The Kinks - Album by Album (song by song)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mark winstanley, Apr 4, 2021.

  1. All Down The Line

    All Down The Line The Under Asst East Coast White Label Promo Man

    Location:
    Australia
    Mark are you insinuating that some Avids may have a phobia to their final studio longplayer?
     
  2. All Down The Line

    All Down The Line The Under Asst East Coast White Label Promo Man

    Location:
    Australia
    Are young guys more laconic, better adjusted or just get on well after having a bonging session?
     
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  3. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Lol
    I don't know... there seems to be a tentative attitude to the last three albums :)

    I'm still getting acquainted with them myself...
    I'm not sure I ever even heard about them til much much later.. then I held off... and I finally bought them just before I decided to do this
     
  4. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I think guys just care a lot less about how a household runs, generalization of course lol
     
  5. DISKOJOE

    DISKOJOE Boredom That You Can Afford!

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    Speaking of which, wasn’t there a recent exhibition about The Rolling Stones where one of the exhibits was a recreation of the apartment where most of them first lived in London and it’s squalid conditions?

    Also, I watched the copy of Kid Galahad that I picked up at my local Dollar Tree Store for $1.25 tonight. It may not be Raging Bull, but I got my money’s worth and more.
     
  6. markelis

    markelis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Miami Beach FL
    Going Solo:

    Like the flip side of Missing Persons, instead of feeling scared in the moment, the narrator is now upset that the child has left the nest. I like this one too, I can understand how some parents may feel abandoned as their kid flies free. I do think often for a child to break away and enter adulthood, they may feel the need to reject their parents’ guidance and advice long enough to get out on their own.

    Personally, I was always helping my kid fly and be free so I don’t feel I had this experience. The result seems to have been that as she made her way into adulthood, she didn’t feel like she had to cut ties and disappear. It was a gradual growth with lots of support and love. I found right from the beginning, and still to this day, that she seeks my counsel when she has tough situations to deal with. I am so happy that I gave her lots of leash early on and the result was instead of cutting me off, she managed to grow while still keeping me close.

    Even though I can’t feel Ray’s hurt (being expressed as anger and annoyance) first hand, I still like the song. It makes the playlist, but unlike Missing Persons, a longer wait will likely be required to get that deep into my playlist to hear it.
     
  7. markelis

    markelis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Miami Beach FL
    Word of Mouth (the album-revisited):

    Great stuff here. Better than State of Confusion, a little less harsh on the ears, a little less annoyed Ray and instead a more emotionally well round Ray. SoC may have had more in the way of Klassic Kinks in some people’s mind, certainly Heart of Gold is a true treasure. Is their a Better Things or a Heart of Gold on WoM? No, I don’t think so, but there are a few songs that get within spitting distance in Do It Again, Living on a Thin Line and (IMHO, although many here may disagree) Sold Me Out. ...and maybe even Summers Gone.

    I do find this to be a thoroughly enjoyable listen, every song is good enough to make the cut. Even the weaker songs, like Massive Reductions or Word of Mouth, still pop and rock.

    I still don’t see the true drop off so many of us have dreaded or insisted was coming. Sure, the days of brilliant song after song on albums like Face to Face, TKATVGPS and Lola vs… are gone, but c’mon, this is still great stuff. If Missing Persons or Thin Line had been on Lola vs… everyone would have been raving about them.

    I feel sad for the hardcore early fans that have dropped off the thread. Sure, the eighties sound is hard for some to accept (I grew up with it, so I am largely unperturbed by it) but 20+ years in, these are still great songs from a great songwriter. When you are penning songs like Superman, Around the Dial, Heart of Gold, Jukebox Music, Do It Again, Sleepwalker and Better Things, there can be no arguing that Ray’s pen has not dried up.

