ANIMAL LOVER

You may think that you don't like the Residents now, but wait until you hear this. OK that's a bit sarcastic.

I found it browsing at a local independent record store. I had two video and two CD titles in my collection and always found them interesting but not to the point of trying much except on the rare occasion, the last one being Have A Bad Day (1996). Animal Lover rekindled my interest in the band.

There's still the demented and trademark sound of this outfit, but it seems they have aged well like a fine (rancid/vinegar?) wine. The first four tracks are standard Resident's weirdness, but there's those prog elements cropping up. When I first heard the instrumental, Mr. Bee's Bumble, I realized these guys had truly progressed in their music. Inner Space is a creepy sad song about a father dying. Molly Harvey has really added a soft edge to the band with her vocals. The instrumental Dreaming Of An Anthill (Teaming) is sublimely spooky. Let's face it, the whole album is creepy. It may be best you sample it before you buy.

It's a really cool concept album and they did a good job of making the CD package. You get lyrics mixed with written stories from various animal's viewpoints. The CD is a hardback kind of package. If you fall for the music on the main CD, the supplemental disc is also a must have, variations and explorations with the stuff on the main disc.

Not a band for everybody, but I would say this album is the best place to start if you want to explore the prog weirdness that is the Residents.. PLEASE SOMEBODY! BURN MY BONES!

The never normal Residents have a 'Cyberman' singing on the opener 'On the Way to Oklahoma', where (the story goes) - a guy goes mad, thinking he's a tiger and kills a dog. A good return to form if you ask me.

Tuneful, scary and one of the darkest albums they've released. A lot of folk seem to dislike the story lines of latter day Residents albums, but in my opinion this one hangs together much better than most. The opener really is a belter and even got played on BBC radio 3 in 2005 at which I rubbed my eyes in disbelief, and still am to this day.

There's a lot going on in ;Animal Lover' which doesn't have a dull moment, but does seem to have a cloud of gloom hanging over its entirety.

There's a feeling of despair on 'Animal Lover' that I'm not used to on previous Residents albums, which kind of threw me sideways, particularly when nameless Mr Resident himself sings. There are one or two tunes that are instrumental, probably to make you work out the story for yourself. Most of the songs are sung by Molly Harvey who sounds like a ghost flitting from one scene to another. Scary Biscuits...

Basically, the whole album is about how humans are seen through the eyes of animals on each track and it's not too attractive. Damn... it's pretty sad actually.

The Resident's 'Animal Lover' is supposed to be music that represents the sound of nature copulating; the 'rhythm tracks are based entirely on animal noise mating patterns generated primarily by cicadas and frogs. Also the actual sounds of mating whales and humans were used for longer tonal passages,' according to Residents website. It opens innocently enough with On The Way (to Oklahoma), a repeated infectious melody locks into the brain easily.

Olive and Gray has some melancholy violins and slow rhythmic synths, but things begin to take off a bit with What Have My Chickens Done Now? This one has character performances such as an old lady 'They accused my daughter and Scratched her on the face and hand They bite their tongues and bear their teeth, Then they scratch me til I bleed' The girl replies and her 5 sisters with sweet sung dialogue such as 'Around her neck they tied a noose, And they killed her family too.' So now we know her chickens are to blame for her murder 'Only her chickens know now'.

Two Lips has a nice little rhythm, and some sinister vocals along with high pitched children's voices. In this scenario of purchasing tulips it is 'buy or die!' Mr. Bee's Bumble is a cool instrumental I really like with crazy frenetic synthesizers over a punctuated percussion section.

Inner Space has a nice female vocal, Molly Harvey, a Resident regular since 'Demons Dance Alone', with a sea shanty style and sparkling synths make this a personal favourite. Dead Men is next and just goes on with a simple melody about the demise of the dead. My Window is a sombre bleak sound with low keyboards and ethereal nuances. It has a Japanese vibe in the instrumentation, and the Louisiana twang returns in the vocals, a component of just about every Residents album since their inception.

