Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

In response to that statement, I can only say that Act II and Soap Opera are truly putrid (although I haven't given Schoolboys in Disgrace an honest listen yet). But Muswell putrid? Not even remotely close. I'd say the same for Show-Biz and Act I, while acknowledging that those two albums are a definite step down from their Glory Days.

Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

I meant Percy through Schoolboys. The arena rock years weren't much better but at least there were some great songs and Misfits was a very good album.

Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

You know (and who knows how my thoughts my change once we get there) but the so-called "arena rock" years don't gun my engine much. Good albums, good songs, but there's a certain Ray Davies fire that's missing there. They stayed viable, but the madcap awesomeness and impeccable craftsmanship isn't there.

Low Budget, Misfits, Sleepwalker... all good albums. But at first listen they all seem strangely reactive, almost passive albums. I'm not making any sense.

Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

OK so I realize that many of you might not know some of these songs, so why not share them here?

We'll start with Sweet Lady Genevieve. Awesome tune.

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Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

My Kinks Album Rating Continuum, if you will. Won't you? As we evaluate further albums, this thing will probably change...

Albums are in order of preference.

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/5.gif
The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society
Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/4.5.gif
Something Else By The Kinks
Muswell Hillbillies

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/4.gif
Face To Face
Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/3.5.gif
Everybody's In Show-Biz

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/3.gif
Preservation Act I
The Kink Controversy
Kinda Kinks

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/2.5.gif
Kinks

Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

Sitting In The Midday Sun

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Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

Preservation Act II - The Kinks

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...servation2.jpg

Original Release Date: May 8, 1974

Original Track Listing

1. Announcement
2. Introduction to Solution
3. When a Solution Comes
4. Money Talks
5. Announcement
6. Shepherds of the Nation
7. Scum of the Earth
8. Second-Hand Car Spiv
9. He's Evil
10. Mirror of Love
11. Announcement
12. Nobody Gives
13. Oh Where Oh Where Is Love?
14. Flash's Dream (The Final Elbow)
15. Flash's Confession
16. Nothing Lasts Forever
17. Announcement
18. Artificial Man
19. Scrapheap City
20. Announcement
21. Salvation Road



You know, the worst thing you can say about Preservation Act II (PA2 for the rest of this review) is that it really sucks, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. The last time we left off reviewing the project (at the end of PA1), we were left with an overall OK album with some good songs, some bad ones, but titled towards the positive (I gave it 3 stars out of 5). PA1 is a weird album, pretty far removed from the bulk of their catalog in terms of style and sound, but it has enough interesting material to make it worthwhile for the Kinks fan to check out.

PA2, on the other hand, I really can't recommend at all unless you're really interested in seeing how the entire PRESERVATION project plays out dramatically... and even then, it doesn't really work that well as storytelling. What does it all mean? PA1 was about the simple folks of the Village Green and how they were seduced by charismatic Flash, who then took over their precious town, stripped, demolished, and subdivided it, and turned it over for profit. So in this "act", we are introduced to Mr. Black (the utopian religious do-gooder who wants to strip the country of all filth and degradation) and the epic cosmic battle between him and Flash. And Flash loses, ends up brainwashed into an anonymous citizen, and Mr. Black takes over the country, transforming it into his pseudo-religious-right Disneyland. Or something. Meanwhile, Ray Davies's "Tramp" persona makes various commentaries about both sides and how everybody's full of shit. Or something.

So, what the fuck does ANY of this have to do with the classic THE KINKS ARE THE VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY album? Precious fucking little, actually. I suppose the "Village Green" represents tradition and the goodness of regular folk despoiled by abusive, greedy capitalists or sanctimonious, self-aggrandizing holy fascists or some such in between. I have no idea. It's not entirely all that interesting, really.

OK the story blows, is the music any good? Nope. PA2 is structured in a more "dramatic" fashion than PA1. We have spoken word sections made up of radio announcements, news broadcasts, even some dramatic dialog. They give the narrative some sense of overall direction, which I suppose is good because you don't really get much of a feel from the music. The first three tracks -- Introduction To Solution, When A Solution Comes, and Money Talks are all agreeable midrange early/mid 70s rock tunes, but on the other hand there's nothing particularly good about them either.

