Retrospective

Many people thought the British Invasion was mostly over by the late summer of '64. The last groups seemed to have arrived in May, and though there were still plenty of British hits on the charts and A Hard Days Night's soundtrack songs were all being played on the radio as well, things were quiet. Then came the Animals with The House of the Rising Sun that not only introduced this new group from Newcastle but introduced a whole second wave of British groups that was darker, scruffier and more blues based than the first wave. It included the Kinks, Nashville Teens, Manfred Mann, Honeycombs and Zombies. It was a single like no other: a searing, intense minor key lament that featured a memorable electric guitar opening, pulsing organ and an amazing new instrument in the form of the voice of Eric Burdon. Strong, loud, howling at times, Burdon's delivery was unlike anything heard on Top 40 radio and made their version a definitive classic despite its being sung on the folk circuit by everybody from Joan Baez and Bob Dylan to Woodie Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Andy Griffith. The group's producer, Mickie Most, hadn't even wanted them to record it, much less release it as a single. It was totally counterintuitive to the short, bright thing a single was supposed to be. But it defied expectations and reached #1 for three weeks between Where Did Our Love Go and Oh, Pretty Woman. It seemed to be played constantly and totally dominated the airwaves. It also created a career for the Animals that would last well into 1968 with many changes in personnel and an eventual change of name and style to Eric Burdon & the Animals in 1966. They had a steady stream of hits, though they were generally bigger in the U.K. where they almost always placed in the Top 10 than the U.S. where they most often had to settle for Top 20. The British market generally liked harder-edged songs than the U.S. The Animals weren't even afraid to release straight blues singles like John Lee Hooker's Boom Boom or R&B like Timmy Shaw's (aka Jake Hammond) Gonna Send You Back to Georgia (Walker). ("Walker" always confused me. I thought it was a person but it turns out to be a section of Newcastle). But it was with their big, tuneful but still hard-edged songs that they became a steady presence on pop radio. The Animals were like a good friend who dropped by frequently with a new tune like the plaintive Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, the original Born To Run song We Gotta Get Out of This Place, the assertive It's My Life and the amazingly advanced fuzz guitar of Don't Bring Me Down. Though they never reached the heights of House of the Rising Sun again, they revisited the Top 10 with their upbeat version of See See Rider in the fall of '66. Then due to the gradual parting of the original group members beginning with organist Alan Price in early '65, and drummer John Steel in early '66, Burdon put together a new band, left Mickie Most and signed to Decca in the U.K. (with MGM still releasing in the U.S.). Eric Burdon & the Animals were a whole new thing and just as good as the old group in a different way. From now on Burdon co-wrote most of their material and their style was more current with the changes in popular music in the mid to late 60's. Burdon himself moved to California and immersed himself in everything that was happening there. As a result the songs became more pop like and complex and were given more elaborate production. His lyrics were more timely, from the autobiographical When I was Young to the Summer of Love's San Franciscan Nights and Monterey. Burdon himself turned out to be poet at heart, which really came out in his hit single with War, Spill the Wine. All of this is here along with some outstanding album tracks and B-sides. There's A Girl Named Sandoz (Sandoz? It was the name of the Swiss Laboratory where Albert Hoffman created LSD) so it's pretty clear what that one is about. Then there's the practically miraculous early song, Baby Let Me Take You Home which contains in almost it's complete form the primary sound of many of the garage bands of the mid 60's, at least those which included an organ. (All-guitar bands modeled themselves more on the early Kinks). This disc has been released by ABKCO, Alan Klein's label (now owned by Universal). They always do a great job on their compilations and this one is as good as their others. There are 22 songs lasting 78 minutes, all beautifully taken from the original masters. The sound is excellent. There is a very informative booklet as well. I would have liked to see them include the original American single of House of the Rising Sun (2:58) in addition to the 4:29 U.K. single here but that's just quibbling.

Eric Burdon and the Animals were, and still are, regardless of what some folks think, one of the "supergroups" of the 60's and 70's and part of what is referred to as "The British Invasion", even though at times, they seemed more American than their counterparts. Between Eric's gritty vocals laced with a distinct R&B flavor, and the Animals consummate musicianship, they were perfectly poised to be one of the best bands of the British Invasion! Hit after hit was nothing to the Eric and the Animals and they pulled it off as well as the Stones, the Beatles, or even Zepplin. Between their early work like the classic "House of the Rising Sun" to their epic masterpiece "Sky Pilot" they were in line with the big boys and played the field well. Hitting some trends first, following in the footsteps of others at times as well, they take their place in history with hits like "Don't Bring Me Down", "We Gotta Get Outta This Place", and their tribute to the city of love "San Franciscan Nights" as well as a few others. They have still got the chops and the staying power. Also included on "Retrospective" is the Eric Burdon classic "Spill The WIne (Take That Girl)" that was an experiment with the band WAR who went on to have a fine career of their own. But, made their opening mark with Eric at the helm when he was on leave from the Animals. I am PLEASED it's included here even if it wasn't an 'Animals' hit, it was one of Eric's greats and is rarely included in any other greatest hits or retrospective packages and it takes it's place here without any protest from me but, a definite Thank You! It's long since been one of my favorites by Eric. Since then, Eric Burdon continues to tour, with and without the Animals, but, no one can ever dispute their right to be counted among the Greats! This fine compilation of some of their best tracks is testament to just that fact! Incredibly Re-Mastered for this disc....this is 'the best' across the board sampling of Eric and the Animals available. This IS the one you want.

