Pink Floyd Put Bickering Aside to Finally Announce ‘Animals’ Reissue

[ca1ore]

Ironically Floyd's reasoning for not recording live shows was fear of the tapes leaking and being bootlegged.

I certainly recall them being borderline militant about fans carrying in recording devices. Even more ironic that the only passable records of that tour are BECAUSE of those intrepid fans.

[Man In The Mountain]

He (roger) was also the only one trying to save the Floyd ship from drowning around Animals' time - remember that the band was bankrupt due to poor investments and rip-offs. The others were busy keeping their musical ideas for their solo records, or racing their cars.

According to who, Roger? If the other guys are working on solo stuff, it's because "Bully" Roger was hogging all the PF space for his own ideas. That's when others don't bother to help and go do other things. That said, since this is among the best Floyd albums ever, how could one say the other guys were not contributing, busy racing cars, and keeping their best ideas for elsewhere? It doesn't add up.

Until Roger can pull out a demo he recorded of the entire Animals album he recorded by himself to give to the band to record, I'll concede.

[Sunlight Caller]

I’m not sure how I feel about the artwork reimagining. The original is so iconic that it seems somewhat sacrilegious to tinker at all. It’s a nice shot, but a little too much steel and glass for my tastes. I hate the fact that they redeveloped such an historic building in the first place though.

[GuitarGeek]

And likely, Roger did a lions share because he was a bully. I know, I've been there.

I'm still inclined he may have come up with the lyrics and the basic song structures, maybe the vocal melodies and chords under them, but I'm still inclined the others contributed a lot more to the arrangements than Roger wants to let on. I remember in the Nicholas Schaffner book, Bob Ezrin said that, viz-a-viz his work on "restructuring" The Wall, Roger told him, "You can write anything you like, but don't expect any credit". It's also mentioned in that particular book that it was really Ezrin who wrote Is There Anybody Out There, for instance.

(Gilmour) said on Dogs he wrote close to 90% of the music if I remember correctly.

Dogs is the one song where his name appears in the byline, on Animals. I recall him sayign he also wrote a big chunk of Sheep and also played bass on a lot of that album.

It's a bit like another Roger (maybe it comes with the name), hammering away about his former group doing his songs despite a verbal agreement of the opposite.

Who would that be?

[Jerjo]

Who would that be?

I assume it would be Roger Hodgson of Supertramp. That situation is certainly as acrimonious as Floyd.

[Man In The Mountain]

I’m not sure how I feel about the artwork reimagining. The original is so iconic that it seems somewhat sacrilegious to tinker at all. It’s a nice shot, but a little too much steel and glass for my tastes.

I agree. The music is not re-recorded or re-imagined (other than enhanced mixes), so why would you redo the artwork from scratch? The ones Huge Syme redid for the RUSH reissues are embarrassingly bad. What the bands should do is give you a very highly detailed reproduction of the original art, that surpasses what you got on the original vinyl.

[calyx]

I assume it would be Roger Hodgson of Supertramp. That situation is certainly as acrimonious as Floyd.

Well, except there was at least two distinct attempts at reforming the partnership (1993 and 2008), both of which failed because Davies insisted on his wife managing the band (would have been Supertramp the first time, but a Hodgson-Davies band without the other three the second time).

[Trane]

I agree. The music is not re-recorded or re-imagined (other than enhanced mixes), so why would you redo the artwork from scratch? The ones Huge Syme redid for the RUSH reissues are embarrassingly bad. What the bands should do is give you a very highly detailed reproduction of the original art, that surpasses what you got on the original vinyl.

I haven't seen those (maybe thankfully).

After checking Discogs, apparently they haven't done them all: only from 2112 to Pictures. I tried to see for the first three or the live ones, but didn't find anything)
Yup, that's pretty bad


Yup, touching over Animals' artwork sound like iconoclast heresy.

Well, except there was at least two distinct attempts at reforming the partnership (1993 and 2008), both of which failed because Davies insisted on his wife managing the band (would have been Supertramp the first time, but a Hodgson-Davies band without the other three the second time).

Apparently, Hodgson's wife also got involved (on Roger's prompting) around the 00's and made things much worse.
Apparently, the two wives cannot stand each other's company.

Read that in Fabrice Belanger's book about the band.
https://livre.fnac.com/a8852647/Fabr...ier-Supertramp
certainly a more complete outake than Melhuish's The Supertramp Book

But Hodgson's complaining, however nagging over the years, is based upon something even less tangible, like a verbal agreement (which Davies admits openly).

