The Animals were part of the budding, homegrown U.K. blues scene of the early Sixties and one of the most noteworthy bands of the British Invasion. Formed in Newcastle-on-Tyne, a port city and coal-mining hub in northeast England, the Animals reflected their upbringing with brawling, blues-based rock and roll. The Animals ranked with The Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds as the prime British purveyors of American blues. The Animals lacked the Stones' songwriting abilities, however, and most of these songs work the same narrow terrain and are almost exclusively penned by other hands (John Lee Hooker, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, and Bo Diddley, among others). The Animals couldn't match The Yardbirds guitar-based instrumental virtuosity and pioneering sonic explorations, either, though both bands shared similarly brief primes, as the "classic lineup" of The Animals was only together for a couple of years. The Complete Animals CD only includes the complete sessions that the Animals recorded with producer Mickie Most in 1964 and 1965. The 40 songs capture the band at their peak.

Tracklist:

1.Boom Boom 2.Talkin' Bout You 3.Blue Feeling 4.Dimples 5.Baby Let Me Take You Home 6.Gonna Send You Walker 7.Baby What's Wrong 8.The House Of The Rising Sun 09.F-E-E-L 10.I'm Mad Again 11.The Right Time 12.Around And Around 13.I'm In Love Again 14.Bury My Body 15.She Said Yeah 16.I'm Crying 17.Take It Easy 18.The Story Of Bo Diddley 19.The Girl Can't Help It 20.I've Been Around 21.Memphis Tennessee 22.Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood 23.Club-A-Gogo 24.Roadrunner 25.Hallelujah I Love Her So 26.Don't Want Much 27.I Believe To My Soul 28.Let The Good Times Roll 29.Mess Around 30.How You've Changed 31.I Ain't Got You 32.Roberta 33.Bright Lights Big City 34.Worried Life Blues 35.Bring It On Home To Me 36.For Miss Caulker 37.I Can't Believe It 38.We've Gotta Get Out Of This Place 39.It's My Life 40.I'm Gonna Change The World

Lineup:

Eric Burdon - lead vocals, Alan Price - keyboards, Hilton Valentine - guitar, Chas Chandler - bass, John Steel - drums, Dave Rowberry - keyboards and backing vocals ("We Gotta Get Out Of This Place", "It's My Life")