Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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87 of 90 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Animals Are Grrrrrrrreat!, March 7, 2000
Like many early British Invasion bands (the Yardbirds, the Who, Rolling Stones and Them), the original Animals were a hard-driving R&B band featuring the gritty vocals of Eric Burdon and the trademark organ playing of Alan Price.This 15-track collection hits the group's highlights from its two-year stay on Britain's EMI. [Note: Although all the Animals' hits throughout the Sixties were distributed by MGM in America, the band switched labels in the UK to Decca in 1966. That's why the Decca singles "Inside Looking Out" and "Don't Bring Me Down" are not on this set. Also, this album was originally released in February 1966--four months before "Don't Bring Me Down" was even released.] The centerpiece of this collection is Alan Price's four-and-a-half-minute arrangement of "House of the Rising Son," and despite its length shot to the top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. It would be the band's only No. 1 single. Unlike most of the British Invasion bands with lengthy chart careers, the Animals seldom wrote their own material. The only exception is the Burdon-Price collaboration "I'm Crying." For the rest of their material they turned to the likes of John Lee Hooker ("Boom Boom" and "Dimples"), Fats Domino ("I'm in Love Again"), Sam Cooke ("Bring It on Home to Me) and Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil ("We Gotta Get out of This Place") among others. By 1967 the rest of the original Animals were gone. Burdon formed a new version of the Animals and entered his psychedelic phase ("Montery," "Sky Pilot"). But this Abkco release features the original lineup and as such, the group's best material. If you want more of the original band's work, consider Complete Animals. At 40 tracks it includes virtually all of the Animals' first three U.S. albums along with various B-sides and unreleased material. But if you're on a budget, The Best of the Animals will do just fine. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
LAY THE BURDON ON ME, February 14, 2001
I remember the first time I heard the Animals, it was the summer of '66. I was just out of gradeschool and attending a friend's backyard party. Somebody had a copy of "The Best Of The Animals". When they put that record on and "House of the Rising Sun" came out of the loudspeakers I was hooked. I had never heard what you would call rock music before that night. I had only heard top 40 pop and the Beatles before that. But this group was different. This was some seriously good blues based rock and R&B. I didn't know what it was called at the time, I only knew I loved it. I never forgot this album, and when I got old enough and saved a few bucks up, this became one of the first records to start my extensive record collection. And since I've worn out a couple vinyl copies of this, it's nice to finally have the CD version. And it sounds as good to me today as it did 35 years ago. When you have as high a caliber of musicians as these guys were, with a phenominal lead singer who was born to sing the blues, the music is always going to hold up well with time. Besides the popular "Rising Sun" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", most of my favorites by the Animals were written by the old blues greats. I loved their refreshing updates of the John Lee Hooker songs "Dimples" and "Boom Boom". But my favorite cover that the Animals did was Al Kooper's "Bury My Body". That's a great song with a sped up organ line in the middle that reminds a little of the song "Shout". The album closes with "Bring It On Home To Me", a great R&B song written by Sam Cooke. This is just a great album all the way through. It has a lot to offer, and it's a good place to start listening to the Animals.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I'm just a soul who's intentions are good, May 11, 2004
The Animals were one of the best groups of the British Invasion. So why aren't they as highly thought of as, say, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who or The Kinks? Because unlike those other groups, The Animals didn't have a great songwriter within their group. In fact, only one song on this "Best of" was actually written by the group. But regardless of who wrote them, these are great songs. This album (originally released in 1973), features all The Animals chart hits through 1965, plus some well selected album tracks. This is terrific stuff. One thing I need to mention is that, despite the writing credits, "I'm in Love Again" is not the old Fats Domino hit, but is a different song entirely. Also, for those of you who care about such things, this CD is in mono. I highly recommend this CD, especially to fans of the British Invasion.
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