Brett Hartenbach of AllMusic thought that "even with a few less than stellar songs, The Talking Animals is a strong, inspired record."[3]Trouser Press called the album "all in all, worth hearing, though one wishes this talented jerk weren’t so impressed with himself."[9]Robert Christgau wrote: "I hate to let the cat out of the bag, but this guy is pretentious."[4]
Track listing
All songs by T Bone Burnett unless otherwise noted.
Side one
"The Wild Truth" – 3:38
"Monkey Dance" – 4:43
"Image" – 4:02
"Dance, Dance, Dance" – 2:45
"The Killer Moon" (Burnett, M. Burnett, Peter Case) – 5:00