"Noise". This song has interesting moments but rambles about and doesn't really hang together. It's too long too. "Long Distance". This is a much better song than a few that ended up on the album. Quite a lot of Dylan in there. Sounds in the same area as Tom Petty to me... and the Pretenders!
Overall, I much prefer this album, or group of songs, to the preceding two albums. Ray has loosened up a bit and started to re-introduce some variety to the songwriting and to the sound of the album. I see this album as following on from the last three songs on the previous album.
I was fairly put off by the opening few tracks of State of Confusion, but from Come Dancing on I quite enjoy it, even the bonus tracks. I think I need to add it to my kollection!
Ok, ok, ok. State of Confusion. I guess the title was meant to say something about the times, and how the Kinks could (or couldn’t, or wouldn’t anymore) fit in them. This was an important move on the part of Ray. Amidst all his new found success, he decided to reconcile his Kinks with some parts of their History/legacy that they'd shied away for most of the previous five years. Following @mark’s guidance and the fact many people on the thread fell in love with the band somewhere in the Low Budget/One For the Road/GTPWTW time frame, we’ve mostly been very appreciative of the often dismissed "arena" era. But as far as I'm concerned, the above Ray quote is absolutely key : something in the band DNA and charm was becoming lost at some point, and I'm very impressed Ray was lucid enough to acknowledge it, clever enough to know how to remedy it and talented enough to get even more success out of it!! I adore the meta aspect of Come Dancing : a nostalgic song about a time gone by but also about when he himself was writing a different kind of songs. Of course, the true beauty is that it comes after three "shouty" ones and that on the same record, we'll get a genius companion song coming from the same place of empathy and sentimentality but set in the here and now, in subject, style and sound. I'm a big fan of all the low key melodic moments on the record (including Long Distance), I think they're some of the strongest Ray's written in years and probably the last time he gets so many great ones on a single Kinks record. I thought it was a highlight/cherry pick type of album but listening again all the way through yesterday, the only song I've failed to appreciate is Labour(ed) of Love. If you accept State of Confusion and Cliches of the World as bookends and Bernadette as an encore, You Can't Win/I'll Remember style, it makes for a surprisingly and remarkably konsistent listen.
Ray made a very rare admission to being directly influenced by a peer with Dylan's 'Bringing It All Back Home' (alongside Bach and Frank Sinatra) on the ''Face To Face' 1966 era.. but later in his autobiography he called Dylan a p*ss artist who, though possessing genuine genius, once he had been hailed as such from all corners chose to lead critics up the garden path by proffering them pure nonsense for his own amusement... I have to admit that description has always stayed with me and coloured my view on Dylan ever since, and I think a lot of his work and behaviour has borne this out to be incisive to some extent, Sometimes I think Dylan is the ultimate example in classic rock of what the kids would call a 'troll' .. and perhaps it takes one to know one, as though I'd say that Ray's artistic work has been more consistently sincere than Dylan's, as people I suspect they could give each other a run in the (non sexual AFAIK anyway!) perversity stakes. So unlike in 1966 where he was more wide-eyedly inspired by Dylan to create his own take on lyric focussed rock music, 'Long Distance' lyrically at least is I think a mature Ray who'd formed his 'pee artist' take on Dylan very self consciously setting out to write (at least in part) a 1965/66 Dylan pastiche as a style exercise and for his own amusement. And that 1965/6 era of Dylan writing is so unique.. my parents were huge Dylan fans (my Dad saw him on the 1966 tour!) and Bobby D and Van Morrison were about all that was played in my parents car growing up.. hence I was indoctrinated with classic Dylan before I could develop my own taste in 'grown up' music, and I could never not like him: he was never someone I felt I had to get into as he'd always been there.. even today I wonder if I'd like or have even investigated much of his stuff if I hadn't had that childhood osmosis.. anyway, what eventually came into focus for my 10,11,12 year old mind hearing this stuff was how WEIRD and FUNNY these lyrics were.. I became kind of obsessed with all the carnivalesque and archetypal characters mentioned in each song, filing them in my mind and obsessing over them like a child of later years might file away Pokemon creatures.. I found it particularly exciting when Dylan would mix this kind of stuff, which seemed to draw from an imposing and arcane repository of adult literature and folklore, with more pop culture stuff.. like I used to find the 'superhuman crew' verse of 'Desolation Row' ridiculously exciting cos I was like 'hey he's talking about superheroes! That's something that's around just now and not from Shakespearean times or what have you!' That combination just blew my mind! I used to think Desolation Row was largely intended as a comedy song (not an insult at all btw) and it's very hard as an adult to try and reframe it as a grim and portentous social commentary as it seems to be largely received , even though I now understand what lines like 'they're selling postcards of the hanging' are referring to.. but c'mon, it's also got 'the time the doorknob broke', 'Einstein disguised as Robin Hood' who seems like some kind of Ignatius C Reilly type and several other moments. You can't tell me that huge swathes of this weren't written with a grin. It's also got Romeo appearing but as a dithering schmuck being told he's in the wrong place, which I guess is the main reason that 'Desolation Row' is the first Dylan song that 'Long Distance' brings to mind , as his appearnce in the Kinks song always struck me as part 2 of his 'Desolation Row' comedy walk on. Sorry that was a huge ramble there and it didn't really resolve but I'm pressing post any way.
