP's iconic cover, created by Aubrey ‘Po’ Powell, a longtime creative partner of the late Pink Floyd-associated artist Storm Thorgerson. 

You can see the re-imagined cover below, and preorder Animals 2018 Remix via Pink Floyd's website. The individual versions of the album will be available starting September 16, with the Deluxe edition dropping on October 7.

It's the most significant activity from the band since they – sans Waters – stunned the music world by resurfacing with a new song, Hey Hey Rise Up, in April. Recorded in support of the people of Ukraine, the song features Gilmour, Nick Mason, longtime Floyd bassist Guy Pratt and keyboardist Nitin Sawhney, and vocals from Andriy Khlyvnyuk, of the Ukrainian band BoomBox.