This article is the official start of a new series of reviews where I will be taking a look at the /Remade Pink Floyd vinyl box sets. The /Remade series is a set of releases under various record label names (really the same label, I imagine) that reimagine classic Pink Floyd albums, while also providing rare supplemental materials that are difficult or impossible to find in any form, let alone on vinyl. In other words, these are in-depth fan projects that have become some of my favorite unofficial releases to collect and enjoy. So far, there are seven of these, but I really hope to see more in the future to encompass all of the albums. A while ago, I wrote a review for Wish You Were Here /Remade, which you can find here. As I add reviews in this series, you can click the newly added Pink Floyd /Remade tag under the article heading to see everything I’ve covered so far.
As far as my collection goes, this was by far the most difficult of the /Remade boxes to find. Most of the other titles have been pretty readily available, but for whatever reason, Animals /Remade hasn’t been. The boxes are numbered to 400 copies, but there’s always the possibility that they never made that many. There are some rumors floating around that overall, this set wasn’t very well received, so that could also have something to do with it. You can certainly find a copy or two on some resale sites, but they are almost always non-US sellers, and the asking price is very high.
The box itself is high quality and is made just like the rest of these type of gimmix style box sets. Everything is nice and sturdy, and the expertly printed artwork looks great. My favorite part of the design is by far the hype sticker, which features the Floyd flying pig in a Van Gogh, Starry Night tribute design. The LP’s themselves are extremely heavy and well made. The color of each one is a little different, with an overall white base. The first disc is sort of a pink/brown marble, the second is a black/white marble, and the third one is basically pure white. The labels look great and go well with the box art and classic Animals design. This is the only box in this series that I had to buy used, as I’ve only ever seen one or two sealed copies and the prices were outrageous. Luckily, the set I got is in absolute mint condition, and was very well taken care of.
In addition to the three LPs, which include demo and instrumental versions of the album, along with a special 1985 Japanese mix, we also get a small booklet. Calling this a booklet is pretty generous I guess, since it’s really just a small piece of paper that’s been folded in half. The printing is certainly professional, but other than giving you an extra piece of “something” in the box, it’s pretty useless. It contains no liner notes or other information. Some releases in this series have the same thing, and others actually do have some writing and liner notes. The usefulness and quality of information varies from title to title, of course.
Demos
This first LP is basically the Animals album, but supposedly in demo form. They sure sound like demo versions to me, so I guess it’s possible these are the real thing. The sound quality of the audio source is very good considering that it was never meant to be heard by the public. Some of the tracks are closer to being finished than other ones are, and we can clearly hear how the album adapted and changed as they worked on it.
Dogs, probably still known as “Gotta Be Crazy” at this point, is already very similar to the final version of the song we all know. Pigs (Three Different Ones) is basically the same song, but it’s missing some guitar overdubs. There are also some extra guitar parts that were cut out later, but they are a bit quiet and hard to discern in places. “Sheep Sound Effects” is exactly what you would guess it is… the sheep sounds used in the final “Sheep” track, which had yet to be mixed in at this point. The Lord’s Prayer sample had also not yet been added, which changes the entire feel of that track. Instead, there is basically a dead space with some extra, spacey-sounding keyboard instead.
Instrumentals
The Instrumentals disc is the one that created the controversy around this release. This whole LP really is the album in instrumental form. The problem is that it’s not genuine in the way most of us assumed it would be. Instead of the band jamming or getting actual tracks that didn’t include the vocal parts, this whole thing was made using AI sound removal. Since this is a couple years old, the AI separation software also wasn’t nearly as advanced as it is in 2025, and we are left with a pretty bad result. The algorithm was able to remove most of the vocals, but there is a noticeable drop in audio quality in those spaces now.
I think someone used the AI software and broke all the tracks down into “stems”. If you aren’t familiar with this process, the program basically listens to the music and produces a separate track, or “stem”, as it is called, for each instrument it detects. In this case, there was probably one each for guitars, bass guitar, drums, keyboard and vocals. In addition to removing the vocal stem, I believe they also remixed things a little bit. Probably in an attempt to cover up the damaged parts where the vocals were removed. As a result, certain instruments are a little louder than I was used to hearing them. The drums, for one, can be heard a bit more clearly for most of the tracks. It certainly makes the tom fills come alive, but I’m not sure it’s worth the cost of sacrificing the rest of the musical integrity of the album.
