The Animals House

This double-disc, 41-track collection does what the title promises. It runs through the Animals' – and the subsequent Eric Burdon & the Animals' – singles, A- and B-sides from March 1964's "Baby Let Me Take You Home" till January 1969's cover of "Ring of Fire." By representing both the early- and late-'60s Animals incarnations, it's a relatively comprehensive summation of the band, at least as embodied by their singles. It's not complete since there is nothing from the band's excellent 1977 reunion album Before We Were So Rudely Interrupted. Also, the dreadful 1983 second reunion track "The Night" is incongruously and non-chronologically tacked on as the last cut of the first disc, making the omission of Rudely material that much more frustrating.

Sidestepping the horrendous title, Gratefully Dead 1964-1968, it's nice to see an Animals compilation that digs a bit deeper into their catalog, album tracks, B-sides, and curios, as opposed to rehashing the same old hits ad nauseam. The first ten tracks are mainly covers of blues and R&B tunes that were staples in the early Animals repertoire circa 1964 to 1966, such as "Dimples," "Bright Lights Big City," "Talkin' 'Bout You," and "Smokestack Lightning." The remaining 11 tracks from 1967 and 1968 are credited to the second lineup of the band now called Eric Burdon & the Animals, who plunge into psychedelic blues by way of bizarre tunes such as "Gratefully Dead," "It's All Meat" (which is a sped-up "Spoonful"), "Closer to the Truth," "Year of the Guru," and "White Houses."

The Most of Animals or The Most of The Animals is the title of a number of different compilation albums by Newcastle upon Tyne blues rock group The Animals. Although track listing varies, all feature only songs from 1964 and 1965. The title is derived from the name of their then producer Mickie Most. The first album was released in 1966 by Columbia (SX 6035). Most of the material had not featured on either of their previous two UK LPs. The album charted at #4 - their highest position so far on the UK album chart (both previous LPs having peaked at #6). It was their final album for EMI-owned Columbia before moving to Decca.

The Most of Animals or The Most of The Animals is the title of a number of different compilation albums by Newcastle upon Tyne blues rock group The Animals. Although track listing varies, all feature only songs from 1964 and 1965. The title is derived from the name of their then producer Mickie Most. The first album was released in 1966 by Columbia (SX 6035). Most of the material had not featured on either of their previous two UK LPs. The album charted at #4 - their highest position so far on the UK album chart (both previous LPs having peaked at #6). It was their final album for EMI-owned Columbia before moving to Decca.