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{{Infobox Single
{{Single infobox | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Songs -->
| Name = Animal
| Name = Animal
| Cover = 22319.jpg
| Cover = PearlJamAnimal.jpg
| Artist = [[Pearl Jam]]
| Artist = [[Pearl Jam]]
| from Album = [[Vs.]]
| from Album = [[Vs. (album)|Vs.]]
| B-side = "Animal" (live) / "[[Jeremy (song)|Jeremy]]" (live)
| Released = [[1993]]
| Released = 1994
| Format = [[CD single]] [[Vinyl]]
| Format = [[CD single]], [[Compact Cassette|Cassette]]
| Recorded = 1993
| Recorded = March–May 1993 at The Site, [[Nicasio, California|Nicasio]], [[California]]
| Genre = [[Grunge]]
| Label = [[Epic Records|Epic]]
| Genre = [[Grunge music|Grunge]]
| Producer = [[Brendan O'Brien]]
| Length = 2:49
| Label = [[Epic Records|Epic]]
| Producer = [[Brendan O'Brien (music producer)|Brendan O'Brien]], Pearl Jam
| Writer = [[Dave Abbruzzese]], [[Jeff Ament]], [[Stone Gossard]], [[Mike McCready]], [[Eddie Vedder]]
| Last single = "[[Daughter (song)|Daughter]]"<br/>(1993)
| This single = "'''Animal'''"<br/>(1994)
| Next single = "[[Dissident (song)|Dissident]]"<br/>(1994)
{{Extra track listing
| Album = [[Vs. (album)|Vs.]]
| Type = studio
| prev_track = "[[Go (Pearl Jam song)|Go]]"
| prev_no = Track 1
| this_track = "'''Animal'''"
| track_no = Track 2
| next_track = "[[Daughter (song)|Daughter]]"
| next_no = Track 3
}}
}}
}}
"'''Animal'''" is a song by the American [[rock music|rock]] band [[Pearl Jam]], released in 1994 as the third single from the band's second studio album, ''[[Vs. (album)|Vs.]]'' (1993). Although credited to all members of Pearl Jam, it features lyrics written by vocalist [[Eddie Vedder]] and music primarily written by guitarist [[Stone Gossard]]. The song peaked at number 21 on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks|Mainstream Rock Tracks]] chart. The song was included on Pearl Jam's 2004 greatest hits album, ''[[rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991–2003)]]''.


==Origin and recording==
'''Animal''' is a song by [[Pearl Jam]] on their sophomore album [[Vs.]] in [[1993 in music|1993]]. It was released as a single in 1993, and later appeared on their greatest hits album, [[Rearviewmirror: Greatest Hits 1991-2003]].
"Animal" originated as an instrumental demo called "Weird A" that was written by guitarist [[Stone Gossard]] in 1990.<ref>[http://pearljamhistory.no.sapo.pt/PJChronology1990.htm "Pearl Jam Chronology Mookie Blaylock - 1990"]. PearlJam10YearsAgo.no.sapo.pt. February 27, 2002.</ref> The song includes elements of [[funk]]. Guitarist [[Mike McCready]] on the song:
== Theme ==
<blockquote>I like the lead on that. George Webb, a guy who takes care of all our guitars and amps, was sitting there and I told him I'd do a solo for him. It ended up being the one we used on the record. I did it on a Gibson 335, too. That's a fun song to play.<ref>Gilbert, Jeff. [http://www.fivehorizons.com/archive/articles/gs0595.shtml "Prime Cuts: Mike McCready - The Best of Pearl Jam!"]. ''Guitar School''. May 1995.</ref></blockquote>
The song's actual meaning has usually been confused by fans with some thinking it's about the band's hatred towards the [[mass media|media]], or if it's about [[gang rape]]. However judging by the lyrics and Pearl Jam's popularity during the time, it's most likely about the media. The band would then eventually wrote more songs like this that appeared on their follow up album, [[Vitalogy]].


