This is pretty much my take. I never listen to albums a song at a time or three. It's all or nothing, including the alternate mixes, versions, and B-sides. I think this album holds up pretty well as a whole and I don't focus so much on the lyrics that I give the music only a passing glance. It's all one to me. The B-Side One Night works too. It doesn't fit the album but this type of material is right up Dave's alley and the performance is good, 80s production notwithstanding. I said in my earlier post at the start of this album that my recollection was I liked it the best of Dave's three early 80s albums and that I was looking forward to reassessing this after 20 years of negligence. Nothing has changed for me. I still it like it best of the three and again give Dave some kudos for doing something outside of the Kinks box. I still won't pull this out as often as a Kinks album but I don't think it will be another 20 year gap between listens.
I don't care for any of today's songs. "Chosen People" is the most interesting song, but cannot overcome many of its shortcomings. I will probably never listen to this album again. Glamour remains my favorite of the Dave solo albums, and I only like half of that. The best thing to come out of Chosen People is the 1998 acoustic version of "Love Gets You", which is a lovely song. I listened to it again this morning and it sounds so much like David Mead. Has anyone heard of David Mead? He's a songwriter out of Nashville and his debut came out in 1999. I only know that album because at the time he was getting compared to McCartney and Paul Simon, so I picked it up. It has a few decent songs.
I don’t know David Mead. Re: Dave’s solo stuff. If I hadn’t been taking a sneak peak at a Kinks album further down the pike (in fact, I’m listening at this very moment), I’d be at the point of writing him off completely as a songwriter.
David Mead- "World of A King"- This was the song that was being played on the radio and getting him some McCartney/Paul Simon comparisons. I can also hear some Dave in it. "Sweet Sunshine" is another song from this album that has a McCartney influence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KEretK-wao
Always really liked Dave's songs on Kinks albums -- sometimes among my favorites -- and assumed his solo work would be an exciting series of discoveries in the course of this thread. I really want to like these LPs, have really tried to find elements that echo what I love about songs like Strangers, Death of a Clown, Mindless Child, etc. But it's no use. I'm not even meh enough about them that I can say well, okay, I'll give them one more try. The only thing that interests me is how blatantly weird some of the lyrics on this LP are, but that isn't enough to make me listen again.
Fire Burning Quite inconsequential, and it does nothing for my ears. Chosen People I quite like the choon, but have not previously paid any attention to the lyrics until reading them here. Just assumed it was aliens again. Agree with a previous post that it seems a bit 'cult'. Ends with a nice bit of guitar solo work. It's gone down in my estimation. Cold Winter Dave with a synth laden power ballad. With guitar work intertwined. And I do like it. Dave does one of his best vocals on the album. The attempt to make it more of a grand statement with the sweeping strings and guitar which build into the outro give it something new for the album. Longest track on the album and it doesn't outstay its welcome. One of the album's best songs for me. Chosen People I was previously of the opinion that this was the best album of Dave's solo career outside The Kinks, while still in The Kinks. I'm still of that opinion, although 'Glamour' has closed the gap towards it. A much more varied album, a nicely rounded effort. I recall Dave saying about his disappointment of a lack of promotion from WB, and it's clear he put his heart and soul into this one. Not to mention an alien intervention. On my rating system I gave 'Dave Davies' four songs elevated to 'good' standard (four or more stars out of five), 'Glamour' with another four, while 'Chosen People' has garnered six. A clear winner. (Charity, Love Gets You, True Story, Take One More Chance, Is It Any Wonder, Cold Winter) Quite a while until we discuss 'Bug' to see how that lands.
I think I have all the David Mead records. Super pop and bouncy, what you could call "power pop americana". Some good ballads, but his uptempo tunes often have an exhilarating exuberance combined with a real harmonic sophistication that makes the Simon/McC comparisons accurate. I don't hear Dave at all, though. Mead is a bona fide pop classicist, like Ben Folds or Gabe Dixon, those little kids McCartney and Elton John scattered everywhere in the late 90's early 2000's whereas Dave is much less refined than this. About Chosen People's title song, I'm relieved that it's about the native Americans. I thought a lot of the imagery was going that way but with no context at all (and only aliens in mind), I was fooled into thinking it was something else. So yeah, relief. It seems we forgot to comment on Danger Zone (at least I did). So for completism sake, I'll get on with it : it starts a bit like a Townshend solo track, with the big riffing and Who Are You? era synths sounds. I don’t care for the song too much, it’s a bit too FM oriented for my taste and the new-wavish chorus seems less successful than the best similarly styled Glamour. But it's the government song on the album, so Dave being Dave, it has to be a very central part of it… About the album in general, it's easier to digest than the previous two with more good songs perhaps, but I think Glamour struck me as more original (in a Kinks context, at least). Funny that we're getting to the State of Confusion record tomorrow, as its title would depict those three Dave records pretty well…
...still playing a bit of catch up. Danger Zone I do like when Dave goes all Cockney. I have a thing for London Tawk. But otherwise, I kind of don't like the music. That typical 80s rock sound with those synthesizers...just meh. As @palisantrancho compared it to...a Kenny Loggins Top Gun song. Freedom Lies I don't like the synth/keyboard 80s sound. Ugh. But if you got rid of those, you may have a fine song here. Some nice bass and guitar (especially toward the end). It's a grower, but nothing I'm crazy about. Matter of Decision The first third of this song I was thinking "nope, do not like this AT ALL"...mostly Dave's voice...and the confusion of going from hard rock then it heads to "new wave" pretty quickly. BUT THEN the solo comes in and I'm swept away and then he goes into the next verse and I found myself rockin' out in my recliner. Dave really really needed a collaborator. He has some great instincts, but he needs some editing and input. 2/3s of this song is my favorite song on this album. Is It Any Wonder Is this Human League? Not that that's a bad thing but most of it doesn't sound like a Dave song. It's ok.
