Pink Floyd Releases First Listen from Long-Awaited ‘Animals’ Remix with 17-Minute “Dogs”

Pink Floyd has released the 2018 remastered version of “Dogs” from their forthcoming Animals 2018 Remix album, out September 16.

Closing off one side of the original 1977 album is “Dogs,” the only track co-written by David Gilmour and Roger Waters on the mostly Waters-penned album, and features both singers sharing vocals on the epic 17-minute track.

The 2018 remix hasn’t been restructured from the original arrangement of “Dogs,” which showcases the magic of the band’s instrumentation from melodic bass and orchestrated guitar leads, filled with organs, Minimoog, and more. Instead, listeners will hear some subtle tweaks, including Gilmour’s vocals more upfront and crisper cymbals sounds from drummer Nick Mason.

Available in multiple formats, the Animals remixes were originally completed in 2018, but some discrepancies between Gilmour and Waters over the presentation of the liner notes delayed the release of the project. In 2021, Waters said the release of the remastered album was halted by Gilmour, who wanted some information in the original liner notes, written by Mark Blake, to be reworked. The former Pink Floyd bassist and songwriter said that Gilmour did not want the new edition of Animals released until the section in the liner notes on Waters’ vision for the album was removed. Waters agreed and posted the liner notes and a message on his website. 

“As I am banned by Dave Gilmour from posting on Pink Floyd’s Facebook page with its 30,000,000 subscribers,” said Waters in his message along with liner notes to the album, “I am posting this announcement here today and in full on rogerwaters.com.”

Waters, who wrote four of the five Animals tracks with the exception of “Dogs,” continued, “I am agreeing to the release of the new ‘Animals remix,’ with the sleeve notes removed. Good work James Guthrie by the way, and sorry Mark Blake. The final draft of the liner notes was fact-checked and agreed as factually correct by me, Nick [drummer Nick Mason], and Gilmour. … There’s nothing controversial, just a few simple facts.”

Though the reissue doesn’t include any new material or bonus tracks, it will include a 32-page booklet of never-before-seen photos from the era and is remastered in 5.1 stereo sound by engineer James Guthrie, who originally finished the project in 2018. 

Pink Floyd is reportedly in talks to sell their recorded music catalog, including some of the best-selling albums, for at least $500 million. The band recently joined TikTok and released the first physical copies of new music in 25 years in April 2022 with their new single “Hey Hey Rise Up” in support of Ukraine.