This British group had its heyday in the 1960s; at some point, it changed its name to Eric Burdon and the Animals. After they disbanded, Eric was in another group called War.
2. Boom Boom (3:00) - During the verses, the instruments pause when Eric sings; during the chorus, the other guys sing "Shake it, baby." This moderately fast song, like the Dale Hawkins/Creedence Clearwater Revival song "Susie Q," has the lines "I like the way you walk / I like the way you talk." In fact, he likes her movement and speech so much, he wants her love this very moment!
3. I'm Crying (2:45) - During this fast song, I hear organ and cymbals again. The narrator is crying because his girlfriend has left him and he wants her back. Between verses I hear the scat singing "Ah ah ah."
4. It's My Life (3:09) - A short bass solo opens this moderate-tempoed song. The narrator notes how hard it is to survive in the world when "all the good things have been taken." But he shows an independent nature by saying, "It's my life, and I'll do what I want / It's my mind, and I'll think what I want."
5. Baby Let Me Take You Home (2:19) - This fast song opens with a 6-second guitar solo. Other instruments include an organ and a tambourine. After describing how he and the girl met, the narrator quotes her: "Baby won't you be my man?" Then he answers, "Yes I'll be your man, and I'll do the best I can."
6. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (2:26) - The tempo is moderate. In some parts of the song, the instruments as though this recording was mastered from a warped 45. But I do like the theme; the narrator notes that everyone, including him, is human and thus prone sometimes to anger and frustration.
7. Bring It On Home To Me (2:34) - This version, in the key of G, is slightly faster than the original by Sam Cooke, which is in the key of C. Also, instead of singing the last verse ("I try to treat you right..."), Eric sings the first verse again just before the fadeout.
8. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place (3:11) - This moderate-speed song opens with a bass solo spiced with a cymbal. The narrator and his girlfriend are stuck in a dirty area of a city. His father is ill as a result of many years of hard work. The narrator has worked also and vows to get himself and his sweetie to some place where "there's a better life for [him] and [her]." This song was originally intended for Paul Revere and the Raiders, but since they were on tour, it was given to the Animals instead.
9. Inside Looking Out (3:48) - The tempo is moderate. This song is the one where the narrator is in prison. When his sentence expires, he asks his girlfriend to give him tenderness to keep him calm. The mood here is similar to that in the previous song; he's "looking out" his cell window toward, again, a better life.
10. Don't Bring Me Down (3:17) - The tempo is moderate. Instruments include an organ. The narrator's girlfriend complains about and criticizes everything he does. He promises that he'll support her and do everything she wants him to if she'll stop destroying his self-esteem.
11. See See Rider (4:01) - This song is fast, and the opening organ rolls are even faster. The girl is a "rider" in the sense that she runs around on the narrator with other guys; he's telling her to "see" the damage she's done to his heart and trust. Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels sang this song under the title "Jenny Take A Ride."
13. When I Was Young (3:01) - This moderate-tempoed song opens with a bass, cymbals, and a guitar lick that resembles the sound of a motorcycle zooming by. The narrator, growing up with a soldier dad, coped with the rough environment through smoking cigarettes (starting at age 10) and romantic relationships (from age 13). When he says his first girlfriend was "brown" and he was "green," he probably means she had chocolate skin and he wished he had it also.
14. San Franciscan Nights (3:21) - This song opens with a few low, sinister guitar licks. The tempo is slightly faster than moderate as Eric sounds like a radio broadcaster, telling what the song is about and encouraging Europeans to save up for airplane trips to San Francisco. After the first 40 seconds, the tempo is moderately slow. Old person and young person both feel all right on a warm night in San Francisco.
15. Monterey (4:37) - This song opens with a slow guitar solo and Eric whispering the phrase "In the beginning." The rest of the song is fast and includes horns and drums, which I can hear more in the left speaker than in the right. This song is probably about a Monterey pop festival held in the late 60s.
16. Sky Pilot (7:26) - This song, slightly slower than moderate, is my favorite song by Eric Burdon and the Animals, for the long duration of the guys' singing the word "sky." Eric sings the first verse a capella. There are many war-related sound effects; they are audible during the chorus, but especially during the long instrumental preceding the final verse. Shortly after the 2:45 mark, an electric guitar solo is gradually spiced with the sound effects of airplanes flying; at about the 4-minute mark, the sounds of combat and soldiers crying in pain fill the speakers. Then, at the 5-minute mark, the music plays and Eric sings softly and solemnly, as the surviving soldiers return to camp and mourn their lost comrades.
17. Ring Of Fire (4:34) - This slow rendition of a Johnny Cash tune is not bad, but I like Johnny's version better. From the narrator's first sight of the girl, he fell into a circle of the fire known as love. From 1:56 to 2:40 is an electric-guitar instrumental accompanied by backing "ah" vocals. From 3:20 to fadeout, the "ah's" and guitar licks resume, this time with ad-libs by Eric.
18. Good Times (3:03) - The tempo is moderate. For the first 17 seconds, a guitar and a tambourine play quietly. Other instruments include violins and tick-tock drums. The lyrics are about "good time that's been wasted," the narrator's youth when he drank, fought and did other things he now regrets. I gets that's how we are when young: we can't help but feel, consciously or subconsciously, that we're invincible. Then we have to learn the hard way that we're not. I like that spoken part, just before the 2-minute mark: "Yes, here we all are, having a jolly good time..."
19. Colo(u)red Rain (10:50) - The moderately slow song fades in with an 18-second piano-cymbal duet. The narrator's life was empty and gloomy until he met his girlfriend. Now he feels so good that he pleads, "Bring down colored rain!" Her presence is the "color" she has brought to his life. Vocals stop after 2:20 and don't resume until 6:35. The actual song ends at 9:30; the remainder is an excerpt from an interview with one of the Animals. The track listing on the back of the disc cover notes this track as "featuring Andy Summers." In the song that sounds like Eric on lead to me, so Andy must've been the guy who was interviewed. Anyway, he talks a little about the song we just heard, then says the group disbanded because each member wanted to "do his own thing."