1) noted Kinks fan John Mendelsohn wrote them off with the release of Soap Opera (see post #17017). So that’s one time.
From the November 1972 issue of Creem Magazine (I was reading the issue online when I came across this): The Kinks - Everybody's in Showbiz (RCA) "Showbiz" is a two-record set, complete with the best cover art ever afforded a Kinks album (early covers were great in context only). Sides 1 and 2 are new songs done in the studio, while 3 and 4 are older numbers done live. The Kinks are a difficult band to capture live. They are basically sloppy and alcoholic and, although the horn section (now a predominate part of the group) helps to smooth things over a bit, their live show is better left at the concert hall. For even though the writing of Ray Davies (the man who puts the kink in the Kinks) may be preoccupied with those things in life that are lasting, his live performances are hardly designed to be saved for posterity. If, in his state of genuine or affected drunkenness, he can show you a good time, he is satisfied. But that is not the stuff that great live recordings are made of. Besides, even when Ray is having a great night, appreciation of his delivery relies on all the subtle nuances of the personality he projects, which are as visual as they are audial. The main attribute of the live set is that it documents Ray’s ever-improving abilities as a showman. He is not, and may never be, the consummate craftsman on stage that, say, Peter Townshend is, but he is becoming increasingly comfortable as master of ceremonies of a good-timey, almost vaudevillian show, as opposed to his old role as lead singer of a British rock band. It is an adjustment which has taken years to be made in a way that Ray could live with, both in terms of general aesthetics and the music itself. He can now do a heartrending version of “You Are My Sunshine” (my favorite song of all time), continue with “Alcohol,” done partly in 40’s Maurice Chevalier imitation, and follow with a rocker like “Top of the Pops,” and make it work! But on vinyl? Ray is charming enough to make it fun to listen to, but it stands more as a reference point than as any kind of cohesive, significant recorded statement. Now the studio platter, sport fans. It goes almost without saying that I like it. I am one of those people who always goes a little soft when the singer is Ray Davies. But I gotta admit that not only have the Kinks seemingly lost the desire (they have the ability) to rock ’n’ roll, they have also lost the intimacy and one-to-one communication with their audience that kept the fans loyal. Ray’s songs are much more like little vignettes and anti-social laments than the personalized observations and musings which marked his greatest compositions.. His tunes and sentiments have always been simple, but now they seem to be so consciously devoid of pretense and heaviness as to render them almost simple-minded. He still succeeds in entertaining, however, first because he is a great singer, and second because, if he is talking in cliches now, he invented the style and message which the cliches came from. What it amounts to is picking out the better numbers. Dave Davies’ token cut, “You Don’t Know My Name,” like many of his songs, grows on you. It’s also quite revealing of Dave’s frustrations about being the brother of the star and the guitarist who has been steadily driven into the background since the days when the Kinks were known for their chunky “wall of sound” riffs. (Remember “You Really Got Me”?) “Supersonic Rocket Ship” is the strongest, most fully conceptualized song on the album and will most likely be the single. It does rely rather heavily on political catch-all phrases, but the musicianship, including some real nice vibe work, more than compensates. The big finale, “Celluloid Heroes,” is a wistful, nostalgic stroll with the Kinks down Hollywood Boulevard. The second longest Kink song ever, at 6:20, it is beautiful enough melodically and catchy enough lyrically to carry through without becoming tedious or flat, leaving you with a nice afterglow when the turntable has gone off. When the Kinks first started making records, they were among the top three acts in rockdom (with the Beatles and Stones, natch). They have continued to make fine music, although they have had their commercial and artistic ups and downs. I am convinced that when Ray’s lyrics, and the band’s execution of his musical ideas, catch up with his plans for the perfectly stylized, lightheartedly sentimental Kinks show (all hopefully combined with increased mass audience awareness), they will again emerge as one of the major forces in music. - Gary Kenton
Popping my head in to share my excitement at having 1278 pages ahead of me and to thank @FJFP for his great Kinks series on Artists In Mono-- helping to contextualize a group I didn't know much about beyond the hits.
