Natural Gift Yeah, this one defines filler. I can't help but think that some sort of different starting intro that then goes into the main progression could have improved this but maybe not. The song is in the key of F which while not that unusual is at least a change of pace from the standard E, A, D keys that most rock songs are written and performed in by this point. The minor third on the "nat" syllable Ray sings on the last "natural" of each chorus is the most effective part of this melodically for me. Dave thought this should have been a single! Those "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" industrial orchestral synth sounds really annoy. I wonder if these were the "strings" Ray removed from "How Are You" when remixing that track? If so, thank goodness!
Is it a Lou Reed impersonation in the beginning? And then an INXS mockery? Do I hear some Roy Bittan piano on the chorus (a brief relief) before the atrocious synth comes in? Is it the Thriller bass, intercut with The Hard Way/Can’t Explain/Do Ya/etc. riff ? Is it some vague attempt at (god forbid!) slap from Jim Rodford just after that ? Is it the “everybody needs an education” chorus repurposed??? Will @Fischman come to the rescue once again? The “STOP!”/klang! (orchestral synth hit) hook in the “depression” bridge is the hardest part and frankly, the lyrics don’t make any sense at all, from the good looking “natural” in the beginning to the self-development crap at the end. @mark winstanley has a point (amongst many others) when he suggests that Ray may have written this as a self imposed exercise to overcome writer's block. I'd never noticed how much this song grates on me before doing the heavy thread listening this morning. And this synth comes back with a vengeance for the outro, just to drive me crazy…
Natural Gift Everybody needs some inspiration Apparently including Ray Davies himself! That said, this is one of those songs I really dig despite its relative shortcomings. I do like the approach to the lyrical theme. Musically, the pastiche doesn't bother me on this one. In addition to all the aforementioned references, I even hear some Sisters of Mercy power chords and backing vocals, which is of course a total disconnect with rhe Level 42 synths, both of which have no business alongside Lou Reed vocals. But hey, what can I say.... I can definitely hang.
The most obvious thing in here to me, was the Georgy Girl piano riff... Baba O'Riley, although extremely effective, is a fairly generic chord pattern anyway.
Think Visual One of the weaker tracks on the album, very much in the '80s zeitgeist. 'The wonderful world of capitalism...' Of course title tracks don't have to be great, but it would be nice if this was a little better. Probably has the best 'title' of any of the tracks on the album though. Natural Gift A companion piece to 'Think Visual' another one which is OK, and I can't decide between these two tracks which is better. My favourite verse of this one comes at the end 'There are bad people, mad people, bitter people, scared people Wanna put you down and keep you in your place But you gotta chance to break out, you gotta chance to get out And use your natural gifts...' It brings a little theatricality to the supereighties sound. A bit more Kinks.
Natural Gift I’m going to join the minority in liking this song. I find it to be more enjoyable than Think Visual. Yes, the lyrics may be a little disjointed, but I have no problem with the motivational-speak in an innocuous, fun pop song. Maybe, Ray wrote it for himself, as a reminder to be confident in his own natural gifts. Even the best of artists can be full of self doubt I’m sure. I don’t mind the 80s touches in the song, and don’t find them to be overdone. I also didn’t listen to much typical 80s music back in the day. I really don’t have that much to say about this song, but figured it can use all the supporters it can get.
Just a quick update. Here is the layout for the immediate future. I modified it a little, to streamline things a bit. Also with 80 Days being such an out of the box thing, I've given us a bit of space for the beginning of it, and we'll see how it pans out. If we get a spare day in there, it gives some folks some time to catch up, if they are falling behind too. Friday - Killing Time Saturday - When You Were A Child Monday- 25th July - Dave Davies Fragile - No More Mysteries and Wait Tuesday - Dave Davies Fragile - Bright Lights and Give Me Something Back Wednesday - Dave Davies Fragile - Hope and Long Lonely Road Thursday - The Kinks - The Road Friday - The Road Saturday - Destroyer, Apeman, Come Dancing, Art Lover Monday - 1st August - Cliches Of The World, Think Visual, Living On A Thin Line, Lost And Found Tuesday - It (I Want It) Wednesday - Around The Dial, Give The People What They Want, Lola, You Really Got Me Thursday - Around The World In 80 Days - The Play 80 Days Friday - Ray Davies - 80 Days Demos Saturday - Let It Be Written
“How Are You” – Lyrically excellent, though I'm torn on whether it’s to an ex-lover or a now-distant friend. I was curious to see if @The late man would feel trapped by the repeating two-chord pattern (I had not picked up on the “Tired of Waiting for You” connection, though the earlier song did at least modulate), but he didn’t mention it. The static harmonic nature may be effective to convey the awkwardness of the conversation, and it does give the “how are you” section a strong release, but I'm still working on my impatience with it. A strong song, if not a classic. 3/5 "Think Visual" – Energetic, great guitar hook, vocal hooks, some syncopated rhythms, short melodic phrases that are easy to assimilate (unlike some of Ray’s long, wordy, less melodic lines)? Sign me up! It has a variety of musical sections that almost don’t work together – the Devo reference on the "think visual" section to illustrate the mechanization of music was a good catch - but then we’re back to that great guitar riff. It's about the music business, but the "profitability" line reminds me of the time I was working for a Fortune 500 company and it issued a press release about its record profits the same week it laid off hundreds of employees (of course, I was one of them the following year). The live version (but not the truncated one on The Road) has the edge, but this is one of my favorite songs on the album. 5/5 "Natural Gift" – A lyrically flawed pep talk of encouragement. I find the repetitive “you got natural gifts” section extremely annoying (@mark winstanley nailed it as a game show theme) and a misfit with the rest of the song; the “everybody needs some inspiration” bit is more interesting. I edited out a minute’s worth of “natural gift” sections; it’s a lot more instrumental and dramatic, and the momentum isn’t killed by the bland chorus. It still lacks something but at least the edit takes if off my must-skip list. Album version 1/5; Smiler edit 2.5/5
