Search - Eric Burdon, Animals :: Athens Traffic Live

Not Your Usual Eric Burdon Live Album

R. A. Burke | 11/05/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For those of us who love Eric Burdon and who have enjoyed his music for more than 40 years (yeah, it is hard to believe it's been that long!), this latest live recording is a real treat. I'm sure that some fans will complain about the absence of "House of the Rising Sun" or "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" but "Athens Traffic Live" gives Eric the opportunity to work some new material into the act. And guess what - it works! My favorites include "Devil's Slide" (with a great intro rap by Eric), "Once Upon a Time", "Tobacco Road" (a great long version that really showcases his bandmates' abilities), and "Factory Girl." Eric truly does justice to the latter, an old Irish folk tune. And for those of us who still need a shot of the old Eric, there's "Boom Boom" and "When I Was Young." The CD includes informative and often humorous notes/comments by Eric on the individual songs as well as his bandmates - Dean, Dave, Martin, and Bernie. This is a great live recording and a worthwhile addition to your Eric Burdon collection. The only thing that keeps it from getting a perfect 5 is the accompanying DVD. Because this is an import album, the DVD is recorded in PAL (Region 2) format rather than in NTSC (Region 1) so it will play on European DVD players but not on DVD players here in the US. Given the content listed for the DVD, that's a real disappointment especially given the fact that the DVD features a Bernie Pershey drum solo - I have seen Bernie Pershey in concert and he is fantastic. I hope there are plans to release the DVD at some point in a format so that we American fans can enjoy it."

It's live baby!

RHR | 10/29/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Rock with soul and blues. dvd extra will play on computer but not for usa region"

Great complement to 2004's "My Secret Life"

xmasallyear | California | 11/06/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

""My Secret Life" was my favorite album of 2004 (and one of my favorites of the past 10 years). It came as a big surprise, given some of the turkeys Burden recorded in the 1980s. His reworkings of 1960s Animals greats, like "House of the Rising Sun" and "Don't let me be misunderstood" should be first-ballot inductees into the Hall of Shame, and his version of "Nights in White Satin" was rejected by Dick Cheney for use in interrogation because of the potential for inducing permanent psychosis. So I was skeptical when "My Secret Life" came out. But it turned out to be every bit as good, and maybe even a squeak better, than The Animals' early greats--and that's high, high praise. "My Secret Life" hit the bullseye on almost every song, from the hard-rocking "Over the Border" and "Devil's Slide," to the playful "Once upon a time," to the ethereal "Factory Girl" and "Heaven." And his take on the title song, by Leonard Cohen, squeezes out feeling that I never got from Cohen's version.

Six songs off of "My Secret Life" are on the "Athens Traffic Live" album, and while they only marginally reinterpret the songs, the energy of a live performance adds a touch that brings them alive in a new way. (Although "Over the border" was such a full-on rocker on "My Secret Life" that even live it can't get much hotter.) Plus, "Athens Traffic Live" is augmented with rolling covers of John Lee Hooker's "Boom boom," and Chuck Berry's "Little Queenie, a manic 11-minute "Tobacco Road," and a new studio cut.

If you like Eric Burden and don't yet own "My Secret Life," get it, then after you've digested it, go back for seconds wit "Athens Traffic Live." (For dessert, try Burden's 2006 solo album, "Soul of a man.") He may be 66 years old, be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and released some real stinkers in the past, but he's still got a lot of great music in him and he's riding a fecund wave of creativity that most of his contemporaries, with the exceptions of Bob Dylan and Neil Young, would envy."