Setting aside the comment about losing ones mind, talent and embarrassing nonsense, this is pretty much the spot in Ray's autobiography where he admits things get lost. I disagree (I detect gold in a lot of his post 1972 work) but a change does happen.
I can't disagree with that. I expected to have a much harder time with the first three albums, but aside from a couple of obviously weaker tracks, it's a pretty high quality start... I will probably find it hard to find anything negative to say over the next few albums though.
It's not too late to change your mind ! My guitar enthusiasm made me forget to mention a thing about You Can’t Win: it’s tempting to read it as some kind of defeatist social commentary but I have another interpretation to offer, which would explain the defiant/triumphant singalong quality of its chorus. It’s the end of 1965, some eight months before the 1966 World Cup organized in England. Ray being a dedicated follower of soccer, this song could very well be his own personal message to his team’s future opponents, his way of telling them rather provocatively “you may try all you want, people, but you can’t win… because we will!”. Which they did!
i love the kinks and will say up until preservation act 1 are my favorite band of all time. i realize now that i didn't become a fan of their's until i heard the album "muswell hillbillies". i had heard the hits of course and think they became a great band starting around this lp the kink kontroversy.
There is certainly a change. I'm not sure Ray exhausted his reflections on England, but he must have been close to it. The rock opera side of things bothers some folks, but I like most if it quite a bit. It seems to me, that after the rock Opera side of things, Ray broadened his lens, and although some folks seem to see it as selling out to the US market, I think he just moved into a more contemporary observational lyric, that certainly looked at the US, but in a way that wasn't too dissimilar to how he had been looking at England in the sixties...... but anyway, we'll be walking that path soon enough
I’m always willing to change my mind. (In fact, I cut one song from my play list that I had previously expressed enthusiasm for. I still like it but when I played it within the list it may have been too similar to something else.) And I do like sing-alongs.
Yes, the observations were still relevant, poignant and well presented. That they were presented in a more arena rock style in no way diminishes the ongoing excellence in many of his lyrics. And there were times in looking at the US, he may as well have been looking at the UK as well. There were a lot of similarities and connections across the pond in those years. Klassic example: Young Conservatives from State of Confusion.
What's In Store For Me Maybe a fairly straightforward and basic lyric, but I like it just the same. It's not a topic often covered in pop music. That said, musically, with its overly jangly guitar and ham fisted rhythm, it doesn't quite reach me. More often than not, a skip. You Can't Win This is the flipside of the previous for me. The lyric is rather less appealing, but the music.... now that reaches me. Dave's guitar work on this is wonderful. The leads, the licks, the bridge.... all absolutely top shelf. Music threads often point out Dave as a historically underrated guitarist and rightfully so. But going through these early albums has really brought that to light even more for me. I can listen to lesser lyrics and better music much more than the other way around, so this song gets played every time.
Definitely.... and it makes much more musical sense too. Catch me now I'm falling and National Health etc as rock music hall songs would have been so contextually distant from each other... Anyway, I'm sure that discussion will open a can of worms when we get there
I’m looking forward to the operas. Don’t know anything about ‘em. (Am a big fan of Tommy and Jesus Christ Superstar).
I hope you're only getting the stereo after having the mono. With a few song exceptions (all found on Kronikles), "Face to Face" has one of the worst stereo mixes in history. Missing background vocal parts, sound fx poorly synched, subtle guitar parts hidden, no real stereo image. Oy! It's a historical curiosity at best. I'm saying this not to give you buyer's remorse, but to make sure you give the album a chance by getting the mono, too. The versions of those mixes as found on the Pye Anthology sound shockingly better than anything I'd heard before, so I'm guessing the Deluxe version is comparable.
Oh, believe me, I'm more than familiar with the mixes already... Face to Face by The Kinks I just wanted an original UK pressing of the album, and this stereo copy was the best condition/value combo I could find.
Operas: are these Preservation Act 1 and 2? Any others? Soap Opera? I might steal a quick look. Too impatient to wait another 400-500 pages.
