Artist...............: The Animals
Album................: The Complete French CD EP 1964-1967
Genre................: Blues Rock
Source...............: Cd
Year.................: 2003
Ripper...............: Exact Audio Copy
Codec................: Ape
Information..........: TntVillage
Covers...............: Front
Total Size...........: 734 Mb
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Rewiev
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This may seem like a strange way to listen to a group's legacy, 42 songs on 11 CD platters in a box. It is a
bit pricey, as well, but going up four songs at a time with the Animals sort of makes sense, at least as far
as distilling down their most successful and interesting work. The group never quite got the hang of making
successful albums; that doesn't mean that they didn't do some very good ones, including their two for EMI,
but their 12" platter sales never remotely matched the popularity of their nine hit singles from 1964
through 1966. Their EPs were a different matter -- while the group strained in the studio to assemble 40
minutes of attractive listening, their songs made great four-track platters. In England, they issued five
extended-play singles, while in France the group saw twice that many issued in their name, both by EMI
Records and the Barclay label. The 11 discs in this box (counting the bonus CD single of "San Franciscan
Nights" b/w "Good Times") make up their French EP output across three years, each song remastered in state-
of-the-art, 24-bit digital audio and sounding most impressive. Starting with The Animals, containing "House
of the Rising Sun," "Talkin' About You" (the official "short" edit), "Gonna Send You Back to Walker," and
"Baby Let Me Take You Home," there's a good cross-section of the best work out of just about every group of
recording sessions the band ever had -- they never knew how to program an album for mass appeal (especially
as they couldn't include any singles on them). The EMI sides are a match in fidelity to the sound on the 24
-bit Japanese remasters of the two EMI albums, but the box continues on up past that point to their brief
stay with England's Decca Records and Burdon's closing out of the Animals name and eventual formation of
Eric Burdon & the Animals. All of the EMI material, and even a major chunk of the Decca-recorded sides (now
owned by B&C Recordings), was upgraded elsewhere by 2003, but not the MCA-owned sides such as "Hey Gyp,"
"When I Was Young," the mastering of which here makes the quality on Polygram's Best of Eric Burdon & the
Animals, 1966-1968 sound like it's mastered off of 45s. There is one genuine obscurity, "Ain't That So,"
from their early psychedelic period. The artwork on the individual sleeves is also more interesting than the
images on the jackets of either of their EMI LPs, at least until 1966, when the group's lineup became very
fluid and Burdon became the focus of the graphics -- and one also gets a good picture of the 1967-vintage
group on the bonus disc sleeve.
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Tracklist
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disc 1
01. The House Of The Rising Sun
02. Talkin' About You (French EP version)
03. Donna Send You Back To Walker
04. Baby, Let Me Take You Home
Disc 2
01. I'm Crying
02. Take It Easy
03. She Said Yeah
04. I'm In Love Again
disc 3
01. Boom Boom
02. Club-A-Gogo
03. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
04. Roadrunner
disc 4
01. Bring It On Home To Me
02. Hallelujah! I Love Her So
03. For Miss Caulker
04. Mess Around
disc 5
01. We've Gotta Out Of This Place
02. I Can't Believe It
03. I Ain't Got You
04. How You've Changed
disc 6
01. It's My Life
02. Believe To My Soul
03. I'm Going To Change The World
04. Let The Good Times Roll
disc 7
01. Inside Looking Out
02. That's All I Am To You
03. She'll Return It
04. Outcast
disc 8
01. Don't Bring Me Down
02. Cheating
03. What Am I Living For
04. I Put A Spell On You
disc 9
01. See see rider
02. Mama told me not to come
03. Help me girl
04. That ain't where it's at
disc 10
01. Hey Gyp
02. In The Night
03. When I Was Young
04. Ain't That So
Bonus disc
01. San Francisco Nights
02. Good Times