Ray Davies - Our Country: Americana Act 2

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by rswitzer, May 15, 2018.

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  1. TimeandTempo

    TimeandTempo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    So, the potential Americana Pt 3 was referred to today as “the deluxe edition.” This was in an article at The Independent.

    Ray is setting up a lot of red herrings... that or we’re looking at a part 3, a deluxe edition, a box set, a stage show, a tour, a Kinks reunion, and who knows what else
     
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  2. Rickac99

    Rickac99 Active Member

    I am a huge Ray fan, but every time I listen to one of his solo records, I always say the same thing to myself, "He's missing a guitar player here."
     
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  3. whatwhat

    whatwhat Forum Resident

    kinks reformation 'inspired by the rolling stones'



    interesting longform chat

    talks about everything from the kinks reforming to songwriting to the new album and what it's like to be in america
     
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  4. sleeptalker

    sleeptalker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Young Australia
    I loved Americana , so Im eagerly awaiting Part 2.
     
  5. KinkySmallFace1991

    KinkySmallFace1991 Will you come back to me, Sweet Lady Genevieve?

    Got my delivery date from Amazon US: July 3? Really? Wonder what that’s all about? No matter, I’ll still have the MP3s from AutoRip to pass the time...
     
  6. Dave Hoos

    Dave Hoos Nothing is revealed

    It's only a week away (almost). You'll have to give that Fillmore set a few more plays inbetween.
     
  7. Bonddm

    Bonddm Forum Resident

  8. Bonddm

    Bonddm Forum Resident

  9. TimeandTempo

    TimeandTempo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    First Listen, First Thoughts:

    1. Our Country -- The choir makes this feel like a song played in the America pavilion in Walt Disney World. I'll have to dig into the lyrics, but this seems so hopeful for a Ray Davies song.

    2. The Invaders -- Wow, the Walt Disney World thoughts continue. This totally sounds like Americana, not in the "Old Crow" sense, but in the fife and drum core sense. I love theatricality, so I'm digging this, but what a bizarre introduction to the album. An upbeat cheery choir followed by a colonial spoken word piece. A very strange choice to have Ray switching off narration with the other guy. It would make sense if it was a conversation, or different timelines, but they seem to just be switching off lines.

    3. Back In The Day -- I get it now... they're taking us through a tour of what Americana has meant to different people. Americana to some was the choir pieces, the colonial, and now the doo-wop of the 50s. Spot on: "Those old Hank Williams songs. The way Chet Atkins played. Big bands and honky tonk and dixieland bands marching along the parade. Eddie Cochran strummed along as Kay Starr sang her Wheel of Fortune song back in the day."

    So far, thematically fulfilling, but not musically fulfilling. I'm thinking Americana Pt 1 was the album, Americana Pt 2 is the musical.

    4. Oklahoma USA -- I get a kick out of this one. I really enjoy the new take on the old song. Having read through some of the interviews, I can see the importance Ray puts on Oklahoma, which gives the song a new context on Americana. I consider this the first great song on this album. Hopefully it has much more of this and less of the first 3. The guitar tone in the last chorus and verse is phenomenal. Whoever produced this album did a great job with the mix and tone.

    5. Bringing Up Baby -- Promising start, but becomes a little peppier than I was hoping really fast. That is a great Davies melody though, the harmonizing sing-song into rapid almost rapped verse. I'm digging this. (For those keeping track, a Mickey Mouse reference... this is truly his Disney album).

    6. The Getaway -- The opening phrase "America, the land of ice cream and apple pie, guns, and the wild west" is a line from an unreleased song played at Jane Street with Yo La Tengo. This is just The Getaway from Other People's Lives. His voice is much better on the original, so this one definitely seems redundant. Also, the original had a slinky feel that I relate with Daniel Lanois and that New Orleans swamp feel. This one reverts to that somewhat upbeat feeling that the rest of the album has had. Its not bad. But the other is immensely better, so I'm not sure what purpose this serves.

    7. The Take -- The faux-rawk sound doesn't really work here for me. But I love the spoken word from Ray. But I'm not a fan of the woman's singing part. Lumping this in with the first 3 songs, which is a shame after 3 pretty good ones. The worst part is there are chunks of this song I really enjoy, and chunks I really don't. Maybe the rest will grow on me a little bit.

    8. We Will Get There -- Almost a reprise of Oklahoma USA. A little repetitive, but calming and enjoyable.

    9. The Real World -- The atmospheric intro to this song is fantastic, but do we really need a duet, especially on a song that was done solo on Working Mans Cafe. I will say, I think this version would be better (maybe is better) than the WMC version if it wasn't a duet. The production on this album is really fantastic. And the harmony on the chorus really elevates this song from the original. I think this is an example of why you would recycle a song, whereas The Getaway still has me scratching my head. The more the duet part plays, the less I am bothered by it. Although I think I just heard some grotesque auto tune on Ray's voice, which negates some of that production I was fawning over before.

    10. A Street Called Hope -- Enjoyable song, but his voice is a little too rough to pull it off. This could be a nice Davies vaudevillian tune if it weren't for the vocals.

    11. The Empty Room -- Strange how different the voice sounds in this song compared to Street Called Hope. This is one of those Jane Street songs, so maybe it was recorded a while back, whereas the other one is newer. I really enjoy this one... it retains that slinky murky blues feel that the original Getaway had.

    12. Calling Home -- Another one that may resonate more because I've read the book. He talks about how difficult it was to be a father and husband because of the time changes and everything. And man, that See My Friends callback hit hard. This is a great one. I wish all of the more theatrical pieces on this album was like this. The narration, the production, the songwriting -- it is all peaking here.

