A Mets fan, Avid Pyrrhicvictory? My friend Barrence is also a big Mets fan. I remember when he had a 60th birthday bash that he received a personalized Mets jersey from none other than former Red Sox pitcher Oil Can Boyd* I can assure you that would not have happened in 1986! *The reason for the nickname was because he liked to drink lots of cans of Foster's Lager.
Looking like an expanded version of the cover of Acdc's If You Want Blood album lol Kinks - The Hammer Horror movie lol
Ewww Fosters.... the beer you have, when you're not having a beer lol Edit - for the Aussies on here. Does anyone in Oz drink Fosters? I've never known anyone to, but I am a West coaster
Lol Well Outback isn't very Aussie, but it's still pretty good. I gather some Victorians drink Fosters. I think Queenslanders drink XXXX In the west I think it was Swan Lager and Emu Bitter, back in the old days. When I was a pup I drank Emu Export, but really I think my roots show because I much prefer UK beer... dark ales and stouts mainly.... keep those damn IPA's away from me, it's like drinking daffodils or something I tend to drink spirits these days though. Tequila, Absinthe, Whiskey and I had Gin for the first time a couple of weeks ago... Tanqueray special reserve or something like that.... anyway.... I can't smoke my beloved 'erb for work reasons, so they have sent me to drink lol
One For the Road As discussed, I was that guy. Walking past the frat party in my bomber jacket with its red duct tape armband, telling whoever would listen that the real Kinks had died a long time ago, that whatever distorted arena riffs were leaking out of the frat house windows were sellout corporate pablum designed to lull the sheeple into blind acceptance of a global corporate nightmare of conformity, imperialism, and oppression. (Ironically, I'd gleaned some of that analysis from songs like 20th Century Man). Listening to the LP over the last few days, it feels like the culmination of everything the Kinks had been experimenting with in the *Arista years.* As @mark winstanley notes, how does a band that has been around for the better part of two decades find a sound that isn't just an oldies throwback, that stays true to the band's essence while appealing to a totally new, young audience? And sends much of that audience (as demonstrated above) back to the band's earlier work, to become avid fans of out-of-print albums first released when they were toddlers? It's really kind of a miracle of an LP, not a resurrection (they never died) or a reinvention (just about all of the new sound had roots in previous LPs), but an evolution, an inspired collage of everything they'd done before, juxtaposed & integrated with contemporary musical forms that had roots that they themselves had planted half a generation before. And even playing to huge arenas full of new fans, they manage to remain misfits, making music for misfits, and having loads of fun doing it. Excited to read what people have to say about it song-by-song, but already pretty sure it will join my very short list of live albums on heavy rotation.
I do understand that. It takes us back to the earlier discussions regarding heading backwards in the discography, as opposed to forwards. I'm sure I probably said similar things about Midnight Oil.... "it was all over after Red Sails In The Sunset. Ten Through One (10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1) is the album you need to hear. This new stuff is just pop music"
Smash Hits Magazine (UK) review: “From the cliched title to the boozy, self-congratulatory atmosphere, this double set is as convincing an argument for banning live albums as you’ll find. The Kinks lumber through their paces with all the elegance and zip of a superannuated boogie band while large American audiences bellow their approval. Rarely have so many great songs been assembled in one place. There are few survivors. (4 out of 10). David Hepworth
Boozy.... there isn't a hint of boozy on it lol Contrary to reality. If this album is lumbering then I'm John Paul Getty lol
I like reading the real-time stuff. Plus, it’s a UK magazine with a different perspective. And, obviously, a reviewer (with his reference to “survivors”) with prior knowledge of the band’s catalogue. edit: I had to look up “superannuated”!
David Hepworth is a well-known journalist and critic in the UK - he also presented The Old Grey Whistle Test for a time in the 80s.
I can only assume he never actually listened to it. I could understand some condescending references to hard rock, or too much guitar, or where are the classics... something like that, but yea, boozy and lumbering doesn't apply to this one lol
It is certainly worth reading/sharing these kinds of things.... because we know after 67, pretty much, England virtually dropped the Kinks altogether, and I still don't understand why. Perhaps if the British press were misinforming the masses like this, it could explain it somewhat
It’s true. I don’t recall why, but as a teen I adopted a passive-aggressive relationship with my dad. Dad was a big Red Sox fan from the time he was stationed in Cape Cod during the Korean War. With the Mets and Red Sox in the series, relations between us became even cooler though we were able to watch together in the front room without incident. The Sox won the first two games and the Mets the next two. We both kept our powder dry. The Sox were one out from a championship after taking Game 5, but dad knew better than to start celebrating, even as the Shea Stadium scoreboard congratulated them. Of course the Mets then began working that infamous two-out rally and won. How many times were the Mets down to their last strike? We both sat there, struck dumb. There was still a deciding Game 7 to be played but he knew the Sox would once again disappoint. Their last championship had come in 1918. When the Mets won it all, I can assure you it was a muted celebration on my part. Still living at home, I wanted to eat the next day. Our relationship mellowed in the nineties and when the Sox were in the Series in 2004 and 2007, you bet I rooted for them. So dad got to see two World Championships for his beloved team before he died in 2012. A few weeks after that second title he told me he still couldn’t believe what he had witnessed. I said dad, it’s in the books, it happened. He said, ‘I’m talking about that damn Game 6.’ Now how’s this for strange memorabilia: My second ever Mets game was 1978 Old Timers Day at Shea Stadium. We were standing near the player’s entrance and my dad, the big Red Sox fan said, ‘You gotta get that man’s autograph, that’s Joe DiMaggio.’ There was the Yankee Clipper, dapper in a herringbone suit. All I had on hand was my 1978 Mets yearbook which he pleasantly took from me and signed. I’m sure my dad wished it had been Ted Williams instead.