Phobia (the album): I did not procure this album upon its release and I am not really sure if I even knew about it at the time of its release. Many moons later, but still many moons ago, I had downloaded Scattered and Hatred. I had heard they were great songs, so I probably downloaded them in a fit of downloading. I really didn't even give those two tracks much of a listen at the time I downloaded them. Other than that, I never gave this album a chance. I have been very pleased with it thus far, after at least a dozen spins, although it is such a lengthy album I am sure the songs will grow or dimmish in my mind as we address them individually. The album cover doesn't do much for me either way. At this point I can only assume Ray has determined there is no point in messing with the system. The Kinks have flourished and floundered regardless of the quality of their album covers and lack of a recognizable logo, why 30 years into their career would they change that!?!?
I haven't read the lyrics, but it would make sense to me that Ray is having an argument with himself about his self hatred! That it may have a double meaning about the status of his and Dave's relationship would be about right also.
Phobia is one of my favorites, I consider it a masterpiece and enjoy it as much as any of the albums from the classic run. One of their best sounding albums, production wise, and it has great flow, consistency and coherence from start to finish. Dave is an important part of the band again, and, for the first time in a long time, his songs don't feel reluctantly tacked on. The band sounds tight, powerful and confident. Ray's lyrics are full of wit and creativity - Scattered, Hatred, and The Informer are classics, and I really enjoy the humor in Phobia, Hatred, Somebody Stole My Car, and especially the astounding Babies. There's a great mini-epic in the interior of the album, the way I see it, from Only A Dream through Surviving; it was Only A Dream, but still the hopes of our hero were dashed, and perhaps that was one of the events that led to the poor bloke being up on the ledge, from which we Don't want him to jump - and then we rewind back to just before he was born, one of countless Babies thrust without a choice into a brutal world, and we see how the difficulties and challenges he was met with outside the womb may have finally pushed him Over the Edge; and, finally, Ray sums things up - despite this tragic story full of pain, suffering and death, he, along with the rest of us, are Surviving - And Dave adds that, It’s Alright - if you don’t think about it!
Phobia All of these songs are new to me, having just started listening to this a couple weeks ago. Yes, it’s long. I sort of hear it as two albums, but only because many of my drives are around 35 minutes, so round trip I can listen to each 35 minute album each way! Some of the songs have long intros or outros that get you to nearly 6 minutes, but it seems the main songs themselves are around 4 minutes. Not bad, but if it takes 55 seconds to sorta get into the feeling of a song, that is a bit much. There some REALLY good songs here. There are a few that I seriously question why they decided to include them on this… There is one that I started out with a “WTF?” but I have grown to really like it now. Maybe I will grow to like even more as we go through. As for the album cover art, I like it. It made me think of dealing with fame/paparazzi, and how that can affect your mental state. I didn’t even notice the hanging animals until today. I had just noticed Dave and Ray and a mostly grayscale hellscape. Interesting to learn that Did Ya EP was recorded at around the same time as many of these songs. With a different twist of fate, there could have been a really epic 12 song album here with Did Ya and Look Through Any Doorway. Speaking of that EP… Just want to go back and say that I absolutely adore that EP now. It’s really an all-encompassing 5 song suite of everything you want out of the Kinks. 2 brand new classics. 2 updated old classics. And a rather experimental or different genre entry to spice things up. I played the first and last tracks on repeat, and my 10 year old really liked both songs. So glad to have these added to my playlists and I look forward to listening to these for many years to come. Back to Phobia, looking forward to going through song by song here to read everyone’s takes on these tracks. Hard to believe we are here at their final studio album. I know nothing of To the Bone, so that will be all new for me too. And I know we have their solo work, but this is a bit bittersweet. 2022 has been the year that I first heard A Soap Opera through Phobia. That’s quite a range of brand new (to me) Kinks music!