As for today's tracks, I honestly don't have too much to say. I do enjoy them both, and would never pass over them (not my style), but I could never add anything more than has already been said here.
It would be interesting to hear "What's in Store for me" in a quieter acoustic arrangement. Some nice thoughts get obscured by the rock. "I wish I had a crystal ball / To see my rise and see my fall." The bridge is quite weak lyrically: "And so I'll wait a while / And wait a little longer / I'll just have to wait and see." Tired of waiting? The album is petering out. These aren't bad songs, just not very noteworthy. "You Can't Win" is a very repetitive song. The piano is too quiet, which is a shame as it seems quite great. Good guitar solo too. I could see this being a single for one of those lesser Mersey groups. It's very similar to "It's Too Late" in that we're just told 'you can't win' here and 'it's too late' there. No details, no story, that's just how it is.
What's In Store For Me - Basic bluesy song, kinda has a "One After 909" thing going on. Nothing particularly special, it's something I wouldn't skip if I'm listening to the album, but I wouldn't particularly seek it out and add it to a Kinks playlist. You Can't Win - The guitar licks in this song are nice. Whenever Dave adds his harmonies is striking, and this song has a lot of that. But definitely not in the top half of songs on this album.
Sorry to throw out another question, but as much as possible I want everyone to be happy with how we're rolling along here. So I'm going to ask another question, and then I reckon we should be set until we get done. I'm in two minds and would like all your input. This is just going to be two pretty straightforward questions Again just vote for your preferred option _______________________________ Option 1 Just continue on as we are - two songs per day - bundle some of the extras eg BBC sessions etc. Like this for this option.
Option 2 Do 1 song per day of original album tracks, and two per day of extras starting with Face To Face Like this for this option
First I feel I need to comment on the talk that The Kinks lost it after Showbiz and that something changed. That's crazy talk to my ears. I don't hear much of a change until we get to Sleepwalker. There is a definite shift in the sound of the band from then on. I'm a big fan of the Preservation albums and wait until you see how much I love the unfairly maligned Soap Opera album! There are some brilliant songs on all these albums. I think the Kinks had a phenomenal run up until Schoolboys In Disgrace. I actually like songs on every album, so they never lost it for me, but my main interest is everything up until 1975. Whenever I play Soap Opera or Schoolboys In Disgrace I am shocked that these get disregarded. I have turned several people onto this era of The Kinks. Hopefully, these discussions will bring some new admiration to these records. I want to say so much more, but will save it for the album discussions. The 70s Kinks could be the most interesting conversations if people decide to give these albums a chance. "What's In Store For Me" I already stated on the last song that I think the album limps to the finish line. Nothing is really wrong with either of these songs, but they look backwards instead of forwards and feel rather unremarkable at this stage of the game. This is a nice Dave vocal and had it come out earlier or even if it was sequenced near the beginning of this record I may give it more attention. "You Can't Win" I can never remember much of this song, but listening now and I really like it. The blend of the vocals is excellent and Dave has some tasty guitar licks. The piano is also fantastic. Maybe being underwhelmed with the last few songs clouded my judgement on this song? I always lumped it in with the weaker songs, but now I find it to be a fitting final song for this album. It's much better than I ever gave it credit for. I didn't think I would say this, but I love it. I say this album is on par with Kinda Kinks. I would rank Kontroversy just below it, but they are very close. Because of how this album opens and closes, it always struck me as an album that came out before Kinda Kinks. After all these discussions I realize that the songs on both albums could be swapped and fit in on either. The style and the progression is pretty much the same on both albums. A really good album, but coming up next we have quite a lineup of really great albums! My top songs are: The World Keeps Going Round Where Have All The Good Times Gone I'm On An Island Ring The Bells I think the two songs a day is working nicely.
My personal view on their output is that there is outstanding work on all their studio albums through to Phobia.
I appreciate these replies, and I agree that my original post was a tad unhinged, but that’s honestly how I feel. In the grand scheme of things my fanboy frustration doesn’t mean a thing, of course, but I honestly can’t think of a comparable case of one’s muse deserting him so suddenly and completely.
