Track Listing

1. House Of The Rising Sun
2. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
3. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
4. Roadrunner
5. Baby Let Me Take You Home
6. Club A Go Go
7. Boom Boom
8. Gonna Send You Back To Walker
9. Dimples
10. I'm Crying
11. Talkin' 'bout You
12. I'm Mad Again
13. I Believe To My Soul
14. I Ain't Got You
15. Bringing It Home To Me
16. It's My Life
17. Bright Lights Big City
18. I'm Gonna Change The World
19. Don't Bring Me Down
20. Inside Looking Out
21. House Of The Rising Sun

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6859 in Music
• Released on: 2000-06-26
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
One of the great British bands of the 1960s, the Animals' star has been eclipsed over the years by the likes of the Rolling Stones, the Who and even the retro cultists' favourites, the Yardbirds. This authoritative Best Of serves as a reminder of just how unfair that is. The Animals caught the spirit of the blues and gave it an English force and feel in a way other, equally reverent bands never quite accomplished. Their version of "We've Gotta Get Out Of This Place" sums up the industrial north of its era as well as any John Braine novel, while "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" is an R&B classic to stand proudly with any of its American inspirations. There's plenty to enjoy in many of the less famous tracks, too--"I'm Crying", "Bright Lights Big City", "Baby Let Me Take You Home", the band's take on John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom". It's true that the Animals never produced the extensive repertoire some of their contemporaries achieved; but that means every bit of their coarse energy has been preserved on this collection. --David Bennun

Customer Reviews

great band, great songs !!!!!
i heard probably their greatest ever song 'house of the rising sun' which gave them a number 1 in england and the USA about a year ago so when i saw the album on sale at amazon i decided to buy it and im glad i did! the animals have a different sound from my other cds which are in my collection including the kinks, led zeppelin, the beatles, the rolling stones and the who but is definetly one of the greatest albums i have ever bought, tracks such as we gotta get outta of this place, its my life, road runner, dimples, dont let be misunderstood and im gonna change the world are great tracks and also boom boom and club a go go tiperfy how great this album actually is!!!! great band! dont hesitate in purchasing this album.

A Great Collection of Animal Tracks.
As it says on the cover this twenty track CD holds all the classic Animal hits. Which is great if thats all you're after.
I found the 24 track Animals Hits and Rarities CD a better option.
It has the same track listing (minus Roadrunner) as this CD but with an extra 5 tracks...

Sixties R+B from Newcastle
The Animals, a group that included Eric Burdon and Alan Price, were the first major pop stars to emerge from Newcastle, a city located about 300 miles north of London, therefore far removed from where most talent scouts were searching. It is fortunate for us all that the Animals were discovered because they recorded some of the best R+B music to come out of the UK in the sixties.

Their biggest hit was House of the rising sun, a re-working of a folk song (apparently inspired by Josh White's version of the song) that gave them a transatlantic number one hit. They had five other top ten UK hits with Mickie Most as their producer, these being I'm crying, Don't let me be misunderstood (a cover of a Nina Simone song), Bring it on home to me (a Sam Cooke cover), We gotta get out of this place (the version included here is the UK version - a markedly different recording was released in America but was unavailable for inclusion in this set) and It's my life.

Apart from their singles, the Animals recorded many other covers including Boom boom, Dimples, I'm mad again (all John Lee Hooker), Talking about you and I believe to my soul (both Ray Charles). These covers clearly demonstrate what some of their main influences were, but they also wrote some of their own songs.

The Animals split with their produce, Mickie Most, and switched to another record label (Decca), where they had some success using the name Eric Burdon and the Animals, including another UK top ten hit (Don't bring me down,) and one that just missed the UK top en (Inside looking out).

All the tracks mentioned so far are included, but thy changed labels again (to MGM). The MGM tracks, notably San Franciscan nights, are not included here. Nevertheless, this is a great introduction to the music of the Animals. You can easily find San Franciscan nights elsewhere.