The Animals Album: “Complete Animals”

First, ignore the oldest, 3-star review here. If this is a 3-star album, then so is BLONDE ON BLONDE.

With just a couple of changes in the development of modern rock, the Animals might be considered one of the ten greatest bands of all time. It is hard today to realize how much the success of the Beatles changed music in general, and the British music scene in particular. In 1963, all the great British bands were cover bands; no band did songs of their own composition. The Beatles themselves, the Stones, The Animals, Manfred Mann, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, the Yardbirds, The Who, all were primarily cover bands. What did they cover? American music, mainly blues, Chuck Berry, R&B, Buddy Holly, some Elvis, and various odds and ends. But none of them were covering their own music. The Beatles, however, shook things up by performing songs that they wrong themselves. By 1964, more and more bands were relying on songs of their own composition. In 1965, and Bob Dylan's HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED, the age of the cover band was over. You either wrote your own material, or you faded away. The history of early British rock can be told in terms of those bands in which a songwriter or writers emerged, and those in which one didn't. Keith Richards and Mick Jagger discovered that they could write, as did Pete Townshend, and Ray Davies of the Kinks. But the Animals, Manfred Mann, the Yardbirds, and John Mayall never developed songwriters, and faded from the scene. The Beatles changed the rules for rock and roll success. In 1963, the rule was that you were a great band if you were a great cover band. In 1965, you had to write your own stuff.

None of this should obscure the fact that The Animals were a flat out great band. True, they did virtually nothing but covers, but they were spectacular covers. All members of the band were superb, but the band centered around the incredible singing of Eric Burdon and the amazing keyboards of the legendary Alan Price. The diminutive Burdon possessed perhaps the finest British Invasion voice excluding Northern Ireland (i.e., Them's Van Morrison). His voice expressed a range of emotion and had a resonance that most of the other singers lacked. And unlike some performers who seemed almost to be doing parodies of the blues classics, Burdon sang them with an honesty and authenticity that is just astonishing. Musically, the Animals were driven far more by keyboards than by guitar, and Alan Price was the driving force in their sound. Switching between organ and piano, Price was without peer as a rock keyboardist until the advent of The Band and before the degradation of the organ by pretentious performers like Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson. No keyboard work in anything by Yes or ELP or ELO can even remotely match the simplicity, passion, and musicianship that one finds in the Animals finest songs.

The songs are great. Many, many American R&B songs from the 1950s, some blues numbers, and some marvelously judicious selections from recent (i.e., in 1964) songwriters, though their greatest hit was a reworking of Leadbelly's version of "The House of the Rising Sun."

There are many compilations of the Animals, but this one is definitely the one to get. Others have only the hits, but the great things about the Animals is that many of their less well known songs are nearly as good as "House of the Rising Sun," "It's My Life," "We Gotta Get Out of this Place," or "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood."

Note: In the Amazon listing, they have Disc 1 and Disc 2 reversed.

There are many Animals compilations out there, some of which are good and others that are awful, but this one is quite possibly the best one. By getting this compilation you are essentially getting the band's first two albums, "The Animals" and "Animal Tracks" and a whole bunch of bonus tracks at a fraction of the cost of getting all the material seperately.

Considering the remastering job is from 1990, the sound quality is impressive. Many other compilations have poorly transferred versions of these songs. The sound quality sets apart the Animals stylistically from their other British counterparts (the Kinks, the Who, the Yardbirds). The vocals and drums are especially clear, while the keyboard parts waver a bit here and there and the guitar is mixed up pretty high in places. Nothing that bothered me, however (I can accept the distortion on the last note of House of the Rising Sun).

The tracks here include every legitimate recording produced by Mickie Most and original keyboard player Alan Price is present on every single track with the exception of "It's My Life" - which is done by a Price-less lineup (no pun intended). Almost every song is a cover version; original material was not the Animals strong suit at this time. Stuff like "Inside Looking Out" and "See See Rider" are not present here because this collection focuses exclusively on the Mickie Most recordings instead of overextending itself by attempting a truly "complete" collection.

