That title track is something else! What the hell?!!?!? I'd say Dave had definitely been listening to XTC!
Fire Burning: not so bad after a few listens, even if it's probably one of the weaker tracks. I really like Chosen People, and agree with the XTC/Squeeze comparison. For once Dave sounds like Jon Anderson not because of his high pitch but because of the lyrics (the "true white brother" don't sound like he's got anything to do with any race, that is, with anyone that is known to us. ETs? A religious order? The Cistercians were called "white monks"). The verse reminds me a bit of Frank Zappa's Any Kind Of Pain, from Broadway The Hard Way. Cold Winter is very pretty, and I think the grandiloquence of the arrangement pays off. I find the words very poetic. They're certainly vague but speak directly to me. To me it conveys this feeling of calm and sad strength you can feel sometimes after an affective ordeal, when you get up on your feet again and start walking slowly but firlmy, raising your eyes again to the horizon. Well, teenage romantic stuff but some never grow out of it. I'm one of those. There really is a lot to like on this album. If I ever meet the LP at a decent price, I will no doubt buy it. The songs are short, which is good, and manage to go many different places while playing. It's 80s pop with still a lot of 70s adventurousness in it. I'm not sure I'll be able to say the same about tomorrow's album.
Fire Burning I like the musical introduction that churns away with suitable drama, Split Enz anyone? Then Dave sings and the moment is lost and as Mark suggests perhaps he is singing of love for these aliens? Given he's Dave Davies, his 60's bed hopping dossier likely reveals he's done all but love outside his species so why not start now?
Chosen People At this point Dave has obviously become one of the Chosen People and White Brothers picked to communicate their doctrine through the medium of a long playing LP. Dave is so passive vocally iam wondering if he has been hypnotized or neutered but either way this is vapid and confused so someone pass me a Bill Wyman album i need some vocal spark!
Cold Winter The opening Synth tone i observe does remind me of Betty Davis Eyes. I like Dave's lead playing and tone throughout this track and don't mind the strings either for mood enhancement. Dave's vocal is a bit too naked at it's peaks but i may have to cut him some slack as it seems his poor heart is on the line yet again in song!
Fire Burning I will admit in ‘87 I thought this song was smoking hot. In ‘22, it’s closer to hot air. I did have a friend in the eighties who told me, point blank, to ‘turn that off.’ And we were in my car. I think, once more, it’s that ultra high vocal that puts people out. Mr. Henrit goes to town during that last guitar break but the drums aren’t recorded well here. Chosen People Warriors all are we...That’s the first line, which every lyric site has wrong. Taken in context, this is not an offensive song at all. The problem is, who considers context anymore? You can imagine the Uber-aggrieved of today demanding cancellation upon hearing ‘true white brother.’ Or worse, white supremacist’s appropriating the song for that reason. The lyric is about the plight of the American Indian, Black Elk, the Hopi, and Lakota tribes. As Dave writes in Kink: ‘I had come across a book written by a Native American Indian called Black Elk. In his tribes philosophy it was written that they would one day meet a great white brother who would show them the ways of a new and different world. The great white prophet would join hands with the Indian and together they would walk towards the future, sharing each other’s knowledge, eventually reaching the promised land.’ (Try explaining that to Nina Blackwood) Cold Winter Dave using the weather in relation to his inner self, something his brother often did in song. I like the slight hoarseness in Dave’s voice on this track, making it somewhat more relatable to. It’s sort of a poor man’s Wait Till The Summer Comes Along. Instead of some ‘poor mother’s heart’ breaking, this time it’s his.
I was going to comment on the first track but have forgotten everything about it after meeting up with the ‘Chosen People’ for the first time. All I can think of is an image of Ray sitting in the Konk studio lounge, huddled over a cup of coffee, silently shaking his head, doing his best to keep his eyes straying towards Dave’s scribbled lyric sheet. A truly atrocious song and one I would nominate for expungement. Cold Winter: The second song of today’s trio that I listened all the way through (I did listen to the entirety of ‘Chosen People’; frozen, as I was, in a state of shock) and I quite liked it. Very proggish, which isn’t normally my thing, but with a nice flow. Lyrically? This comment had me howling with laughter: In conclusion: Cold Winter is my pick of the day.