Ingrid's Oily Tongue is another instrumental with synth melodies, ominous sounds and ascending rhythms. The trumpets augment the soundscape considerably. Mother No More is a poignant piece that is rather mournful. Then another instrumental of beauty with Dreaming of an Anthill (Teeming). Elmer's Song opens with a capella harmonies and then a minimalist musical background with a nursery rhyme vocal.

Molly Harvey has a field day acting like a Japanese lady on The Monkey Man and the backdrop of Oriental instruments is perfect. The atmosphere is very bleak, then becomes less so on The Whispering Boys with its commercial melody. Burn My Bones ends this on a note of wilful death, very scary vocoder voice tweaked on a low deep setting and then an extended coda of ominous sounds of synths and high pitched vocal intonations.

Another Residents album that defies description but sits somewhere between clever and ridiculous. Only by listening can you make your own mind up. I did not find this to be one of the highlights in the Residents illustrious career but many will try to prove me wrong. 3 stars for the few good songs.

At this point, The Residents have moved past their MIDI stage. There are still a lot of synths being used, but now they have brought back in guitar parts, albeit processed. But they have ventured into other sounds as well. The music is sounding much better and there is a lot more depth now, and a lot more experimentation. They also have been using other vocalists now, especially Molly Harvey, who is often used as characterization for female characters in the songs. They have also matured somewhat into more intelligent concepts, though they still deal with the very dark side of the human condition.

This time around, the album looks at the relationship between humans and animals. The booklet that comes with this album is a very important part of the entire experience, in that each song has an introduction as narrated by an animal, or the way an animal would try to explain each situation. The songs themselves are usually sung from the viewpoint of the human though. As usual, with the Residents, you get into some very dark and disgusting human habits, and, also as usual, this album is not for the faint of heart, stomach, or ear. But, it's interesting to see these bizarre human actions through the eyes of an animal, or at least, the way The Residents think an animal would think.

Even though that is the concept, not all songs follow that pattern. 'Two Lips' for example is about the Tulip Mania financial crisis in the Netherlands in 1637. The songs are more progressive here now, as if The Residents have finally found a genre that explains their music, this is no doubt Avant-Garde Prog, and they embrace it completely now. The music is strange, and as was the case with 'Wormwood', one of their best later albums, very dark, dramatic and almost performed as a short stage musical. This is more the feeling of their concerts as they are truly stage shows.

There are a lot more female led vocals on this album, thank goodness. That means you don't have to hear the designated Resident sing. But when he does, it's usually very processed, so it adds to the characterization of the song. There are also choirs, or at least group singing and even children's choirs as in 'What Have My Chickens Done Now?' There are also some instrumentals that separate the sections of the album. The song 'Inner Space' is actually a song that can generate emotions in the listener, as it is a very beautifully sung with emotional lyrics. A huge surprise from the Residents. 'Elmer's Song' is almost spiritual sounding with a plucked string instrument.

No doubt that this is one of the best Residents albums. It is good to hear them take the actual composition of their music seriously, even though the lyrics can be quite demented at times. But at least, the music matches the feeling of the songs more than previously. However, be warned, that this is a very morose album, depressing, scary and dark. It still is not music for everyone, but it might be a good point for the curious to enter into their huge, but demented discography.

The use of more instruments, the orchestration, the addition of other vocalists and choirs add to the variety. Even though this is worlds better than the late 80s and early 90s output, it's still hard to give it 5 stars. It's not always the easiest stuff to listen to, not from complexity, but from subject matter. And doggone it, I wish there could be something a little more upbeat added in there. This probably would have gotten 5 stars if it wasn't so depressing. I am excited to hear some actual emotion put into their lyrics, singing and orchestration. That is a huge plus. Residents fans should love this album, new fans could also be generated from this album, but only those that can keep an open mind. The Residents music is usually a study of the depravity of human beings and that can be really hard to listen to for a long length of time, it does tend to wear on a person after awhile.