I will cop to enjoying the melodramatic Shepherds of the Nation, an affected dramatic tune in which "Mr. Black" and his gang of holy-rollers announce their agenda to remove Britain of filth and sin. I wouldn't call it a great song, but it conveys the dramatic elements effectively while remaining somehow musically interesting. On the other hand, Scum of the Earth and Second Hand Car Spiv are the type of musical theater wankery you might expect from an album with a reputation as bad as this one's. Think of all those shitty songs from your average Jr. High production of GODSPELL. Yeah. That bad.

He's Evil is a little more interesting. It has a fun, electric keyboard driven vibe, and if nothing else has enough musical hook to seem like one of the album's stronger tracks. And it is, even if the chorus is just the title of the song repeated ad infinum. I wouldn't mind Mirror Of Love so much if Ray didn't do that ferschlugginer throat wobble thing he's gotten more and more into lately. It's an OK show-tune sort of thing; at least it works as a song decently enough.

Here comes Captain Exposition with Nobody Gives, in which Ray's "Tramp" character spells out to us that people are selfish beings, who only give (without altruism) if they expect something bigger in return, and that's the same thing throughout all history. Trite message of sorts, angry, maybe a real human moment throughout these labored proceedings, but only OK as a song, at best. This leads into the GOD-AWFUL Oh Where Oh Where Is Love?. This absolutely lousy duet between Ray and Maryann Price will make you physically violent. This could be the worst Kinks original tune recorded to date. I'm ill.

I could neither contain nor control my gas after listening to Flash's Dream (The Final Elbow), which is a dramatic dialogue between Flash and his soul. Mix equal parts third-rate Christmas Carol, third-rate Shakespeare, heck even third-rate Monty Python without the satire, sprinkle in musical snippets from the entire PRESERVATION project, and then make it much, much, MUCH worse than you could possibly imagine. Your average episode of FAT ALBERT is more compelling and convincing. More interesting is Flash's Confession, which utilizes the "Flash" musical cue effectively with some nice keyboard and wah-wah effects. It's a decent song but, again, nothing memorable.

If the previous Ray/Maryann Price duet made you want to retch up entirely new colors from your digestive tract, Nothing Lasts Forever will open up a wormhole from your sphincter to an undiscovered Negative Zone of God-Awfulness. While it's a better song than OH WHERE OH WHERE IS LOVE, such a statement is the living definition of "Damning with faint praise". By the time we get to Flash's defeat and brainwashing in Artificial Man, I was ready for such a treatment myself. The album (and entire project) has completely and entirely jumped the rails. At this point you're convinced your dreaming and waiting for the inevitable Inception-like demolitions that will kick you back up to whichever level has a copy of ARTHUR on vinyl.

Scrapheap City is probably Maryann Price's best work on the album. It's a fairly decent song, and she takes lead vocals on it. Toe-tapping in nature and anchored by a cowboy/western riff, I kind of like it but by this time it's way too little, way too late. The album even ends on a surprisingly good note with the catchy Salvation Road, but if your brain isn't the flavor and consistency of tapioca pudding by this point, there's entirely too much Carson Daly in your life.

OK well... this album sucks. Is there anything salvageable from this mess? Well Salvation Road is a good tune and a decent album closer, and I sorta liked Scrapheap City, Shepherds of the Nation, and He's Evil. The rest ranges from Average to FUCKING AWFUL and all over the in-between. It's a disappointment of the highest caliber. At least PA1 had some level of promise to it, even if it didn't entirely work, but Preservation Act 2 is for the core completists and core completists only. I need a bath.

Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

I told my dad to get me "The Village Green Preservation Society" and he bought me Preservation Act II, never got to listen to it....

Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

^That's like asking for dinner at St. Elmo's steakhouse in Indianapolis, and getting slammed in the nuts with a shovel instead.

Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

My Kinks Album Rating Continuum, if you will. Won't you? As we evaluate further albums, this thing will probably change...

