The Animals

The Animals never had a lot of commercial or critical success with their early LPs, for EMI, but their EPs were another story -- able to mix their commercial 45 sides and their harder album sides (or songs destined for LP), the results were very potent and were a better showcase for the band's overall sound than those LPs were. The House of the Rising Sun + 3 was the group's debut French EP, assembling their number one U.K. hit in its long version, and the single A- and B-sides "Talkin' About You," "Baby Let Me Take You Home," and "Gonna Send You Back to Walker." Apart from the songs, which spoke for themselves, the best part of this record was the cool cover shot of the five bandmembers, looking far less cohesive than any pop group of the era. Previously, EMI/Columbia had issued EPs of the Dave Clark Five ("Bits and Pieces") and Pat Wayne & the Beachcombers ("Roll Over Beethoven") to French listeners. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi