Animal Lover

***Animal Lover*** is an album by The Residents, released by Mute Records on March 28th 2005 in Europe and April 5th 2005 in the United States.

A concept album, it depicts a series of stories, portraying human behavior as witnessed from the perspective of various animals. The original release of the album was presented in a hardback "book" style cover, with a second disc featuring a bonus suite, "...Imaginary Jack".

An instrumental remix of the album, *Animal Lover Instrumental*, was released in 2008 by Ralph America. A newly remastered and expanded pREServed edition of the album is expected for release in 2024 by Cherry Red Records, MVD Audio and New Ralph Too, featuring previously unheard demo material.

## History

Following their work on the retrospective *Icky Flix* project in 2001, The Residents began work on a new album, initially using "old traditional civil war tunes" as a musical basis, before eventually deciding to develop a concept album told from the perspective of animals.

The group wrote and recorded a few pieces for the project at this time, but after the terrorist attacks in New York City on September 11th 2001, they decided to instead develop *Demons Dance Alone* as a direct response to the attacks.

Work on the album began again in April 2003. Following their departure from East Side Digital, The Residents realized they had no label to release any new material through, and decided for the time being to focus less on audio media and more on DVDs and the Demons Dance Alone tour.

After the group signed to Mute Records, work began once more on the album, with further sessions taking place between February and December 2004.

A large number of outtakes were generated during the *Animal Lover* recording sessions, which have since been released on a variety of compilation albums (such as the *Best Left Unspoken...* series) and as free downloads on the group's official website.

## Packaging and artwork

Originally announced as a picture book with a soundtrack CD, *Animal Lover* was ultimately released in a "hardbook" package, featuring a 52 page, full color booklet.

The booklet contains the lyrics to each of the album's songs, with an associated graphic and short story told from an animal's point of view; for example, "On The Way (To Oklahoma)" begins with a story about a man obsessed with tigers, told from the perspective of a tiger. However, not every track features an explanatory story: "Dreaming of an Anthill (Teeming)", "Ingrid's Oily Tongue", and "Mr Bee's Bumble" are all instrumentals and are not included in the album's lyric sheet.

On the album's front cover and in the computer generated imagery included in the booklet, the four Residents (described as "The Same Old Residents" on one page of the booklet) are depicted in the nude, with a variety of body types and skin tones, and large stones/boulders for heads.

The "hardbook" packaging style would later become characteristic of The Residents' releases on Mute Records, most notably a series of reissues of their "Classic" era albums and The Mole Trilogy.

## Release

*Animal Lover* was originally intended for a Valentine's Day 2005 release, however the release was then pushed back to April Fool's Day. When The Residents announced their 2005 The Way We Were Australian mini-tour for the What Is Music? festival in Australia, the festival's website incorrectly stated that the tour would feature material from the then-unreleased *Animal Lover*; this was quickly confirmed as untrue by The Residents' webmaster, Big Brother.

Low-quality promotional copies of *Animal Lover* began to appear for sale on eBay in February 2005. After this the album was delayed again, being rescheduled to a March 28th 2005 release in Europe, followed by an April 5th release in the United States, and a Japanese release on June 26th. A double LP vinyl edition of the album was released on June 13th.

The CD edition included a bonus disc, featuring a suite commonly referred to as "...Imaginary Jack". The six untitled tracks on "...Imaginary Jack" combine elements from tracks from the *Animal Lover* album, with elements from unreleased material from the same sessions. According to The Cryptic Corporation, "...Imaginary Jack" really is one long track, divided into six parts for the enjoyment of the listener, and the full title of the piece is actually the entire text written on the disc:

"*I stood at my window staring at an arcing streetlight. A sudden wind made me pull my shoulders to my ears. I pissed into the dark. It smelled like canned tuna. My swollen lip throbbed. I could still taste the blood. My eyes rolled back looking for memories. I stopped. I was changing details in my mind, remembering only what I wanted it to be, not what it was. I had only a short time to do what had to be done, after that it would all be forever absorbed by my imaginary Jack.*"

An album of instrumental remixes of tracks from *Animal Lover* entitled *Animal Lover Instrumental* was released as part of the eL Ralpho Archive series of limited releases in 2008 on Ralph America. "...Imaginary Jack" was later released separately as a digital EP in 2011 via The Residents' online music platform Robot Selling Device.

## Reception

### Contemporary

Considering it to be "one of [The Residents'] best albums of all time" and "definitely their finest... since the one with Renaldo & The Loaf", freelance music reviewer Mark Prindle praised *Animal Lover* as the "feel-bad hit of the summer" and "a disturbing but disarmingly impressive piece of work", while recognising that "it can be a bit much at times", and describing the bonus suite "...Imaginary Jack" as "completely unnecessary".

## Track listing

*All tracks written and/or arranged by The Residents unless otherwise noted.*

### Mute Records CD edition (2005)

#### Disc One - *Animal Lover*

1. On The Way (To Oklahoma) (4:06)
2. Olive and Gray (4:07)
3. What Have My Chickens Done Now (4:24)
4. Two Lips (2:43)
5. Mr. Bee's Bumble (3:28)
6. Inner Space (4:15)
7. Dead Men (3:25)
8. My Window (5:20)
9. Ingrid's Oily Tongue (1:55)
10. Mother No More (3:19)
11. Dreaming of an Anthill (Teeming) (2:23)
12. Elmer's Song (4:34)
13. The Monkey Man (4:01)
14. The Whispering Boys (4:27)
15. Burn My Bones (6:19)

#### Disc Two - I Stood At My Window Staring At An Arcing Streetlight. A Sudden Wind Made Me Pull My Shoulders To My Ears. I Pissed Into The Dark. It Smelled Like Canned Tuna. My Swollen Lip Throbbed. I Could Still Taste The Blood. My Eyes Rolled Back Looking For Memories. I Stopped. I Was Changing Details In My Mind, Remembering Only What I Wanted It To Be, Not What It Was. I Had Only A Short Time To Do What Had To Be Done. After That It Would All Be Forever Absorbed By My Imaginary Jack.

1. Untitled (The Opening/The Window) (2:55)
2. Untitled (Anger/Hunger) (6:51)
3. Untitled (Two Lips) (1:38)
4. Untitled (Yes/No) (1:22)
5. Untitled (Animal Lover) (6:28)
6. Untitled (The Window/Closening) (10:10)

### Vinyl edition (2005)

#### Disc One

##### Side A

1. On The Way (To Oklahoma) (4:06)
2. Olive and Gray (4:07)
3. What Have My Chickens Done Now (4:24)
4. Two Lips (2:43)

##### Side B

1. Mr. Bee's Bumble (3:28)
2. Inner Space (4:15)
3. Dead Men (3:25)
4. My Window (5:20)

#### Disc Two

##### Side C

1. Ingrid's Oily Tongue (1:55)
2. Mother No More (3:19)
3. Dreaming Of An Anthill (Teeming) (2:23)
4. Elmer's Song (4:34)

##### Side D

1. The Monkey Man (4:01)
2. The Whispering Boys (4:27)
3. Burn My Bones (6:19)

## Credits

* **Written By**: The Residents
* **Published By**: Pale Pachyderm Publishing (BMI) All Rights Reserved, 2004
* **Performed By**: The Residents, Molly Harvey, Carla Fabrizio & Nolan Cook

**With Guests**:

* Greg "FIP" Kelly: **Harmonica**
* Chris Grady: **Trumpet**
* Annie Reynolds: **Violin**
* Kalonica McQuesten, Jen Tait, Cynthia Vazquez, Eric Oberthaler, R. Bhakti Klein: **Group Vocals**
* Isabelle Barbier: **Vocals**

## Release history

 LP
 Bomba Records

## See also

* *Animal Lover Instrumental*
* The Way We Were
* *...Imaginary Jack*

## External links and references

* *Animal Lover* at The Residents Historical
* *Animal Lover* at Mute Records official website
* *Animal Lover* on Discogs