==Track Listing==
==Lyrics==
The actual meaning for "Animal" has usually been confused by fans with some thinking it's about the band's hatred towards the [[mass media|media]] and others thinking it's about [[Types of rape#Gang rape|gang rape]]. In an interview with ''[[Melody Maker]]'' in 1993, vocalist [[Eddie Vedder]] stated:
1. Animal
<blockquote>I don't wanna talk about [who the anger is directed at]. It's not so much personal, it's just, some person at the record company said the other day that they wanted the vocals turned up. He wanted people to understand exactly what I was singing. So I told him what it was about and he said, 'You're right. Let's leave the vocals as they are. Maybe we don't really want people to understand it.'<ref>"Interview with Eddie Vedder". ''[[Melody Maker]]''. 1993.</ref></blockquote>
:Written by: Abbruzzese/Ament/Gossard/McCready/Vedder
:Produced by: Brendan O'Brien and Pearl Jam
:Mixed by: Brendan O'Brien
:Assisted by: Nick Didia, Kevin Scott and Adam Kaspar


Originally, ''Vs.'' was titled ''Five Against One'', which was taken from the lyric "One, two, three, four, five against one..." from "Animal". Concerning the original album title, Gossard said:
2. Animal (live)
<blockquote>For me, that title represented a lot of struggles that you go through trying to make a record...Your own independence—your own soul—versus everybody else's. In this band, and I think in rock in general the art of compromise is almost as important as the art of individual expression. You might have five great artists in the band, but if they can't compromise and work together, you don't have a great band. It might mean something completely different to Eddie. But when I heard that lyric, it made a lot of sense to me.<ref name="fiveagainst">{{cite web | last = Crowe | first = Cameron | url = http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10560431/five_against_the_world | title = Five Against the World | work = [[Rolling Stone]] | date = 1993-10-28 | accessdate = 2007-06-23 }}</ref></blockquote>
:Written by: Abbruzzese/Ament/Gossard/McCready/Vedder

:Mixed by: Brendan O'Brien
==Release and reception==
:Recorded live at the Fox Theater, Atlanta, Georgia April 3, 1994
While the "Animal" single was released commercially to international markets in 1994, the commercial single was not released in the [[United States]] until June 27, 1995 and was only available as a more expensive import version beforehand. "Animal" peaked at number 21 on the ''Billboard'' [[Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks|Mainstream Rock Tracks]] chart. Outside the United States, the single was released commercially in [[Australia]], [[Austria]], and [[Germany]]. "Animal" peaked at number 30 on the Australian Singles Chart and was a top ten success in [[New Zealand]].

"Animal" was described as a song "of a kind of ritual passion, tapping into something truly wild" in ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine's review of ''Vs.''<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/pearljam/albums/album/135104/review/5945402/vs | title=Pearl Jam: ''Vs.'' | accessdate=2008-05-27 | author=Evans, Paul | publisher=''[[Rolling Stone]]'' | date=1993-12-23}}</ref> In [[Allmusic]]'s review of the "Animal" single, it was stated that "Animal" displays "the raging Seattle [[Grunge music|grunge]] guitars and solid melodic sensibilities that enabled them to secure their status as one of the biggest rock bands in the world."<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web
| url=http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:3zfpxqyjldfe
| title=Animal [US CD]
|author=Cater, Evan
| publisher=[[Allmusic]]
| accessdate=2007-04-28}}</ref>

==Live performances==
"Animal" was first performed live at the band's May 13, 1993 concert in [[San Francisco]], [[California]] at Slim's Café.<ref>[https://www.pearljam.com/song/animal "Pearl Jam Songs: "Animal""]. [[Pearl Jam|pearljam.com]].</ref> The song was performed at the [[MTV Video Music Awards]] in 1993, a rare occurrence for a song without a music video. Live performances of "Animal" can be found on the "Animal" single, the "[[Dissident (song)|Dissident]]"/''Live in Atlanta'' box set, various [[Pearl Jam Official Bootlegs|official bootlegs]], and the ''[[Live at the Gorge 05/06]]'' box set. A performance of the song is also included on the DVD ''[[Touring Band 2000]]''.

