PINK FLOYD Animals SUPERB UK 1977 HARVEST EX+ LP, SUPERB WIDE SPINE COVER/SOUND.

	£		72
	$		95

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Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World (including ALL parts of the USA) £16.50 (£3 per extra record). All boxes signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all, and records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time as most record buyers will already know. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS including full side protection and bubble wrap, the records removed from the covers of course. All this very safe packing means I lose money on every box I post, but safe delivery is, and will always be paramount. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives. Also, I will pay for insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received if possible. PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT send any item, no matter what its value without a Royal Mail or courier tracking number. ALL my items must be signed and trackable to comply with Ebay delivery rules. Please do NOT ask me to make any exceptions to this rule as no country offers 100% reliable service without it.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take longer from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for any small business.

ANY ITEM or ITEMS TO BE PAID WITHIN A MAXIMUM OF 6 DAYS or they will be cancelled – NO EXCEPTIONS.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion, as will any bidder who cancels a bid. Please only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: PINK FLOYD

Album Title: Animals

Producer(s): Pink Floyd

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Pigs on the Wing (1); Dogs.

Side 2: Pigs (three different ones); Sheep; Pigs on the Wing (2).

Label/Format: Harvest, customised examples with matt, fairly smooth surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with only two or three very light spindle marks.

Catalogue Number: SHVL 815

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Lateral Movement (Side-to-Side): Barely a trace.

Weight of this Record: 126 grams.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: The title itself is common enough but the very early pressings in finer conditions are a different matter. I have always found this a difficult title to find with the original thicker spined cover (no bar codes) with little wear or damage. The original inner with the wide top opening recess (later ones were much narrower) with no edge splits or ring wear. Also a record that appears little used and plays very cleanly with hardly anything unwanted. I remember buying a copy on the very first day of issue only to find surface noise and crackle. I was not the only one, several friends had the same experiences and this album is seldom heard devoid of some unwanted sound or noises. This copy plays superbly and was a joy to play-grade – even though not my favourite Pink Floyd album.

Original Year of Release: 1977

Matrix Nos: SHVL 815 A-3U / SHVL 815 B-2U

Mothers / Stampers: 1 HG / 1 OT

Musicians: David Gilmour – lead guitar, lead vocals, rhythm, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, talkbox; Nick Mason – drums, percussion, tape effects; Roger Waters – lead and harmony vocals, acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar on Pigs, tape effects, vocoder, bass guitar; Richard Wright – Hammond organ, electric piano, mini Moog, ARP string synthesiser, piano, clavinet, harmony vocals.

Brief Info: Following the monumental titles that preceded release, this was never going to be an easy task to follow and being totally honest, I was somewhat disappointed when I first bought and heard this album and even to this day it is not one of my favourite Floyd albums. It seems I am in a minority for this opinion, as most of their album ratings put this in the top 5. A testing and difficult album all-round – quiet passages and obviously mass-produced for an expectant market. This one is very well-pressed with matching audio quality, it appears hardly played and overall is one the very cleanest copies I have heard to date. The wide-spine cover also attractive and clean with little wear, most present only light on the edges.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): an unlaminated gatefold format with matt, smooth surfaces. This one has the very wide, thick spine as seen my picture. A heavyweight cover and robust, printed and made in England by Garrod & Lofthouse (the imprint inside the gatefold in tiny type) and has NO bar coding on the back. Includes the original wide recessed opening inner sleeve.

Cover Front: Another famous rock cover, and this front is highly impressive with barely anything to fault. Fresh, clean with lovely deep unfaded colour and no sticker issues or creasing. This front will prove very difficult to find better.

Cover Back: A couple of quite fine surface creases on the top edge, then largely as per the front, the lack of ugly ring wear and rubbing always a major plus on this one and rarely seen as such. Cover-protection means this has hardly been handled and the difference is more than apparent.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Superb with hardly anything of note to fault and as clean and fresh as when issued.

