Comments on: Pink Floyd – Animals 8-Track Cartridge Master (PEC-001)

By: Plomerus

Plomerus — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 03:35:25 +0000

DLee…thanks for the fantastic, detailed comparitive research – I was going to get back to it myself, but this flurry of new releases kept me pretty busy. In the end, this is pretty interesting stuff and I’m glad I picked up this 8-Track Cartridge Master on a whim, despite owning numerous versions of “Animals.”

By: DLee

DLee — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 02:48:57 +0000

OK – I finally got around to finding the track lengths (playing times) of each track of the original official “Animals” release; “Animals Test Acetate”, which is the “early mix” that I reviewed on this site shortly after its release less than 12 months ago (http://www.collectorsmusicreviews.com/pink-floyd/pink-floyd-animals-test-acetate/); and of course, this new “Animals 8-Track Cartridge Master” recently reviewed here by Plomerus. Some versions differ by up to several seconds, such as the lengthy “Dogs” being as long as 17:08 on the original official version but only 16:58 on the “early mix / test acetate”; however, the only major or very significant difference that I found was in the track “Pigs (3 Different Ones)”, which is 11:28 long on both the original official release and the “early mix / test acetate”, but only 10:19 on the 8-track cartridge master – a full 69 seconds (1:09) less. Unfortunately I never seemed to notice anything missing or any speed issues on any of the 3 different versions after repeated listenings, but maybe I should listen to “Pigs (3 Different Ones)” again to make sure. My bet is that the “shortage” is probably at the very start or very end of the song – maybe perhaps the segue into “Sheep” (so I suppose I should probably check the beginning of “Sheep” as well).

In case anyone might want to check & review all the individual track times for comparisons, here are the numbers, with the 1st column being those of the official official album, the 2nd one being the “early mix” / “test acetate”, and the 3rd being the 8-track cartridge master -

1:25; 3:13; 3:22
17:08; 16:58; 17:01
11:28; 11:28; 10:19
10:20; 10:16; 10:21
1:25

Anyway, I also found it quite interesting that Plomerus found “a noticeable change in aural perspective” approx. 6:35 into “Dogs”. I noticed the same thing, which is more easily noticeable when listening with headphones (earphones). If anyone who might be interested checks my older review of the “early mix” / “test acetate”, it might be recalled that I reported the following -

“There’s also unfortunately some considerable instability, as at some points in the lengthier tracks, especially “Dogs” and “Pigs (Three Different Ones)”, the mix of instruments/vocals and/or the sound quality seems to change noticeably. Just a couple examples of such can be found at approx. 10:40 into “Pigs” and approx. 14:50 into “Dogs”.”

By: Plomerus

Plomerus — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 16:36:03 +0000

Perhaps it’s worth comparing the times of each track on the original & acetate to this one to determine where the 43 seconds disappeared. My inkling is that it has something to do with “Pigs On The Wing” and “Dogs (Part 1)” + “Dogs (Conclusion),” along with perhaps reduced time between tracks? I’ve got quite a few new items on my plate at the moment, but when I catch a breather, I’ll investigate, but should someone else determine the cause of this time disparity, then by all means, post your findings here!

By: DLee

DLee — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:53:59 +0000

Although I had ordered it a little before this interesting review, I finally received mine yesterday. I couldn’t help but notice that it’s total playing time is only approx. 41:03, while the original official studio CD of “Animals” runs approx. 41:46 and “Animals Test Acetate” is as long as approx. 41:55.