It’s mostly in that 1998 acoustic version of “Love Gets You”. The vocal and just the McCartney style melody was reminding me of David Mead. I have also only heard his first album.
Just wanted to share a thought about the tragedy at the elementary school in Texas yesterday. Those beautiful innocent second, third, and fourth graders we lost. The traumatized survivors. The teachers giving their lives to save their students. Having a second grader and a fourth grader myself (both just being so sweet and innocent and caring), I have been in a real sad place the past 24 hours. Just thinking about the innocence of those souls. So pure. And their futures just… canceled. All the creative things those creative minds were going to create, never will be created. All the love they were destined to give, never will be given. How this ties to this thread, the best way I can describe how I have felt these past 24 hours was written by Ray in 1966: “My thoughts just weigh me down And drag me to the ground And shake my head 'til there's no more life in me… There's too much on my mind And there is nothing I can say There's too much on my mind And there is nothing I can do About it” The thoughts are weighing me down. It’s just a perfect description for how my heart and head feel. Just the heaviness of it all. What else is there to say? What else can we do about it… about it? Not wanting to get political here, but these incredible songs that we discuss day by day have a way of burrowing in our souls. In this moment, Too Much On My Mind crept up and enveloped me.
Tomorrow begins a look at the album that is possibly the high point of the Arista years and contains their biggest hit in over a decade. While State of Confusion's high points aren't quite up there with the previous two albums overall its a more consistent listen. Though a relatively new re-appraisal I view this album aa good as anything they did post-Muswell Hillbillies and better than most of those releases.
So awful. My partner is an elementary school teacher and something like this is beyond horrifying. What a world that the teachers and students have to fear going into school. I miss the days when my only fear was that there was going to be a pop quiz. Nowadays, I would welcome a pop quiz, especially if it was on The Kinks!
Still preferring Chosen People to the previous two, despite being a guitar player that sometimes leans to the heavier. Side of things. Guess I just think the songs are better overall. Not that it’s without some clunkers .
This is crazy talk in my circle, which is only me when I spin around. There are a few really good songs, and one of them didn't even make the album! I am looking forward to seeing how this album stacks up against the last one. A closer look is usually beneficial to albums like this. I guess I'll save more of my thoughts until tomorrow's opening discussion.
I just want to say I have been weighed down by this too. I don't have kids but I keep bouncing back and forth between grief and anger about the tragedy and insanity. Not that it makes any difference but I've been to Uvalde many times. It's miles from a big city. But no place in the USA is safe from such an event and they will continue with sickening regularity and resigned acceptance, and that realization just brings me down more. Too much on my mind...and heart.
I like both Noise and Long Distance. Truth be told aside from Dave's brief flourish in it I was never too crazy about Come Dancing but I've come to both appreciate it and understand its importance.
Thoughts on 1000: As a Kinks Avid for 40 of my 52 years, this thread would gave been a no brainer. As a veteran of @mark winstanley's Genesis, Who, INXS and Seger threads, it was an instant LOCK. My heartfelt thanks to all of you who've shown concern for my health as I come here to escape that but @DISKOJOE sensed something was off a few months ago and got me to come clean. There are people I've known for several decades who aren't that insightful and means everything. I'm happy to say that I feel better than I have in ages and this thread is a big part of that. Here's wishing you the best in life...