Albums are in order of preference.

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/5.gif
The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society
Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/4.5.gif
Something Else By The Kinks
Muswell Hillbillies

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/4.gif
Face To Face
Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/3.5.gif
Everybody's In Show-Biz

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/3.gif
Preservation Act I
The Kink Controversy
Kinda Kinks

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/2.5.gif
Kinks

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/1.5.gif
Preservation Act II

Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

The Kinks Present A Soap Opera - The Kinks

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Original Release Date: May 16, 1975

Original Track Listing

1. Everybody's a Star (Starmaker)
2. Ordinary People
3. Rush Hour Blues
4. Nine to Five
5. When Work Is Over
6. Have Another Drink
7. Underneath the Neon Sign
8. Holiday Romance
9. You Make It All Worthwhile
10. Ducks on the Wall
11. A Face in the Crowd
12. You Can't Stop the Music

Well, the PRESERVATION project failed. A noble effort, maybe, but a total fucking mess. At least Ray got all that "theatrical presentation" stuff out of his system, right? Well, Ray's not here right now. In his place is some whackadoo Starmaker dope who conceived and wrote the worst Kinks album to date. Maybe of all time.

The Kinks Present A Soap Opera is a shitty album. The songwriting is lazy: banal lyrics, uninteresting music, embarassing theatrical flourishes, and if that's not bad enough, it's dreadfully, dreadfully BORING. Say what you want about PRESERVATION, but at least it had some moments that really shine (pretty much most of them on PA1, but whatever). This is an artistic pit-stop into awfulness for The Kinks. It's not even a fascinating failure, like Kiss's "Music From The Elder" or Van Halen III or anything the Stones have done since Tattoo You. This is a dreadful, boring mess.

I won't even bother with the story, save to say it's about a man named Norman, a rockstar/superbeing called Starmaker, and how they switch places in life, or maybe Norman is just making it all up in his head. Whatever.

The opening track Everybody's a Star starts out with some thick humbucker distortion, giving the hope of a fun, uptempo rock track. Uptempo, sure. Rock? Legally, it meets that definition. Fun? Nope. It's a lazy, unmemorable, dopey beginning. If you can't take Ray's dramatic-line-reading-as-a-sort-of-singing thingy here -- and I can't -- it's gonna be one hell of an arduous experience from this point on. At least Dave has a fun solo buried underneath somewhere. By the time Ordinary People starts, you just really want to crawl underneath a pile of leaves and get run over by at thresher. Bad dramatic narration over third-rate porn music that turns into a sort of 50s sock-hop melody. If your idea of a great song includes limp dialogue that includes the line "God, these pajamas are AWFUL!", this is YOUR album.

Rush Hour Blues is, at the very least, an actual song (with some dialogue thrown in), and has the distinction of being entirely mediocre, which makes it one of the better songs on the album. The piano ballad Nine To Five is another testament to mediocrity, in which it does nothing to distinguish itself and dissipates in the ether once its 2-minute running time is completed. "Life is so incredibly dull," sings Starmarker/Ray, and he was probably listening to this album at the time. When Work Is Over is more of the same upbeat dullness, an ode to the after-work booze-fest, and never has the fine art of destroying your liver in the name of staving off the soul-killing aftereffects of work seemed more boring.

Oh wait... here's the semblance of an OK song: Have Another Drink. Reminiscent of MUSWELL HILLBILLIES but probably more apropos as an EVERYBODY'S IN SHOW-BIZ track, it would have been a meh cut on the former, a middling one on the latter, but on this album it stands out. Your literal definition of "damning with faint praise", but there you have it. Underneath The Neon Sign has a kind of a mid-70s yacht-rocky Caribbean beat -- think Jimmy Buffett before he became an icon to Loathsome Baby Boomers with pony-tails and Hawaiian shirts -- and is a whole lot of nothing special at all. The dance-hall'ish Holiday Romance, about going on vacation and trying to bang anyone but your wife, really, REALLY stinks. What a terrible song. This is the type of material Freddie Mercury could have done a thousand times better in his sleep. Does anyone really want to hear Ray imitate a woman's voice in a terrible falsetto? Besides Lemmy? Is anyone actually reading this? For dinner tonight I'm making steak tips, brown rice, black beans, and spinach with garlic. It's delicious, but it will end a marriage if proper precautions aren't taken.