Fire Burning Energetic rocker with an early eighties synth sheen. Not bad though not great either. Cold Winter I started off thinking this was one of those cigarette lighters aloft ballads but it doesn't settle into a predictable groove. Again, It's not a bad song. Chosen People I like what Dave has done on this album. The songs are mostly well crafted and Dave's singing is as good as I've heard him. The lyrics are mostly batshirt crazy but I'd be disappointed if they weren't. I think it's unfair to assess Chosen People a song (or three) at a time on YouTube because it hangs together a lot better when l listen to it all the way through on decent speakers.
All I'm going to say about Chosen People is that I love "Love Gets You", especially the 1998 version and that the songs from it that appear on the UK version of Unfinished Business are OK, including "Cold Winter". Otherwise, I can't wait to discuss State of Confusion (the Kinks album rather than the current state of modern society).
I think you mean the B-Side alternate version of Massive Reductions has never been issued on CD and that is true. As I mentioned the other day when we covered Better Things, both short fade and long fade versions of Better Things are on several CD releases. No mix differences.
The irony with Better Things is that it was written about the future, while I can feel the days are coming on the Kinks chronology when I will be looking back on Better Things with nostalgia.
Now, now, Avid The Late Man, the next few albums will have plenty of good and great songs on them. Just keep an open mind (& ears!)
I should write up my preliminary thoughts now before I get tainted/influenced by prior posters’ thoughts on ‘State of Confusion.’ And then just post it tomorrow at the starting bell. If I have time/the wherewithal I shall do that!
Fire Burning Not much too exciting about this. Seems of it's time. I like the addition of that extra guitar lead during the outro. No surprise material like this could never find it's way onto a Kinks album in the early 80s. Chosen People Interesting drumming in the first half of the song, with a bit of a Kwirky bass and keyboard lines during the verse. Musically, this is not a bad song at all, and I kinda like it. The pre-chorus and chorus remind me of something the Darkness would do decades later (which is itself a throwback to the 80s style). I like the outro, echoed drum withstanding. Lyrically though, it reads horribly and now knowing the context (h/t @pyrrhicvictory for the American Indian description), it makes some sense. Perhaps it would have worked better if it was more direct. I think The Trader by the Beach Boys handles this topic better. Hell, even Bicycle Rider/Do You Dig Worms off SMiLE directly references "the American Indian" to put the direct context in the song. Here, we get phrases and connotations that are not good. Ray had this problem too in a few songs we've covered... Cold Winter This seems like a pretty solid closer to me. It's got a nice soaring outro and finish. I like how Dave delivers the key lines of the song "(three words here), Cold Wintah". It's very effective and controlled, but with emotion. This is a very Ray kind of sentiment, but delivered using Dave's choice of words: "You healed me, cold winter, You taught me how to face the morning." I really like that line. Reminds me of Ray's version of the same sort of idea: "We're under a stormy sky, Watchin' the clouds roll by. But there'll be another dawn To clear the storm away, And we will be all right." Chosen People (album) In the car yesterday day, I played this YouTube Playlist through bluetooth to see how the album flowed. Until this is available in the US on streaming platforms, that is the best I can do to listen to this as intended. I doubt I'll come back to it often though. This has been an interesting journey through the 2nd real phase of Dave's songwriting eras. My favorite is still his songs from 1967-1970 sprinkled onto the Kinks LPs and singles. But as from this era, I think I'd rank them: Chosen People, Glamour, AFL1-3603.
Well I am through side one of State Of Confusion, and frankly I think it's wonderful, with a slight lull in the middle. I understand why I didn't love it when I was 14, but I'm not 14 anymore lol
YouTube is a miserable way to listen to an album, this is the first time I’ve tried it, and likely the last because the vinyl copy of Chosen People I ordered arrived yesterday. The first thing I noticed listening to the LP is that there is a tight segue between Tapas and Charity - the reverb of the last note of Tapas rings through the end of the measure then BAM Charity starts on the "one" of the next measure. It's pretty sweet and kicks off the album well, whereas on my Youtube listens Tapas felt disconnected from the rest of the album.
YouTube is certainly not a preferred method of listening for me... it can be a useful tool, and that's how I generally look at it.