Sorry to back track on this. I've notice the thread title come up, but only decided to check out the entry on the Preservation albums/concerts now (again, sorry if this mucks-up any continuity). Firstly, amazing job. I love the Preservation albums and was disappointed (although not surprised) to find out that their consider the unwanted step-child of the Kinks catalogue. For a rock opera, it's very ambitious in themes of ideology and generation (which makes them a spiritual sequel to Village Green). Themes that are even more in the forefront of public consensus in the 2020's than they were in the 1970's! I've heard the live recordings before, but I'd love to know from Kinks fans if any of those shows were filmed and sitting in the Kinks vaults? Even if it's low-fi videotape (a la Soap Opera). They seemed too big in scale not to have been captured video wise. The fact this exists is outstanding. I've saved it and watching it tonight home! Did they do Act I? Another album I love and hope Starmarker and the Beacon Theatre show get an official release someday. There's very little information is out there about this recorded performance other than it was shown in theatres. Really? Was it a close circuit kind of thing? I can't find any adverts about it's theatre screening. Is there anymore information on this thing? Was it recorded directly to B&W video or was it originally colour (U-Matic or 16mm) and this is just the quality of the dub? I looks very much like the video was recorded to something like EIAJ-1 (an early prosumer reel to reel format), but you'd think by 1975 RCA or the Kinks could have captured it to a 16mm (although, the framerate looks very much like videotape)?
I'm back from an annual not-really-camping trip with buddies in central Texas, where I had a temporary phone to follow your posts but not my SHF password to post. I've been listening to Phobia on and off for the last couple of months and especially in the past week. I don't think it's a bad album but I am one more voice expressing reservations about it being too long with too many too-long songs with too-similar instrumentation. So far, two songs have made the playlist and I'm guessing more will be added by the time we finish, though some editing may be required. The cover is OK, I guess; it gets across an apocalyptic hellscape (hat tip to Avid @donstemple for the perfect word). I find it amusing that after Dave felt he got shafted by having songs knocked off UK Jive, Ray must have agreed to finally share an album cover with him...and then partially obscured Dave's face!
Hi mate, No problem with the post at all... I'm afraid I don't have the answers you're after, but I'm sure some of the guys may do. @Michael Streett can you answer these questions mate?
Opening. stereo mix, recorded late 1990 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London Written by: Ray Davies Published by: Davray Music, Ltd. This is interesting in the fact that it is a sort of call and response set up between two guitars, one right and one left, that ends with two double hits on the drums. It is odd to me for two reasons. First it seems to be the intro to Firewall, so I'm not sure why it's separated as another track. Second it is a lead guitar thing, and Ray apparently wrote it. I like it, but I don't really have much to say about it.
Wall Of Fire. stereo mix, recorded 1991 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London Standing at the end of the horizon Looking at another setting sun Nature gave us all these toys to play with But we've abused them, each and every one They stretched the chord, snapped the wire Lit the fuse but can't retire We're going to the wall of fire Tip-toeing on the great high wire Let's have a real fire The city slickers built the great illusion Now they're the first to crumble in the sun Now we're going through the wall Let's see the flames before we fall We're going through the wall of fire Let's have a real fire Tip-toeing on the great high wire Through the wall of fire We drove on many rocky roads together Through the storms and hurricanes we rode Unified so no one could destroy us We stretched the bounds But always kept the code Liberals shout and cause concern Forget next week while we all burn Let's run right through the wall of fire Let's have a real fire Death-defying while the flames grow higher Through the wall of fire Let's go through the wall of fire Running through the wall of fire Written by: Ray Davies Published by: Davray Music Ltd., 1992 We open with a really nice sounding distorted guitar arpeggio, and then move into a smooth chordal riff. I really like the visual that Ray sets up at the beginning of this track. We're standing looking at the setting sun from the edge of the horizon. We have removed ourselves ... We don't stand on the edge of the horizon, we see it, but the idea of standing on it suggests that we have removed ourselves from the reality of where we actually are, and have created this illusion that we're somewhere out there. Gazing at the setting sun is a beautiful thing to do, it is rare that I haven't greatly enjoyed watching the sun go down.... but in this instance it seems like Ray means this in the macro sense.... we are watching the sun set on our existence? our sanity? logic? However one wants to interpret that. Then we just get a straight fact. We have abused each and every thing that we have been given. Instead of being part of our world, we see ourselves as being above it, and so again, removed ourselves from it.... Whatever belief system one has, we are supposed to be part of our world, caretakers as