Good entry into the music of a classic 60s band

This greatest hits retrospective by the Animals and its lead singer Eric Burton is fantastic! One of the great bands that emerged during the British Invasion the Animals were different in their blues style music. Get this cd you will enjoy it!

Another great 60's band. There are only about three songs on the cd that I really like, but they were easily worth the price when considering how good I feel every time I play them.

The Animals don't tend to show up in the most famous bands of the 60s however they were one of the strongest and with a distinct sound. Fans of the period often put them at #4 or #5 of the greatest bands of the 60s. The lead singer is also thought - by many - to be one of the greatest singers in rock history. They have classic songs and some of these you might have heard but not known it was them. If you get the CD you'll likely be transferring many of these songs so you can listen to them on-the-go. The only negative is the CD case didn't hold together, but that's okay as I didn't need it anyway.

Though I'd heard and liked House of the Rising Sun when I was pre-adolescent, it wasn't until the release of Monterey (at which time I was a young teen full-on into the music scene) that The Animals became an integral member of "bands I like". I own a couple of Animals albums on vinyl, including Best of the Animals, but I never owned an Animals album so fairly comprehensive in coverage of the hits as Retrospective is until now. Unlike many of the other top British Invasion bands of the 1960s, the Animals were essentially a singles band that relied on Top 40 airplay to get their sound out to the public. Few people spoke of how great any of their albums were. With one notable exception that I know of, Retrospective contains all charting Animals releases, many of which I had not heard before. My favorites include House of the Rising Sun, Gonna Send You Back to Walker, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, We Gotta Get Out of This Place, the gritty anthem It's My Life, When I Was Young, San Franciscan Nights, the powerful Monterey, the epic Sky Pilot, and White Houses. Though I like Spill the Wine, its not an Animals song and should have been replaced by the omitted River Deep, Mountain High. The CD comes with a useful booklet that contains all pertinent song and album information as well as an interesting history of the band and all of its ups and downs. If you are looking for a "greatest hits" album, and at a fair price, this is the one to get!

Excelente estado

"THE ANIMALS" were certainly one of the best music groups of the 1960's! The selection of "best hits" on this CD are first rate, except for "ANYTHING" with it's grovelling, submissive lyrics of a man totally lost in a love relationship. While some listeners may appreciate this rather pathetic surrender of self, it is my intent to simply skip it, as the other songs more than make up for this gushing abnegation of identity, ostensibly in the name of romance.

De geluidskwaliteit is niet denderend. Misschien naief om te denken. Het is nu eenmaal gemastered toen het gemastered is en ik denk ook niet dat “the Animals” daar destijds heel bezorgd over waren. Prima als CD maar dit had geen SACD hoeven zijn.

Excelente disco, llego al otro día de que lo solicite y en excelente estado

Bellissima raccolta, il suono è migliore rispetto a The complete Animals che possedevo già. Consigliato a tutti gli amanti del Rock Blues british anni 60 che poi, in effetti, é il top del genere. La voce di Eric Burdon e le cover splendide, a partire da the house of the rising sun, sono indimenticabili e indimenticate dopo 50 anni.

An der Songauswahl gibt es nicht viel zu mäkeln. Schade, das wichtige Songs wie Good Times, Ring of Fire, Mama told me not to come und I put a spell on you auf dieser Compilation fehlen. Bedauerlich ist das Fehlen dieser Songs, weil das klangliche Ergebnis des DSD Mastering von Mastermind Bob Ludwig hervorragend gelungen ist. Diese klangliche Qualität erreichen andere Compilationen von den Animals bei weitem nicht. Deshalb ist der Kauf dieser Compilation uneingeschränkt zu empfehlen. Anzumerken ist, das es sich bei der hier beschriebenen Version um eine Audio-CD vom Abkco-Label und nicht um eine SACD handelt. Ob es diese Compilation auch als SACD gibt oder gab, habe ich bisher nicht herausgefunden. Leider sind die Angaben zu den verschiednen Formaten oft unzulänglich bis indiskutabel. Man sehe sich nur den Zusatz hinter dem Albumtitel an (Digital Sound). Was soll uns diese Angabe suggerieren? Nach meiner Meinung ist dieser Zusatz Unsinn und führt in die Irre. Wer dazu eine Information geben kann, möge mir hier bitte antworten.