The Kinks - Album by Album (song by song)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mark winstanley, Apr 4, 2021.

  1. Paul Mazz

    Paul Mazz Senior Member

    Guess I’ll have to do a better job of proof reading.
     
  2. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    Many contenders for this dubious distinction (our current focus of discussion being a strong contender). I just looked at State of Confusion and, hardened over time :)D) see it as a minor blip in the worst-album-cover-sweepstakes. Just a typical 80s thing.
     
  3. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    My take on it is that I don’t want to know this back story (as attached to the album). Some things are supposed to be kept private. There’s no need to try and make the album content more intriguing (if that’s the objective) by broadcasting a very private matter, including names. It’s not as if we aren’t all aware of such a story line.

    It’s hard to keep thinking that the songwriter is writing of generalities, and that the listener shouldn’t over analyze (Mr. Black must be such and such; Rasa is everywhere; the guy going on vacation to Waikiki is so and so) when Dave brings this , to me, too-much-information tale into the public domain. (I guess I’m not cut out to be a star! Ray is wrong! Everyone isn’t a star.)

    Funny story…well, I think it is. When I had my farm my wife and I attended a little country church. One Sunday a member of the congregation stood up and asked for a prayer of thanks because his grown daughter was being released from jail early. I was floored! It would be a cold day in hell before I would publicize a private matter like that. :D (Not that I anticipate experiencing that exact same joy.)

    Anyway, my point is that sometimes I don’t need to know this stuff to enjoy or experience the song.
     
  4. palisantrancho

    palisantrancho Forum Resident

    Just a typical (bad) 80s thing! There are many great album covers in the 80s. This is no excuse! I think it bothers me because of Mick's track suit and Dave's outfit and face. They could have just gotten a better shot of the band running! It's also seem lazy since it's basically the same cover idea as the previous album. There is probably a reason behind this that we will discuss when we get there. I just think The Kinks always looked so stylish and interesting to me, and this cover doesn't portray that!
     
  5. Vangro

    Vangro Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    Like how he stood on stage while Ray introduced him as Dave "Death of a Clown" Davies every night for years?
     
  6. donstemple

    donstemple Member of the Club

    Location:
    Maplewood, NJ
    This fact is just fascinating. We forget how young they were, and even moreso during this period which seems far removed from their “golden era”.

    But between Something Else and Schoolboys in Disgrace is only 7 years. Just think about ALL the albums, all the singles, the outtakes, the changes in style, tone, etc all in just 7 years.
     
  7. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    True, true and true.
     
  8. Brian x

    Brian x the beautiful ones are not yet born

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I didn't know this (fascinating/tragic) story until discovering this thread, but it doesn't substantially influence my reaction to the LP.

    I'm assuming that Dave wasn't beaten at school for whatever happened (?).
     
  9. Zerox

    Zerox Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    There's nothing like a brotherly bond to confound those around with its complexities and, for that matter, those within it.

    When Dave expresses in his book and interviews his frustration with Ray, he nearly always frames it with some degree of love. When 'Kink' was first published, a journalist commented to him that he'd been pretty tough on Ray and his reply was "I thought he comes out of it rather well, don't you think?" and I get why that would be his stance, as he was writing an honest account of his life, much of which is influenced by being 'little brother'.

    Equally, for all his undoubted needling of Dave (the on-stage references to "Dave 'Death Of A Clown' Davies", "my brother, the silly little sod...only joking Dave!", etc), Ray has been quite open about how Dave looked after him during one of his breakdowns (as Dave would say, "Which breakdown, dear? He's always having breakdowns!"), requesting him to get a Mahler record and Dave asking if it were spelt "like Robin Marlar, the cricketer"...during which Dave was also going through his own troubles...

    ...all of which is leading to me agreeing that Ray could well have been using Dave's experiences in a way which was almost an act of moral support, an attempt in some way to right the injustice he felt Dave had endured. Thing is, ultimately we're all flawed human beings, inconsistent and capable of brilliance and tossiness in equal measure, most and least of all the genius Ray.

    God, I ended up almost sounding like a hippy there! I do apologise...don't grass me up!
     
  10. Vangro

    Vangro Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    He was expelled I think?
     
  11. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    I like the ‘State Of Confusion’ sleeve if for no other reason that it’s the last album cover to feature the full band line up. Actually it’s the ONLY one after ‘Pres Act 1’!!!
     
  12. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    In celebration of your last paragraph: Steppenwolf ‘Don’t Step on the Grass, Sam’:
     
  13. palisantrancho

    palisantrancho Forum Resident

    By the looks of the band on State of Confusion, I think keeping them off the covers was a good idea! :)
     
  14. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    Ha!
     
  15. the real pope ondine

    the real pope ondine Forum Resident

    Location:
    usa
    I agree with everything here...especially on the next song :love::love::love:
     
  16. ajsmith

    ajsmith Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow
    I’m just happy to see Mick again, even if he’s in his trackies… it’s mad to think that Jim Rodford was in the group for 18 years, made 10 albums with them… and only appeared on ONE album cover during that stint!
     
  17. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I try not to guess people's motivations...
    You can try to do something with the most positive motivation, and it turn into something awful, misinterpreted and negative.
    We are always hobbled by our very limited perspectives.
     
  18. Steve62

    Steve62 Vinyl hunter

    Location:
    Murrumbateman
    I'm In Disgrace
    I love this song. Personally, I would have loved the album to start with this riff-tastic rocker. There's nothing I can add to the positive comments others have bestowed on this one. I agree it sounds ahead of it's time in some respects - especially Dave's jagged riffing. I don't know whether anyone here knows if Dave was playing a Les Paul around this time? I like to be able to put a guitar to a particular sound.
     
  19. Steve62

    Steve62 Vinyl hunter

    Location:
    Murrumbateman
    Cover Art
    I accept the State of Confusion cover isn't great - though I'd argue it's a step-up from the Schoolboys cartoon. But we were talking the early 1980s - a period of time which taste forgot (or vice versa). That's especially the case for the older generation of rockers who agreed to some especially bad album covers. For the prosecution I present McCartney's Tug of War (1981), Rod Stewart's Body Wishes (1983) - the red plastic suit didn't catch on, Bowie's Let's Dance (1983), Dylan's Empire Burlesque (1985) and the worst of the lot in my opinion - the Stones' Dirty Work 1986 with Keith wearing red and pink and Mick porting yellow trousers!
     
  20. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I guess it's because I turned 12 at the end of 1980.... but I have no problem with the album covers or fashions.
    Colourful clothes in the eighties are no more garish to me than the freak suits of the seventies, or the corporate suits of the sixties.... or in fact the uniforms of the nineties.... it's all pretty irrelevant to me.
     
  21. Steve62

    Steve62 Vinyl hunter

    Location:
    Murrumbateman
    It's not so much that I mind the trend of that period [edit: though the mid-eighties “mullet” hairstyle was a crime against humanity] - rather that artists from the sixties felt they had to follow them. So plastic clothes looked cool when worn by Devo and Ultravox but ridiculous on Rod Stewart.
     
    Last edited: Feb 13, 2022
  22. Wondergirl

    Wondergirl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    The First Time We Fall In Love
    So the first part is kind of goofy with that silly voice (i do NOT hear Elvis). You almost want to give up on it then it goes into the high vocal which is good(I think someone asked or mentioned that Dave should have sung the high parts), but then the explosion of "The first time I fell out of love, it knocked me through the floor " is the big payoff for me. Love the vocal and the FEELING. that first heartbreak is a killer and Ray got that right.

    I'm extremely biased, but I do not hear the Beach Boys, but yet again, a 50s-feel here. Doo-wop kind of stuff. I can almost hear Bowzer from Sha Na Na in the background.

    After the last song, this one catches my attention and I think it's fun and truthful.
    -----
    This one I haven't read anyone's takes so if I'm being repetitive, please excuse me:
    I'm in Disgrace
    Dave's back, baby! So happy to hear his guitar shred this song, in the best way possible.
    This is a tough topic to approach especially being in the 2020's looking back so many decades. Ray pulls it off. The lyrics are actually fantastic. It's interesting to see "I'm/he's in disgrace" repeated multiple times, but "she's in disgrace" is only said once. Is it Ray being sensitive to the girl involved...that she only holds a small part of the responsibility (even though other lyrics say differently) or is it because the kid only cares about himself(maybe because she dumped him...or so he thinks)?

    Love the bit where the bass makes that little solo. Dave's all over the place. the piano goes from delicate to rockin'. Is that maracas I hear in the background?

    Best on the album so far! Kicks all kinds of butt!
     
  23. Wondergirl

    Wondergirl Forum Resident

    Location:
    Massachusetts, USA
    :laugh::laugh::laugh: What a GREAT quote. With tomorrow being Valentine's Day, I'm definitely sharing that with the husband. and I have always loved the word "carcass". Bonus!
     
  24. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    It's hard to argue with that!
     
  25. All Down The Line

    All Down The Line The Under Asst East Coast White Label Promo Man

    Location:
    Australia
    Perhaps then your farming neighbour kicked an own gaol!
     

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