Let's return from that particular tangent and finish this up. You Make It All Worthwhile lies somewhere between absolutely awful and absolutely mediocre; the "soap opera" elements with the organ and dialog snippets are dopey, but there are agreeable elements to the song as well. Ducks on the Wall tries to bring teh rawk to the forefront. The song is fucking retarded, something about Starmaker's/Norman's deep loathing of his wife's prized duck wallpaper or something. Ray makes duck noises throughout the song. ALLOW ME TO REPEAT THAT: RAY MAKES DUCK NOISES THROUGHOUT THE SONG. Meine lieber Gott!!

A Face In The Crowd is a flat ballad in which Starmaker realizes he sorta has to be Norman, or some disassociative personality nonsense. I don't even care anymore. The song is low-grade meh, with moments of OK in it, but generally it's musically uninteresting and lazy. At least You Can't Stop The Music works well enough as a song. It's probably the best song on the album. Maybe the only one I could possibly listen to a second time. It's not that great. But at least it signifies that we're done here.

There's no reason to purchase or listen to Soap Opera. Maybe if you're THAT curious about the theatrical era. Maybe if you're an absolute obsessive completist. Maybe if you want to see how absolutely bad The Kinks could get before they got any better. And they WILL get better, mind you. But Soap Opera is the type of album that would have DESTROYED any lesser band.

Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

My Kinks Album Rating Continuum, if you will. Won't you? As we evaluate further albums, this thing will probably change...

Albums are in order of preference.

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/5.gif
The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society
Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/4.5.gif
Something Else By The Kinks
Muswell Hillbillies

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/4.gif
Face To Face
Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/3.5.gif
Everybody's In Show-Biz

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/3.gif
Preservation Act I
The Kink Controversy
Kinda Kinks

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/2.5.gif
Kinks

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/1.5.gif
Preservation Act II

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/1.gif
(The Kinks Present) A Soap Opera

Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

Well despite the fact that I despise the theatrical period Kinks, this one actually holds a few fond memories for me. The first girl i ever had "relations" with was a big Ray Davies fan. She actually liked this album and would play it all the time back in 1980 or so. And you know how when you're young, you're less discriminating about lame songs? Well at one time I actually liked the song Ducks on the Wall. Mainly because she did. Anyway I haven't heard it in 30 years and I can't remember any of the other songs at all. I don't think I'll renew my memory after reading Hokeyboy's review.

Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

Keep a bucket handy.

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Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

Sounds a little bit like "Supersonic Rocket Ship" in a different tempo.

Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

oh God! there are actual duck sounds

Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

"Ducks! Ducks! Ducks on the wall!!! *QUACK QUACK*..."

Wow! What a phenomenal song...

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Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

(The Kinks Present) Schoolboys In Disgrace - The Kinks

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...inDisgrace.jpg

Original Release Date: November 17, 1975

Track Listing

1. Schooldays
2. Jack the Idiot Dunce
3. Education
4. The First Time We Fall in Love
5. I'm in Disgrace
6. Headmaster
7. The Hard Way
8. The Last Assembly
9. No More Looking Back
10. Finale


So the previous year's (THE KINKS PRESENT) A SOAP OPERA represented The Kinks at their absolute lousiest. Crappy album, crappy critical reception, crappy sales. If the previous two albums, the ambitious, sometimes entertaining but ultimately unsatisfactory PRESERVATION ACTS: I & II didn't drive away most of their 60s fans, SOAP OPERA sat in the corner of the party, lighting its own farts. Yeah.

So why not do yet ANOTHER theatrical/concept album? The band rebounded with (The Kinks Present) Schoolboys In Disgrace. Easily the band's best album since the studio side of EVERYBODY'S IN SHOW-BIZ, Schoolboys In Disgrace improves upon the horrible SOAP OPERA and terribly sub-par PRESERVATION: ACT II in every conceivable way: as music, as theatrics, as songwriting, as an album experience as a whole. It's more consistent and entertaining than PRESERVATION: ACT I, and like that album has a song which I consider to be a "Lost Kinks Classic".