Top Edges: Thick and straight, also flush, flat and parallel – when folded off-square this cover looks particularly bad, but this folded beautifully straight and square. Any rubbing very gentle, little, patchy and light.

Bottom Edges: Similar to above, any rubbing a fraction heavier, but in context, still only light on these storage edges.

Right Edge(s), and Type: The front has a real tucked and folded edge that has barely any hint of wear. The back storage area is clean, sharp with barely any thickening.

Spine and Text: This copy has the very thick robust spine, more often seen compressed and crushed, again this has avoided any of that. Still solidly erect and attractive, even lacking the usual central creasing most acquire over time. The odd small minor rub trace only – again, so many are seen badly worn, faded and tatty – this is superb with the text unworn and the graphic fully and neatly intact as-seen. Both folds are crisp and devoid of scuffing, just one tiny rub on the top towards the bottom.

Corners: Small tip rubs only and avoiding knocks or dinks, that always good news on a cover like this, this notoriously known for intolerant corners (and edges). Better than excellent shape retained.

Cover Summary: A very strong all-round example of this quite unforgiving 1970’s cover, one that will prove difficult to find significantly better. Somewhat ruthless for attracting (sometimes) heavy wear, many are found shabby, ringworn and tired looking with the trademark thick spine crushed and battered. With all the main faces especially in super condition, this attractive example should please many, if not most collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(++): the original format unlined card lyric inner is also superb. This has the correct wide, shaped recessed top opening which is very sharp, unworn or thickened. Both surfaces clean and fresh, appearing hardly handled again. No creasing or rim rubbing, any rim impression gentle and very light. All edges are naturally intact with only a small fine and very light rub trace to one side (NO split, NO repairs). An inner that often does split from record movement, and even brand news ones back in the day were affected, but this one fully and naturally intact. Like the main cover, this will not prove easy to find better.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(+)/(++): a few surfaces marks on the run-in groove on side one (that do nothing, apparently present from new), barely anything at all bar the odd super-fine hairline on the playing area surfaces. A superb visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and solidly pressed. This made more exceptional due to the unforgiving hard card inner sleeve all came in, unlined and never surface-friendly. A copy appearing hardly played on all the evidence with any surface traces very few, ultra light and faint as seen critically under bright light. No penetrating stylus scratches, viewed in average room light, hardly anything even registers on the playing areas. Visually a super record that should please many, if not most collectors.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippets or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing equipment, all listed further down.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This quality album plays up to, and most even above it’s high visual grading with little to fault. Offering strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear – sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed a couple or three gentle ticks on the ‘Pigs on the Wing’, but little else. Overall a very clean pressing with no tracking issues* or inherent pressing noises. Indeed, this is one of cleanest pressed and best sounding copies I have ever heard – the odd blemish is near impossible to avoid as there are some very quiet passages in the typical Pink Floyd style. The copy I purchased new on day of issue back in 1977 did not even come close to this – clearly pressing quality was something of a lottery on a record that was initially mass-produced to meet expected demand. Few available copies will outperform this early first pressing I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been generally well stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this lovely record. It will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2 grams. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

I am one of the most established sellers on Ebay, trading since 2001 and offering the finest records I can find. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty all elements of the items I offer for sale. You may notice I only submit records quite sparingly on Ebay as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – not just bits to guess a grade – visuals alone do not always tell a true story. I will try to mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same – just because an item is rare does not always mean it’s good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are the item being offered with no digital enhancements. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. I hope the item below is to your liking – any questions can be emailed and I will do my best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, major warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 805 Nautilus (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable) with REL subwoofer. All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Nessie vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D7500 DSLR Camera.

PACKING – THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site as will any suspicious bids or bid bid retractions. Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.75

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £1 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £16.50 (£17.50 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I only accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 2 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive – if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund if the item is returned in the same condition is was sent e.g. as per the listing pictures.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT necessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.