Customer Reviews

Before We Were So Rude (Dig)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of the best albums by the Animals. Burdon's singing is exceptional. The keyboard work is fantastic, as are the other instruments. However, the CD is defective. There is noticeable distortion in "Please Send Me Someone" and in "The Fool." It sounds like a bad master tape. I compared it to a vinyl copy and the vinyl does not have this distortion. But this CD is better than no CD. Animals fans have waited so long for this album to be put on CD, I would recommend it even with the distortion.

I like so much this recording that my vinyl copy is almost worn out. It took more than 20 years to get the CD re-issue released. It is one of the most under-rated recordings in the History of Rock and one of the best recordings by the band, in spite of having been made more than 10 years after the original line-up broke down. As in the previous albums by The Animals, most of the songs are covers and only one song has been written by the band. However, and as they did before, the covered songs are completely recreated, till the extent that may be listen to as if they were new songs. For instance, Dylan's "It's All Over Now Baby Blue" is sung by Eric Burdon with such a feeling, and backed by a terrific piano comping and solo by Alan Price that reminds me the work they did on "The House of The Rising Sun", also inspired by Bob Dylan's first album. There are a few differences on this recording, compered to the previous albums: the band does not sound as they did in the 60's, they sound pretty much better in terms of record production, credited to the bass player Chas Chandler, without loosing that live recording feeling they have in their 60's albums, which doesn't happen with "Ark", the last official studio recording by the band. Another difference in terms of music is that they approach styles they never did before, such as Jimmy Cliff's "Many Rivers To Cross". There are some great out-takes from this recording, available in the collector market, which should have been included on this re-issue, such as Lennon/McCartney's "Let It Be". Eventually, a recording that is a must, not only for The Animals fans, but also for all Classic Rock, Blues and R&B lovers.

I have this album on Vinyl but, since it's in England and I'm in Japan, I thought I'd add it to my CD collection too. It's been a while since I lisented to it (maybe 8/9 years) and it was with new ears that I listened this time round. Seems even better than before. The songs are not so gutsy as the earlier Animals turnouts but I think it just reflects how the band members had mellowed by this time. Having been off doing their own things for 11 years or so they came back a little wiser, a little more laid back and self satisfied perhaps. Probably they weren't trying to make a point or prove anything with this album - they'd already done all that - and just wanted to blow the dust off a bit. I think the beauty of this album lies in the fact that the material is pretty simple and, as such, helps accentuate the genius of Alan Price's keyboards, the subtlety and finesse of Hilton Valentine's guitar work (there's some nice riffs and licks in there), the burning power of Burdon's voice, the simple yet driving base of Chandler and the earthy percussion of Steele. They get back to their bluesier and gutsier roots with a few numbers, such as 'fire on the sun', 'brother bill', 'just a little bit' and my favourite, 'the fool'. There are powerful renditions of classics - 'many rivers to cross' and Bob Dylan's unforgettable 'it's all over now, baby blue'. On these, and 'please send me someone to love', Eric Burdon's voice is at its most crystaline and gut tugging. There are a couple of songs that aren't bad but they don't grab me so much - 'riverside county' and 'as the crow flies'. Ok, but just as fillers. As a band revival album I reckon this one of the better attempts - just to say 'we're still around and we can still rock if we want'. Unfortunately, the music scene and attitudes in the UK (and the world) had changed by 1977 and this album didn't really get the acclaim that it should have, and kind of got buried and forgotten quite quickly. Shame. I think it has a kind of subtle yet solid, almost legendary sound and should be remembered along with the earlier material the band produced. Their later album 'Ark', which they made in 1983, doesn't have the same impact (aside from a few songs it doesn't really say 'we're the Animals at all) but, it's listenable. BWWSRI is well worth adding to your collection.

Recorded in 1977,this album is the essence of the era. I can smell the beer,whiskey and cigarettes as I listen. Music not for a concert hall but a smaller, rowdier environment. Straightforward, not overdubbed, it almost sounds live. Pour a cold one, fire up a smoke. It don't get much better than this.

