The multi-format Animals 50 package includes previously unreleased studio tracks, a legendary 1977 Oakland concert recording, and extensive archival material. The original radio edit of ‘Sheep’ is available now.
Pink Floyd will celebrate the half-century milestone of their seminal 1977 album Animals with a comprehensive 50th-anniversary reissue on 22 January 2027 via Sony Music. The multi-format release will be available as a Deluxe Box Set, 2LP, 1LP, 2CD, Blu-ray Audio, and on all major digital platforms.
The expanded package centres on the original 1977 album alongside James Guthrie’s 2018 remix, five rare audio tracks, and a previously unreleased live recording of the band’s historic 9 May 1977 performance at the Oakland Coliseum Arena-captured by then-19-year-old fan Reinhard Hohlwein.
The Deluxe Box Set features three LPs (original album, 2018 remix, and rarities), five CDs mirroring that audio plus the full Oakland concert across two discs, and a Blu-ray carrying the original stereo mix, the 2018 remix (in stereo, 5.1 Surround, and Dolby Atmos), the rarities, and the live concert.
Among the rare studio recordings is a previously unheard Roger Waters track titled ‘Young Nicholas Jon’, early rough mixes of ‘Sheep’ and ‘Dogs’, a studio jam, and the rare four-and-a-half-minute ‘Sheep (Original Radio Edit)’. Prepared strictly as a promo for US radio in 1977 and never commercially released until now, the radio edit has been launched immediately alongside an official visualiser.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ANIMALS 50 HIGHLIGHTS │
├──────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ • 1977 Original Album & 2018 Remix │
│ • Full 1977 Oakland Coliseum Concert │
│ • Unreleased Track: ‘Young Nicholas Jon’ │
│ • ‘Sheep (Original Radio Edit)’ Out Now │
│ • 64-Page Hardcover Book & Photos │
└──────────────────────────────────────────┘
The deluxe package also incorporates a 64-page hardback book containing new liner notes by author Jonathan Lethem, an interview with taper Reinhard Hohlwein, and an excerpt from Hipgnosis co-founder Aubrey “Po” Powell’s memoir detailing the creation of the album cover. Previously unpublished photographs document the recording sessions at Britannia Row, the Battersea Power Station cover shoot, and the subsequent In the Flesh tour.
Animals was recorded throughout 1976 at the band’s newly constructed Britannia Row Studios in London. Roger Waters penned the majority of the material, with David Gilmour co-writing the epic ‘Dogs’. Conceptually inspired by George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the album critiques human social-political structures through metaphors of dogs, pigs, and sheep.
Gilmour later described the record as “more in your face and more rough and ready” than Wish You Were Here, acknowledging the raw energy radiating from the emerging punk rock movement. Nick Mason recalled the era as one marked by internal friction yet simultaneously “a remarkably cohesive enterprise,” anchored by the hands-on process of building their own recording facility.
The iconic cover image of an inflatable pig suspended above Battersea Power Station was conceived by Waters.
“I’d driven past Battersea Power Station every day going to and from my house in Clapham,” Waters remembered. “I guess I just loved the building. I liked its symbolism-that it’s a power station and that it belches smoke, so there’s something menacing about it. It’s got four phallic chimneys, and it looks like an upside-down table. And there were four people in the band that had been turned upside down. It seemed like a really cool place for a pig to fly.”
The shoot produced one of the most famous mishaps in rock history. “Algie,” the 40-foot inflatable pig, snapped its moorings in heavy winds, drifting directly into the flight path of London Heathrow Airport. The escape forced flight cancellations, prompted the RAF to scramble jets, and ended with Algie landing in a Kent farmer’s field-retrieved only after the marksman booked for the shoot was omitted from the second day’s schedule.
Physical & Digital Formats
1LP Edition: The original 1977 album pressed on orange and sandstone colour variants.
2LP & 2CD Sets: Pair the original remastered album with the Rarities collection.
Blu-ray Audio: Features high-resolution original stereo, 2018 stereo/5.1/Dolby Atmos mixes, rarities, and the Oakland show.
Digital Deluxe: Includes the original album, 2018 remix, rarities, and the full Oakland concert.
Upon its original release in January 1977, Animals reached No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart and No. 3 on the US Billboard 200. It formed the centerpiece of their 1977 In the Flesh stadium tour, during which mounting interpersonal tensions and Waters’ growing alienation from massive audiences planted the thematic seeds for The Wall.
Animals 50 Tracklisting & Formats
* Previously unreleased tracks
DIGITAL & 5CD DELUXE
Disc 1 – Animals (Original Album Remastered)
Pigs on the Wing 1
Dogs
Pigs (Three Different Ones)
Sheep
Pigs on the Wing 2
Disc 2 – Animals (2018 Remix)
Pigs on the Wing 1 (2018 Remix)
Dogs (2018 Remix)
Pigs (Three Different Ones) (2018 Remix)
Sheep (2018 Remix)
Pigs on the Wing 2 (2018 Remix)
Disc 3 – Rarities
Dogs (Early Version, Rough Mix)*
Sheep (Original Radio Edit)*
Sheep (Early Version, Rough Mix)*
Studio Jam*
Young Nicholas Jon*
Disc 4 – Live at Oakland Coliseum Arena, 9 May 1977 (Part 1)
Sheep (Live in Oakland 1977)*
Pigs on the Wing 1 (Live in Oakland 1977)*
Dogs (Live in Oakland 1977)*
Pigs on the Wing 2 (Live in Oakland 1977)*
Pigs (Three Different Ones) (Live in Oakland 1977)*
Disc 5 – Live at Oakland Coliseum Arena, 9 May 1977 (Part 2)
Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 1-5) (Live in Oakland 1977)*
Welcome to the Machine (Live in Oakland 1977)*
Have a Cigar (Live in Oakland 1977)*
Wish You Were Here (Live in Oakland 1977)*
Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Pts. 6-9) (Live in Oakland 1977)*
Money (Live in Oakland 1977)*
Us and Them (Live in Oakland 1977)*
Careful with That Axe, Eugene (Live in Oakland 1977)*
VINYL CONFIGURATIONS
2LP SET
LP1: Animals (Original Album Remastered)
LP2: Rarities
3LP DELUXE BOX SET
LP1: Animals (Original Album Remastered)
LP2: Animals (2018 Remix)
LP3: Rarities
BLU-RAY AUDIO DISCS
Animals: Original Stereo Mix (1977)
Animals: 2018 Remix (Stereo, 5.1 Surround & Dolby Atmos)
Rarities: High-Res Stereo Mix
Live at Oakland Coliseum Arena, 1977: High-Res Stereo Mix
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