Animalism

VINYL FORMAT. During the British rock 'n' roll explosion of the 1960s, numerous bands drew their creative inspiration from America's blues traditions. But no band channeled those influences with more intensity and ferocity than the Animals. Hailing from the gritty working-class environment of Newcastle, the scrappy quintet - driven by frontman Eric Burdon's brooding howl - embodied the darker side of the British Invasion. As was standard practice at the time, the Animals' 60s albums reached American shores in very different form than the versions that were released overseas, with alternate track listings and different cover art. That was the case with the band's 1966 album Animalism, which is widely regarded as the strongest work of the band's career. Not to be confused with a completely different U.K. Animals LP titled Animalisms, the American Animalism represented a major transition for the band, which had recently rebelled against their original producer Mickie Most and against the outside material that they felt misrepresented their raw-nerved essence. The resulting album featured some of the most uncompromising and powerful music of the Animals' storied career. Partially recorded in Los Angeles under the supervision of Frank Zappa, Animalism finds the Animals - original members Burdon, Hilton Valentine (guitar) and Chas Chandler (bass) joined by newer additions Dave Rowberry (keyboards) and Barry Jenkins (drums) - delivering a consistently fierce 12-song set whose highlights include the surging blues anthem "All Night Long," the steamy lowdown "Louisiana Blues," and the garage rock standard "Outcast," along with memorable readings of Sam Cooke's "Shake," Ray Charles' "Hit the Road, Jack," Howlin' Wolf's "Smoke Stack Lightning," and Donovan's "Hey Gyp."