Pink Floyd - "Animals" 5.1 Surround Sound Mix (Blu-Ray & SACD editions out in September 2022!)

[sunra]

I would have been happier if Nick said he was actively trying to encourage Roger and Dave to come to an agreement on this release.

 

[harync]

I would have been happier if Nick said he was actively trying to encourage Roger and Dave to come to an agreement on this release.

This interview confirmed what I always assumed to be the case, which is Nick avoids taking sides whenever possible. One of Roger or Dave will have to give in, and I'm not sure that will happen anytime soon.

Nice to see the interviewer got in a request for a Middle Years set with The Final Cut in 5.1. He should have asked what happened to the Wall 5.1 while he was at it.

 

[zabble]

This interview confirmed what I always assumed to be the case, which is Nick avoids taking sides whenever possible.

Which is why Nick is still friendly with both Waters and Gilmour.

 

[MagnumX]

Someone teach Guthrie or Jackson how to do a modern Atmos mix while they're at it. 5.1 audio is so 1993.... If Universal can remix Jurassic Park from 5.1 to DTS:X (up to 32.2 speakers now with DTS:X Pro), I think they can manage a new modern mix of the Floyd albums. I wasn't that crazy about the 5.1 mix for Division Bell. I thought the 2-channel one had more punch, especially in High Hopes and Keep Talking (the 5.1 version of Amused To Death was similar to the Q-Sound version, but somehow once again, it seemed like the dynamics got tamed a little bit and I didn't care for the changes on a couple of the songs). They should ask the guys that mixed Lichtmond 4 for pointers (hands down best Atmos music album I've ever heard with some Floyd-like riffs in it to boot).

I was just starting to get into Pink Floyd my senior year in high school back in 1992 by buying A Momentary Lapse of Reason. I didn't know any Floyd fans at school off-hand and wasn't sure what to buy next. I bought The Final Cut and then The Wall. The following year in college I was on a trip to some cabins in Salt Fork Park and someone played Animals on the boom box. I bought it as soon as I got back. By that Christmas, I owned every album Floyd ever made except Zabriskie Point. I've even got the original vinyl PULSE record set unopened and sealed in shrink wrap (paid $42 for it at the time; it was selling for over $800 at one point. With the re-release, it (like The Division Bell that was going for over $300 until they released with as a double set) probably isn't worth jack now. I should have sold it (I never cared for that live set on CD; I watched the DVD version if I wanted to experience it live). I think they got a little too polished live.

I enjoyed seeing Roger play live on his first outing (Ohio State University; he had gel slides instead of Mr. Screen). He covered most of Animals (All except for Sheep and the 2nd half of Pigs on the Wing). The concert was over 3 hours with no opening band and it sounded like 1970s Floyd, not 1990s Floyd with enough session musicians to cover every little studio part and in a stadium where you can't tell if that's the band or not). I was 1st row balcony, about 20 feet from the band (I had floor seats originally, but they moved it to a different venue (it was originally going to be at the Memorial Center; I saw Sarah McLachlan play there at Halloween one year and the acoustics were awesome there with musician earplugs in) when it was clear interest was higher than they thought) and had to settle for 1st row balcony instead of 12th row floor at the soccer (football for those from the UK) center. I could probably see better from up there anyway, but the acoustics probably weren't as good, but it was still a pretty awesome concert. I was always disappointed there was no concert for Amused to Death and he played probably half that album and at least one track from his other solo albums including my favorite from RADIO K.A.O.S. "The Powers That Be" although I would have preferred Not Now John or Two Suns in the Sunset over Southhampton Dock (I wrote a college paper about Two Suns in the Sunset; the professor was a woman married to an English bloke and she was shocked how "deep" Pink Floyd was. I was in the middle of my Pink Floyd obsession back then. I looked up old articles on the band on microfilm at the University library for god's sake.... And I read Nicholas Schaffner's A Saucerful of Secrets biography that year as well. One of the few Floyd disappointments for me was The Endless River, though. Absolute garbage. I didn't like Waters' last solo album ("This is the Life We Really Want?" one bit either (even less than The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking whose only redeeming tribute was the girl on the cover and some of Clapton's guitar bits). That'll probably get me some bad press, but it was god awful, IMO.

