Tracklist

Side one

1. The Story of Bo Diddley
2. Bury My Body
3. Dimples
4. I've Been Around
5. I'm in Love Again
6. The Girl Can't Help It

Side two

1. I'm Mad Again
2. She Said Yeah
3. The Right Time
4. Memphis Tennessee
5. Boom Boom
6. Around and Around

Thoughts

Another week of Popmaster quizzing, another band mentioned that showcased a hole in my musical history. This time, The Animals, of whom I only know House of the Rising Sun, which is obviously a classic... but not featured on this album.

Before we get into any of the rest of the album, we need to talk about track one, The Story of Bo Diddley. This is the gateway to the rest of the album, and what is it? A song? A story? I have a well documented aversion to talky bits on albums because they're so distracting. But that's not what this is. It's a whole carefully crafted piece, just with very little singing. It's well done but the problem is, first time through it was interesting, second time through I let it pass, any further listens and I'm going to want to skip it. That's not the end of the world, I know, but it is about 10% of the album and it's a blocker to getting to the rest of it.

If and when you do get through Bo's story, the following eleven tracks are more conventional. They're bluesy rather than the pure rock and roll that usually forms records of this era, so it has something of an edge that I liked. I'm Mad Again has that undulating back and forth between chords that is typical blues. And on Boom Boom, you've got Eric Burdon's gritty vocals against an electric blues riff rather than double bass. The exploration of the genre gives the remaining 90% a real lift.

I'm in a bit of a quandary how to score this one because it certainly wasn't what I was expecting, with that unique bluesy sound. I'm not planning to reach for the record again, which lowers the score, but a lot of that is to do with Bo being a blocker. The whole point of these album selections is to understand the craft of the record itself, rather than just the highlights. The rest of the tracklist does have re-listening potential, but all in all, I'm settling on a 3 out of 5 and maybe with the impetus to try another Animals album soon.

Rating: 3 / 5