Animal Tracks by The Animals

Animal Tracks, the Animals' third American album, came out on MGM in September 1965 with Mickie Most producing, and it's less a statement than a grab bag: fresh hit singles tossed in with leftovers of assorted vintage that hadn't made the first two US LPs. It shares a name with the British album from four months earlier and not much else.

Grab bag or not, the Newcastle outfit's grit carries it. Eric Burdon sings with gravel in his throat, Hilton Valentine's guitar bites, and Chas Chandler and John Steel keep the rhythm tough. "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" is the prize, a snarling bust-out anthem, and "The Story of Bo Diddley" stretches a Bo Diddley number from 1960 into a talking-blues rundown of the man's own life. It peaked at 57 on Billboard's Top LPs chart.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.