How Roger went from Amused To Death, that I thought was BETTER than either of Gilmour's Floyd's albums (and I really liked A Momentary Lapse of Reason and "High Hopes" is one of my absolute favorite Floyd songs, although much of the rest of the album didn't work for me as well as Momentary Lapse), but DAMN! Amused To Death was absolutely mesmerizing) to "This is the Life We Really Want?" is beyond me. I just previewed Nick Mason's S.O.S. and the live version of Lucifer Sam was just awesome sounding! (I always dug that Peter Gunn bass vibe) so hopefully that will put me back into a better frame of mind when it gets here tomorrow. I also bought Gilmour's Live at Pompeii concert to check out (I loved the original and even dumped the music tracks first off laserdisc and later off the DVD to make a music album version I could play in the car and on my phone, etc. as there is no better version I know of for Echoes and Careful With That Axe Eugene! The latter is just AWESOME compared to previous versions. I just watched the movie Pompeii (in 3D) and seeing the colosseum put in the mood to see Pink Floyd in it again so I'll see how Gilmour fared as a solo artist this time.

Man, Pink Floyd gets me writing....

 

[harync]

I enjoyed seeing Roger play live on his first outing (Ohio State University; he had gel slides instead of Mr. Screen). He covered most of Animals (All except for Sheep and the 2nd half of Pigs on the Wing). The concert was over 3 hours with no opening band and it sounded like 1970s Floyd, not 1990s Floyd with enough session musicians to cover every little studio part and in a stadium where you can't tell if that's the band or not). I was 1st row balcony, about 20 feet from the band (I had floor seats originally, but they moved it to a different venue (it was originally going to be at the Memorial Center... I was always disappointed there was no concert for Amused to Death and he played probably half that album and at least one track from his other solo albums including my favorite from RADIO K.A.O.S. "The Powers That Be" although I would have preferred Not Now John or Two Suns in the Sunset over Southhampton Dock....

I think you are talking about the In the Flesh tour from 1999? I was there at his Ohio State show at the Schottenstein Center which was brand new at the time. The first set was amazing and the band was on fire. I also saw Gilmour and company in Ohio Stadium in 1994. Both shows were great in there own way, but had very different vibes, especially since the Schott held less than 20,000 and Ohio Stadium held over 70,000 (could have held more, but they capped it).

 

[MagnumX]

I think you are talking about the In the Flesh tour from 1999? I was there at his Ohio State show at the Schottenstein Center which was brand new at the time. The first set was amazing and the band was on fire. I also saw Gilmour and company in Ohio Stadium in 1994. Both shows were great in there own way, but had very different vibes, especially since the Schott held less than 20,000 and Ohio Stadium held over 70,000 (could have held more, but they capped it).

Yeah, that sounds like it (couldn't remember the name) and 1999 sounds about right as well (Come to think of it, I bought the In The Flesh DVD when it came out, but haven't seen it in ages). It was originally going to be at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium until they moved it to sell more seats. I saw Floyd in 1994 at the old Cleveland Stadium. It was impressive in that they managed to shake the concrete foundation when "Sorrow" came on (I heard it blew the power grid in Pittsburgh), but I was so far away all I could see was the stage and some ants on it. Like the In The Flesh song intimated in The Wall, it could have been anyone up there in those stadium tours for most of the crowd. The surround sound probably helped in the Stadium (I climbed to the second floor and saw all the speakers lining the stadium, but the ushers kept whining that we couldn't stand there and finally ended up sitting in a roped off section that was miles better in terms of a view than my assigned seat (which had a column blocking my view as that old stadium sucked).