    Sure, it was only 3 original Kinks during the Arista era, and now with this album, down to 2 original members, but so what? I am often a purist for the “original" band. Sometimes I can handle the change even if it’s a key member: AC/DC losing Bon Scott should have been the end, but Brian Johnson made enough impact with Back in Black and FTATRWSY to transcend the loss of such a legendary singer. Here though, even though the bass and key work of the original members like Quaife and then Dalton and Hopkins then Gosling respectively was (were?) fantastic and was missed, the band carried on without them and it sure still sounds like the Kinks to me. Losing Mick Avory is another story, I hear that absence, as others have noted, he was a bit Keith Mooney in his drumming so it really stood out. Henriett is certainly competent, he doesn't let anyone down, but he also doesn't stand out. Regardless, I am still on board because to me, if you have Ray and Dave, you still have the Kinks.

    I see no real drop in quality in this Arista period. …and having begun looking ahead (for a few weeks now) at Think Visual and even starting now to dip my toe in UK Jive, I am still excited for what is to come!
     
  8. All Down The Line

    All Down The Line The Under Asst East Coast White Label Promo Man

    Location:
    Australia
    YES Mick, Keith & Brian's place at Edith Grove.
     
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  9. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    Going Solo is a disappointing closer, but I like Word of Mouth more than the previous two albums. Overall it's lighthearted and fun with a few great tracks.
     
  10. Rockford & Roll

    Rockford & Roll Forum Resident

    Location:
    Midway, KY
    I certainly like Word of Mouth better than I expected. It's not a record I have to own but if I find it at a Goodwill for a reasonable price, I'll snag it. I've really enjoyed the ins and outs of how Word of Mouth came about and the Return To Waterloo project was news to me.

    As for the Arista Years, Low Budget is my tops. I have a sense of diminishing returns on the subsequent records but they are all still good and have some wonderful songs - a few that rank as Kinks Klassics.

    Speaking of Goodwills, I ordered a used copy of Dire Straits', Alchemy from a Goodwill in Seattle. They only sent disc 1 and it turns out they don't have disc 2. They were quite nice about it and now I'm back to looking for the complete set. I can say that disc 1 is fantastic (one of the best sounding live albums I've heard) and my man Terry Williams flat tears it up on drums!

    I'm looking forward to listening to Think Visual and the rest. All will be new to me, I reckon.

    As we move on I've got a question for my fellow Avids: Has Ray Davies done a late career masterpiece like some other artists of his stature?

    Good Sunday all!
     
  11. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    Other than Phobia, the rest of The Kinks' catalogue will also be new to me - should be interesting!

    As for Ray solo, I really enjoy Working Mans Cafe. Perhaps not quite masterpiece level, but very solid with some great songs.
     
  12. DISKOJOE

    DISKOJOE Boredom That You Can Afford!

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    Avid Rockford & Roll, I actually saw a copy of Alchemy (both CD discs) last week at my local Savers. If I knew you were looking for it, I would have picked it up. It’s probably long gone, but I’ll look again. Also check Discogs for someone who may sell disc 2 only. That has happened to me in the past.

    Also, Ray’s “real” first solo album, Other People’s Lives, is probably his late career masterpiece, followed by his second, Working Man’s Cafe.
     
  13. DISKOJOE

    DISKOJOE Boredom That You Can Afford!

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    I just want to remind my fellow Avids that the remainder of the Kinks kataloge includes the following:

    The Road (live album between the 2 MCA studio albums)
    Lost and Found (MCA best of, really nothing new)
    Did Ya EP (Columbia release before Phobia)
    To The Bone
    (both UK & US versions, as they have different track selections, as well as the Waterloo Sunset 94 EP which has bonus tracks)

    Add the MCA and Columbia albums and we still have plenty to talk about. I haven’t included Ray and Dave’s solo albums or The Kinks At The BBC, which exists in two versions.
     
  14. Steve62

    Steve62 Vinyl hunter

    Location:
    Murrumbateman
    +1 for that opinion. Both were incredibly pleasant surprises when they came out. Plenty of strong tracks. The two Americana albums have their moments but are uneven.
     
