Animal (Bar-Kays album) explained

Animal
Type:studio
Artist:the Bar-Kays
Cover:Animal (Bar-Kays album).jpg
Border:yes
Released:1989
Studio:Kiva Studios
Genre:R&B
Label:Mercury[1]
Producer:Kenni Hairston and Trevor Gale (tracks 1, 2 and 8), Harvey Henderson, Larry Dodson and Winston Stewart (co-producers on tracks 1, 2 and 8), James Mtume (tracks 3, 7 and 9), Jerry Goldstein (tracks 4-6 for Powder Horn Entertainment), Sly Stone (co-producer on track 7)
Prev Title:Contagious
Prev Year:1987
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Next Year:1994

Animal is an album by the American R&B band the Bar-Kays, released in 1989.[2] [3]

The album peaked at No. 36 on the Billboard Top Black Albums chart.[4] Its first single was "Struck By You", which peaked at No. 11 on the Hot Black Singles chart.[5] [6] The title track was also released as a single.[7]

Production

Produced at Kiva Studios, in Memphis, the album was recorded by a three-member lineup.[8] Joe Walsh played guitar on the title track. "Just Like a Teeter Totter" was cowritten and coproduced by Sly Stone.[5]

Critical reception

The Orlando Sentinel concluded that, "although modern, metallic sounds shape the bouncing, bending rhythm of the title song, for instance, there's a touch of old- fashioned call-and-response interplay in the vocals." USA Today opined that "what's nice about this album, though, is the band's mature, unfunky handling of slow tunes ... 'Leaving You' shows they can be true balladeers."[9] The New York Amsterdam News determined that although Animal "is thigh-high in funk-fortified R&B, the music is never dated."[10]

AllMusic wrote that "it's important to remember that the Bar-Kays never stopped being a good band—it was taste and fashion that twisted the knife and pushed them aside." The Rolling Stone Album Guide thought that "their best cuts resemble lite pastiches of other bands' refinements."

Notes and References

  1. Jet's Top 20 Albums . Jet . Mar 27, 1989 . 75 . 25 . 62.
  2. Web site: Funk: The Music, the People, and the Rhythm of the One. Rickey. Vincent. April 15, 1996. Macmillan.
  3. News: Calloway . Earl . Mercury Records Releases Bar-Kays Trio's New LP . Chicago Defender . 31 Jan 1989 . 15.
  4. Web site: Funk. Dave. Thompson. October 22, 2001. Hal Leonard Corporation.
  5. News: Persall . Steve . The latest Bar-Kays cook up a tasty, nostalgic party mix . St. Petersburg Times . 26 Feb 1989 . 2F.
  6. Book: Whitburn . Joel . The Billboard Book of Top 40 R&B and Hip-Hop Hits . 2006 . Billboard Books . 30.
  7. News: Wynn . Ron . Music: 3 videos finished . The Commercial Appeal . Aug 18, 1989 . E5.
  8. News: Wynn . Ron . Recordings . The Commercial Appeal . Feb 3, 1989 . E19.
  9. News: Jones IV . James T. . The Listening Room . USA Today . 8 Feb 1989 . 5D.
  10. News: Rogers . Charles E. . Different Stages . New York Amsterdam News . 18 Feb 1989 . 27.