such, but we have this need to dominate and subjugate everything... biblically we are told to be good stewards of our world, for anyone unaware, but we have failed miserably in that task. We have stretched the cord and snapped the wire. We have lit this fuse and it's burning down to the end, and at this stage we are not in a position to remove ourselves from it, or retire as Ray states. The chorus seems to be a straightforward picture of us watching the world burn. We have been performing this balancing act, but it was a charade... for all our tip-toeing, we have been the proverbial bull in a china shop, and we have set a real fire ..... The second verse is short and sweet. Things are coming to a head, and our great cities are going through this wall of fire. This is a sort of apocalyptic vision from Ray here, and he seems to be speaking to the idea of the modern world burning itself to the ground and essentially our final downfall it would appear..... and although Ray states that this is the city slickers fault.... that would be a little unfair.... I look at it this way..... There are plenty of people that complain about capitalism, tweeting about it on their Iphones and laptops as they drink latte's from Starbucks.... it is farcical lol In the third verse Ray speaks to a sort of unity of thought, where we stood together on the journey through all the storms. We sort of stretched the form of reality, but always hung tight together... Like I say, Ray seems to have this apocalyptic vision here... a sort of end-of-days scenario ... It's interesting that Ray is singing about the wall of fire in 1992, and in 1995 the internet starts to take over the world and everyone needs a firewall .... but that's another story I really like the moderate tempo groove of this track. It is sort of cutting but smooth all at the same time and the chordal riff is effective.... As the vocal comes in the guitar dies off a little and the bass and drums push the groove. Then as we move the guitar comes in a bit more. The way the melody works here is interesting and it works pretty well, it sounds almost like it is modulating. We get some nice backing vocals and some really nice lead from Dave. Much to some people's dismay, probably, Ray has a bit of that shouty, but more kind of growly vocal in here, but I think it fits the whole feel of the song. I like this song, it doesn't ramp up into Klassic Kinks territory, but it is a solid opener and I like it.
Opening had me fearing the worst, and Walls of Fire, although more plodding than the instrumental opening, doesn’t allay my fears. I have long complained about shouty and growly Ray, so that’s a minus. As for the song itself, the chorus in particular sounds like a lower-tier late Stones song. It’s hard to get through the 5 minute play time…
Funny intro, a duet of guitars… Aren’t they both played by Dave ? Or could it be that Ray’s actually playing some of those licks? Then we get to the opener proper and it’s… triumphant. @croquetlawns, I’ll admit being a fan of this song from the get go. Just an album ago, they would’ve put synth on this riff and make it cheesy, but here no, it’s all guitar (I think) and it works (for me). Ray sings in a pure Kinks style before getting in his shouty mode. We’ve been talking on and off about his shouty voice but to me it’s rather simple: either it feels forced or it doesn’t. And when it doesn’t, like here, I don’t mind it at all. I think the melody’s good, catchy, arresting. The whole track is graced by some of the best Davies vocal blend ever, alternating singalongs, tight harmonies and call & response, you name it, we get it all, the whole panoply. Yep, agreed that the chorus is very «stonian» (stonesian? stonesesque?). It is indeed a big chorus song. But as far as choruses go, I think there are various criteria : how good the chorus is in itself, how well it fits with the rest of the song, how you enter the chorus and how you get out of the chorus to get back to the verse. In Wall of Fire, the ace in the sleeve, the big selling point is how they get out of it, on this wonderful longing minor chord. That’s what makes the song for me and destroys all my defenses. If I’d had any defenses in the first place.
"Opening" I don't know why this is labelled separately, other than to confound those who devise rankings of Kinks opening tracks and force them to put an asterisk against it. It's essentially a bit of scene-setting - an indication that we are about to hear a guitar album, in case we didn't know already! "Wall Of Fire" The guitar intro follows naturally from the "Opening" drum hits. It's a steady, solid riff proceeding methodically through its three verses and choruses. Unlike some of the other tracks, this one doesn't feel overlong - it just takes five minutes for it to play out. I've no problem with the shoutier vocals in this one - it sounds natural here. That wasn't the case with "Aggravation". I'm not the ideal person to comment on the Stonesy-ness or not of the chorus - it sounds fine to me. I seem to remember that "let's have a real fire" was an advertising slogan for either the coal board, or electricity board or something? I like the way that the third verse plays out differently - at first you think it's going to be a bridge, but then it becomes clear that it's just another verse. Not the last time on this album that verses and bridges will appear to swap roles during a song. The vocal blend in this track is excellent - especially the line "unified so no-one could destroy us", when you could suddenly be back in 1970. Also not the last time that will happen on this album.