The result is an album which I think holds up remarkably well and represents the best of the band's "theatrical" albums (this, PA:I, PA:II, SOAP OPERA), by FAR.

The overall 50s feel of the album kicks off with Schooldays, a generally winning song with a great sound and vibe. If some of the lyrics are bit too obvious -- and they are -- you can chalk it up to the project's theatrical underpinnings. I like the opener quite a bit, especially its "sock hop" feel. It works as a song, first and foremost, rather than as some dopey overture. Jack the Idiot Dunce is equal parts Jerry Lee Lewis and vintage Beach Boys, a quick-paced 50s/60s-styled rocker that works equally well as music as it does a piece of musical storytelling.

Education doesn't really work for me. It's a midtempo piece (that picks up pace in its midsection) during which Flash has an existential quandry about the value of education in the first place. Something along those lines. Not a particularly memorable song, but not a bad one either. It's average at best, filler at worst. On the other hand, try not to be taken in by the sock-hop slow-dance that is The First Time We Fall In Love, an infectious ode to teen heartache. Ray's affected 50s crooner stylings and mid-song falsettos might put off some, but it totally works well for this song. Dave's crushing guitars also anchor the song with some solid rock underpinnings. The song is also quite theatrical in its presentation, but that only strengthens its overall quality.

I'm In Disgrace -- recounting Flash's experience getting caught nailing a chick behind the bleachers, or something -- is pure theatrical power-pop, and has an enjoyable vibe, acting as something of a harbinger for their "arena rock" sound to develop over their next few albums. It's also the first track on the album that feels like 70s AOR rather than 70s retro-50s rock.

The album's centerpiece, and arguably a "Lost Kinks Classic" is Headmaster, a wonderfully produced, dark, evocative, extremely contemporary (for 1975), and VERY strong and memorable piece of songwriting and performance. It starts out driven by haunting minor-key piano lines and turns into a powerful rocker. Dave's killer guitar solo is one of his shining moments with the band thus far. The epic harmonies and wall-of-rock midsection-through-ending is top-notch. This is a great song. Check it out:

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The next track is the Headmaster's response, The Hard Way, and it's well produced and musically agreable enough. It's a decent rock number, all sneer and crunchy guitars, but after HEADMASTER it seems slight and inconsequential. The Last Assembly details Flash's public discipline/whipping at the hands of the Headmaster, and is a slower piece reminiscent of SCHOOLDAYS and THE FIRST TIME WE FALL IN LOVE. It's not quite as good as those two, but still a decentsong.

The album ends with No More Looking Back and Finale. The former is the album's final original work, and is a marked difference from the rest of the album. As the song takes place in the future, it eschews the 50s conventions for a more contemporary 70s sound altogether. Flash is still haunted by the Headmaster and realizes he's got to let go of the past, or something. Anyway, the song acts as a bridge between the previous 4 yerars of "theatrical" rock and the upcoming "arena" rock phase of the band. NO MORE LOOKING BACK would fit right in on the band's Arista records. It's an OK song. It doesn't have the kind of hooks or lyricism that would make it entirely memorable. Finale is basically a curtain-call reprise of EDUCATION, running about a minute long and that's about it.

(The Kinks Present) Schoolboys In Disgrace isn't an essential album, but it's darn good one. At the final lap of their theatrical dalliances, I think Ray began to understand that theatrical music still, for the most part, has to work as music, first and foremost. The hooks are catchier here, the songwriting a bit sharper, and there's a sense of entertainment and exhuberance to this album that has been missing for awhile. If you're a Kinks fan, this is well worth picking up one way or another. Schoolboys In Disgrace was a small triumph for the band, but a triumph nonetheless.

Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

My Kinks Album Rating Continuum, if you will. Won't you? As we evaluate further albums, this thing will probably change...

Albums are in order of preference.

