I will do when I can I promise. I have seen 'The Abominable Dr Phibes' many years ago but don't recall it well. btw should mention to avoid confusion that my post directly above is a quote from 10cc's near contemporary track 'Ships Don't Disappear In The Night (Do They?)':
Although I understand that this isn't exactly a high point in the album lol I am surprised at how much folks dislike this lol Ray's acting is kinda goofy, and thematically it is directly from A Christmas Carol, but I like the musical collage, and I think it leads into the next track nicely... I can actually see the Vincent Price thing... I used to love the guy as a kid, but he was a little camp and a little melodramatic at times. I think Vincent had a much better delivery than Ray though ... and of course Vincent was no stranger to rock music with guest spots on Alice Cooper and Michael Jackson albums,,, First class Vincent Price from 1:30 here on Alice Cooper's Devil's Food
Flash’s Dream: I don’t see any point in piling on. I listened to this once and then deleted it from the playlist I was using to repeatedly listen the Preservation Act 2. I knew after 2 minutes it was not my cuppa tea.
The Flash's Dream (A Vinyl Oh No!) The first minute reminds me of my childhood with a play-a-long book record set where tinker bell reminded you to turn the page though it's less entertaining and poorly executed. From there it becomes a play/musical but the only part i can really appreciate is near to the end when the musical snippets of Flash's past whirl over and around him as I picture him kneeling on the floor covering his ears and fearfully denying his follies. Of course as Flash is doing so he is acutely aware that with each passing moment he is gradually and helplessly believing and accepting this absolute truth!
“Cooee” and “who dares to wake me from my slumber” sent me over the edge. Everyone has summed this one up already. (No, it won’t make the playlist. )
In ‘Flash’s Confession’ he begins by describing his dream (“I just had a dream that I never will forget…”) making this entire atrociously acted segment meaningless.
As a Stones fan, one has to put up with Mick's ridiculous voices ("Dear Doctor", "Far Away Eyes" and most of the Emotional Rescue album) but Ray's performance in "Flash's Dream" is pretty out there as others have noted.
"Flash's Dream" does give us an idea of what to expect from Ray's acting in Starmaker and Soap Opera.
I think Rogan is spot on with this. Vincent Price (when he played the nasty character) always seemed to get his comeuppance in the films I have seen him in, so yes, I think that's a valid point. I think it's the weakest track on the album.
I think this is my first actual foray into posting in this thread, and what a place to debut... but I've gotta jump in here and defend Flash's Dream. Yes, it's hokey and hammy and Ray's accent is ridiculous. But take a step back... so is *this whole concept and album in particular*! I know this one feels like a track that's beyond the pale; but I'll be honest, when I first listened to these two albums 10 years ago, "I Think There's a Change in the Weather" was where I had to get off the train. And "Second Hand Car Spiv"? Hah, I don't think I made it through that one once. Now that I'm a groggy old adult and I can appreciate the humor that Ray 100% deliberately injected into this track and others, I care for it more. Now that I've done enough defending, I will agree that this only has a place within Preservation Part II; not compelling standalone music by any stretch. But I don't think it's quite as bad as stated above. Ray's got enough self-awareness to know that his Flash rendition in this song was going for comedy first and foremost.
I really like it but its trying to go too many places musically and is about 2 min. too long. It rocks nicely but the lyrics carry the song.
Yep. I think this is the lighthearted moment before the serious moment. In a similar manner to Oh Where is love being the lighthearted moment after Nobody Gives.
"Flash's Dream": The goofiest song on this album, especially Ray's voice. I especially find the way he pronounces the word "upstart" pretty funny. This is only a pantomime number in a musical, not a stand alone song. Again, it's pretty goofy. As for the mentions of Vincent Price by the other Avids, I always thought that they kinda look like each other. I think that Ray could play him in a movie. I also read somewhere (probably Doug Hinman) that Vincent Price was going to do a spoken word album for Konk Records, which didn't pan out.
A good day on the Kinks song by song thread ! … and also in "The Case Against listening to Preservation Act Two on vinyl". At least on CD, you can skip it… See ? This is serious aggravating circumstances, if it stopped anyone from listening to Flash's Confession! Especially when you think that Flash's epiphanic dream, as depicted in the following track, is an altogether different one! I agree. To his credit, Ray doesn't make this a self important "experimental" sound collage, more a goofy parody of this kind of thing. But it's still a boring 4 minutes to go through. It's almost like Ray felt the need to make us pay after yesterday's track. Don't forget the Kinks were first named the Ravens supposedly after Vincent Price's 1963 movie The Raven! But then, Flash's Dream is a lighthearted moment after a lighthearted moment, which jeopardizes this whole theory, dont you think ? Hehe, anyway, nice call to give it its own full day, Headmaster, this is a lot of fun.
Lol Fair call I don't love it, but it doesn't fill me with the recoil factor others seem to have. I kind of see these songs as being all tied together anyway. You already addressed the way Nobody Gives and Oh Where Is Love work well together, and one could almost see Flash's dream as tying into that. The question is asked Where is Love? and then Flash has an epiphany that it sure isn't anywhere near him at the moment..... I think tomorrow's track ties it all together nicely
Ha ha. I can barely get past the annoying snoring that begins the track. Why is someone snoring on my record! All of today’s comments are valid. I’m a huge fan of Vincent Price, especially all of his Roger Corman films. What a filmography! I’ll watch anything with Vincent Price. I can definitely hear Ray giving it his best imitation of Vincent Price starring in A Christmas Carol. This track doesn’t really bother me much. It borders on being somewhat humorous and slightly annoying. Maybe it was an entertaining piece of the live show?
I tried to give Side C a new chance this morning, to see if it worked. It does, in a way, even if my opinion on the first 3 tracks hasn't significantly changed. If Nobody Gives was on one of the Kinks 1980s albums, I would think it's excellent. In the context of this album, that contains some of the finest Davies compositions in my opinion, it's sub-par. I can hear the charm in Oh Where Is Love, but it also sounds as a lesser track in the context of the album. This makes me think over the notion of melody : I believe that "melodic" is one of the most subjective notions - not even the quality of it, but its very presence. I have read people labelling as "melodic" songs that sound entirely dull and aimless to me, and the opposite is true as well. In the case of Oh Where Is Love, I acknowledge the melody, but it doesn't lift me. I rationalize it by the fact that it's bult essentially around the chords' roots (I think I remember someone said something similar about another song here ?). Then it goes up each chord's ladder by thirds and a fourth, and falls back clumsily on the first chord's root. But then maybe a lot of songs I like do the same and I didn't notice because when I love a song I don't feel the need to dissect it. Same goes with people. Just kidding. Flash's Dream is tolerable once you're used to it, and it contains actual music after a while. I will try to edit it into my Acts 1-2 album tracklist, because I like the build-up to Flash's Confession. For the time being, my Side D starts with Time, then Flash's Confession. I'll see what I can squeeze in between.
I was thinking about this. Maybe if it was a 30 second “snore-cooee-who dares to wake me from my slumber-I’m your soul-you lied and schemed for your own preservation-no future for you” it would work on stage. 3 minutes 54 seconds is 3 minutes too long.