Almost immediately after the last session featured on this compilation the band would head for new creative fields with new personnel in tow. Two years later, the Animals would be a completely different band with the exception of singer Eric Burdon. For those who choose to continue the story of the Animals (and you should), track down "Animalisms" ("Animalization" was the US title), and the confusingly titled "Animalism" which is actually a wholly different album featuring new drummer Barry Jenkins. Some of the later material is nearly impossible to find on CD, but it's out there. Hopefully somebody will wise up and give a similar treatment to the later years of the Animals that this compilation has done with the band's first two years.

(Addendum: You get the full length versions of every song. No single-edit hackjobs to be found here!)

A "complete" compilation of the band's Mickie Most productions, from the wild organ-splashed version of John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom" to the superb "I'm Gonna Change The World" (Note: Track 21 on CD-2 is listed as "New Year Radio Spot" but is absent on my copy).

Among the obvious hits, such as "House of the Rising Sun" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", are some rare treasures, including the full-length version of Ray Charles' "Talkin' 'Bout You", Eric Burdon's impassioned reading of another Charles song "I Believe To My Soul", and the Price-Burdon treat "I'm Crying", the 'forgotten' follow-up to "House of the Rising Sun".

While the Animals were not unique among their British contemporaries in capturing the sound and feel of American blues/r'n'b - see early Yardbirds, Rolling Stones and Who, and especially Them - they translated this into an authentic emotional texture to create a hybrid "British Blues" sound worthy of the original purveyors.

The interplay of Eric Burdon's blues-shouting with Alan Price's blues-drenched keyboard playing is startling, evidenced by tracks such as "House of the Rising Sun", "I'm Mad Again", "Bright Lights Big City" and the apochryphal "We've Gotta Get out Of This Place" (originally demo'd by co-composer Barry Mann in an arrangement which sounded more at home with the Top-40 pop stylings of the Hollies or Herman's Hermits than the raw blues power of the Animals).

The 40 tracks on this set (mastered for CD using "No-Noise" remastering, which gives a clean, if flat, sound)are presented in recording-date sequence, from their first blues-based e.p. session in January 1964 to their final Most-produced single in 1965, "It's My Life" bw "I'm Gonna Change the World" .

The Animals would quickly change musical direction after the split with Mickie Most in 1965, covering a broader spectrum of musical styles (and fads) including San Francisco psychedelia ("San Franciscan Nights" "Monterey"), anthemic-rock ("Sky Pilot") and guitar-driven rock ("When I Was Young", "Inside Looking Out").

However, the legacy of Micke Most & the Animals is perfectly captured on this set, and remains an essential, and enduring, snapshot of 60s British rock.

**** 1/2 stars. Remastering needs to eliminate distortion evident on the closing organ passage on "House of the Rising Sun" (eg: deluxe edition of "Who's Next" removed distortion from Roger's Scream on "Won't Get Fooled Again"), and the remastering doesn't quite capture the depth of sound (the grittiness) of the original vinyl recordings.

The Animals were a beloved "alternative" to the Beatles during the first British Invasion. They issued only three American studio LPs in their original configuration with organist Alan Price. This collects all the "hits." But the Animals were also an album band, which gives this compilation its strengths.

Everyone knows the immortal "House of the Rising Sun" & the awesome "We Gotta Get Out of this Place." But you'll dig the rest of this stuff, most of it snappy yet tough R & B. It also includes the hilarious & true "Story of Bo Diddley."

The Animals carried on in this vein for a few albums after Price quit the band. Those cuts, which include "Inside Looking Out," "Hey Gyp" & the Zappa-produced "All Night Long" are well worth seeking out. Then Burdon took complete control of the Animals name & headed for the psychedelic colonies in America. But that's another story & another music.

Bob Rixon, WFMU

Granted, this is much more than a 'greatest hits' package, being everything they recorded wtih Mickie Most. I still think it appeals to anyone who appreciates what the white English boys did to and with American black R&B. Frankly, the Animals were a better, tighter R&B band with a much better vocalist than the Rolling Stones. Alan Price was a master on the organ and their rhythm section really cooked. Valentine, the guitarist, was the weakest link in the chain, but with Price's dazzling organ work, Valentine's job was rhythm work and, for the most part, he held that down adequately.

If you can appreciate 60s British R&B, which was really great, then you'll love this collection. Oh, and the remastering is great, too!