I actually worked in a record store (remember those?) when this album came out in the late 70s and it sank without a trace. Weird label, no promotion, no tour, no nothing. It's really too bad. Other reviewers are correct in noting that there are a couple of filler tracks, but for the most part this is great stuff, with everyone in fine form and the whole band sounding like they were having a wonderful time. And I just love "Last Clean Shirt," a great cover of a minor European hit which itself was a cover of an even more obscure Redbird Records single.

Ok, this isn't the best stuff the Animals ever put out, but it's an enjoyable, booze-soaked nighttime gig, with classic songs and performances.

Burdon seems to be enjoying himself, wailing through old standards like "Please Give Me Someone to Love," and the Leiber/Stoller classic, "Brother Bill." Great keyboards by Alan Price add to the enjoyment, though this stripped-down set has no organ accompaniment.

If you're a fan, you can't go wrong with this one.

It has been three decades since I had this album in my hands, I bought it blindly, or more correctly deaf-ly, just having read a review by some Stereo Review critic, and by then I knew I disagreed with some critics, but in this case I got a stunnig piece of musicianship, I was totally taken aback, floored, not because this album had nouvelle-cuisine to its cooking, it did not, rather the contrary was true, magnificent playing by old wise musicians, the keyboard work is truly humbling, the guitar is placed within the context of the band, played with quiet, gentle power, the rythm section impecable, with a profound sense of being great, and Eric, oh dear, the voice of a man, a saviour, a gospel and club singer blended salt and pepper, and now thank goodness I can get it¡¡¡¡¡

I wore out a cassette tape back when this came out. Masterpiece. Many Rivers to Cross; as previously noted== simply one of the best recordings of all times. Last Clean Shirt- I thought I was the only one who dug this quirky little ditty. Thanks to the other reviewers for pointing out that it was a minor hit before.

When I was in high school, 86 to 90, there was no barnes and noble, and no internet. I was just starting to get obsessed with the blues, and I was mainly listening to, like three dollar blues compilations I found in gas stations, the odd library *record* surreptitiously trasferred to tape, and whatever I could scrounge from used record stores. I didn't know much about blues, and in my naivete I thought I was discovering a new world. It was all very exciting and heady. I was in a used record store in Grants Pass, Oregon and as I walked in I was hit by a blast of the first track on this album- Last Clean Shirt.....I was blown away. To my ears at the time, it was the meanest and most authentic blues I had ever heard.

Flash forward 14 years. I just listened to the album again, and some of the tracks are quite good. Burdon has a very rich, almost tinny voice, and the playing is pretty good. Sure, its not as revelatory as the best John Lee Hooker or Lightnin Hopkins can offer, but for some white British dudes, its pretty doggone good, especially for 2$ at the used record store!

If you are an Eric Burdon fan, like I am, you have to have everything the guy has ever done so I bought this album when the vinyl version came out and then the cd. I had read,somewhere, that Burdon's talent was always stiffled by the rest of the orginal Animals who were just average musicians. Since this is the orginal line-up I can't agree more. The instrumentation is just adequate and Burdon's voice is on a much higher plane of musicianship and could be so much more if it were not for the background noise produced by by the rest of the Animals. Its seems Burdon progressed so much more as a singer and the rest of the group stopped growing as musicians.The performance on each cut lacks any energy with Burdon doing all the work and the rest just coasting.If you had the ability to just listen to the instrumentation without Burdon's voice you swear it sounded like a group you heard at a Holiday Inn lounge. Their bass player, who discovered and managed Jim Hendrix, produced this album.He should have done a better job and used better muscians to complement Burdon's powerfull voice. Back then, Eric Burdon could easily be persuaded to make some in appropriate choices. This was one of them. However, listening to his voice should be why you buy the album so just dismiss the amateur musicianship and you'll do fine.