Various Artists – Animals Against The Wall: A Tribute To Pink Floyd Volume II – T P A

Lemon, a Cherry Red label, has appeared to have got hold of the Cleopatra Pink Floyd Tribute albums (a few of which I reviewed back in the summer of 2023) and is now reissuing them in 3CD boxsets. The first, titled Shining On, was released in June 2025 and gathered together Meddle Reimagined (originally released in 2023), Return to the Dark Side of the Moon (2006) and Still Wish You Were Here (2021). Animals Against the Wall is the second, gathering (appropriately), Animals Reimagined (2021) and Back Against the Wall (2005). I had read about the mid-00s tribute albums previously, but since they were recorded so long ago, I hadn’t considered them part of the same project.

The brainchild behind this project is none other than Billy Sherwood, the American multi-instrumentalist and mixing engineer who has been associated with Yes since the late 80s and has performed on bass for the group since Chris Squire’s death in 2015. When I picked up this set to review, I was hoping the liner notes might shed some light on how the project came together, especially as Back Against the Wall is the first full Pink Floyd album to be given a tribute. Alas, the only thing you’ll find in the booklet is the artwork from the two original releases, which also lists the musicians on each track.

But it turns out that this is just a small part of Billy Sherwood’s mixed tapestry of tribute albums that dates back to 1995, when Jeffology: A Guitar Chronicle was released. In fact, Back Against the Wall isn’t even the first Pink Floyd tribute album he mixed; that would be Pigs & Pyramids – A Tribute to Pink Floyd, which debuted in 2002. A few tracks from that album would find new homes on Back Against the Wall and Return to the Dark Side of the Moon, but it seems that the 2020s albums were given all-new versions. Given the alarming rate at which Sherwood has been producing these (at least 20 in a span of 30 years), I can only imagine they’re quite formulaic and simple to mix in editing software, and that it’s not too hard to ask artists to contribute to the process. Cynics will say it’s an easy way to make a quick buck off the back of somebody else’s work, and I can’t say I disagree with them.

So I scoured the Internet to see if I could find any word from Sherwood himself, to see how he views and justifies his vision. Lo and behold, Sea of Tranquillity was able to get hold of him in 2006 to interview him about Back Against the Wall. And they didn’t hold back either, pointing out that the public view of tribute albums is not flattering and asking whether he was committing sacrilege by treading on old ground. Sherwood did not appear rattled by the comments, bluntly pointing out that ‘there is a market for them’ and comparing his tribute albums to the remakes of Mutiny on the Bounty. I haven’t personally seen any of the remakes, as the 1935 original with Clark Gable is the only one listed in the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die book series, but I’m certainly familiar with films being remade for a modern audience with new technology and adapted themes.

Now, it’s without question that Sherwood has used new technology to make these albums, but are they really saying anything new? Unfortunately, the musicians, scattered as they are, must be constrained for the project to work. If a group of musicians is in the same room, they can discuss how best to cover a song, where to add their own touches and let the music flow organically. Sherwood’s artificial method almost certainly involves having the musician send in their part along with a MIDI click track, so that when all the parts come together like a jigsaw, the musicians will automatically be in time with each other. In this way, the music always has an uncanny effect, since the musicians aren’t actually playing along with each other and don’t complement each other as they would in a live performance.

Let’s take In the Flesh?, the bombastic introduction to The Wall, here recreated by such luminaries as Keith Emerson, Adrian Belew, Alan White and Gary Green. I mention them in rough order of their importance within progressive rock. Emerson’s characteristic organ should be front and centre, but he’s drowned out by the other instruments. It doesn’t help that White completely makes up his own parts, eschewing Nick Mason’s tasteful fills for speedy rolls that sound out of place. I suppose that’s White’s form of personal expression, but it doesn’t sound in step with everyone else.

But things improve considerably on the following set of tracks. The Thin Ice features the unmistakable voice and flute of Ian Anderson, giving the song a distinct identity change from the original. Another Brick in the Wall, Part 1 features Billy Sherwood playing most of the instruments except for the guitar solo, played by Steve Morse. In the linked track, The Happiest Days of Our Lives, Sherwood is joined by Vinnie Colaiuta on the drums, and the album seems to be shaping up to sound quite cohesive.

