Search - Animals :: Retrospective

This is the one you want!

Scott Ericson | Gibsonia, PA United States | 08/01/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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!

"

This collection has all of the chart singles by the Animals

Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 02/06/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Be careful... SACD layer is gone!

RocknRoll Always | Wash DC | 07/04/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"The album "Restrospective" is NOT an SACD anymore! However the mfr Abkco has tried to "hide" that fact by not changing the cover and/or even the Part Number from when it WAS an SACD. As many know, record companies have spent large $$$ to remaster records for SACD high-def format, which was introduced around 2002. Unfortunately, due to slow sales they are no longer promoting this format, and Abkco took the dis-ingenuous step of deleting the SACD-layer from this formally Hybrid disc after just one year. Since about 2005, when you buy this (as well as Abkco's Stones discs) all you'll get is CD layer, as they've downgraded these products without telling buyers. A bad business practice for sure! Last, this record IS remastered so its CD sound is probably better than other Animals discs, but don't expect SACD (for that you need to find one produced from 2004-2005 on Ebay perhaps)."