State of Confusion Studio album by the Kinks Released 10 June 1983 Recorded September 1982 – March 1983 Studio Konk Studios, London (except "Bernadette": mid-1981) Genre Rock, pop Length 41:20 (LP) 51:21 (cassette) Label Arista Producer Ray Davies Produced by: Ray Davies Release date: 10 Jun, 1983 Record label & catalog #: Arista 205 275 Country: UK Format: 12" vinyl LP (album), 33 1/3 RPM Release type: Regular release Description/Notes: W. German import Tracks: Side 1 1. State Of Confusion stereo mix, recorded Mar 1983 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London 2. Definite Maybe stereo mix, recorded Feb-Mar 1983 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London 3. Labour Of Love stereo mix, recorded Feb-Mar 1983 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London 4. Come Dancing stereo mix, album edit (3:54), recorded Oct 1982 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London 5. Property stereo mix, recorded Feb-Mar 1983 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London Side 2 1. Don't Forget To Dance stereo mix, album mix/edit (4:34), recorded Sep 1982 (overdubs recorded Oct 1982) at Grand Slam Studios, East Orange, New Jersey (overdubs recorded at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London) 2. Young Conservatives stereo mix, recorded Feb-Mar 1983 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London 3. Heart Of Gold stereo mix, recorded Jan 1983 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London 4. Clichés Of The World (B Movie) stereo mix, recorded probably Feb-Mar 1983 (or possibly sometime in 1982) at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London 5. Bernadette stereo mix, recorded May-Jun 1981 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London Bonus tracks 11. "Don't Forget to Dance" (Original extended edit) 5:09 12. "Once a Thief" 4:06 13. "Long Distance" 5:23 14. "Noise" 4:38 Ray Davies – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, synthesizer, piano Dave Davies – lead guitar, vocals (lead vocals on "Bernadette") Mick Avory – drums Jim Rodford – bass guitar Ian Gibbons – keyboards Technical Written and Produced by Raymond Douglas Davies John Rollo – engineer Damian Korner – engineer Howard Fritzson – album design Robert Ellis – photography This is an odd album for me... I bought this album secondhand somewhere near its release, after I had fallen in love with One For The Road.... I didn't really like it that much. I didn't hate it, and I loved a few songs, but it was probably part of the reason my Kinks journey ended with one album, and this one for so long.... This is an album I would put on every now and again, and feel like it just didn't quite gel, and I found that it felt a little schizophrenic..... I wanted that crunching rock band from the live album, and as much as I liked Come Dancing as a single, it wasn't my main schtick at the time. This ended up being the album that confirmed what the mainstream had been telling me, the Kinks were a singles band..... Obviously I know that isn't true now, but I will be the first to admit that if I heard Village Green in 1982/83, I probably would have scratched my head, and said something like "I thought they were a rock band, what is this?" Things have gotten really busy in the last few weeks, and as some of my half baked posts may have shown, I have been distracted and not quite on the ball, but with all of you guys doing such a good job, it has been of little concern .... So thank you all for participating so diligently, it has made it much easier... so I may not have listened to the album as much as I really needed to, but I have certainly got a few listens in.... Anyway, I have found that I do actually like this album quite a lot. The songs on it are much stronger than I had initially felt, and it seems like this one is going to be an album I'll figure out how much I like it as we go through the songs a little more closely. This album seems to somewhat collect the styles and ideas of the Arista era so far, and try to gel them into a cohesive Kinks sound for the eighties. For me it is the first album of the Arista era that doesn't boldly step somewhere different from the albums prior. Instead it sort of tries to capture the high points of the era so far, and make a cohesive statement from them..... As I have gone along with this album over the last couple of weeks I have found more and more to like about it. I already have a better feeling about it, and I am looking forward to checking it out more closely, because I already have some favourites popping up, and there is nothing really that I dislike.... Though I must say, I am not sure Bernadette is the best closer the band ever locked in. I can't seem to find any details about the recording of the album as such, but I am sure that many folks here have that knowledge to share with us. The interview from @DISKOJOE is probably going to shed some light also, and either later today or tomorrow I'm going to try and get a chance to give that a read, and see what lights come on. I'm looking forward to going through this, because I still feel I may have some ground to make up with it, and I will be interested in hearing what everyone else has to say.... So folks, please give us the lowdown When did you first hear this, and what did you reckon at the time? Did this initial reception change much? What do you think at the moment, prior to the deep dive? Any other thoughts and speculations, information or personal feelings are welcome, as always. Just give us your heart on State Of Confusion, and we'll see where we end up.
The Kinks – The State Of Confusion 4 Track E.P Genre: Rock Style: Classic Rock Year: 1983 A1 State Of Confusion A2 Heart Of Gold B1 Lola (Live) B2 20th Century Man (Live) Released as a 7" and 12" EP this came out 23rd March 1984. So we have the unusual timing of releases here. Come Dancing was the lead single released 19th November 1982 The album 10th June 1983 Don't Forget To Dance single 1st August 1983 State Of Confusion single December 1983 and the State Of Confusion EP 23rd March 1984
From the reading I've done here so far, I get the impression that this cover isn't much loved, but I like it quite a lot actually .... it probably isn't high art, but I think it gets the point across
I also assume it must have been one of the early albums to be released directly on cd, being released in 1983, at the same time as the record