  15. Fortuleo

    Fortuleo Used to be a Forum Resident

    And the 80 Days demos!! Don't forget them, @mark winstanley, 16 Ray songs from 1988, arguably better than UK Jive, all on YT for us to enjoy and discuss!:righton:

    The Arista years are really two eras in one for me, three 70's records and three 80's ones, before and after One for the Road. Perhaps Low Budget navigates between being seventies or eighties, like so many 1979 records…

    My 25 favorite kuts would be : Life on the Road (live acoustic on KFWD)/ Sleepwalker/ Juke Box Music/ Stormy Sky (sorry @Zeki)/On the Outside/Father Christmas/Misfits/Out of a Wardrobe/Pressure/National Health/Moving Pictures/Duke/Around the Dial/Add It Up/Art Lover/Better Things/Come Dancing/Property/Don't Forget to Dance/Heart of Gold/Long Distance/Do It Again/Good Day/Living on a Thin Line/Summer's Gone
    It's an excellent question. The fact is Ray never fully developed as a solo recording artist. Losing the Kinks as his vehicle, there was always something missing, making the solo records appear as side projects or something. It's like he himself treated them that way, in-between Kinks reunions that ultimately never happened. Working Man's Cafe is still excellent. Other People's Lives has some great songs too.

    The one project that could qualify as a late career masterpiece in my opinion is Americana, but it's such a weird thing : written as a book years before being made as a record, the songs' were envisioned as the "soundtrack" to the book (the lyrics are all reproduced in the book, as a "taster" and illustration). It has that Ray multimedia/various angles approach : the book + the record + a second record (+ a box set with a third record, long rumored/announced but never released – or even finished ?). It has a number of extraordinary tracks but I'll argue it never found its ideal form or perfect presentation (too much narration in the second LP, to compensate the fact that most listeners wouldn't've read the book in the first place). It probably doesn't have the "gravity" associated with that "late masterpiece" idea, you know, death and everything. It's a very smooth pair of records, funny, tender, witty, reflexive, self-aware, but never heavy or ostensibly "deep", like some late Dylan/Cohen, Cash, Blackstar Bowie or Chaos Paul.
    Still, if you take it as a whole, it's arguably the most ambitious Ray ever was. When we get there on the thread, we will no doubt marvel at how it all works as a reflective musical journey inside Ray & the Kinks' story and "œuvre".
    Note : Funny how this "late career masterpiece" question got three answers, but three different ones. And all of Ray post-Kinks solo records were heralded as contenders… I think it proves we still have a lot of great music ahead of us!
     
  16. DISKOJOE

    DISKOJOE Boredom That You Can Afford!

    Location:
    Salem, MA
    Avid Fortuleo, I haven’t forgotten the 80 Days demos, but they weren’t officially released. I have my bootleg CD copy that a good friend did a great job in packaging, but how can other Avids access the material? Is it someplace in the Web?
     
  17. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I'm yet to find that out, but I have enjoyed the Americana albums so far
     
  18. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I haven't had a chance to check it out, but yes, it's in the mix.

    As a reminder for everyone of what's coming up
    This is what we have listed so far, and I'll get to to post 2000 albums soon enough, but this seems like plenty to go on with for now.

    Ray Davies Return To Waterloo - Jul 85
    Ray Davies Quiet Life - Apr 86
    Come Dancing With The Kinks - Jun 86
    Think Visual - Nov 86
    The Kinks Are Well Respected Men - Sep 87
    The Road - Jan 88
    Ray Davies 80 Days - 1988
    Greatest Hits - 1989
    Ultimate Collection - 1989
    UK Jive - Oct 89
    Lost And Found (86-89) - 1991
    Did Ya (single and EP) - Oct 91
    The Definitive Collection - 1993
    A Portrait Of The Kinks - 1993
    Phobia - Mar 93
    To The Bone - Oct 94
    Waterloo Sunset 94 EP - Oct 94
    The Definitive Collection - 1996
    You Really Got Me The Very Best Of The Kinks - 1997
    The Singles Collection - 1997
    Ray Davies Storyteller - 1998

    Obviously most of those compiles will be in the compilation posts I've been doing.
     
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  19. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Kinks Kompilations - Part 5 - 1985.