==Track listing==
All songs written by [[Dave Abbruzzese]], [[Jeff Ament]], [[Stone Gossard]], [[Mike McCready]], and [[Eddie Vedder]], except where noted:
;CD (US, Austria, and Germany)
#"Animal"&nbsp;– 2:47
#"Animal" (live)&nbsp;– 3:00
#"[[Jeremy (song)|Jeremy]]" (live) (Vedder, Ament)&nbsp;– 5:31
*Live tracks recorded on April 3, 1994 at the [[Fox Theatre (Atlanta, Georgia)|Fox Theatre]] in [[Atlanta]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].

;CD (Australia) and Cassette (Australia)
#"Animal"&nbsp;– 2:47
#"Jeremy" (Vedder, Ament)&nbsp;– 5:18
#"[[Oceans (Pearl Jam song)|Oceans]]" (Vedder, Gossard, Ament)&nbsp;– 2:44
#"[[Alive (Pearl Jam song)|Alive]]" (live) (Vedder, Gossard)&nbsp;– 4:57
#*Recorded live by [[VARA (broadcaster)|VARA]] Radio on June 8, 1992 at [[Pinkpop Festival]] in the [[Netherlands]].

;CD (Australia) and Cassette (Australia)
#"Animal"&nbsp;– 2:47
#"Jeremy" (live) (Vedder, Ament)&nbsp;– 5:31
#"[[Daughter (song)|Daughter]]" (live)&nbsp;– 5:07
#"Animal" (live)&nbsp;– 3:00
*Live tracks recorded on April 3, 1994 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia.

==Chart positions==
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
! Chart (1994)
! Position
|-
| [[Recording Industry Association of New Zealand|New Zealand Singles Chart]]<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Pearl+Jam&titel=Animal&cat=s
| title = PEARL JAM - ANIMAL (SONG)
| publisher = New Zealand-charts.com
| accessdate = 2007-07-17
}}</ref>
|align="center"|7
|-
| US [[Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks|Mainstream Rock Tracks]]<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.vnuArtistId=5392&model.vnuAlbumId=772120
| title=Pearl Jam Artist Chart History
| publisher=''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''
| accessdate=2007-04-28}}</ref>
|align="center"|21
|-
| [[ARIA Charts|Australian Singles Chart]]<ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Pearl+Jam&titel=Animal&cat=s
| title = PEARL JAM - ANIMAL (SINGLE) (74326)
| publisher = Australian-charts.com
| accessdate = 2007-04-29
}}</ref>
|align="center"|30
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://pearljam.com/song/animal Lyrics at pearljam.com]


3. Jeremy (live)
:Written by: Vedder/Ament
:Mixed by: Brendan O'Brien
:Recorded live at the Fox Theater, Atlanta, Georgia April 3, 1994
{{rock-song-stub}}
{{Pearl Jam}}
{{Pearl Jam}}

[[Category:1993 singles]]
[[Category:1994 singles]]
[[Category:Pearl Jam songs]]
[[Category:Pearl Jam songs]]

[[es:Animal (canción de Pearl Jam)]]
[[it:Animal (Pearl Jam)]]

Revision as of 20:11, 22 September 2009

"Animal"
Song
B-side"Animal" (live) / "Jeremy" (live)

"Animal" is a song by the American rock band Pearl Jam, released in 1994 as the third single from the band's second studio album, Vs. (1993). Although credited to all members of Pearl Jam, it features lyrics written by vocalist Eddie Vedder and music primarily written by guitarist Stone Gossard. The song peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The song was included on Pearl Jam's 2004 greatest hits album, rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991–2003).