    13. Louisiana Sky -- This is a strange one, but enjoyable. Once again the narration is the stand out, but the slinking New Orleans jazz feel is something special.

    14. March of the Zombies -- Love the horn section and the electric guitar playing the same melody line. This is another strong one. I'm beginning to think this album would've benefitted from some track listing restraint.

    15. The Big Weird -- The transitioning between the last few tracks has been great. It has turned this into the "New Orleans Sequence." And this is another great one. The second half especially. Ray's voice sounds so strong. I want a chronology of recording sessions for this project.

    16. Tony and Bob -- Another great transition. If The Big Weird is midnight at the mardi gras, this is waking up the next day ready to self destruct. Ray's narration makes it sound like he takes the blame for getting shot.

    And I'm getting called away without being able to finish the last 3 songs... BUMMER!

    Overall thoughts on what I've gotten around to: A rough start, and a drag in the middle, but the second half of this thing really picks up. The highs are probably better than Americana Part 1, but overall (for now), the whole album suffers from the low spots. This is just my first listen, so I bet it will grow on me. But I really just want to play the second half on repeat.
     
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  10. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Thanks so far. Now review those last 3 songs!
     
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  11. TimeandTempo

    TimeandTempo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    On first rushed listen The Big Guy and Muswell Kills are both good songs that suffer from execution. Muswell Kills is all of the bitter sarcasm I expect from Ray Davies though.

    Four songs into my second listen now and I have a better appreciation for the project as a whole. I think it is very ambitious, and while it does fall flat at points, it has some incredible highs. Very excited to have a record like this from anyone in 2018, much less a 75 year old “elder statesman” such as Sir Raymond
     
  12. Arnold Grove

    Arnold Grove Senior Member

    Location:
    NYC
    Thanks.

    I haven't heard it yet. Probably next week for me, when the album is delivered.

    This review seems to tally a bit with your opinion, although it is somewhat harsher in tone:

    Ray Davies: Our Country: Americana Act II « American Songwriter
     
  13. TimeandTempo

    TimeandTempo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    Yeah, I knew I'd disagree with that assessment when he slammed Preservation Act 2... I love Preservation Act 2

    I think Davies is at his best when he is being overly ambitious with some concept. It may lead to questionable execution at times, but always a treat to see one of the most talented songwriters of the 60s still being ambitious.
     
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  14. Greg Smith

    Greg Smith Forum Resident

    Lovely, ambitious record....
     
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  15. TimeandTempo

    TimeandTempo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    "Vengeance will indeed be mine. I'd celebrate my origins rather than hide them. I'm a Londoner after all."

    That's the spite and snark I expect from Ray.
     
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  16. wallpaperman

    wallpaperman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Edinburgh
    New arrivals today, now just finding the time to listen to them....

    [​IMG]
     
  17. KinkySmallFace1991

    KinkySmallFace1991 Will you come back to me, Sweet Lady Genevieve?

    Lucky. My AutoRip isn’t showing up...
     
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  18. wallpaperman

    wallpaperman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Edinburgh
    Sorry to hear that, poor show. I got emails for both of those this morning saying the autorip was there but I rarely use the function.

    Have you tried their customer service, for all Amazon's faults, their customer service is usually decent?
     
  19. KinkySmallFace1991

    KinkySmallFace1991 Will you come back to me, Sweet Lady Genevieve?

    I will be calling them when I get home from work this evening. I know they’ll make it right, they always do.

    My C.D. is due in Tuesday even though it was preordered a week ago, which just fuels my angst.
     
  20. KinkySmallFace1991

    KinkySmallFace1991 Will you come back to me, Sweet Lady Genevieve?

    Well there is a happy ending to this story...somewhat. It was an uphill battle, but I did end up getting my AutoRip of this album! The disc can get here when it gets here now, but I can listen to the album on release day. The mp3 will be replaced by a FLAC rip eventually.
     
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  21. Matthew Tate

    Matthew Tate Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond, Virginia
    just got it from the local shop
     
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  22. CheshireCat

    CheshireCat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cheshire
    Snap! I've had both arrive today too! Not listened to Graham Nash yet, but been though 'Our Country' three or four times. I think I'm preferring it to the first volume.
     
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  23. wallpaperman

    wallpaperman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Edinburgh
    Hah, spooky! Just playing Our Country just now for the first time, it's sounding really good so far. The Jayhawks have been such a good foil on this project, perfect (and got a new album coming from them soon as well. :))

    Think we should appreciate how lucky we are to have two high quality albums in such a short time. I think Ray also mentioned the possibility of a third volume in a recent interview.
     
  24. Adam9

    Adam9 Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй.

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Typical screw-up for a Kinks-related release: A Street Called Hope is listed as the first song on side 3 on both the lyric sleeve and the label but actually is the last song on side 2. Doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the record though.
    I can't remember the last time I bought a record on its release date. Goat's Head Soup may have been the last one!
    Anyway, I enjoyed the first listen. Ray's voice is deepening with age but then so did Leonard Cohen's. I like the songs and don't mind the narration. I prefer the The Getaway to its original incarnation. Having visited New Orleans, I feel I can appreciate some of the observations made.
    Ray still can't let the shooting go, although it's difficult to blame him. i certainly hope I never have a similar experience.
    The Jayhawks shine mightily again.
     
  25. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    Gave this a first listen yesterday. I agree it improves markedly in the second half. Actual new songs and an involving narrative drive. Not quite sure what to make of the many re-recordings and callbacks scattered throughout. Conceptual continuity or artless rehashes? But overall it’s fantastic that Rays has delivered such a massive involving work at this stage in the game, an epic and eccentric audio narrative to get lost in.
     
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