But suddenly, that illusion is smashed when Sherwood employs a strange sound effect to transfer from The Happiest Days of Our Lives to Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2; on the original, the drum fill leads straight into the song. Here, it seems that Sherwood is trying to mask the fact that this version of the song was recorded several years earlier as the opener for Pigs & Pyramids. Just that second delay leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

It doesn’t help that I’ve never been a huge fan of The Wall, anyway. Prog fans can rate the Pink Floyd albums however they like, but I’ve always felt a level of disconnect from this double album, partially because The Wall is where the group decided to eschew their lengthy musical explorations in favour of catchy hits, bending with the times, and also because I find it difficult to relate to Pink, the central character of Roger Waters’ rock opera who simply finds things to moan about the whole time. The album doesn’t present any sort of solution or reprieve and is just an endless list of problems that Pink has or hallucinates about. And, like many other double albums, there’s simply not enough ‘quality’ music to justify four sides of vinyl; there’s probably only about 30-40 minutes of it which I dig.

Nevertheless, I picked up this set to reassess The Wall and I was surprised to find that I enjoyed a few of the tracks in the album’s final act, which I hadn’t appreciated before, such as the suitably complex Waiting for the Worms or Malcolm McDowell’s inflection on The Trial. Lastly, I was more clearly able to hear the lyrics on the closing Outside the Wall on this version than on the original, although I’m not quite sure how much that added to my appreciation of the album.

Another unexpected pleasure was hearing so many late musicians come back to life. Before I discovered that Back Against the Wall was produced in 2005, the album felt oddly untethered to any specific era. It’s strange that the press release celebrates the combined talents of artists that have been dead for many years without mentioning when the album was recorded. All the same, hearing Keith Emerson, Alan White, Chris Squire and John Wetton magically brought back to life gave me a warm feeling inside.

Unusually, this set places Back Against the Wall before Animals Reimagined, which is the correct chronological order for the tribute albums, but it doesn’t follow Shining On’s precedent of putting the discs in the order of when the original albums were released. Perhaps they’re trying to save the best for last, as Animals certainly feels like the pudding we were promised after we ate our meat (i.e. The Wall). It’s bizarre that my favourite and least favourite of Pink Floyd’s ‘classic era’ albums were released so close to each other, as the transition from the full prog of Animals to the tentative art rock of The Wall is a jarring departure.

Now, I won’t go into full detail about Animals Reimagined which I already reviewed here, but I will mention how it felt to hear these tracks some three years later. The light introductory Pigs on the Wing was softer and more beautiful than I’d originally remembered. Jordan Rudess truly nailed his part on the epic Dogs while James LaBrie brought some Dream Theater familiarity on Pigs (Three Different Ones).

And then, of course… the trainwreck disaster that is Sheep. In August 2023, I confidently stated “I will almost certainly never listen to Sheep again.” Well, I said ‘almost’, didn’t I? This embarrassment of a cover should have been revamped for this version, and I’m a little surprised that any self-respecting label would want to reissue such rubbish. If you accept it for the chaos that it is, it can be a somewhat fun ride, but it doesn’t come near to the splendour of the original tune.

And the final insult is closing Pigs on the Wing (Part Two) where Glass Hammer turned Yes vocalist Jon Davison was clearly not informed which version of the song he was supposed to sing, as he sings the lyrics to (Part One). I said it before, but I’ll say it again: this is evidence of what a slapdash project this was, where blatant errors weren’t heard and corrected before the release. It somehow seems even more egregious that Lemon could be inclined to re-release the album again with the errors still there.

If the allure of these tribute albums is the overwhelming mass of talent involved on each track (it’s hard not to be wowed by it), then try and divorce yourself from the notion that Sherwood has somehow managed to gather them in the same room like Bob Geldof did with Band Aid. These records are more of a result of computer jiggery-pokery than actual artistic collaboration. On a few occasions, Sherwood gets close to capturing the brilliance of the original records, but the uncanny sense that the musicians can’t actually hear each other or break from a rigid pre-determined structure never leaves. I was much more intrigued and fulfilled by the Beatles covers box sets where the artists would actually change and adapt the work to their individual style, something that seems impossible in Sherwood’s tribute universe.