The vocal removal also affected some other things as well. The sound effects, for example, appear to have been picked up by the AI filter as vocals. As a result, they have been removed in some places as well or reduced in volume dramatically. This also happened with the background singing in some spots but is most obvious in “Sheep”. Worst of all, some of the vocals weren’t fully removed, but are just quiet and garbled. To put it bluntly, this attempt at a “Instrumental” version of Animals is terrible.
Why would someone want this? Maybe for the world’s weirdest karaoke session? I really can’t think of any other reason. I think I can tell you why it was included in this box set, however. As most of us will know, there has been no official Animals box set released by Pink Floyd. Part of this reason is well known to be that David Gilmour considers it sort of a Roger Waters solo work and blocked because of that. Another reason though, is the lack of material. The honest truth is, even the Floyd themselves couldn’t scrape together enough decent stuff to sell us something under the Animals imprimatur.
As far as the label goes, they certainly could have given us the Demo LP, Japan Mix LP, and a live concert like Oakland 77’ and we would have gotten one hell of a cool set. I imagine the problem with that, though, was that it wouldn’t have gone with the theme. This was supposed to be Animals /Remade rather than just an Animals themed box set. When they didn’t have enough material, they tried to make their own. With this particular disc, it just didn’t work.
1985 Japan Mix
There is no doubt that the 1985 Japanese mix of the Animals album is legendary. As a matter of fact, the original Japanese CD sells for at least 100 USD in just fair condition. It’s hardly ever seen with the original obi, and when copies come up, they can sell for hundreds of dollars. I’ve been looking for a complete copy in good condition for years, but I have yet to come across an acceptable one that I feel is also a good deal. It’s still certainly a CD that I hope to pick up one day, though.
I had heard this Japanese mix before, and I have to say that this is an excellent pressing of it. It clearly comes right off the CD and sounds great. There is no surface noise on my copy, and the soundstage and dynamics are stunning. If you have always loved this particular mix and wished you could have it on vinyl, this is a great way to experience it. Usually, I hate white colored vinyl, but in this case, I think it works. It looks great in contrast to the other discs and sounds great too.
What if you have never heard this mix before? Is it really that good? Well, to be honest, with the exception of one major difference that anyone can spot, the changes are subtle. Overall, it’s going to come down to taste, and what you prefer. I think almost all versions of this album have been pretty great sounding, including the newly released and remixed ones. What’s the obvious major difference though? “Pigs on the Wing Part 1” is shorter. That’s it. It just goes into the lyrics a couple measures sooner. Why did they do this? I have no idea.
Final Thoughts
As I mentioned, Animals /Remade is the most difficult one of these box sets to get a hold of, at least in my experience. Is it worth seeking out? Well, I think I have laid out just about everything you could want to know above so that you can make that decision. In my mind though, I would say that the average fan would probably want to skip this one. The demos are cool to have but are readily available online. They are probably also not going to be something the average collector will listen to more than once. It’s great for historical value, but not much more. There is certainly a reason that the songs were finished and not released demo form. Still, I rate this disc at 8/10.
The second “Instrumental” disc is useless, and in my opinion pretty unlistenable. I know that they had to put something in that space so the box would appear to be worth the asking price, but faking material is just not a good way to go about it. In a way, I guess it’s the closest we got to Animals being “remade” in any way here, but I don’t think it’s a good thing. I’d rate the value of this disc, generously, to be a 1/10. Even if you like the rest of the set, I don’t imagine this one will get too much play time.
The 1985 Japan mix is the real value here, and the main reason I would say you should pick this one up. I was going to get it anyway just to have all the boxes and finish the set, but because of this great pressing, along with the nice box and demo LP, I am not totally dissatisfied with my purchase. If you can manage to find the box for a good price, this record (along with the cool hype sticker on the box) makes it worth it in my opinion. So, a solid 10/10 for disc #3.
There is no doubt that some of these /Remade boxes are getting harder to find, and the prices are going up. I you have some of the other titles in this series, this set is just as high quality as all the rest. An easy 9/10 for packaging and pressing. With that being the case, I would suggest you place this one on your radar right now if it interests you, or if you are going to try for the full set. It’s probably not going to be cheap unless you find a spectacular deal on the used market, but at the very least, Animals /Remade is an interesting relic to add to your Pink Floyd collection, and it looks nice on the shelf.