Now entering its eighth year, The Residents’ pREServed Edition Series has a new entry. The album in question, Animal Lover, is the first release from the series since the American Composers Series from last year. Released in 2005, Animal Lover is usually consider one of the Residents’ best albums from the 2000s. As per usual, there’s plenty of bonus tracks with this new set that should make Residents diehards happy.
A Little Bit of History
Coming off of Wormwood, the Residents were thinking of ideas for their next album. There was the idea to make an album of the music from the Civil War. In response to the attacks on 9/11, the group instead made Demons Dance Alone in 2002. When the country was looking to go into war by the following year, the idea of a Civil War album was abandoned. The group would try out other projects such as an album about the Feast of Epiphany. These ideas from these other project would eventually evolve into what became Animal Lovers.
The Album
As per usual with Residents albums, there’s a concept attached to Animal Lover. For the most part, the songs on Animal Lover tell different stories about the connection between animals and humans. Some songs are about violence against animals, grief over dead animals and animals grieving for their owners. Similar to albums like Eskimo, there are stories that go with almost every songs (sans three tracks, which are instrumentals). Unlike Eskimo, the listener doesn’t need to read the stories for the twelve stories (all of which are named after animals). Though without reading the stories, the listener won’t get the full experience of the album.
As for the songs, this is a strong batch of songs. Some of the best songs on the album include the mournful “What Have My Chickens Done Now?” and “Mother No More.” The former is about a woman mourning her chickens hurting children while the latter is about a mother caring for the family cat after her son leaves home. These are probably the two most emotional songs, even without the short stories that accompany them. Other songs, such as “Inner Space” and “The Whispering Boys”, are songs/stories from a animal’s point of view. The former deals with a mouse watching a daughter visiting her dying father while the latter deals with a bat being curious about a the activities married men take part in.
Musically, the album is bleak and dark. There’s little to no happiness to be found on this album. Musically and thematically, it feels like the natural follow up to Demons Dance Alone. From the liner notes, the Residents have seen both albums as counterparts.
If the album had any weaknesses, it would be the album’s length. The three instrumentals feel like filler while some of the songs/stories are weaker compared to the others. Aside from those criticisms, Animal Lover is a solid effort from the group.
The Bonus Stuff
As per usual with the other entries in the pREServed Editions series, Animal Lover boasts some bonus material. Aside from the Imaginary Jack portion of the third disc (along with the bonus tracks on disc 1), everything on the two bonus discs has not been officially released. There’s a good hour or two of music here, all coming from the projects that the group were working on before the album became Animal Lover. This includes the Civil War project and the Feast of Epiphany material. While it’s great that this is seeing the light of day, the material is almost entirely instrumental and can become boring easily (although kudos to the group for their rendition of “Follow The Drinking Gourd”). Listening to this material, you can hear how this material evolved into what became Animal Lover.
Conclusion
As a whole, Cherry Red and New Ralph Records have done it again with this reissue of Animal Lover. It’s an interesting piece of work from the Residents’ career and this set does it justice. While the bonus material is best suited for diehards, this is an album worth listening to. One thing is worth noting: there was an instrumental version of the album released in 2008. That album isn’t included in this set. Though between that and the unreleased material, it was probably best for the unreleased material to finally see the light of day.
No hints have been given as to the next entry in the pREServed Edition series. It seems that Tweedles from 2006 would be the next entry in the series. Currently, the group have postponed their 2026 Eskimo Tour due to the health of an important member of the group. In the meantime, fans can enjoy this new reissue of Animal Lover.
Album Rating: 7/10
Bonus Matieral: 6/10
Overall Rating: 7/10
I'm a writer/journalist with a passion for music and pop culture. Having graduated from King's College in Wilkes-Barre, PA in 2014, I've been looking for a platform in which I can share my passions. Since 2009, I've been posting to my own blog- The Walrus' Music Blog- via Blogger. I'm also the author of two self-published books, "The Camp: Stories from the Summer" and "The College: Stories from King's." Together, the two books cover the story of my life from 2004 to 2014. I've been lucky enough to interview several of my favorite musicians over the years and go to concerts from time to time. I'm also very devoted to the CBS reality TV show Survivor, which I started watching in 2002 when its fourth season started. I currently live in New Jersey.