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/5.gif
The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society
Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/4.5.gif
Something Else By The Kinks
Muswell Hillbillies

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/4.gif
Face To Face
Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/3.5.gif
Everybody's In Show-Biz
(The Kinks Present) Schoolboys In Disgrace

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/3.gif
Preservation Act I
The Kink Controversy
Kinda Kinks

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/2.5.gif
Kinks

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/1.5.gif
Preservation Act II

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/1.gif
(The Kinks Present) A Soap Opera

Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

Aaaaaaand we're back...

Sleepwalker - The Kinks

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...leepwalker.jpg

Original Release Date: February 12, 1977

Original Track Listing

1. Life on the Road
2. Mr. Big Man
3. Sleepwalker
4. Brother
5. Juke Box Music
6. Sleepless Night
7. Stormy Sky
8. Full Moon
9. Life Goes On

Bonus Tracks

1. Artificial Light
2. Prince of the Punks
3. The Poseur
4. On The Outside (1977 Mix)
5. On The Outside (1994 Mix)

Attention Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan, and Dan Fogelberg: lock up your slick mid/late 70s production values, because The Kinks are gonna ape the SHIT outta them.

Well, RCA had just about had it. Six albums of diminishing returns, both commercially and critically, and several outright flops. Once the contract was honored, The Kinks shuttled over to Arista, who made it clear that all that theatrical hokum was NOT gonna carry over to their new home. So Ray -- probably a bit disillusioned and deflated by the lack of acceptance of the band's "theatrical period" -- wrote and produced the first album of the new contract in a more conventional style. This album is easily the most contemporary Kinks album released thus far. It sounds VERY 1977, and why shouldn't it? To stay commercially viable, the band had to adapt to the times; being theatrical auteurs yielded both poor sales and critical derision.

(For what it's worth, I still really dig PRESERVATION: ACT I and SCHOOLBOYS IN DISGRACE, but that's neither here nor there...)

Life On The Road kicks the album off, and its a solid rocker. Already the tonal shift is in full effect. This isn't theater, nostalgia, or flights-of-fancy. This is pure mid/late 70s AOR, Ray Davies with more than a touch of Jim Steinman. Mr. Big Man continues in that vein, with some more contemporary sounding keyboards and funky bass work (provided by Andy Pyle, replacing John Dalton who left the band during production of the album). It's a slow, sleek number that builds into loud, crashing choruses. I like the song but for some reason it seems oddly-fitting, perhaps maybe a tad overproduced. This is the type of tune that might have benefitted from a "less is more" approach.

The title track Sleepwalker is a fun little jam and an enjoyable listen, but nothing really spectacular. Unfortunately, the embarassingly maudlin and overwrought ballad Brother is momentum killing. At 5:29, it seems about 15 minutes longer while listening to it. Juke Box Music is a welcome reprieve, uptempo and earnest sounding with a good hook. Some good dual guitar work going on.

Sleepless Night turns the vocals over to Dave, which always makes me a little nervous because his strained vocalizations often get on my nerves. The song is OK though; a fairly decent pop-rocker that doesn't do a whole lot but does OK for what it is. The keyboard-driven opening to Stormy Sky sets a mellow, smooth vibe for a mellow, smooth song that merges Ray's earnest songwriting with that "sanded-down" late 70s feel. Something to listen to on 8-track as you're out on your sailboat for a quick weekend jaunt to Catalina. Robbie Dupree, eat your heart out. Pure 70s Yacht Rock, and why not? If you're gonna take a tack from the prevailing trends of the day, might as well do a good job out of it.

Full Moon is a strong song, with great hooks, memorable harmonies, and a lush, layered production. Listen to that driving piano work. Definitely one of the album's better tracks. Finally, the original album ends with Life Goes On, which is another good song, but something about it feels so -- so middle-of-the-pack in the grand scheme of things. No one will ever confuse it top-tier Kinks, or even 2nd-tier Kinks.