But unlike Hodgson, Waters & Gilmour are still doing each other's songs (Davies as well) on stage.

[Progatron]

The ones Huge Syme redid for the RUSH reissues are embarrassingly bad.

Totally agree. I loathe all of those, and I can't understand how they got the green light to replace such iconic album covers, when they could have easily gone inside the sleeve somewhere (even then, they would be unnecessary but at least harmless).

[EBES]

He was also the only one trying to save the Floyd ship from drowning around Animals' time - tremember that the band was bankrupt due to poor investments and rip-offs. The others were busy keeping their musical ideas for their solo records, or racing their cars. Not sure there would've been a band for bickering about during the 80's without "Poor Ol' Rog".
While Waters is being an arsehole about it (not that Dave is much better), I can definitely understand his frustrations, given the context.

This is a pretty reasonable counterpoint to a lot of the anti-Roger sentiment in the thread. I mean he is ultimately a massive jerk but I do appreciate the nuance on display here.

[Hour Candle]

They're all a bunch of old guys now. I can't believe they're still fighting. Come on.. Just celebrate the fantastic music you created together. Why all the bitterness still?

[Trane]

This is a pretty reasonable counterpoint to a lot of the anti-Roger sentiment in the thread. I mean he is ultimately a massive jerk but I do appreciate the nuance on display here.

Actually Waters is reputed to be quite the gentleman with all of his crew on the road. He knows everyone of them on the first and last name and even family situation basis and talks to everyone of them.

I'd say that his Floyd aches give him a bad name (his political outcries not helping), but in a two-hour interview the guy is quite an enjoyable, funny & educated bloke, but everyone retains the two minutes when the interview forced the conversation on Gilmour & Floyd.

[aith01]

Actually Waters is reputed to be quite the gentleman with all of his crew on the road. He knows everyone of them on the first and last name and even family situation basis and talks to everyone of them.

I'd say that his Floyd aches give him a bad name (his political outcries not helping), but in a two-hour interview the guy is quite an enjoyable, funny & educated bloke, but everyone retains the two minutes when the interview forced the conversation on Gilmour & Floyd.

Yeah, I don't doubt that Waters is good to his crew/employees. I don't think he's a bad guy at the end of the day. He seems to be a complex person (like many of us), capable of generosity as well as pettiness. I wish he would get over himself and put the feud with Gilmour to rest; regardless of how he sees it, the two of them (plus Nick and Rick) put out some amazing music together. It's just a shame that in their twilight years he can't seem to get past his own ego.

[moecurlythanu]

They're all a bunch of old guys now. I can't believe they're still fighting. Come on.. Just celebrate the fantastic music you created together. Why all the bitterness still?

Some grow...Some just grow old.

[SunRunner2]

Some grow...Some just grow old.

Yeah...

[happytheman]

Actually Waters is reputed to be quite the gentleman with all of his crew on the road. He knows everyone of them on the first and last name and even family situation basis and talks to everyone of them.

I'd say that his Floyd aches give him a bad name (his political outcries not helping), but in a two-hour interview the guy is quite an enjoyable, funny & educated bloke, but everyone retains the two minutes when the interview forced the conversation on Gilmour & Floyd.

I don't think this has always been the norm.. go back and read the Rolling Stone Issue that profiled Pink Floyd at the time of the split..

[Trane]

Yeah, I don't doubt that Waters is good to his crew/employees. I don't think he's a bad guy at the end of the day. He seems to be a complex person (like many of us), capable of generosity as well as pettiness. I wish he would get over himself and put the feud with Gilmour to rest; regardless of how he sees it, the two of them (plus Nick and Rick) put out some amazing music together. It's just a shame that in their twilight years he can't seem to get past his own ego.

Well, I suppose that the Floyd wound is entrenched so deep in him, that he just can't "let it go" or "drop it".

As I said, Waters saved the band financially almost single-handedly (well, their manager helped out a lot) around 76/78, while the others just enjoyed their private money, that he couldn't bear the band survive without him once he decided to fold it, since he felt he was almost the only one contributing to it - probably not realising that he wasn't letting Gilmour having a bigger input (Mason was doing other things).
I'm guessing that Wright's Wet Dream, DG's first solo and About Face (and Fictitious Sports to a lesser extent) felt to Waters like they were treasons to the Floyd ... probably the same way that Banks resented Hackett's Acolyte.

Unlike in Yes, where they all commonly agreed to embark on solo albums at the same time, this wasn't the case for Genesis (would only become so in 79/80) or in Floyd.