Origin and recording

"Animal" originated as an instrumental demo called "Weird A" that was written by guitarist Stone Gossard in 1990.[1] The song includes elements of funk. Guitarist Mike McCready on the song:

I like the lead on that. George Webb, a guy who takes care of all our guitars and amps, was sitting there and I told him I'd do a solo for him. It ended up being the one we used on the record. I did it on a Gibson 335, too. That's a fun song to play.[2]

Lyrics

The actual meaning for "Animal" has usually been confused by fans with some thinking it's about the band's hatred towards the media and others thinking it's about gang rape. In an interview with Melody Maker in 1993, vocalist Eddie Vedder stated:

I don't wanna talk about [who the anger is directed at]. It's not so much personal, it's just, some person at the record company said the other day that they wanted the vocals turned up. He wanted people to understand exactly what I was singing. So I told him what it was about and he said, 'You're right. Let's leave the vocals as they are. Maybe we don't really want people to understand it.'[3]

Originally, Vs. was titled Five Against One, which was taken from the lyric "One, two, three, four, five against one..." from "Animal". Concerning the original album title, Gossard said:

For me, that title represented a lot of struggles that you go through trying to make a record...Your own independence—your own soul—versus everybody else's. In this band, and I think in rock in general the art of compromise is almost as important as the art of individual expression. You might have five great artists in the band, but if they can't compromise and work together, you don't have a great band. It might mean something completely different to Eddie. But when I heard that lyric, it made a lot of sense to me.[4]

Release and reception

While the "Animal" single was released commercially to international markets in 1994, the commercial single was not released in the United States until June 27, 1995 and was only available as a more expensive import version beforehand. "Animal" peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Outside the United States, the single was released commercially in Australia, Austria, and Germany. "Animal" peaked at number 30 on the Australian Singles Chart and was a top ten success in New Zealand.

"Animal" was described as a song "of a kind of ritual passion, tapping into something truly wild" in Rolling Stone magazine's review of Vs.[5] In Allmusic's review of the "Animal" single, it was stated that "Animal" displays "the raging Seattle grunge guitars and solid melodic sensibilities that enabled them to secure their status as one of the biggest rock bands in the world."[6]

Live performances

"Animal" was first performed live at the band's May 13, 1993 concert in San Francisco, California at Slim's Café.[7] The song was performed at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1993, a rare occurrence for a song without a music video. Live performances of "Animal" can be found on the "Animal" single, the "Dissident"/Live in Atlanta box set, various official bootlegs, and the Live at the Gorge 05/06 box set. A performance of the song is also included on the DVD Touring Band 2000.

Track listing

All songs written by Dave Abbruzzese, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, and Eddie Vedder, except where noted:

CD (US, Austria, and Germany)
  1. "Animal" – 2:47
  2. "Animal" (live) – 3:00
  3. "Jeremy" (live) (Vedder, Ament) – 5:31
CD (Australia) and Cassette (Australia)
  1. "Animal" – 2:47
  2. "Jeremy" (Vedder, Ament) – 5:18
  3. "Oceans" (Vedder, Gossard, Ament) – 2:44
  4. "Alive" (live) (Vedder, Gossard) – 4:57
CD (Australia) and Cassette (Australia)
  1. "Animal" – 2:47
  2. "Jeremy" (live) (Vedder, Ament) – 5:31
  3. "Daughter" (live) – 5:07
  4. "Animal" (live) – 3:00
  • Live tracks recorded on April 3, 1994 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia.

Chart positions

Chart (1994) Position
New Zealand Singles Chart[8] 7
US Mainstream Rock Tracks[9] 21
Australian Singles Chart[10] 30

References

  1. ^ "Pearl Jam Chronology Mookie Blaylock - 1990". PearlJam10YearsAgo.no.sapo.pt. February 27, 2002.
  2. ^ Gilbert, Jeff. "Prime Cuts: Mike McCready - The Best of Pearl Jam!". Guitar School. May 1995.
  3. ^ "Interview with Eddie Vedder". Melody Maker. 1993.
  4. ^ Crowe, Cameron (1993-10-28). "Five Against the World". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
  5. ^ Evans, Paul (1993-12-23). "Pearl Jam: Vs.". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-05-27. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ Cater, Evan. "Animal [US CD]". Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
  7. ^ "Pearl Jam Songs: "Animal"". pearljam.com.
  8. ^ "PEARL JAM - ANIMAL (SONG)". New Zealand-charts.com. Retrieved 2007-07-17.
  9. ^ "Pearl Jam Artist Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 2007-04-28. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ "PEARL JAM - ANIMAL (SINGLE) (74326)". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2007-04-29.
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