Humbly, a word of advice: Deny any cynicism.  Deny any notion that a reissue of Pink Floyd’s Animals– this, a 2018 remix by James Guthrie- is yet another commercially-motivated plan to repackage the past; not to mention messing with those 45-year-old memories of the original classic.  Furthermore, and as importantly, deny any hesitancy to experience it for yourself. 

Instead, get out the headphones, find a comfortable place, and sink in to 42 minutes of an entirely new, respectfully vintage, sonically majestic, engaging and arresting audio thriller.  Yes, it’s that good.

There was some obvious delay from the time of the remix and its arrival four years later; word was the new edition’s proponent, bassist Roger Waters, and the legendary band’s remaining living members- guitarist David Gilmour and drummer Nick Mason- hadn’t quite sorted out the fine details.  Regardless, it’s here now and there is no turning back.  Nor should there be, given how illuminating is this 2018 mix.

What was always a brilliant album, released in 1977 between Wish You Were Here and The Wall, it was also one that played as a bit of a sonic dreamland; its conspicuous use of reverb held it pleasingly in the ether.  Guthrie’s judicious choice to pull back and let the earthy immediacy of Waters’ and Gilmour’s voices instead penetrate intimately and less coated is one of several exceptionally rewarding strokes.  Everything has a vivid crispness; a raw and surging quality; more adrenalized Saturday night, less Sunday afternoon come-down.

Gilmour’s layers of soaring, syncopated guitars, Richard Wright’s imaginatively selective and tasteful keyboards, Waters (now) exposed, thunderball bass, and Mason’s drums of Gibraltar coalesce into a walloping quartet, awakening the ears, flooding the brainwaves.  Deny any concern that the new is here to replace the old.  Revelatory, almost rattling, the Animals 2018 Remix is not only a fresh and scintillating experience, but one that can sit perfectly alongside the original.  An undeniable joy; 45 years later, and once again, there are pigs on the wing.