    This first one also came out as a part one and part two set, being a double album split in half


    [​IMG]
    [​IMG][​IMG]

    A1 You Really Got Me
    A2 Sunny Afternoon
    A3 Tired Of Waiting For You
    A4 Dedicated Follower Of Fashion
    A5 Set Me Free
    A6 Everybody's Gonna Be Happy
    A7 All Day And All Of The Night

    B1 Lola
    B2 Dead End Street
    B3 Waterloo Sunset
    B4 Autumn Almanac
    B5 See My Friends
    B6 Till The End Of The Day
    B7 Apeman

    C1 Supersonic Rocket Ship
    C2 Celluloid Heroes
    C3 Moving Pictures
    C4 Better Things
    C5 20th Century Man
    C6 Where Have All The Good Times Gone
    C7 Don't Forget To Dance

    D1 Come Dancing
    D2 State Of Confusion
    D3 Good Day
    D4 Pressure
    D5 Predictable
    D6 Do It Again
    D7 A Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy

    This one probably bears a special mention, as it is career spanning, except for the almost absent RCA years, with just a couple of tracks included.
    It could be better I guess, but I think it is a pretty good introductory album to the band for someone.
     
  20. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    The Story Of The Kinks.

    [​IMG][​IMG]



    You Really Got Me
    Till The End Of The Day
    Everybody's Gonna Be Happy
    Set Me Free
    See My Friends
    All Day And All Of The Night

    Tired Of Waiting
    Dedicated Follower Of Fashion
    David Watts
    Victoria
    Susannah's Still Alive
    Mr. Pleasant

    Sunny Afternoon
    Dead End Street
    Stop Your Sobbin'
    Death Of A Clown
    Well Respected Man
    Waterloo Sunset

    Lola
    Ape Man
    Wonderboy
    Plastic Man
    Autumn Almanac
    Days

    The Contenders
    Strangers
    Denmark Street
    Get Back In Line
    Lola
    Top Of The Pops
    The Moneygoround

    This Time Tomorrow
    A Long Way From Home
    Rats
    Ape Man
    Powerman
    Got To Be Free

    A pretty comprehensive Pye collection, in a three album set. With less songs per side than most compiles, if anyone has this, it would be interesting to know if the sound quality is particularly good?

    The Kinks Collection.

    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]

    Things Are Getting Better
    Apeman
    Dedicated Follower Of Fashion
    Autumn Almanac
    Lola
    All Day And All Of The Night
    You Really Got Me
    Set Me Free
    Dancing In The Street
    Bald Headed Woman
    Long Tall Sally
    Cadillac
    Louie Louie
    Creepin' Jean
    Wonder Boy
    Act Nice & Gentle
    Sittin' On My Sofa
    Too Much Monkey Business
    Beautiful Delilah
    Tin Soldier Man
    Victoria
    Death Of A Clown
    Wicked Annabella
    Village Green Preservation Society
     
  21. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    The twofer of

    Soap Opera and Schoolboys In Disgrace

    [​IMG]

    A1 Everybody Is A Star
    A2 Ordinary People
    A3 Rush Hour Blues
    A4 Nine To Five
    A5 When Work Is Over
    A6 Have Another Drink

    B1 Underneath The Neon Sign
    B2 Holiday Romance
    B3 You Make It All Worthwhile
    B4 Ducks On The Wall
    B5 A Face In The Crowd
    B6 You Can't Stop The Music

    C1 Schooldays
    C2 Jack The Idiot Dunce
    C3 Education
    C4 The First Time We Fall In Love

    D1 I'm In Disgrace
    D2 Headmaster
    D3 The Hard Way
    D4 The Last Assembly
    D5 No More Looking Back
    D6 Finale
     
  22. sharedon

    sharedon Forum Zonophone

    Location:
    Boomer OK
    It was also notable for having the famous alternate Supersonic Rocket Ship, which was hard to find in the pre-reissue years!
     
  23. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    For a Sunday Flashback type thing, here are a few compilations that (I think) I missed, as I wasn't clever enough to start this method until much too late in the thread...

    1969

    Now Then and Inbetween.

