Personnel: Eric Burdon (vocals); John Weider (guitar, violin); Vic Briggs (guitar, piano, vibraphone); Howard H. Scott, Hilton Valentine (guitar); Charles Miller (flute); Royal Scots Guard Pipe And Drum Marching Band (bagpipe, percussion); Lee Oskar (harmonica); Alan Price (piano, organ); Lonnie Jordan, Dave Rowberry (organ); Barry Jenkins (drums, percussion); Harold Brown, John Steel (drums); Thomas R. Allen, Jr. (percussion).

Additional personnel: War.

Audio Remixers: Eddie Kramer; Gary Kellgren; Vic Briggs.

Liner Note Author: Jim Bessman.

Recording information: Kingsway Recording Studio, London, England (01/22/1964-??/??/1970); Mayfair Recording Studio, New York, NY (01/22/1964-??/??/1970); RCA Studios, Hollywood, CA (01/22/1964-??/??/1970); Sunset-Highland Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA (01/22/1964-??/??/1970); Wally Heider Recording Studio, San Francisco, CA (01/22/1964-??/??/1970).

Arrangers: Vic Briggs; Horace Ott; Dave Rowberry.

Initially, the Animals' Retrospective looks like just another greatest-hits compilation recycling the same old tracks already easily available elsewhere. Yawn! Yet, on closer inspection, there's a big difference with this particular set. These 22 tracks are taken from the ABKCO masters and utilize Direct Stream Digital (DSD), containing both CD and Super Audio CD layers. ABKCO initially previewed this technology with much fanfare on the Rolling Stones' reissues of 2003. That excellence is again applied here and the material undeniably sparkles. The first incarnation of the band with Mickie Most's production is represented by what have to be the cleanest recordings heard yet of favorites like "House of the Rising Sun," "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," "We Gotta Get Out of This Place," and "Don't Bring Me Down." However, it's the psychedelic phase of the band, when they became Eric Burdon & the Animals, that the DSD really kicks. Every nuance present, and sometimes hidden, on a song like "San Franciscan Nights," or "Monterey," in which the horns noticeably jump out at you, or the battle sequence on "Sky Pilot," is incredibly vivid whether you're using high-tech gear or an average playback unit. Even if you've heard these tracks a zillion times, this ABKCO release gets you as close to hearing studio playback as you're likely to get! ~ Al Campbell

Today the most recognition the Animals get is "House of the Rising Sun" being played on oldies radio, but in the mid-1960s they were a powerful part of the British Invasion, often reckoned on a par with the Beatles, the Stones, and the Who. Like those bands, the Animals had strong roots in blues and R&B, but, in their original incarnation, they stayed closer to those roots than their peers did. This definitive compilation, masterfully assembled by the ABKCO think tank of Teri Landi and Jody Klein, shows the tough, uncompromising use to which the Animals put their American influences. John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom" is recast as a raw garage rocker glazed with Alan Price's sinister organ riffs, and the aforementioned "House of the Rising Sun" is transformed from a traditional folk lament to an urgent, ominous piece of churning tumult.

Of course, the group skillfully expanded those roots (with the help of some great writers), and turned out some classic working-class-rebel anthems ("We Gotta Get Out of This Place," "It's My Life"). By '67, the original lineup disbanded, and Eric Burdon led a new batch of Animals into a psychedelic West Coast sound ("San Franciscan Nights," "Monterey"). The Animals may not be given pride of place in the rock history books, but RETROSPECTIVE shows that they fully deserve it.