Following last year’s celebration of Wish You Were Here, Pink Floyd is continuing their archival deep-dive by announcing a 50th-anniversary box set for their 1977 classic, Animals. Despite the album’s lean tracklist—consisting of only four primary songs alongside brief bookends—the band has unearthed previously unreleased material that promises to shed new light on this pivotal era of their career.
Animals remains a distinct entry in the 1970s discography of Pink Floyd. Written primarily by Roger Waters, the concept album draws inspiration from George Orwell’s Animal Farm and the burgeoning punk movement of the time. While it may not have reached the commercial heights of The Wall, it stands as a quadruple-platinum testament to the band’s creative intensity during a period of significant transition.
A Deep Dive into the Archives
The upcoming deluxe edition is set to be an expansive five-disc collection. Beyond the original album and the 2018 remix, the set includes a collection of five rarities, most notably the previously unreleased Roger Waters composition, “Young Nicholas Jon.” Perhaps most exciting for long-time collectors is the inclusion of a double-disc recording of the band’s May 5, 1977, performance at the Oakland Coliseum Arena. This recording was captured by Reinhard Hohlwein, a bootlegger who was only 19 years old at the time.
The physical box set also features a 64-page book containing a new essay by author Jonathan Lethem, an interview with Hohlwein, and insights into the creation of the album’s iconic cover art, provided by Hipgnosis designer Audrey “Po” Powell.
To mark the announcement, the band has shared a previously unreleased radio edit of the 10-minute track “Sheep,” which condenses the epic composition into a four-and-a-half-minute version. This edit has never been commercially available until now. Animals 50 is scheduled for release on January 22, 2027, via Sony Music.