1. ↑ "The musical source material for Animal Lover was old traditional civil war tunes. Before a concept was arrived at we referred to it as The Civil War Album." Nolan Cook, comment in The Residents unofficial Facebook group, August 24th 2023
2. ↑ tzoq, "Newz To Use", RZWeb, ca. April 2003 (archived via archive.org)
3. ↑ Big Brother, "Another Year Older", The Residents Official News Blog and Website Wrapper, November 30th 2003
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Big Brother, "Mute To Release New Residents Album", The Residents Official News BOG, December 6th 2004
5. ↑ Big Brother, "Animal Love Delayed Until April Fool's", The Residents Official News BOG, February 5th 2005
6. ↑ Big Brother, "Correcting Australian Festival Misinformation", The Residents Official News BOG, February 12th 2005
7. ↑ Big Brother, "Why you should not buy a promo on eBay", The Residents Official News BOG, February 15th 2005
8. ↑ Big Brother, "Easter Bunny to bring Animal Lover", The Residents Official News BOG, March 23rd 2005
9. ↑ Big Brother, "Japanese Release of Animal Lover", The Residents Official News BOG, May 7th 2005
10. ↑ Big Brother, "Animal Lover Vinyl", The Residents Official News BOG, May 9th 2005
11. ↑ Mark Prindle, "Animal Lover", Mark's Record Reviews, April 23rd 2005

**Ralph Records (1972 - 1987)**
*Meet The Residents* (1974) · *The Third Reich 'n Roll* (1976) · *Fingerprince* (1977) · *Duck Stab!/Buster & Glen* (1978)*Not Available* (1978) · *Eskimo* (1979) · *Commercial Album* (1980) · *Mark of the Mole* (1981) *The Tunes of Two Cities* (1982) · *George & James* (1984) · *The Big Bubble* (1985) · *Stars & Hank Forever!* (1986)
**Ryko and Enigma (1988 - 1989)**
*God In Three Persons* (1988) · *The King & Eye* (1989)
**East Side Digital (1990 - 2002)**
*Freak Show* (1990) · *Our Finest Flowers* (1992) · *Gingerbread Man* (1994) · *Have A Bad Day* (1996) *Wormwood* (1998) · *Demons Dance Alone* (2002)
**Mute Records (2004 - 2007)** ***Animal Lover*** (2005) · *Tweedles!* (2006) · *The Voice of Midnight* (2007)
**MVD Audio (2008 - 2015)**
*The Bunny Boy* (2008) · *Lonely Teenager* (2011) · *Mush-Room* (2013)
**MVD Audio and Cherry Red (2016 - present)** *The Ghost of Hope* (2017) · *Intruders* (2018) · *Metal, Meat & Bone* (2020)

**Fan club / off-label albums**
*Buckaroo Blues* (1989) · *The 12 Days of Brumalia* (2004) · *Night of the Hunters* (2007)*Hades* (2009) · *Dollar General* (2010) · *Night Train To Nowhere!* (2012)
**Soundtrack albums**
*Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats?* (1984) · *The Census Taker* (1985) · *Hunters* (1995) · *Icky Flix* (2001) *I Murdered Mommy!* (2004) · *Postcards From Patmos* (2008) ·  *Strange Culture/Haeckel's Tale* (2010)*Chuck's Ghost Music* (2011) · *Theory of Obscurity Soundtrack* (2014) · *Sculpt* (2016) · *Music to Eat Bricks By* (2019) · *Triple Trouble* (2022)
**Collaborative albums**
*Title In Limbo* with Renaldo & The Loaf (1983) · *I Am A Resident!* with You? (2018)
**Live in the studio**
*Assorted Secrets* (1984) · *Roadworms: The Berlin Sessions* (2000) · *Talking Light Live In Rehearsal, Santa Cruz, California* (2010)*Mole Dance 82* (2021) · *Duck Stab! Alive!* (2021)
**Related articles**
The Residents discography (W.E.I.R.D., 1979) · Ralph Records discography