Love Is Review

07/13/2005 4:08 AM, AMG


One can get an idea of the confusion that fans must have felt by virtue of the fact that Love Is was the third album by Eric Burdon & the Animals to be issued in 1968, even with a major lineup change taking place. Future Police-man Andy Somers (aka Summers) arrived on guitar to join his longtime stablemate Zoot Money, trading off the bassist's spot with guitarist John Weider. The music is very odd, offering but a single original song -- the rest consists of very interesting covers of repertory associated with everyone from the Bee Gees ("To Love Somebody") to Johnny Cash ("Ring of Fire"), plus revivals of a pair of tracks that Money had previously done with his group, Dantalian's Chariot, and opening with a seven-minute blow-out version of "River Deep, Mountain High." Not all of it works as blues-rock, or acid rock or whatever they were aiming for -- and it's possible the members themselves weren't sure of the latter by this time, the band had reached such a point of disorganization -- but it's all diverting. The final album by the Animals as a continuing performing unit, and the group's only double-LP, Love Is was reissued on CD in the 1980s by Polygram, in the 1990s by One Way Records, and in 2005 by Repertoire, with the latter offering extensive annotation and killer sound. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide