Eric Burdon

Five CD set featuring all of the albums recorded by Eric Burdon & the Animals for the MGM Records label issued between October 1967 and December 1968. Eric Burdon & the Animals came together in December 1966 when the original Animals had ground to a halt. Vocalist Eric Burdon recruited Vic Briggs (guitar, piano), John Weider (guitar, violin, bass), Danny McCulloch (bass) and Barry Jenkins (drums) to form a new group which changed direction away from raucous rhythm and blues and embraced psychedelic rock and the influences of the emerging counter-culture…

Recorded in 1973-1974, Mirage was one of the finest albums of the 1970s by Animals front man Eric Burdon. The soundtrack for a proposed United Artists film with the Vietnam War as its subject matter, the music recorded by Burdon such as Dragon Lady, River of Blood, Mind Arc and Driftin / Geronimos Last Stand was some of the finest of his career. Exploring the genres of rock, psychedelia and African beats, the sessions also saw Burdon record the song Mirage, written by Jimi Hendrix on the night he died. Sadly, first the film and latterly a proposed double album release by Atlantic Records were shelved and the Mirage album and sessions were consigned to the archives.

Sun Secrets is nothing for Eric Burdon (Animals) to be ashamed of artistically. With approximately 24 minutes per side, Sun Secrets is a far cry from The Black Man's Burdon and the rhythms of the group War. As Mountain guitarist Leslie West would do a year after this when he formed the Leslie West Band, Burdon beats him to the punch with a self-titled group that rocks - rocks harder than the Animals, rocks harder than War. It's innovative reinvention, and quite pleasing, not only to hear the three-piece unit blitzing behind the singer as he reinterprets Animals classics like "When I Was Young," "It's My Life," or the Hendrix/Cream riff-laden version of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," but on the instrumental title track as well. The tragedy of it all is that, according to the singer's biography, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood by Eric Burdon with J.Marshall Craig (Thunder's Mouth Press), Burdon did not want this material out…

As the lead singer of the Animals, Eric Burdon was one of the British Invasion's most distinctive vocalists, with a searingly powerful blues-rock voice. When the first lineup of the group fell apart in 1966, Burdon kept the Animals' name going with various players for a few years. Usually billed as Eric Burdon & the Animals, the group was essentially Burdon's vehicle, which he used to purvey a far more psychedelic and less R&B-oriented vision.

The Animals are an English rhythm and blues and rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The band moved to London upon finding fame in 1964. The Animals were known for their gritty, bluesy sound and deep-voiced frontman Eric Burdon, as exemplified by their signature song and transatlantic No. 1 hit single, "House of the Rising Sun", as well as by hits such as "We Gotta Get Out of This Place", "It's My Life", "I'm Crying" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood". The band balanced tough, rock-edged pop singles against rhythm and blues-orientated album material. They were known in the US as part of the British Invasion.

This album was originally recorded in 1982, but not released until 1998 (I think) as 'Nightwinds Dying'. This is another release of the same album. It contains the tremendous studio version of 'Tango', highlight in the bands concerts, plus some (unreleased) other songs. All in all is this a really great rock album! A must for any fan, and perhaps for everyone?