What was even more amusing about the In The Flesh tour was I got in there late with a friend, thinking there would be an opening band so I wasn't rushing and to my surprise they were already playing the first song. I really had to go to the bathroom and I wasn't the only one and the guy standing at the urinal next to me said, "This is the most intense pee of my life!" or something to that effect as we were both trying to get done and out of there as fast as possible. I couldn't help but laugh every time I told that story to someone.

EDIT: (I think the first song was "Run Like Hell" too.

 

[rontoon]

Guthrie confirmed completed 5.1 and stereo mixes of Animals.

Approx 33 minutes in.
https://dcs-legends-the-other-side-...nds-the-other-side-of-the-glass-james-guthrie

 

[MCDave]

Guthrie confirmed completed 5.1 and stereo mixes of Animals.

Approx 33 minutes in.
https://dcs-legends-the-other-side-...nds-the-other-side-of-the-glass-james-guthrie

But did you catch that he has nearly completed the 5.1 and stereo remixes of The Wall? I didn't even know that was in the works. I was under the impression the original multis were lost or destroyed. He mentioned that project just before Animals, at 32:25.

 

[musicmemorabiliashoppellc]

But did you catch that he has nearly completed the 5.1 and stereo remixes of The Wall? I didn't even know that was in the works. I was under the impression the original multis were lost or destroyed. He mentioned that project just before Animals, at 32:25.

Yes he did....actually The Wall was recorded over 2x, I know because I interviewed Bob Ezrin around the end of '79 just before the release for a project I was doing at Sheridan College on his career and that came up in discussion, so I knew there had to be tapes laying around

 

[LuvMyQuad]

But did you catch that he has nearly completed the 5.1 and stereo remixes of The Wall? I didn't even know that was in the works. I was under the impression the original multis were lost or destroyed. He mentioned that project just before Animals, at 32:25.

see here

 

[rontoon]

But did you catch that he has nearly completed the 5.1 and stereo remixes of The Wall? I didn't even know that was in the works. I was under the impression the original multis were lost or destroyed. He mentioned that project just before Animals, at 32:25.

Yes, I created a thread on the subject before posting this here.

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/threads/pink-floyd-the-wall-in-5-1.29154/

 

[MCDave]

Oh okay, didn't see that other thread.

 

[sunra]

I don’t understand why Gilmore would agree to a 5.1 release of The Wall if he’s balking on Animals?

 

[harync]

I don’t understand why Gilmore would agree to a 5.1 release of The Wall if he’s balking on Animals?

It’s unclear to me if Gilmour can stop a Wall related release, but if he can stop it I bet he will until he gets whatever pound of flesh he is wishing to extract from Roger over the Meddle/OBC 5.1 mixes.

 

[GOS]

ugh

 

[MagnumX]

Rich people fighting over a few bucks in their old age.... Gotta love it. Nice to know they really care about the fans.

 

[Muppet69]

It’s unclear to me if Gilmour can stop a Wall related release, but if he can stop it I bet he will until he gets whatever pound of flesh he is wishing to extract from Roger over the Meddle/OBC 5.1 mixes.

I’d be interested to know how much of this information is just speculation and people just guessing what is going on and how much is actually fact based. My hope is that we will finally get these releases sooner than later and that they will be spectacular mixes.... but I’m not holding my breath!

 

[harync]

I’d be interested to know how much of this information is just speculation and people just guessing what is going on and how much is actually fact based. My hope is that we will finally get these releases sooner than later and that they will be spectacular mixes.... but I’m not holding my breath!

My post is just speculation, but we already know Gilmour is blocking Animals, so why wouldn’t he block the Wall to get what he wants, whatever that is? Unless the oft cited “deal” is true and Waters solely controls the Wall and presumably the Final Cut decisions. I do believe they will be released eventually. James Guthrie was commissioned and is presumably not working for free.

 

[MagnumX]

My post is just speculation, but we already know Gilmour is blocking Animals, so why wouldn’t he block the Wall to get what he wants, whatever that is? Unless the oft cited “deal” is true and Waters solely controls the Wall and presumably the Final Cut decisions. I do believe they will be released eventually. James Guthrie was commissioned and is presumably not working for free.