Zero inspiration. Awful recycled cover, no one had any new ideas? And Ray's songwriting/singing talent has disappeared. Unlistenable. He made some decent records after The Kinks meaning it was the right thing to move away from them. I saw them live soon after this, it was ok, but nobody wanted to hear any songs younger than about 20 years old (correctly)
"Wall Of Fire" - I think this is a decent song to get us started after "Opening" (why no "Closing" at the end?). I suppose agree with @croquetlawns with the "plodding" description but that really is just about tempo. It makes sense to start an album called Phobia with a song about being caught in a wall of fire. When Ray says "we" in this song, he probably means all of us (the human race) but this works for me as a song about the whole journey of the Kinks. By 1993, they had been through a few walls of fire and survived.
Opening Some nice string bendings. I like to think it's a guitar dialogue between Ray and Dave, but it's probably all Dave. The drum at the end sets the war mood nicely. Wall Of Fire This was a couple of years before internet firewalls, and I found it mildly prophetic. But really, it throws us into the scene for the album, a bleak and pessimistic outlook. After you've gone through the wall of fire, things are not going to be fun, that's for sure, and there will be no way back. The tempo is a bit too slow, and the overall sound with the big drums almost seems to stumble over itself. The guitars sound great, but the main riff that is being doubled by an organ sounds very washed up. The singing is also weirdly stretched and Ray's voice sounds ravaged and tired. But the melody of the verses is great. But overall I'm not a fan of this song, it makes me yawn and that's the first track. An unfortunate start for the album and I can see that it's easy to dislike it already. "Let's go through the wall of fire" they sing at the end, like a kind of invitation to the long and heavy journey that is the Phobia album. These days fortunately I'm actually in the mood to join them after all.
I know it's so short it seems daft to get so worked up about, but I really don't like 'Opening' in concept or execution.. does anyone really want to hear a minute of isolated guitar w*nkery to open a Kinks album? It seems designed to test the audiences patience from the outset, conjuring up unappealing images of teenaged wannabe Steve Vais outstaying their welcome in 90s guitar shops before leaving with just a plectrum. bleh. 'Wall Of Fire' is okay, I guess, it gets rolling and creaks along like some shabby yet dependable old Coney Island amusement ride, with Ray and Dave as the seasoned carny types ushering you in and pulling the safety bar down: it does it's job but in it's somewhat sedate yet fitful progression it's an unpromising but fairly accurate portent of the 'journey' the entire album will take the listener on ...
Opening/Wall of Fire: Not as bad as I remember, but still not something I'm going to search out. I guess it's really not that far a distance from something like "Word of Mouth" to this. The problem being, there should be a few thousand miles of distance representing The Kinks branching out and growing artistically instead of recycling roughly the same sound now for over a decade. If you're going to bring the same sound for that length of the time, the songwriting better be top shelf. And I don't think that's the case here. As I recall, that was my knock with a majority of the album: this isn't terrible, but what would compel me to keep on listening?
My mistake. Was thinking of State of Confusion, kind of similar themes though. All the albums kind of merge for me at this point
‘Opening/Wall of Fire’: Another good opening song (meaning as a combined entity). Ray’s initial vocals sound exactly like Joe Walsh (so that’s a bit of a throwback as I’ve made that observation previously). Lyrically, this immediately brought to mind the Tom Hanks film ‘Finch.’ This instantly made my shortlist for playlist status but, upon repeated listenings, got cut because of the predictable, plodding chorus. Though (!), maybe I’m getting soft because I’ve been listening to it as I type this into my phone and find I’m getting climatized. But…nah…or maybe we’ll see. I’ll take it to The Committee!
Re: the cover art, way back when I speculated if 'The Great Lost Kinks Album' was the only Kinks LP to be blessed with sleeve artwork by a 'name' (or at least name enough to have their own wiki entry and not just an anonymous payroll label graphic designer) artist, in that case French illustrator Jean-Michel Folon. Welp, I was clearly forgetting about 'Phobia', which has specially commissioned art by Sue Coe (Sue Coe - Wikipedia ) : Ray recounts working closely with her to arrive at the final image in his second autobiography. I'm not the hugest fan of the end result as it's just so unrelentingly bleak and dispiriting looking. I mean I guess that's what they going for but I dunno, this kind of dark expressionist (kinda Munchian) art can be very effective but I don't think the imagery or composition is striking enough to transcend the despondency.
