The Animals - Retrospective
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Free Music Notes for Retrospective
Free Music Review: You Only Need the First 2/3 of This Album
Hit: 4 Stars
As other reviewers correctly point out, the SACD sound in incredible, even on conventional old CD players. In addition, the Digipak style packaging is handsome, stylish, and nicely understated. The liner notes are quite fine as well.
Okay, what about the songs themselves, you ask? As widely accepted, the first (pre-psychedelic) 2/3 is absolutely stunning. For my money, these clutch of early singles, from the riveting and monumental "HOTRS" to the exquisite pop of "Help Me Girl" equal if not surpass the best early work of the Stones, The Who, Yardbirds, Zombies, Kinks, and other R&B influenced British Invasion bands. Unfortunately, a deficient quantity of great early material (which is tied in with their virtually nonexistent songwriting ability) doomed The Animals to an early grave.
By Track 15 ("When I Was Young"), Eric Burdon had moved to the west coast, assembled a new band and commenced the obligatory attempt at psychedelic pop rock. Though not quite disastarous, this material almost completely replaces the raw whiskey and cigarette grit of The Animals' early stuff with saccharine, cringe-inducing, and ultimately woefully dated odes to the hippy dippy love fest that was late-'60s San Francisco scene. Again, this is not a total disaster, as "Anything" is suprisingly delicate and endearing and the baffling "Sky Pilot" manages to squeeze a bit of emotional grit and interesting fuzzy guitar out of inferior material.
The final track of the retrospective,the Eric Burdon and War hit "Spill the Wine," though enjoyable, smacks of predatory marketing in an attempt to lure in those casual listeners who really only want this song, "HOTRS" and maybe 'We Gotta Get Out of This Place."
In short, then, 5 stars for the first 2/3 and maybe 2 stars for the last 1/3.
Free Music Review: A very good retrospective!!
Hit: 4 Stars
I was looking for a good retrospective of the ANIMALS when I ran across this CD. Of course I was familiar with HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN, DONT LET ME BE MISUNDERSTOOD, and WE GOTTA GET OUT OF THIS PLACE. When I put this disc in my player, was I in for a real surprise. I love the early ROLLING STONES albums, the real blusey type early works, and when I heard BOOM BOOM, IM CRYING, BRING IT ON HOME TO ME, GOONA SEND YOU BACK TO WALKER, I was blown away. The music has feeling and the music moves you, something that is missing with the music scene today. Thats one reason I am listening to so much early rock lately. Of the 22 tracks on this disc, I dont think I skipped over any of the first 13 songs or so. Towards the end the disc kind of winds down energy wise, but SPIIL THE WINE helps to end the disc on a high note. I am very glad that I decided to add this disc to my collection.Free Music Review: All the hits, but too much mono
Hit: 4 Stars
I share the enthusiasm of the other reviewers over the release of all these great hits on one SACD. I was in high school when the British invasion was in its prime, and these songs are part of the soundtrack of my youth. But as great as the SACD sound is, many of the tracks here are in mono. I know there were stereo versions of most of the mono tracks here, and for Abkco to deliver these tracks in mono, with no real explanation as to why, is a gross mistake. On those tracks presented here in stereo, the sound is phenomenal. I highly recommend "Sky Pilot" as perhaps the best sounding track here. I urge all labels, which actively reissue oldies on CD, to go to hybrid SACD for these albums, whether they spotlight a specific group, or compile hits from various artists. Free Music Review: This collection has all of the chart singles by the Animals
Hit: 5 Stars
There are so many greatest hits collections of the best of the Animals that at first glance "Retrospective" just seems like the latest in a long line of such albums going back to ABKCO's 1966 collection of "The Best of the Animals." A reasonable person could be content as long as their CD has "House of the Rising Sun," "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," and "We've Got to Get Out of This Place." But for fans who see the Animals as the second best English R&B group of the British Invasion after the Rolling Stones, this 22-track collection deserves prime consideration if no other reason than all of the tracks come from the ABKCO masters and utilize Direct Stream Digital (which is what ABKCO successfully used in the Rolling Stones albums reissued in 2003). Yes, it is a pain when you get albums and then a few years later they are digitally remastered or whatever to make them sound even better than before, but maybe your dog will eat your Animals CD or you will lend it to a friend who never returns anything and you will need a new one, which will justify your picking up "Retrospective."
Of course the Animals were more than their three greatest hits (but those are three really good songs for one group to have recorded), and "Retrospective" is a reminder of that. They had "Baby Let Me Take You Home" (#21 in the U.K.) before "House of the Rising Sun" hit #1 in the U.S., and while Eric Burdon was always the group's front man it is Hilton Valentine's guitar riff and Alan Price's organ playing that really makes that song work. In terms of U.S. chart success the group had "I'm Crying" (#19) in 1964 and then in 1965, "Boom Boom" (#43), "Bring It On Home to Me" (#32), "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" (#15), and "We've Got to Get Out of This Place" (#13), which in this collection is the original U.S. single version. The follow year they charted "Don't Bring Me Down" (#12), "Help Me Girl" (#29), "Inside-Looking Out" (#34), "It's My Life" (#23), and "See See Ryder" (#10).
By 1967 Eric Burdon & the Animals were clearly into their psychadelic phase (if this were an LP you would think it was time to flip over to the B Side). "San Fransiscan Nights" (#9) was the last Top Ten hit for the Animals, followed by "When I Was Young" (#15), and then in 1968 "Anything" (#80), "Monterey" (#15), and "Sky Pilot (Part One)" (#14), and "White Houses" (#67). The album ends with a radio edit of "Spill the Wine" as a sort of musical answer to the question, "Whatever happened to Eric Burdon?" after the group essentially broke up in 1969. So, overall, "Retrospective" does have all of the group's hits, at least those defined by making the Billboard singles chart, which explains why I have started listening to more of their songs than the big three.
Free Music Review: They did it right this time
Hit: 5 Stars
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This includes almost all my favorite tracks from my two favorite Animal CDs that I've been listening to for years. "The Singles Plus" (EMI import from 1990) that had the original member lineup, and "The Best Of Eric Burdon & The Animals, 1966-1968" (a domestic Polydor release from 1991) that was Eric's backing band after the original members broke up.
In fact, if I was to burn a CD-R of my favorite tracks from both of these CDs, the result would be this wonderful SACD hybrid from Abkco. The only thing missing is "Dimples" from "The Singles Plus" and "Good Times" from "The Best Of...1966-68". Otherwise, I'd be perfect.
Recommended. Check it out.
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