Here I always thought Waters was the obstructionist....

I wonder what Animals would sound like through one of those Involve processors? I guess I'll eventually find out how an Involve mix sounds (waiting for V3 of the Involve processor in January). I bet it would be interesting, though, possibly more interesting than whatever possibly poor 5.1 mix they came up with. While DSOTM and WYWH were great in Alan Parsons Quad mixes, I was very disappointed in The Division Bell in 5.1. I thought the 2-channel mix sounded far better to my ears in that case, probably mostly because the kick you in the guts slam was gone in some places on tracks like High Hopes. It just disappeared, like it was edited out or something. Turning up the subwoofer doesn't help and you can hear the difference instantly with the 2-channel mix. Really, when you think about it, surround mixes are rather arbitrary, after all and how they turn out is very subjective anyway.

Besides, I'd much rather see an Atmos mix in 2020 or 2021. 5.1 surround is 1993 tech, really and Pink Floyd is a 1st class top notch band label. They should not be doing things half-arsed. If they had released a 5.1 mix in 2000, I'd be excited. But 5.1 surround in 2020 is a bit like releasing a Star Wars movie in 2-channel Dolby in the 1990s (they actually released it as one of the first 6.1 cinema releases with The Phantom Menace). There's no excuse for it, IMO. It's a short trip from 5.1 to Atmos with someone that knows what they're doing as most of the hard work was already done separating out the sounds to go in other channels anyway. Pink Floyd's music is perfect for a 360 bubble of sound, especially the spacier sounding material. If you've heard any of the Auro-3D or Atmos mixes out there for rock style music (e.g. Mando Daio in 11.1 Auro-3D with their Aelita album or Lichtmond - The Journey in Dolby Atmos), it can be pretty darn impressive.

 

[Muppet69]

Here I always thought Waters was the obstructionist....

I wonder what Animals would sound like through one of those Involve processors? I guess I'll eventually find out how an Involve mix sounds (waiting for V3 of the Involve processor in January). I bet it would be interesting, though, possibly more interesting than whatever possibly poor 5.1 mix they came up with. While DSOTM and WYWH were great in Alan Parsons Quad mixes, I was very disappointed in The Division Bell in 5.1. I thought the 2-channel mix sounded far better to my ears in that case, probably mostly because the kick you in the guts slam was gone in some places on tracks like High Hopes. It just disappeared, like it was edited out or something. Turning up the subwoofer doesn't help and you can hear the difference instantly with the 2-channel mix. Really, when you think about it, surround mixes are rather arbitrary, after all and how they turn out is very subjective anyway.

Besides, I'd much rather see an Atmos mix in 2020 or 2021. 5.1 surround is 1993 tech, really and Pink Floyd is a 1st class top notch band label. They should not be doing things half-arsed. If they had released a 5.1 mix in 2000, I'd be excited. But 5.1 surround in 2020 is a bit like releasing a Star Wars movie in 2-channel Dolby in the 1990s (they actually released it as one of the first 6.1 cinema releases with The Phantom Menace). There's no excuse for it, IMO. It's a short trip from 5.1 to Atmos with someone that knows what they're doing as most of the hard work was already done separating out the sounds to go in other channels anyway. Pink Floyd's music is perfect for a 360 bubble of sound, especially the spacier sounding material. If you've heard any of the Auro-3D or Atmos mixes out there for rock style music (e.g. Mando Daio in 11.1 Auro-3D with their Aelita album or Lichtmond - The Journey in Dolby Atmos), it can be pretty darn impressive.

How popular is Atmos at the moment? I don’t know anyone who has a good 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 set up and even less that bothers with surround titles like I do and I only have a 5.1 setup so I definitely don’t know anyone that has even heard of or has an Atmos system. Much that I like the idea of being consumed by sounds from all over the room I just can’t justify the cost to set it up in my listening room and have no Atmos product. Is it yet another fad that will go the same way 3D tv did? Quite possibly I suspect.