Retrospective

The Animals | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 20, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Abkco
• ASIN: B0002IQABI
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,634 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #28 in Music > Classic Rock > Psychedelic Rock
  • #33 in Music > Classic Rock > British Invasion
  • #44 in Music > Rock > Oldies & Retro

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The 22 tracks on Retrospective deftly chronicle the best years of the Animals, who were far and away the grittiest band in the British Invasion of the mid-1960s. Eric Burdon's magnificently raw vocals and the stabbing chords of Alan Price's Vox Continental organ gave their covers of American blues and R&B classic such as Sam Cooke's "Bring it on Home" and John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom" an authenticity that no other British groups could match. Their rough sound also gave songs like "Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" and "We've Got to Get of This Place" a real sense of rage and menace. By 1967 Burdon was the only remaining original member and he formed a new band that eschewed the blues and R&B of his early years in Newcastle in favor of a psychedelic, San Francisco-influenced sound. Songs like "When I Was Young" showed he had a real gift for the type of personal songwriting that was becoming popular in the late 1960s while the lyrically obscure "San Franciscan Nights" and "Sky Pilot" suggested he spent too much time hanging out with hippies. Even when they stumbled, the Animals were interesting, and when they hit the mark, they were as good as any band from the British Invasion. --Michael John Simmons

Product Description

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: ANIMALS
Title: RETROSPECTIVE
Street Release Date: 07/20/2004
Domestic
Genre: OLDIES

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

116 of 118 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the one you want!, August 1, 2004

By 

Scott Ericson "Music Sojourn" (Gibsonia, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Retrospective (Audio CD)

For those who have suffered through not so great to just plain terrible compilations (including some of those old LPs with almost unrecognizable versions of the old Animals standards) there is finally a compilation that you can trust, and is well done, plus pretty comprehensive. Most of the debate has been on the early songs, and "We've Gotta Get Out Of This Place" in particular. This IS the US version of that song (with the lyric "My Little Girl You're So Young and Pretty"). All of the other early singles check out pretty much right in line with the times on the original MGM label 45 rpm records, with one (good) exception: "House of the Rising Sun." This CD is an ABKCO release, and they also re-released most (if not all) of the early Animals 45's sometime in the 70's or 80's on light blue abkco labels. "House of the Rising Sun" came back there as the UK single version (4:18) with the long organ solo and ending intact (House also charted two additional times in the UK in 1972 and 1982). The original US MGM single (K13264) and radio play version chopped out most of the organ solo plus faded out the end before the final verse for a total time of 2:58. The playing time of 'House' on this CD is 4:31 (the song is exact, the 45 rpm disc just tracks 13 seconds faster). I think most fans prefer the "full length" version as presented here, but for the adamant (US) original singles collector, you now know.

I'm not as familiar with the Eric Burdon & War era singles (except to note that "Sky Pilot" is the full 7 minute version, and for the 45 single, the song was split into part 1 on one side and part 2 on the other), so hopefully someone else will comment on that.

This is a great collection, get it and enjoy!

90 of 94 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This collection has all of the chart singles by the Animals, February 6, 2005

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Retrospective (Audio CD)

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.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Retrospective The Animals, November 24, 2004

By 

Kevin J. Coffield "The Rock Fossil" (Prospect, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Retrospective (Audio CD)

Okay, first off I remember the British Invasion. Guess that makes me at least as old as dirt! This is a great album! One of the biggest pro's for the album is that it's done sequentially, so you can follow the change in sound The Animals created from their 1st hit all the way through and it's the first cd to include "Spill the Wine" (E.B. & War) as part of the package, which I though was about time! The only nit I have is the last song The Animals put out as a single (The Night) was not included as worthy of listening to. Otherwise, if you're as old as I am and you want all the singles, or if you're new to The Animals and looking for a good place to start, this cd is it! Let me put it this way, this cd is so good, I'm getting another copy for another rock fossil I know!