On May 17, ABKCO Music & Records will release five albums by Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees The Animals in the Dolby Atmos audio format for the first time ever. These include the British rock band’s first four US full lengths The Animals (1964), The Animals on Tour (1965), Animal Tracks (1965) and Animalization (1966), as well as the 22-track career-spanning collection The Animals Retrospective, originally released in 2004. Every title will come out simultaneously on the streaming platforms Apple Music, TIDAL and Amazon Music. This will happen 60 years almost to the day of the recording of their intercontinental chart-topping single “House of the Rising Sun” on May 18, 1964.
Developed by Dolby Laboratories in 2012, Dolby Atmos® is a patented technology that is a leap forward from surround sound. It goes beyond the ordinary listening experience and puts you inside the song in a spatial way, revealing every detail of the music with unparalleled clarity and depth. Grammy-nominated recording engineer Kenta Yonesaka helped mix The Animals albums in Dolby Atmos® with the utmost attention to detail. Yonesaka has worked with a wide range of artists including The Rolling Stones, Buddy Guy, Mark Ronson, Mariah Carey, Pharrell Williams and Kendrick Lamar.
“The idea of hearing our earlier work in Atmos spatial audio, it’s like stepping into a whole new dimension for me,” said The Animals frontperson Eric Burdon. “It’s like rediscovering the magic all over again. I mean, we poured our hearts and souls into those recordings, and now to hear them brought to life in such an immersive way, it’s like a dream come true. The quality and depth of the playback experience, it’s everything.”
Formed in Newcastle by Eric Burdon from the ashes of the Alan Price Rhythm and Blues Combo, The Animals were known for their hard driving, R&B-influenced sound and became a hit-making machine on both sides of the Atlantic right out of the gate. Their self-titled 1964 album includes the #1 US and #1 UK charting “House of the Rising Sun,” and was made in an era when they were “the most important and successful British export after the Beatles,” as asserted by Rolling Stone’s David Fricke. Despite its title, their February 1965 follow-up The Animals on Tour contains studio recordings and features the Top 20 single “I’m Crying.” Animal Tracks was released just six months later, in the same calendar year. As was customary for American versions of British records, hit singles were packed into it—“Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” (originally recorded by Nina Simone the previous year), Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home to Me” and the Mann/Weil-penned “We Gotta Get Out of This Place,” the latter of which became a de facto anthem for U.S. Armed Forces G.I.s deployed to Vietnam. 1966’s Animalization, released during the band’s final year of existence, saw original producer Mickie Most replaced by Tom Wilson (Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, the Velvet Underground, The Mothers of Invention). There is no shortage of Top 40 material, from “Don’t Bring Me Down” (written for The Animals by Gerry Goffin and Carole King), Ma Rainey’s “See See Rider” and the Animals’ re-imagining of a prison work song originally recorded by American folklorist Alan Lomax, “Inside-Looking Out.”
Spanning the years 1964-1970, The Animals Retrospective contains all fourteen US Top 40 hits by The Animals and late ‘60s lineup Eric Burdon & The Animals, including “When I Was Young,” “San Franciscan Nights,” “Monterey” and “Sky Pilot.” The set is capped by the 1970 smash hit “Spill the Wine” by Eric Burdon & War.
The Animals (US, 1964)
1. House of the Rising Sun
2. The Girl Can’t Help It
3. Blue Feeling
4. Baby Let Me Take You Home
5. The Right Time
6. Talkin’ ‘bout You
7. Around and Around
8. I’m in Love
9. Gonna Send You Back to Walker
10. Memphis, Tennessee
11. I’m Mad Again
12. I’ve Been Around
13. Talkin’ ‘Bout You (unedited) (Bonus Track)
The Animals on Tour (US, 1965)
1. Boom Boom
2. How You’ve Changed
3. Mess Around
4. Bright Lights, Big City
5. I Believe to My Soul
6. Worried Life Blues
7. Let the Good Times Roll
8. I Ain’t Got You
9. Hallelujah, I Love Her So
10. I’m Crying
11. Dimples
12. She Said Yeah
13. Baby What’s Wrong (Bonus Track)
14. F-E-E-L (Bonus Track)
15. New Year’s Radio Spot (Bonus Track)
Animal Tracks (US, 1965)
1. We Gotta Get Out of This Place (US single version)
2. Take It Easy
3. Bring It On Home to Me
4. The Story of Bo Diddley
5. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
6. I Can’t Believe It
7. Club A-Go-Go
8. Roberta
9. Bury My Body
10. For Miss Caulker
11. Roadrunner (Bonus Track)
12. Don’t Want Much (Bonus Track)
13. We Gotta Get Out of This Place (UK Single Version) (Bonus Track)
14. It’s My Life (Bonus Track)
15. I’m Gonna Change the World (Bonus Track)
Animalization (US, 1966)
1. Don’t Bring Me Down
2. One Monkey Don’t Stop No Show
3. You’re On My Mind
4. Cheating
5. She’ll Return It
6. Inside-Looking Out
7. See See Rider
8. Gin House Blues
9. Maudie
10. What Am I Living For
11. Sweet Little Sixteen
12. I Put a Spell on You
The Animals Retrospective (2004, containing material from 1964-1970)
1. House of the Rising Sun
2. I’m Crying
3. Baby Let Me Take You Home
4. Gonna Send You Back to Walker
5. Boom Boom
6. Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
7. Bring It On Home To Me
8. We Gotta Get Out of This Place (US single version)
9. It’s My Life
10. Don’t Bring Me Down
11. See See Rider
12. Inside-Looking Out
13. Hey Gyp
14. Help Me Girl*
15. When I Was Young*
16. A Girl Named Sandoz*
17. San Franciscan Nights*
18. Monterey*
19. Anything*
20. Sky Pilot*
21. White Houses*
22. Spill the Wine**
*Eric Burdon & The Animals
**Eric Burdon & War
