Customer Reviews

The Best Of Eric Burdon & The Animals, 1966-1968

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This CD is worth having just for the track SKY PILOT, which is an incredible musical composition. Don't be confused: Sky Pilot is military slang for a chaplain, and this the song is really an anti-war statement. The story is that Eric Burdon wrote this song based on his grandfather's recollections of World War I. Sky Pilot didn't get much radio air play back in the '60's, because it is quite intense, and runs over 7 minutes.

The CD also has "San Francisco", and other great tracks.

By the way, don't buy the other Best of Eric Burdon and the Animals CD, even though it's cheaper. They remastered and messed up some tracks on it.

The version of "Monterey" on this disc is the edited version.The mastering is wildly uneven. I must direct you to the far superior 41 track "Story Of The Animals". It covers all the singles from their beginning to their end.

A lot of great tunes are on this CD. "Don't bring me down" just revs me up every time I hear it. What a great song. However, if you just get this, you are missing a lot of the earlier classic Animals tunes. No Animals collection is complete without tunes like "House of the Rising Sun," "It's My Life," "We've Gotta Get Out of This Place," and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood." Pick up the Abkco collection for those songs.

The Animals are most known for their earlier years of Alan Price, the time of "The House of the Rising Sun" and "We've Gotta Get Out of This Place," but this CD represents an exit from that sound. Instead, the singles and LP tracks included reflect a musical evolution, for The Animals were merely the revolving door Animals; people came and went, except for Eric Burdon, who managed at one point to pull off three LPs in less than one year, during 1968. Not among these three was the earlier psychedelic Winds of Change, represented here by the so-so title cut with Eric's name-dropping and the three beautiful ballads preceding it, among the best material on the CD. The later psychedelic-period numbers "Sky Pilot" and "Monterey" are quite well known, but the still-later "White Houses" is the best post-1967 song, more as a nice piece of music than for Eric's social commentary. Still, "Don't Bring Me Down," the opening track, is special to me. Released in 1966, it is most reminiscent of the original group in grit and texture, reminding us that even as performers move onward the longing for the original sound, that which brought fame, is always there.

These are great songs, no doubt about that. The only problem is the production quality of this CD. Like many CD's that feature older music, the sound is somewhat flat. Just seems to lack some of the musical quality of the vinyl albums. Overall, I'm still happy to have it.

No collection of sixties pop music is quite complete without the work of the Animals, especially (in my humble opinion, the later work including a number of selections contained in this CD. From the big hit "Don't Bring Me Down" to "Help Me Girl", from When I Was Young" to See See Rider", there are a lot of great cuts here. My personal favorites are "Monterey", "San Franciscan Nights", and of course, the mind-blowing "Sky Pilot", an eery psychedilic diatribe against the Vietnam war. Also contained herein is "White Nights" and "Winds of Change". All in all, a great representation of their later work, and one I am glad to have in my collection. Enjoy!

This later incarnation of the Animals is stronger than people realize, and I'm glad to have it in my collection, except for the fact that the sound is just not up to snuff. I have the import "The Complete Animals" which has ALL their earlier stuff, and it sounds fantastic, making this pale in comparasion. There is an import called "Inside Looking Out" which 22 cuts from this era, but I can't find it.

Before listeniong to this all I had heard of The Animals were their earlier stuff. So I figured that I'd try something new and go for their later stuff. I'm very glad I did. This is an excellant record! Stand out tracks are, San Franciscan Nights, Sky Pilot, Good Times, Winds Of Change and When I was Young. The others are basically as good as the tracks mentioned. A fan of the 60's generation would miss out on a lot without this record.

This CD is fantastic! However, if you're looking for "We Gotta Get Out of This Place," "It's My Life," or any of the older tunes, look up "The Animals." "Eric Burdon and the Animals" was essentially a different band that Burdon formed after the original Animals split up in '66.

Maybe not the best Animals compilation,but a good one at that.Total of fifteen tracks,with the better ones being "Don't Bring Me Down"(sure beats any cover version that's been done since then),"Hey Gyp","When I Was Young"(my personal Animals favorite),"San Franciscan Nights","Monterey" and "Sky Pilot".Great British Invasion rock 'n roll to be fully experienced here.Line-up for many of these tunes are Eric Burdon-vocals,John Weider-guitar,Chas Chandler(R.I.P)-bass,Vic Briggs-keyboard and Barry Jenkins-drums.A nice find.