    [​IMG][​IMG]

    Early Chunky Medley 3:21
    A1a Louie Louie
    A1b You Really Got Me
    A1c I Need You
    A1d Till The End Of The Day
    -
    A2 A Well Respected Man 2:38
    A3 Dedicated Follower Of Fashion 2:59
    A4 Dandy 2:08
    A5 Sunny Afternoon 3:33
    B1 David Watts 1:52
    B2 End Of The Season 2:05
    B3 Sitting By The Riverside 1:31
    B4 Death Of A Clown 2:25
    B5 The Village Green Preservation Society 2:45
    B6 Last Of The Steam-Powered Trains 1:22
    B7 Big Sky 2:12
    B8 Berkeley Mews 2:34
    B9 Days 2:50
    B10 Waterloo Sunset 3:15


    1973

    All The Good Times.

    [​IMG][​IMG]

    Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One
    A1 The Contenders 2:43
    A2 Strangers 3:17
    A3 Denmark Street 2:00
    A4 Get Back In Line 3:01
    A5 Lola 3:56
    A6 Top Of The Pops 3:38
    A7 The Moneygoround 1:43

    B1 This Time Tomorrow 3:20
    B2 A Long Way From Home 2:25
    B3 Rats 2:36
    B4 Apeman 3:51
    B5 Powerman 4:15
    B6 Got To Be Free 2:57

    Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire
    C1 Victoria
    C2 Yes Sir, No Sir
    C3 Some Mother's Son
    C4 Drivin'
    C5 Brainwashed
    C6 Australia

    D1 Shangri-La
    D2 Mr. Churchill Says
    D3 She's Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina
    D4 Young And Innocent Days
    D5 Nothing To Say
    D6 Arthur

    The Kinks
    E1 You Really Got Me
    E2 Long Tall Shorty
    E3 All Day And All Of The Night
    E4 Beautiful Delilah
    E5 Tired Of Waiting For You
    E6 I'm A Lover Not A Fighter

    F1 A Well Respected Man
    F2 Till The End Of The Day
    F3 See My Friends
    F4 Don't You Fret
    F5 Dedicated Follower Of Fashion
    F6 Sunny Afternoon

    G1 Dead End Street
    G2 Death Of A Clown
    G3 Two Sisters
    G4 Big Black Smoke
    G5 Susannah's Still Alive
    G6 Autumn Almanac

    H1 Waterloo Sunset
    H2 The Last Of The Steam Powered Trains
    H3 Wonderboy
    H4 Do You Remember Walter
    H5 Dandy
    H6 Animal Farm
    H7 Days

    This in particular is a really interesting set, with two full albums, and then a double compilation from the rest of the earlier material.
     
  24. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    1977

    The File Series.

    [​IMG]
    This was one cover the album had

    and this one is what was released in Australia, and going back to the very first post of the thread, this is the album that came close to being my very first Kinks album
    [​IMG][​IMG]
    [​IMG][​IMG]

    A1 Long Tall Sally
    A2 You Still Want Me
    A3 You Really Got Me
    A4 All Day And All Of The Night
    A5 I've Got That Feeling
    A6 I Gotta Go Now
    A7 Things Are Getting Better
    A8 Tired Of Waiting For You

    B1 Everybody's Gonna Be Happy
    B2 Set Me Free
    B3 See My Friends
    B4 A Well Respected Man
    B5 Till The End Of The Day
    B6 Dedicated Follower Of Fashion
    B7 Sunny Afternoon
    B8 Dead End Street

    C1 Mr. Pleasant
    C2 Waterloo Sunset
    C3 Death Of A Clown
    C4 Autumn Almanac
    C5 Susannah's Still Alive
    C6 Wonderboy
    C7 Lincoln County

    D1 Days
    D2 Hold My Hand
    D3 Plastic Man
    D4 Drivin'
    D5 Shangri-la
    D6 Victoria
    D7 Lola
    D8 Apeman
     
  25. The late man

    The late man Forum Resident

    Location:
    France
    Record 3 is the "Lola Vs Powerman" album in full, how strange. I hope the Lola and Apeman on record 2 are single mixes.
     

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