The Animals - Retrospective [2LP Orange]

The Animals' Retrospective spreads the Newcastle band's greatest moments across two limited edition orange LPs, from British Invasion grit to late-sixties psychedelia.

Few groups of the era sounded as raw. Eric Burdon's voice carried a bluesy roar that made him sound decades older than he was, and Alan Price's organ gave the early singles a churchy, smoky edge. Later, as Eric Burdon & The Animals, the lineup chased the counterculture to the West Coast and came back with something entirely different.

House of the Rising Sun is the obvious starting point, an old folk song turned into a haunting, organ-swept epic. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood brings brooding pop drama, We Gotta Get Out of This Place became an anthem of escape for a generation, and It's My Life snarls with working-class defiance.

The later material shifts into psychedelic territory, with longer arrangements and a dreamier glow that shows how quickly the band evolved in just a few short years. Burdon's voice, rougher and wiser by then, holds it all together.

Gathered in one place and pressed in bright orange, it is a vivid crash course in one of the most important bands of the British Invasion, and a reminder of how much ground they covered.