"Natural Gift" At least now we know that @mark winstanley isn't a Kinks robot that was programmed by Ray. I've been waiting for this day to hear an example of a song that he really dislikes. The game show intro is accurate, and now I can't listen to the beginning without laughing about it. This could be the least Kinks like song that Ray has written so far. I hear it as an attempt to sing like Chrissie's new romance, Jim Kerr. Maybe he thought he could win her back with a simple minded song? When he sings "You got to rise above your stupidity, you're dumb but don't give in." I really hear that Jim Kerr style vocal. It also sounds a bit like some motivational lyric that Bono would croon out in 1986. I can hear how this style can also remind someone of INXS. There is something I like about the way the rhythm guitar and bass go together at the 0:28 mark. It sounds like it could be from an 80s spy television show. Then we have the power chord riff that comes in at 0:56 which is the first clue that we are in fact listening to The Kinks. "Everybody needs some inspiration" definitely sounds like Ray and is reminiscent of songs like "Live Life". Then we move into a nice piano part that is complete with those 80s orchestral stabs. I find it amusing and doesn't bother me that they are going all in on some 80s production touches. The slap bass and all the orchestral keyboard hits would have made the perfect background for a Billy Ocean song. There is a lot going on here. I kind of like the corny aspect of all of it. It's a catchy tune and has Ray working outside of his comfort zone. I can't fault him for trying something different. This song couldn't exist in any other time but the mid 80s.
Natural Gift I haven't read all the comments, but the opening guitar reminded me of "Starmaker". There are some similarities in the lyrics too, though in this case, one need only use their natural gifts to reach their potential. I think the "use your natural gifts" chorus section is weak, but I do like the little piano at that part. This is not quite as good as the two previous songs, but it is a solid track.
Think Visual (update) As often happens with Kinks songs, I found myself singing this in my head yesterday, and listened again, and it's inching up for me. Like, we're now at "maybe I do see a future for us, someday." Natural Gift I've gotten a few "what is this?"'s from Rowan x in the course of listening to songs for this thread, mostly followed by "the Kinks? Wow, I like this one, why haven't you played it before?" This time it was "what the HELL is this? Is this from the '80s or something? All I'm hearing are the words 'natural gift' repeated over and over." Spot on instant analysis, Rowan x. I had a slightly different but no more coherent interpretation of the lyric than Headmaster. Here's this hot girl, she thinks she's all that, but no one taught her how to exploit her looks, it's just something some people grasp instinctively. So then one assumes (I assumed) the song would go on to examine this character -- this prima donna -- maybe she's like the Who'll Be the Next in Line? girl -- a heartbreaker -- maybe RD will take her down a peg -- or sing an ode to the sad, none-too-bright, lonely little girl inside. But then, suddenly, it feels like RD is yelling at himself as he's in process of writing a crappy song: You gotta stop this depression you're in now! Stop this emotional rift! You need a psychological lift now! And then begging himself: Everybody needs some inspiration, everybody needs some motivation. Mix it up with some imagination and use your natural gifts! Much as I might get a thrill from this little peek into RD's inner emotional/creative landscape, it's just too depressing to contemplate, particularly because this might be the first song in the canon that feels rote, forced, and completely uninspired. Sad emoji. Sad, crying emoji.
Natural Gift I'm a bit mixed on this one. The pre-chorus and riff "everybody needs some inspiration" is so damn catchy. We get more of Ray's infatuation with four-syllable words ending with "-tion" (Demolition, Preservation, Education, Expectations, etc...). I like the different sound of the slap bass. The 80s synth "orchestrial hits" (that was a very cool video thanks @ajsmith!) are very close to being overdone.... but they are limited to just a few hits in a row, and not a constant sound over the entire song. So they don't ruin the song for me. One nice trick I noticed when listening to this song a few times is the shortened pre-chorus the 2nd time that riff comes in. First time (3x, with the riff playing one time before the vocal comes in): Everybody needs some inspiration Everybody needs some motivation Mix it up with some imagination and use your natural gifts... (changeup) Second time (only twice, and the vocals come in right away with riff): You don't have to be an intellectual You don't have to be a scientist to use your natural gifts... (changeup) And then the final time this section is used, it's extended again and the riff ends with "use your natural gifts" (no changeup in style). While this may sound like Ray phoned it in (especially in the verses), I can see some elements of playing with meters, timing, expectations with the structure of the song that provides enough changes and makes it an interesting listen. I do think "filler" is an apt description for this song. It's just sorta there, but it is catchy and it's not bad.
I actually like both "Think Visual" and "Natural Gift" Both are somewhat spiteful songs in the face of the 80'es value trends. The title track is a bit obviously scorning the style-over substance tendencies of the era, and "Natural Gift" seems to me like spoof on the underdog becoming a hero that was the theme of every Stallone movie at the time. It's two tracks in a row where Ray seems to say, I know how the game goes, so there. The abrasive orchestral hits seem to be a sarcastic comment on music production values. But all in all I like the fact that the Kinks were still going forward at this point, further exploring funky guitars, new technology and...anything but a lazy band in 1986.
Yea, it's a real slow burner. I still don't love it, but I can listen to it now and enjoy it enough to keep it rolling.
“You gotta stop this depression you're in now. Stop this emotional rift, you need a psychological lift now”.
