Pink Floyd reissuing 1977 Animals album with 5.1 Surround Sound mix, new cover art

Pink Floyd reissuing 1977 Animals album with 5.1 Surround Sound mix, new cover art
Sony Music

Pink Floyd is reissuing its classic 1977 concept album Animals in multiple formats featuring a previously unreleased 5.1 Surround Sound mix created in 2018 by the band’s longtime studio collaborator James Guthrie.

The Animals reissue will be available individually on CD, vinyl LP, Blu-ray and SACD on September 16, and as a deluxe multiple-disc package on October 7.

The Deluxe version includes a CD, an LP, an audio Blu-ray, an audio DVD, and a 32-page book. The Blu-ray and DVD discs feature Guthrie’s 2018 remix in stereo and 5.1 Surround Sound, as well as the original 1977 stereo mix. The booklet contains rare seen behind-the-scenes images from the Animals album-cover photo shoot, along with pics of Pink Floyd playing live and band memorabilia.

The reissue boasts a reimagined and updated version of the cover, which famously featured the image of a giant inflatable pig tied by ropes to the chimneys of London’s Battersea Power Station.

Animals, Pink Floyd’s 10th studio effort, was released in January 1977 and peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200, going on to sell over 4 million copies in the U.S. The concept album, which was loosely based on George Orwell‘s dystopian novel Animal Farm, and was inspired by the socio-political climate of the U.K. during the mid-1970s.

It included three extended themed pieces titled “Pigs (Three Different Ones)”, “Dogs” and “Sheep,” that represented humanity as three different classes — subservient sheep, despotic pigs and predatory dogs.

Last June, ex-Pink Floyd singer/bassist Roger Waters posted a lengthy message explaining the Animals reissue had been delayed because of a conflict he had with former band mate David Gilmour over sleeve notes.

You can preorder the Animals reissue now.

Here’s the album’s track list:

“Pigs on the Wing (Part One)”
“Dogs”
“Pigs (Three Different Ones)”
“Sheep”
“Pigs on the Wing (Part Two)”

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