Which, in a way, kind of sums up Sleepwalker to me. Ostensibly, it's an OK album, albeit a heavily dated one. No more so than any mid/late 70s catalog title, but what we love about The Kinks is how the quality of the material can rise above the popinjays and mumbo-jumbos. For example, ARTHUR could only have been made in the late 60s but the material feels entirely timeless. You could say this of any of the "Golden Era" albums. SLEEPWALKER, on the other hand, feels firmly rooted in its moment. Perhaps the band needed to put their toes in the water before they jumped in, because SLEEPWALKER feels like they're holding back. Waiting to see how they'd be received by the masses, or perhaps by themselves. The album ends up sounding both extremely competent and solid, but also restrained and cautious. It's Good, but it's not Essential by any means.

Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

I remember liking this album a lot more at the time than I do now. I listen to it now and most of it just sounds tired. I like the same songs you do but I think Life on the Road is one of Ray's best lyrics of the 70s. I always loved nostalgic, melancholy Ray and I especially love the lyrics of the introduction and the part near the end which sounds a bit like Bernie Taupin's lyrics to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

Ever since I was a child,
I loved to wander wild
Through the bright city lights,
And find myself a life I could call my own.
It was always my ambition
To see Piccadilly,
Ramble and roam around Soho
And Pimlico and Savile Row,
And walk down the Abbey Road.
So I saved all my money
And packed up my clothes,
And I said good-bye to my friends
And my folks back home.
And I left for a life of my own.
I left for a life on the road.



One of these days,
I wanna go home,
Visit my friends,
And see all the places that I used to know,
And say good-bye to a world that's too real;
Good-bye to a world that's forgotten how to feel.
And it's slowly usin' me,
And there's no security.
Sometimes I hate the road,
But it's the only life I know.
But I'm livin' the life that I chose,
So I'll live out my life on the road.

Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

Yeah it feels like Ray is incorporating all the Bernie Taupins, Lindsay Buckinghams, Jackson Brownes, etc. of the day and giving his own take on mid 70s music. He acquits himself admirably in that regard, but there's a sense of resignation. The music feels walled off and impersonal. Guarded and measured.

Which is odd, because the lyrics are decisively personal, especially in the one you quoted as well as in Life Goes On. It just all feels so... non Kinks-like.

Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

My Kinks Album Rating Continuum, if you will. Won't you? As we evaluate further albums, this thing will probably change...

Albums are in order of preference.

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The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society
Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)

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Something Else By The Kinks
Muswell Hillbillies

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Face To Face
Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One

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Everybody's In Show-Biz
(The Kinks Present) Schoolboys In Disgrace

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Preservation Act I
Sleepwalker
The Kink Controversy
Kinda Kinks

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Kinks

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Preservation Act II

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(The Kinks Present) A Soap Opera

Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

Misfits - The Kinks

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Original Release Date: May 19, 1978

Original Track Listing

1. Misfits
2. Hay Fever
3. Black Messiah
4. A Rock & Roll Fantasy
5. In a Foreign Land
6. Permanent Waves
7. Live Life
8. Out of the Wardrobe
9. Trust Your Heart
10. Get Up

Bonus Tracks

1. Black Messiah
2. Father Christmas
3. A Rock & Roll Fantasy (US Single Edit)
4. Live Life (US Single Mix)

Misfits was another commercial success for The Kinks, following the same trajectory as their previous album, but this time they even managed to score a Top 40 single (and sometime AOR-radio staple) "A Rock & Roll Fantasy". Their label Arista must have been moderately pleased with the results; RCA, their previous label, must have been FUMING! I mean, those poor fuckers had to put out "Preservation: Act II" *AND* "Soap Opera" -- both filthy and foul!!

But The Kinks were going through some kind of mini-resurgence as New Wave bands were wearing their Kinks-love as badges of pride. As stated by Wikipedia: "Beginning in the late 1970s, bands such as The Jam ("David Watts"), The Pretenders ("Stop Your Sobbing", "I Go to Sleep"), and The Knack ("The Hard Way") recorded covers of Kinks songs, which helped bring attention to the group's new releases." And why not? Classic Kinks songs had that perfect mix of melody and edge, acoustic and electric, dancehall and dead-end street, and a new generation of fans were beginning to discover (or perhaps re-discover) their music.