[Top Cat]

I have the remastered reissue from 2016 on vinyl from Pink Floyd Records, it sounds wonderful.
Didn't read the whole information, but how is this vinyl version different?

[ca1ore]

Doesn’t seem like the bickering has been put aside …. and I shall remain skeptical of this release until it is actually in my hands.

[ca1ore]

Well, I suppose that the Floyd wound is entrenched so deep in him, that he just can't "let it go" or "drop it".

As I said, Waters saved the band financially almost single-handedly (well, their manager helped out a lot) around 76/78, while the others just enjoyed their private money, that he couldn't bear the band survive without him once he decided to fold it, since he felt he was almost the only one contributing to it - probably not realising that he wasn't letting Gilmour having a bigger input (Mason was doing other things).
I'm guessing that Wright's Wet Dream, DG's first solo and About Face (and Fictitious Sports to a lesser extent) felt to Waters like they were treasons to the Floyd ... probably the same way that Banks resented Hackett's Acolyte.

Unlike in Yes, where they all commonly agreed to embark on solo albums at the same time, this wasn't the case for Genesis (would only become so in 79/80) or in Floyd.

Folks that pass ‘judgement’ from afar have always annoyed me. Who knows what actually went on and who was at ‘fault’ and who should and should not have received credit. Recently watched the two making-of videos, and the band members all seemed generally respectful of each others contributions. Too bad that the band never fully realized at the time that the whole of Floyd was so much greater than the sum of its parts. To my ear, most of the Waters solo stuff lacks the melody and musicality that Gilmour and Wright brought (not to mention the vocals) but no new news there. I recently bought the remix of Momentary Lapse and it reminded me why I hadn’t played it in 20 years. I can certainly understand why folks might not like Waters lyrics, but it’s hard to argue that they aren’t brilliant.

[Rick L.]

I'm guessing

Correct.

[mozo-pg]

When I lay back an listen to Animals my most remote thoughts are around the acrimony, I just focus on a stunning musical achievement. I just adore Animals.

[Mister Triscuits]

I have the remastered reissue from 2016 on vinyl from Pink Floyd Records, it sounds wonderful.
Didn't read the whole information, but how is this vinyl version different?

The 2016 version was a remaster of the original mix. This new version is a remix, and there will be a surround option.

[Top Cat]

The 2016 version was a remaster of the original mix. This new version is a remix, and there will be a surround option.

Thanks so much for the info.
I did what I should've done in the first place and went back to page 1 and the original post.

I often have a love/and ho hum relationship with remixes(vinyl). I cite vinyl because I have a basic stereo outfit with a Realistic 2000 Receiver for my vinyl, and a 2 channel Sony amp for my cd's(Tascam CDRW900MKII).
For instance I have the original All Things Must Pass on vinyl and cd, and it sounds fantastic to me(Phil Spector and all). But I picked up the recent remix, and while I enjoy it, and hear different things, the original sound is burned in my brain.
It's nice to have both, and to have new album jackets, clean 180g vinyl, etc, but sometimes the extra expense isn't worth it to me, to have it, just to have it.

Thanks again for indulging me in my laziness in not reading the whole thread.

[Tangram]

Well, I suppose that the Floyd wound is entrenched so deep in him, that he just can't "let it go" or "drop it".

As I said, Waters saved the band financially almost single-handedly (well, their manager helped out a lot) around 76/78, while the others just enjoyed their private money, that he couldn't bear the band survive without him once he decided to fold it, since he felt he was almost the only one contributing to it - probably not realising that he wasn't letting Gilmour having a bigger input (Mason was doing other things).
I'm guessing that Wright's Wet Dream, DG's first solo and About Face (and Fictitious Sports to a lesser extent) felt to Waters like they were treasons to the Floyd ... probably the same way that Banks resented Hackett's Acolyte.

Unlike in Yes, where they all commonly agreed to embark on solo albums at the same time, this wasn't the case for Genesis (would only become so in 79/80) or in Floyd.

I would assume if Waters went to Gilmour and Wright 6 months after Animals, and asked do you have anything we can work on for the next album, they would have jumped at the opportunity. PF had already hit heights they separately knew they could never expect to reach alone. Conversely, Waters probably was thinking he could do it on his own, like the credits suggest he did on Animals. He was smart enough to realize things were better as a group. None of them hit the same heights solo, they split when Waters decided he wanted out by not touring The Final Cut.

Waters didn't fully appreciate that the 'Jolly good singer and guitar player" was a major reason that many people listened to PF.