TRACK LISTING
Disc One: Back Against the Wall – A Tribute to Pink Floyd
01. In the Flesh? – feat. Adrian Belew, Alan White & Steve Porcaro (3:19)
02. The Thin Ice – feat. Ian Anderson & Tony Levin (2:29)
03. Another Brick in the Wall (Part One) – feat. Steve Morse & Billy Sherwood (3:14)
04. The Happiest Days of Our Lives – feat. Billy Sherwood & Vinnie Colaiuta (1:42)
05. Another Brick in the Wall (Part Two) – feat. Fee Waybill, Ronnie Montrose & Mike Porcaro (4:02)
06. Mother – feat. John Wetton, Adrian Belew & Alan White (5:58)
07. Goodbye Blue Sky – feat. Steve Howe & Billy Sherwood (2:44)
08. Empty Spaces – feat. Billy Sherwood & Robby Krieger (2:08)
09. Young Lust – feat. Glenn Hughes (4:18)
10. One of My Turns – feat. Tommy Shaw (3:34)
11. Don’t Leave Me Now – feat. Tommy Shaw & Robby Krieger (4:08)
12. Another Brick in the Wall (Part Three) – feat. Steve Lukather & Tony Levin (1:38)
13. Goodbye Cruel World – feat. Billy Sherwood & Tony Levin (1:00)

Time – 40:14

Disc Two: Back Against the Wall – A Tribute to Pink Floyd
01. Hey You – feat. John Wetton, Steve Lukather, Tommy Shaw & Alan White (4:43)
02. Is There Anybody Out There? – feat. Adrian Belew & Billy Sherwood (2:39)
03. Nobody Home – feat. Rick Wakeman (3:10)
04. Vera – feat. Tommy Shaw & Steve Howe (1:22)
05. Bring the Boys Back Home – feat. Billy Sherwood & Jay Schellen (1:04)
06. Comfortably Numb – feat. Chris Squire & Alan White (6:51)
07. The Show Must Go On – feat. Adrian Belew & Vinnie Colaiuta (1:39)
08. In the Flesh – feat. Billy Sherwood, Steve Porcaro & Vinnie Colaiuta (4:19)
09. Run Like Hell – feat. Jason Chefe, Dweezil Zappa & Tony Kaye (5:08)
10. Waiting for the Worms – feat. Billy Sherwood, Tony Levin & Vinnie Colaiuta (3:59)
11. Stop – feat. Billy Sherwood (0:33)
12. The Trial – feat. Malcolm McDowell (5:19)
13. Outside the Wall – feat. Billy Sherwood (1:46)

Time – 42:32

Disc Three: Animals Reimagined
01. Pigs on the Wing (Part One) – Nick van Eede (Cutting Crew) & Martin Barre (Jethro Tull) (1:53)
02. Dogs – Graham Bonnet (Rainbow), Vinnie Moore (UFO), Kasim Sulton (Utopia), Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater) & Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson) (16:59)
03. Pigs (Three Different Ones) – James LaBrie (Dream Theater), Al Di Meola, Joe Bouchard (Blue Öyster Cult), Patrick Moraz (The Moody Blues) & Billy Cobham (Mahavishnu Orchestra) (11:32)
04. Sheep – Arthur Brown, Rick Wakeman (Yes), Jan Akkerman (Focus), David J. (Bauhaus) & Carmine Appice (Cactus/Vanilla Fudge) (10:24)
05. Pigs on the Wing (Part Two) – Jon Davison (lead vocalist for Yes), Albert Lee & Billy Sherwood (Yes) (1:38)

Time – 42:26

Total Time – 2:05:12

ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: Cherry Red Records | Lemon
Catalogue#: CDLEM3BX268
Date of Release: 24^th April 2026

LINKS
Animals Against The Wall – Info at Cherry Red Records