Dylan is a long time favourite, and I think Dylan managed to marry seriousness and sarcasm so beautifully, that many folks probably missed it. I think Ray uses this technique incredibly well also. and yea, I think the Desolation Row-ish verse here would bring Dylan to mind, even if Ray had sung this as a punk song lol
Long Distance I'm just never going to connect. Starting with that horrible vocal affect I call The Dylan Drawl, the delivery is just too off putting for me. Add to that the unimaginative drumming (a trend on these cuts?) and a treatment of mundane subject matter that lacks the charm that usually makes Ray's slice of life songs so wonderful, and this becomes too much of a plodder and is a skip for me.
"Long Distance" It's been 30 years since I last heard this one, although I still had a vague memory of how it sounded. Listening now, it actually feels like a track that would sit on one of Ray's solo albums. There is obviously a Dylan-esque aspect to the delivery and to the lyrics as well (possibly also Bowie-esque? The characters sound like members of the Spiders From Mars, not that I have enough grounding in Bowie to comment any further.) Anyway, I think it's a very accomplished and involving track that certainly deserved a place on the album proper. Its place is as a postscript after the romp of "Bernadette", as on the cassette. "State of Confusion" I think it's the best of the Arista albums so far, combining the heavy rock that had brought them success in the US with a return of the softer, poppier side that people in the UK would have known them for. It hangs together remarkably well despite the two approaches, and despite the appearance of a number of very 80s type sounds, it still stands up as a satisfying listen today. The combination of new/old Kinks styles continued into the next album, after which the two styles combined into one unified Kinks sound on their most underrated album.
Long Distance This one is for @mark winstanley yourself mate. Ray had a specific place in Australia in mind when he wrote this song. Here is a scan of the liners from my booklet included in the Picture Book box set. More album wrap thoughts later as I now have to do my daily three mile walk/run before it gets too hot in that hot South Carolina weather this time of year.
Ha, that's funny. In 83 Perth probably seemed like a small town to them... Everything except the pubs would have been closed at 5pm... nothing was open on the weekend. Even I'd you needed petrol/gas/fuel, you needed to look up where the nearest rostered service station was ...
‘Long Distance’: ‘Bernadette’ makes the cut and this doesn’t? Someone oughta be throttled…or at least removed from a position of power. The writing today has been brilliant, truly, and covers all the angles. ‘Long Distance’ drew me in with its swirling organ, Ray’s distinctive voice, every verse brilliantly describing the characters. It’s a bit too polished and not shambolic enough for me to place it in the ‘Muswell Hillbillies’ category but I still consider this to be an out of the park home run. And, fortunately, it’s on the ‘Picture Book’ compilation so I’m able to enfold it onto my playlist.
Long Distance: Based on pre-game day comments, it seems this is everyone’s strong early favorite of the three outtakes and clearly a contender for the album as a replacement (most likely in place of Labor of Love by the general consensus here, though I’d be sad to see it get its walking papers). I am not here to argue. Fun little (well, not so little at almost five and a half minutes) Dylany/Sprangsteen-sounding story-song with a great melody and a chorus made for singing along. The jangly guitars are back and it feels like the like the late 60s for 320 seconds. Dave steps in and out a few times with some sublime solos, generally opting to blend along with and insinuate itself into the rest of the music, rather than slapping you across the face (as so many Dave solos [thankfully] do) (I’ll happily accept either from this generally under-appreciated guitarist). I’d swap this for Labor of Love for sure and make side one stellar. Swap the running order of Bernadette and Cliches of the World and side two is fixed, and wallah, you have a damn good album from the boys. Frankly, the cassette got you there anyway, as I prefer the 1-2-3 punch of Cliches of the World, Bernadette and then a close with Long Distance and the sound of the operator as the last sounds you hear on the album. I’d also be fine with side one of the cassette version as is, I get to close side one with a rocker (Noise) (Property is great, but not a side closer and going from Property straight into Don’t Forget to Dance was a little too snooze inducing, Noise kicks you in the pants to wake you up between the two. I wonder what the younger generation would make of the lyrics? Its now been so long since calling long distance was even a thing (no less through the interaction with a real live telephone operator). Nowadays you call anywhere on your cell and don’t think twice. Maybe Ray should redo the song but make it about lousy cell signals instead?
