''The Animal Years'' is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter

Josh Ritter Josh Ritter (born October 21, 1976) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and author who performs and records with the Royal City Band. Ritter is known for his distinctive Americana style and narrative lyrics. In 2006, he was named one of ...

. The album was originally released in the UK on March 20, 2006, and in the United States on April 11, 2006. It was Ritter's first album released on

V2 Records V2 Records (or V2 Music; V2 being an abbreviation for Virgin 2) is a record label that was purchased by Universal Music Group in 2007 and sold to IASin 2013. In the Benelux, V2 operates separately from PIAS, as the label bought itself out from ...

. A double-disc deluxe edition was released in Ireland on January 17, 2010, and in the US on February 15, 2011. In 2010, Ritter's band was given the name "The Royal City Band" (a reference to the song "Thin Blue Flame" from ''The Animal Years'').

Background

Before performing "Girl in the War" at the 2006 annual dinner of the

Center for American Progress The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a public policy research and advocacy organization which presents a liberal viewpoint on economic and social issues. It has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. The president and chief executive offic ...

in Washington D.C., Ritter stated that he intended to "write about

he United States of America He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

but nsteadit all came out sounding like a love song." Ritter has said that the life and work of

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

were a great influence on ''The Animal Years'', in particular Twain's books '' Life on the Mississippi'' and ''

Letters from the Earth ''Letters from the Earth'' is a posthumously published work of American author Mark Twain (1835–1910) collated by Bernard DeVoto. It comprises essays written during a difficult time in Twain's life (1904–1909), when he was deeply in debt an ...

''. When analyzed alongside Twain's biography, lyrics from multiple songs on ''The Animal Years'' seem to make textual reference to the life and times of Mark Twain. The most intriguing example may be the enigmatic song "Monster Ballads", which contains references to both the 19th-century decline of the Mississippi River steamboat at the hands of the railroad and the fictional character

Huckleberry Finn Huckleberry "Huck" Finn is a fictional character created by Mark Twain who first appeared in the book ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876) and is the protagonist and narrator of its sequel, ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1884). He is 12 ...

. Paying homage to Twain, Josh Ritter performed in a white suit while touring to support ''The Animal Years''.

Critical reception

As with Ritter's previous albums, ''The Animal Years'' was praised for its lyricism and storytelling. Additionally, the use of piano throughout the album was recognized. Stephen King rated ''The Animal Years'' the best album of 2006 in an article for ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...

''.

Track listing

All songs written by Josh Ritter. # "Girl in the War" – 4:23 # "Wolves" – 4:04 # "Monster Ballads" – 4:05 # "Lillian, Egypt" – 3:24 # "Idaho" – 3:51 # "In the Dark" – 4:41 # "One More Mouth" – 3:29 # "Good Man" – 4:09 # "Best for the Best" – 3:58 # "Thin Blue Flame" – 9:38 # "Here at the Right Time" – 3:40

Credits

Personnel

–

voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...

, guitar *Zack Hickman – bass, electric bass, guitar,

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, lap steel guitar,

ukelele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrume ...

*David Hingerty – drums, percussion *Sam Kassirer –

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

, piano,

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

, synthesizer *Tim Bradshaw – guitar

Production

* Mixed by

Brian Deck Brian Deck is an American music producer and member of band Red Red Meat. He co-founded Idful Studios in 1988. Since becoming a full-time producer, Deck has worked with bands and artists including Modest Mouse, Iron & Wine, Califone, All Smiles, ...

* Mastering by Greg Calbi

Deluxe edition

''The Animal Years'' was reissued as a two-disc deluxe edition, first in Ireland on January 17, 2010, then in the United States on February 15, 2011. The deluxe edition includes the complete original studio album as well as a bonus CD with Ritter performing a solo acoustic version of the entire album (recorded in Nashville in June 2008). The bonus CD also includes four

b-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

, an enhanced video for "Lillian, Egypt", new artwork, and liner notes by Tom Ricks. A vinyl version of the deluxe edition was released in the United States on January 25, 2011. The LP also includes a copy of the bonus acoustic CD.

Track listing of deluxe edition (bonus CD)

# "Girl in the War" (Solo Acoustic) # "Wolves" (Solo Acoustic) # "Monster Ballads" (Solo Acoustic) # "Lillian, Egypt" (Solo Acoustic) # "Idaho" (Solo Acoustic) # "In the Dark" (Solo Acoustic) # "One More Mouth" (Solo Acoustic) # "Good Man" (Solo Acoustic) # "Best for the Best" (Solo Acoustic) # "Thin Blue Flame" (Solo Acoustic) # "Here at the Right Time" (Solo Acoustic) # "Blame It on the Tetons" (written by Modest Mouse) # "Harbortown" # "Peter Killed the Dragon" # "Monster Ballads" (Early Version)

References

External links

Josh Ritter official websiteLyricsPerfect-Lyrics

best love song lyrics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Animal Years, The Josh Ritter albums 2006 albums V2 Records albums Albums recorded at Bear Creek Studio