Pink Floyd – Animals (2018 Remix) ( Sony Records Int'l, Pink Floyd Records – PFR28D, 0190295599577) Ltd 180g ( Blu-Ray+CD+LP+DVD )

NEW

Animals 2018 Remix will be released on CD, LP (with gatefold sleeve artwork), Blu-ray and deluxe gatefold formats. The deluxe gatefold version includes an LP, CD, audio Blu-ray, audio DVD and a 32-page booklet. The audio Blu-Ray and DVD contain the 2018 remix in stereo, in 5.1 surround (both by James Guthrie) and the original 1977 stereo mix. The 32-page booklet offers a behind-the-scenes look with rarely seen photos of the shoot for the record sleeve as well as live pictures and memorabilia. The album artwork has been reimagined for this release with a contemporary theme.

Animals is a concept album that takes a critical look at the socio-political conditions in Britain in the mid-1970s, marking a departure from the style of the band's earlier work. From a collection of originally unrelated songs, Pink Floyd developed a concept that describes society's apparent social and moral decay. Inspired by George Orwell's Animal Farm, they depict human nature with an analogy to the animal kingdom, dividing humans into three classes of animals: the pigs are at the top of the social chain, the sheep, as a mindless herd, doing what man tells them, and the dogs are the business bosses who shamelessly enrich themselves on the profits and their power over others. A lot of time has passed since 1977 - and then again not at all, because the story on the album has lost nothing of its topicality as a commentary on our social and economic situation.

The famous cover of "Animals" shows an inflatable pig (now known as Algie) floating at dizzy heights between two chimneys at Battersea Power Station in London. The idea for the cover came from Roger Waters and the realization was carried out by the band's longtime creative partner, Storm Thorgerson of Hipgnosis Studios. For this re-release, Storm's Hipgnosis partner Aubrey "Po" Powell has redesigned the artwork for the modern day. Based on new footage of the building during its recent transformation (the former power station being converted for cultural and commercial use, designed by Frank Gehry and Norman Foster), Po experimented with new angles and created some stunning new iterations of the famous original. Po comments: "The original 1977 album cover is iconic and so self-contained that I had a lot of respect for giving it an update. But Hipgnosis took the opportunity to re-photograph the subject to reflect a changing world. Using modern digital coloring techniques I've been able to retain Pink Floyd's somber message of moral decay, while the Orwellian animal analogy in the form of Algie the pig lives on in the new artwork as well.”