I think your brain is working ok to me! Maybe mine isn't. I'm still trying to get my head around State of Confusion. Much of it is new to my ears, so that may be a big part of it. And I'm sure I came in with a bit of a bias toward the songs I do know. So it may take a some more listens to really situate myself. There are a few songs that I find myself singing to myself this week, so that's a positive.
Long Distance: Obviously, this should have been on the album. I was furious when I was made to buy a crappy sound quality cassette just to get this. They weren't the only band that got roped into record companies' attempt to kill off vinyl in this way. (This was that relatively brief era when most people didn't have CD players as they were costly, but cassette players were becoming omnipresent, whether in cars or the creation of Walkmens.) The song sounds a little thin to me now: the "boys night out" angle of the lyrics, the Dylanisms in Ray's vocals and Dave's "Like a Rolling Stone" guitar riffs. But the core of the song is still there, a good melody, a song ultimately about longing that works. Again, I assumed any songs like this were about Chrissie Hynde. Mark notes the concept of home, particularly related to Australia. While I live in NYC, I will always be from a small town in Pennsylvania. That's how I see myself. But I can recognize, over the decades I've absorbed as much of this place as I did that rural influence I was raised with. No one here thinks of me in terms of my self identity - they see some guy from New York. There are things about me now, decades later, that are unmistakably from and about this city. Yet, I've never truly considered it home. Possibly because "home" is a fixed place in my mind, and here, unless you own property, you always anticipate moving. Thus there's more of a portable sense of feeling at home - I often think of the Tom Waits song "Anywhere I Lay My Head." State of Confusion: I loved the album at the time and think it holds up well. A majority of the songs are very good. Ray finally felt at home in this new "hard rocking" version of The Kinks he crafted to reach a younger audience. You can hear him weave in more of the traditional Kinks trademarks (meaningful nostalgia, vocal touches, melodies that recall the mid 60s). This was a great time to be a young Kinks fan in the moment. You could move in time with this new material while slowly uncovering the hidden gems from their past, even on the concept albums.
I was interested in the bit below, which I'd never seen anything before below about Tony Palmer asking Ray to appear in his 'All You Need Is Love' mega documentary (All You Need Is Love: The Story of Popular Music - Wikipedia) and Ray refusing because he felt he was being asked to appear as a representative of the 60s and thus a hasbeen by implication. As it was such as massive tentpole series covering such wide spectrum of popular music over 100 years, I'm thinking Ray maybe couldn't see the forest for the trees a bit there as it would have been good to give The Kinks more representation in the documentary. However I guess if Palmer had sought him out just to get a few generic quotes about the beat boom or something while the Beatles. Stones etc got more bespoke coverage I could see how Ray would take exception. I think The Kinks have often fallen between the cracks of the big series like this that attempt to cover the history of rock and pop (later there was Dancing In The Street in the 90s and The Seven Ages Of Rock in the 00s, and doubtless others: I remember The Kinks barely featuring in either if at all) as despite being a significant band, their story doesn't really follow parallel to any larger narrative.
Fan created, not official. Man, such high quality writing and thoughts from everyone here today. I better just hide behind the kit and keep time today.
Yea, I have been wrestling with the post Word Of Mouth stuff, because it is essentially brand new to me, but I'm starting to find a way in.... I think lol
"Long Distance": This is the song that earns the .333 batting average among the bonus tracks of SOC from me. I've always thought of it as Ray's thoughts of being in Australia on tour while Chrissie is back in London. As the other Avids have noted, there is a rather Dylanesqe quality to the lyrics, especially in describing the roadies. This song has the hooks and melody to make it more memorable than the other two bonus songs. I too would replace "Labour of Love" and put this in it place. As for State of Confusion the album, to me it's a bit of a refinement of the prior two albums, w/a toning down of the hard rock element a bit and reintroducing melody and subtlety in several of the songs, most notably the two hit singles. It was another commercial peak for the Kinks but the wheels will soon fall off the wagon in many ways.
