Animal Loverby The Residents

Wormwood has some pretty songs. Demons Dance Alone has some even prettier songs. Now, the songs from Animal Lover are simply beautiful most of the time. In fact, beautiful is not enough. Animal Lover is almost perfect. It's like a beautiful, interesting and mysterious woman.

Right from the beginning of the first song, you can tell it's going to be an amusing experience. "On the Way (to Oklahoma)" is atmospheric and kind of creepy, and the trumpet sounds at the end sound really epic.

"What Have My Chickens Done Now?" has some of the most depressing lyrics I've ever heard. However, I think the saddest song in this album is "My Window". It does sound extremely depressing, and the lyrics... it's no surprise that death comes to everyone, but this song conveys that message so well, it's just amazing.

"Mother No More" sounds nice, but I don't think it matches the lyrics very well. I think it should sound a little sadder, especially when that guitar part comes in and makes sure the mood is completely ruined. It's still a good song though.

"Elmer's Song" is really sweet, and it sounds a little like a children's song, for some reason. Maybe it's the funny-voiced singer, or just the whole atmosphere.

"Burn My Bones", the final song on the first disc, sounds really nice, it's a good end to the album and all, but I think it's way too long than it should be. Maybe it contributes to the atmosphere (I use that word a lot, don't I?), I don't know.

But wait, this album isn't just a bunch of sad songs put together in a CD. You see, the special thing about Animal Lover is that, along with the CD, you get some neat little stories that are being told by different animals about their relationship with humanity, and they are directly related to their corresponding tracks in the CD, which tell the same story but from the human's point of view.

For example, the first story is told by a tiger in a zoo who's being watched by a strange man. One day, the man breaks into her cage and offers her a piece of dog meat before the cops come and take him away. In a funny way, the tiger misses him.

The lyrics to "On the Way (to Oklahoma)" tell the story of a man who thinks he's turned into a cat and falls in love with a tiger in the zoo. One day, he kills a dog and offers its meat to the tiger.

There's also a bonus CD with a very long title (it's commonly referred to as "Imaginary Jack"), which is just a 6-part remix of the album's tracks. There's nothing really special about it, but it does sound a bit nice.

Overall, Animal Lover is a must for pretty much everyone. You don't have to know about The Residents to enjoy this album, just get it. You will never regret it.

Animal Lover is perhaps the culmination of a cycle that begins in The Commercial Album and ends in The Bunny Boy project. The particular Residents style is at its very top here, with clear and distinct instrumentations and the storytelling nature that characterizes the band. As a matter of fact, the lyrics tells us animal stories, stories with animals or narrated by animals, all of which contributes to the weirdness and the atmospheric feeling. As in Demons Dance Alone, the songs are constructed in a similar way, and the harmonic progression is very resemblant from one song to another. This makes the hearing experience an interesting and weird trip, as a singular familiarity infuses the pieces even if it the first time one plays the album.
Tracks to notice: "Olive and Gray", "Two Lips", "Inner Space", "My Window", "Mother No More".A must for any Residents lover and a good beginning for anyone wanting to meet the mythical band.