Animalism [Original recording remastered, Original recording reissued]

The Animals | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 20, 2006)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered, Original recording reissued
• Label: Hip-O Select
• ASIN: B000EEYCCO
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #150,262 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

With Burdon at the height of his soul-shouting game, Valentine playing his hottest fuzz guitar and the band mixing up a perfect batch of covers and originals, this 1966 LP was the Animals at their all-time best. Here are its 12 tracks plus four stereo versions from the U.S. release and nine other bonus cuts: Outcast; Maudie; Gin House Blues; I Put a Spell on You; Clapping ; the U.S. hits See See Rider; Boom Boom; Help Me Girl; Inside Looking Out , and more! --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's Been a Long Wait, But Worth It., March 10, 2006

By 

Eliminator Man (Plymouth, MN) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Animalism (Audio CD)

I've been waiting a long time for this reissue. I'm 57 and bought the LP when it came out. I've wanted to upgrade this one to cd for a long time. It starts a little slow, but picks up steam. Great vocals by Eric and some great guitar by Hilton Valentine similar in style to his work on Animalization, particularly CC Rider, which had a nice solo. He does some nice stuff here particularly on the slow blues. He's always been under appreciated compared to the Yardbird guitarists, but here he puts out work as good as anything they were doing back then. This is a great group of songs and performances, unique in the Animal's canon. Get it while you can. I got it very promptly from Hip-O.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the Animals' Best Albums, December 14, 2007

By 

R. A. Burke "Librarian" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Animalism (Audio CD)

Animalism offers no specials or tunes that didn't make the cut the first time around and the album's length is just a bit more than 43 minutes or so. And you won't find "House of the Rising Sun," "We Gotta Get Out of This Place," "It's My Life," or any of the other well-known Animals' hits on it. So why add it to your collection? For the simple reason that this is one of the most interesting and coherent albums the Animals ever made and also because, as an earlier reviewer noted, it gives Hilton Valentine a chance to show off his talents as a lead guitarist. With keyboardist Alan Price and drummer John Steel leaving the group, Dave Rowberry took over on piano and organ and Barry Jenkins came in as drummer and the group sound changed. Rowberry's organ playing is somewhat more jazzy and laid back than Alan Price's massive R and B and gospel influenced keyboard work. The new group sound comes off very effectively on this album and it's really great that Hip-O-Select has made this recording available on CD. Although there aren't any hit singles on Animalism, there are quite a few highlights especially for blues lovers. For my money, the two best numbers are "Smoke Stack Lightning" (a wonderful rave-up of the old Howlin' Wolf tune) and "Going Down Slow" (an incredible guitar workout by Hilton Valentine). Eric Burdon more than does justice to B.B. King's "Rock Me Baby." It's cool to hear Frank Zappa's guitar work on "All Night Long." Unless I'm mistaken, I think he also plays on The Animals' definitive version of "The Other Side of This Life." Speaking of definitive versions, you won't go wrong with The Animals' take on Donovan's "Hey Gyp" with Barry Jenkins' drumming being a particular highlight. "Outcast" is an interesting cut as well. To these ears, it sounds like the closest Eric Burdon ever came to going the Motown route. Overall, I give Animalism 4 out of 5 stars: as with many albums from this period, there are a couple of throwaway numbers. Bottom line: if you're a fan of Eric Burdon or the Animals, you definitely need to have Animalism in your collection.

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Track Listing, January 27, 2007

By 

jonifan "jonifan" (AURORA, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Animalism (Audio CD)

1. All Night Long
2. Shake
3. The Other Side Of This Life
4. Rock Me Baby
5. Lucille
6. Smoke Stack Lightning
7. Hey Gyp
8. Hit The Road, Jack
9. Outcast
10. Louisana Blues
11. That's All I Am To You
12. Going Down Slow