This album is the first from The Animals after they changed their name to Eric Burdon & The Animals. There is a relatively different lineup altogether compared to their earlier work, and they were now located in California instead of England. Also, this album is more of a psychedelic rock album than the massive blues rock they were initially known for. I’ve been really interested in checking out The Animals recently, but haven’t really checked them out yet, and even though this album seems to be a bit of a departure from their earlier work that got them some notoriety, I’m excited to give this one a listen. With that said, I’m going to jump on into the music.
“Winds Of Change” starts out gently with a sitar followed by some nearly droning vocals and some interesting violin. The fat bass and steady stuttering drums keep the tune gently rolling along nicely. This is definitely psychedelic in nature. There’s some sort of blustering breeze noises cutting through the soundscape, with the sitar sort hooking the song along. I really dig the syncopation in the drums and bass in this one. There’s an interesting, almost folkloric sweetness from the fiddle that makes the tune even more dynamic than it already is. Super interesting introductory tune.
“Poem By The Sea” starts out incredibly nicely from the previous tune, and has a super epic sounding bass line, and the interesting jangling melody nearly subverts expectations from the direction that the bass line might suggest. It’s a super interesting and pretty pleasant tune. There’s some really sweet things going on with the percussion in this one, with crashes of different cymbals and chimes, and nearly sounding like it’s a record skipping for a moment. Wow, the violin at the end is super interesting. Really sweet tune.
“Paint It Black” is the only cover song on the album, and it starts out with the unmistakable melody from The Rolling Stones’ tune, and is rather quickly expanded upon and brought pretty far out from its starting location and gradually starts to come back around with that sort of raga rock fashion that seems to be present with the sitar and melodic movements from the stringed instruments throughout the album so far. I really dig the vocal performance from Burdon, with different accentuations and ad libbed additions to the vocals adding a lot to the chorus of the tune. I really dig the changing guitar work in this one a lot, going from a crunchy gallop to a smooth glide at different parts of the tune. Oh wow, now there’s a bit of a vocal jam only set to sparse and steady drums, seemingly bringing out the darkness of the tune even further. Oh wow, as the tune drops back into place there’s a super tasty psychedelic blues rock jam that happens; really awesome. The bass really chugs along nicely at the end of the tune, and nearly has a bit of a carnivalesque sort of sound and I really dig it. Great cover.
“The Black Plague” seems to carry on from “Paint It Black”, altering the main melody slightly and playing it on an organ, bringing an almost epic sound in combination with the gentle and steady gallop of the earthy acoustic guitar and the straightforward story recitation from Burdon as the main vocals. There’s a really interesting bell that seems to be cued by Burdon’s vocals in a really sweet manner. There are also some background vocals that almost sound like Gregorian chants at times, bringing a sort of dark mysticism to this super interesting piece. There’s a super interesting dark and meditative quality to this tune, which I’m really enjoying. The instrumentation drops from the tune, and it becomes a sort of spoken word poetry/story recitation from Burdon in a super interesting manner. Oh wow, the story from Burdon seems to end and the instrumentation comes back on and very gently relieves a lot of tension during the period that the instrumentation dropped out. Really sweet and interesting piece.
“Yes I Am Experienced” sounds like a hard rocking bluesy psychedelic rock piece right away with some stuttering, syncopated drums and some distorted guitar chords that seem to glide from one to the next, with the bass line gently connecting the guitar and drums really nicely. Oh wow, some strings seem to swell from the background and introduce and really interesting lead guitar line. According to Wikipedia, this tune was written in response to Jimi Hendrix’s “Are You Experienced?”, which only makes this tune that much interesting. There’s an ominous fluctuation from a violin for a moment as the rest of the instrumentation falls out, and then the tune drops back into this hard rockin’ bluesy psychedelic rock tune. Really sweet tune.
“San Franciscan Nights” starts out with some incredibly crunchy electric guitar and some super familiar sounding drums. Oh wow, this tune is pretty sweet, and invites the listener to come out to San Francisco to better understand the tune. After a brief introduction, the tune becomes a super heartfelt, caring tune with some delicate acoustic guitar and some personal sounding drums and big bass that really serves as a great platform for the song. Oh wow, the guitar work almost sounds classical in nature, creating a really pleasant and loving soundscape. This is a super interesting, really groovy tune.
“Man – Woman” starts out with some lone congas, followed by Burdon shouting into the soundscape, creating a soundscape that reminds me of Jim Morrison and The Doors, though this album came out the year of The Doors’ first studio albums. Oh wow, there’s a little bit of a groove with the addition of more percussion parts like a kick drum, some snares, some cymbals, and even some chimes. Oh wow, some little guitar lines come in and seemingly add to the primal feeling this tune seems to summon. The drums keep going in harder and building up more and more, with the guitar coming in more often, with Eric Burdon guiding this tune via shouting passionate vocals into this super interesting soundscape. Really interesting tune.
“Hotel Hell” segues right into things in a super lovely way that sounds influenced by raga with some sort of horn announcing the upcoming arrival of other instruments. The horn instrument falls out as the delicate acoustic guitar and personal and airy drums and the caressing bass all come on with Burdon’s vocals. Oh wow, this horn comes back on in a super sweet way, and almost sounds like it has a certain Hispanic sound to it. I really dig this tune – the soundscape is quite pleasant and rolls along in a gentle yet tumultuous manner, like a rock being carried by some winding rapids of sorts. Great tune.
“Good Times” comes on with some super bright acoustic guitar that is echoed by the electric guitar, creating a pretty sweet effect. The strings add a really nice sweetness to the track that I dig. Oh wow, the tune seems to break through to a somewhat celebratory soundscape with sounds recorded at some sort of fair or carnival. This tune changes up and evolves really nicely throughout the different movements, with Burdon’s voice and the sweet strings serving as the foundation for the tune. Really sweet tune.
“Anything” has a very caring feel right away with the bright acoustic guitar. Oh wow, I really dig the way the strings come in and the strumming of the acoustic guitar adds to the percussion. The orchestral strings really add a great dimension to this soundscape, which is only further added by the fat bass and jangling acoustic guitar. This soundscape is super sweet, and seems to bring about a very caring and loving feel. Oh wow, I really dig the little gallop at the end of the tune as things sort of fade to a bit of a crescendo. Another really sweet tune.
“It’s All Meat” comes on strong with some super psychedelic sounding guitar right away. I really dig the reverse sounding effect to the guitars in the chorus. The drums have a super groovy beat to them in this one, with the bass carrying the tune along from the bottom of the soundscape nicely. Oh wow, there’s an orchestral string break for a second, and really changes the soundscape up a ton. Really sweet way to end this album, great tune.
This album was a super interesting journey from start to finish, with plenty of bluesiness, raga influence, poetry, storytelling, and very caring sounds wrapped together in one largely psychedelic rock album that makes for a super interesting listening experience. I’m definitely intrigued to check out more from The Animals at this point. If you dig psychedelic rock, especially from the mid 1960s, you might want to consider checking this one out. If you do decide to check this one out, I do sincerely hope that you enjoy the listening experience at least as much as I did.
-A