Misfits is a generally stronger album than the previously issued Sleepwalker, but not dramatically so. What makes this album stand out is that the band seems less inhibited, more determined, less held back and more embracing of the conventions of the day while trusting the strength of their own material. The opening title track is a wonderful number, a smooth midtempo track with some beautiful overlaying acoustic and electric guitars, verses accompanied by tasteful electric keyboards, and powerfully honest lyrics. Yes it feels a bit Bob Seger/Against The Wind-ish, but that was the era, and it's a successful song in that vein. Hay Fever is a bouncy piece of pop that feels part Randy Newman, part New Wave. Not a fan of the song, but it's harmless.

Black Messiah is Ray's treatise on racial tension. It has a sorta nice reggae-ish beat to it, and the music is quite agreeable, but the lyrics are a bit clunky, juvenile, and obvious. The album's big single A Rock & Roll Fantasy comes up next, and it's a beaut. It starts out seeming like a simple ballad, but it's got some beat and crunch that gives the song weight. This is a strong number and definitely an album highlight. Also a fun song is the ode to being a tax exile In A Foreign Land, uptempo and with more of a rockin' vibe, Ray spills his guts about getting the fuck out of England to save some shekels.

Permanent Waves definitely carries more of a New Wave vibe, which sort of fits the song's subject matter. It's kind of a nifty tune, albeit a lesser one. Sort of reminds me of The Police in a few spots. Live Life is the album's first out-and-out rocker: the new wavish choruses lead into a crunchy bridge into all out rock in the choruses. Your basic "think for yourself" styled song, it's a good album cut. There's even a lyrical throwback to one of their 60s hits. I'm not going to tell you which one, because I honestly don't think anybody's reading this sentence at all. Out Of The Wardrobe slows things down a tad, but it's a catchy-as-balls tune that treats transvestitism with a measure of understanding and sensitivity missing from the predatory "Lola" 8 years previous.

Dave handles lead vocal and songwriting details on Trust Your Heart... and the song just kinda sucks. I don't discount Dave's contributions to the band, but often his songs are just so damn skippable. This is one of them. Finally we have Get Up, Ray's big shout-out for the people in the middle, the downtrodden, the people who make the world work somehow but keep getting ignored. I love the feel of the song, the musicality of it, its energy and spiritedness, and especially Ron Lawrence's fine bass playing. It's not a standout song, but a fun listen.

And that what makes MISFITS worthwhile. It's a fun listen, an enjoyable album if not a classic or essential one. It's clear the band is starting to really get a grasp on themselves and merge their sensibilities with contemporary music. Definitely worth seeking out for fans.

Regarding the bonus material: Father Christmas is an absolutely ESSENTIAL Christmas song for me. Absolutely classic in every way. A superior rocker. Don't give my brother a Steve Austin outfit, indeed!

Re: Album by Album Thread featuring: THE KINKS!!
 

8 and a half years later, anyone interested in resuming this thread? After all, there's still a couple of the "arena era" records to discuss, like the highest charting (in the US) Low Budget...

I picked up Misfits over the weekend, and before the holidays Father Christmas/Prince of the Punks 7" single, so I've been dusting off my Kinks records and giving some of the less popular ones a listen. I don't have Soap Opera or the Preservation Act records from the "theatrical era", but I do own and like Schoolboys in Disgrace. I probably would have skipped it due to the poor reputation it has, but I first heard The Knack covering The Hard Way and figured I wanted to at least hear the original to compare. Schoolboys isn't a rock and roll classic by any means, but there's several good songs on it, and you can easily find it at used record stores.

I like the "arena era", as it was getting the band airplay on the rock stations I listened to at the time, especially "Destroyer". I remember them playing that on SNL and it was a pretty energetic performance (as was their next turn, a few years later when they busted out "Do it Again").

I'll probably give Sleepwalker and Low Budget some spins over the next week, in all honesty I think I grabbed them 'cuz they were only 2 or 3 bucks when I was digging in the Kinks section for a copy of Arthur or Lola but I'm not sure I even listened to them fully.