Long Distance Wow, am I glad this on the Picture Book set so it’s on Spotify to add to my playlists. What a fantastic song. Another one that sounds timeless and could fit thematically and musically on Everybody’s in Show-Biz. Folks hear Dylan, and I can see that. What that little guitar flourish reminds me of is This is Where I Belong. So that’s where I see the 1966-vibes here. Again with the Kinkian backing “ooh” backing vocals, the “la la las” and the almost storytelling verse style of Where Have All the Good Times Gone (which is also very Dylanish). I really like how there is some room to just explore in this song, there is some spacing, some areas to just let the jangly guitars do their thing. “And I only get to hold my pen” recalls Sitting in my Hotel where Ray is stuck writing vaudeville tunes. (By the way, both “sitting” and “hotel” make appearances in these lyrics, along with “a long way from home” and obviously “Australia”). The rest of that “pen” lyric shows Ray’s humor, too. Oh and “Prisoners of the motherland” is such a great line! This should have been on the album, absolutely. How about: I've got a loooow signal What did you say? I've got a looow signal I really can’t hear you
Without wanting to be too brusque about it, I always saw and so far still see State Of Confusion as being the last peak of The Kinks sine wave of hills and valleys before the wheels fall off bit by bit in a definite descent both commercially and artistically down all the days to 1996: Mick is still there, they've established themselves beyond question as a rock band but now they're ALSO back as a functional pop band. The album, as others have said, combines the stadium stuff with a re-injection of lighter material and a representative selection of the different tinctures of their stylistic palette. What's not to like? It's maybe not in their top 5 or even top ten best albums (as much as such things can be enumerated) but I would place it pretty high in the pantheon of LPs that distill the groups essence best. I've been about 95% positive about all The Kinks work up to this point on this thread, but from my experience of the MCA and Columbia records, there's a likelihood I'm gonna turn heel and get out the critical guns from 1985 onwards. I do know that we have professed fans of all 3 post Arista studio albums on the thread, so it will also be interesting to read their takes on these largely maligned and forgotten records (a consensus I'm afraid I don't disagree with in this case) and maybe, hopefully I'll be able to re evaluate them, but I'm not expecting miracles!
Long Distance I think I would have first got hold of this one via the 'Come Dancing With The Kinks' double compilation LP. And as the majority have said, it should have been on the album, for me one of the best tracks we've looked at for this release. Like most others, 'Labour Of Love' would have to be relegated to 'B' Side material. State of Confusion Quite possibly the best of the Arista studio albums so far. More varied in its stylistic musings than 'Sleepwalker', 'Low Budget' and 'Give The People What They Want', and a greater hit rate of really good songs than all four, including the more varied 'Misfits'. It would have been (in my view) and even better LP with a rearrangement and changing of the tracklisting. SIDE 1: State Of Confusion Definite Maybe Come Dancing Property Heart Of Gold SIDE 2: Noise Don't Forget To Dance Young Conservatives Clichés Of The World Long Distance 'Once A Thief', 'Labour Of Love' and 'Bernadette' can all find a home on the 'B' Sides of the singles.
Just before I decided to do the thread for certain, I bought these three albums.... First impression ... oh no, why did I bother.... As we have been going through the other albums over the last year or so, every now and then I would put one on, after playing a palette cleanser or two.... and I was thinking, wow, these three are going to really be a struggle. The last week or two I have hit Think Visual a few times, and initially I struggled.... to the point of wanting to take it off, to be honest.... but as I went along a few from the first part of the album started to take traction.... Today I had another listen and I started to like it.... I can't speak to the other two yet, but I'm finding Think Visual to be a pretty good album... Earlier on today, or late last night or something, I posted about the softening of the band... and I don't mean in terms of hard rock to ballads or whatever.... it is a lack of edge, that I am used to... To me even a predominantly mellow album like Village Green still has quite a bit of edge to it ... I'm not sure how else to describe it, but hopefully that translates.... Although there are rock songs still in the mix, there is a sort of missing fire, and they come across as more professional than powerful, again, if that makes any sense. It feels sort of like the Kinks moved slightly in an MOR kind of direction, or naturally gravitated there with age, which certainly does happen.... When I started really listening to it, I got past that, and started listening to the songs as just songs, with no expectations, and I am finding they are good songs, but tend towards what I was saying about moving from the fire and enthusiasm of youth, to the professionalism of the well rounded writer.... I'm still not sure how I will feel about them overall, but I am starting to like them... but it ... from my perspective at least, seemed to take a lot of hard yards to sort of retrain my mind in the way I approached them. To be honest it could well be the most interesting part of the thread... Definitely some very good songs, but it is... kind of like they have become old men finally, and the boundaries cease to be pushed.... To some degree it has helped me appreciate how some of the hardcore sixties fans may have felt about the seventies and Arista albums... even though the emphasis is a little different.... and it may come down to what I was saying way back in the thread about it being easier to go backwards with an open mind than forwards.... I have hope for these albums though
Hell yeah we do, and I'm ready to throw hands over it! In all seriousness, if I'm going to play a Kinks album, I am much more likely to listen to UK Jive or Phobia than State of Confusion, which, unlike the former, I find to "lack flow", even if the individual songs on the latter are enjoyable. For me, SOC gets slowed in the mud with the Labour-Come Dancing-Property-Don't Forget To Dance stretch, and Young Conservatives isn't able to pull it back out completely. I like Cliches but it is somewhat dark and joyless, and that leaves just Heart of Gold and Bernadette to salvage things, and they certainly give it their best effort. Adding Long Distance to the mix would have helped! This is the first album we've covered where I would consider tinkering with the track order.
