Definitely, it just took me a couple of listens to break through..... It's odd, but with all the Kinks albums, for me, they are never instant successes or connections, they always seem to be intimate growers ... and perhaps that, and Ray's way of addressing a song is why I don't really hear any drastic changes, just somewhat altered sounds..... It's like folks here saying that Low Budget is the one where everything changes. To me Low Budget is the Kinks getting back to 1965 styling from a 1979 perspective, so I don't see it as particularly a big change either. I also agree with the post above that states the (what to me is a ) slow move, or change that starts with Soap Opera
I never felt the need to buy Sleepwalker and Misfits either. Every time I tried to listen to those it was one ear in and straight out the other. Same with the selections on the Come Dancing with the Kinks compilation. A big part of me resents the idea that Ray abandoning the theatrical concept albums is supposed to be a good thing. But I will participate this time. Maybe a day by day track discussion with fresh ears will make me appreciate these albums.
I tend to agree with your post. As has been mentioned, Soap Opera is really where Ray starts modifying, onto Schoolboys and we have a move closer again..... It seems to me Ray was definitely leaning in the direction of what ended up being the Arista albums before Clive came on the scene. I get the feeling that Clive may have laid down some ground rules, but Ray being Ray, if he wasn't happy with them, he wouldn't have signed. As I said earlier, Ray had been a hit song writer, and incredibly successful one... and it is not that I think it was his primary motivation, he was just really good at it, in his own quirky way. When we get to 68 it starts to dry up a little, and we get Village Green and Arthur .. and they weren't really hits, but they got a lot of critical acclaim, and that goes a long way to satisfying the ego. Then with Lola and Apeman I feel pretty certain Ray wanted to see i he could still write a hit. We see this tension between Ray's artistic journey, and his desire to be writing at least a few hits. On each album Ray has songs that could have/should have been hits.... Now we get to Sleepwalker and there is speculation about Clive Davis being behind the style and sound of the band or whatever, but Davis wanted the song Brother to be the big single, because in his words it was Ray's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" .... If Clive was calling the shots it would have been a single surely? That obviously wasn't what Ray wanted, and it didn't happen. Ray is still running this show, he just changed tack, and there are riches to be absorbed from these albums. The somewhat appearance of Davis driving Davies is an illusion to me, and for me, my previous longer post describes my thoughts on it as best I can.
Low Budget is to the Kinks as Some Girls is to the Stones. In both cases it's seeing a form of music "punk" creating sounds similar and in part rooted in what each band was doing 1964-1966 or so. This inspires them to be like, "wait a minute that sounds like us back then, well, let's show them how it's truly done" and so the Kinks make Low Budget and Give The People... while the Stones release Some Girls and Emotional Rescue. In both cases the most punkish songs are on the follow up (though in essence it's just a combination of garage rock and sped up rockabilly). There's not a whole lot separating Pressure or Give The People... from Till The End of the Day and Come On Now or Whip Comes Down and Summer Romance from She Said Yeah or Have You Seen Your Mother. It was all to quote Bowie, "same old thing in brand new drag." The Kinks, while never making another front to back great album, made good to very good albums during the Arista years and none of them sounded like the other. The only big noticeable changes were the return of Dave Davies songs and the departure of Mick Avory (which did effect the band's sound).
For a moment I thought this was a Wizard of Oz who-is-behind-the-curtains reference until I remembered it’s literal. You’re sewing the curtain hems!
It's very crisp and clean, singalong choruses. the singles fit well on FM radio, it might be more commercially oriented but Ray sounds like he's rejuvenated (no story lines to worry about), some great deep tracks
Well put Mark. Though I am in agreement with Davis about Brother. You raise an excellent point about Ray. Aside from Lennon/McCartney, and IMHO moreso, he is without peer as a pop/pop-rock songwriter. That is really his biggest strength. And truthfully, he never really made that kind of album again after the 60s. But even through Phobia, Ray was still writing great pop rock songs laced with melancholy or wistfulness. But while Dave is looked at as the rock n roll animal of the Kinks it's obvious from live footage of the Arista years and beyond Ray really loved rocking out. Ray, to quote Kiss, "loves it loud." The production on the final Kinks albums bears this out. The influence of Davis over Davies is overplayed. Ray has always been his own man.
Couldn't agree more. I still get chills every time I hear Dave come in with that harmony. We did a "Family Tree" Theme for my Feb 6th radio show and 'Juke Box Music' was our Kinks pick. Got quite a few compliments for that one
The only thing I would disagree with in that post is this. For me Low Budget is brilliant front to back, and even before looking more deeply it sits up with best albums the Kinks ever made, for me
Ha, no. I hand sewed the jacket pocket, but the curtains are a bit big, and I don't have a machine.... measure, pin and steam iron hem tape in them
One of the best things for me is the full return of Dave into the albums. We have his essential backing vocals and his now more mature and still rocking guitar... It's the essence of the Kinks for me, and another reason I don't hear anything but the Kinks
I really like Low Budget a lot but it's in the Hall of Very Good Kinks albums for me. I think it dips a bit on side 2 but side 1 is pretty much flawless though.
Perhaps the last two songs... but if anything I will be looking at those quite closely on this run through.... by then though I am fully satisfied, and they could probably have put down fart tapes and I wouldn't have cared LOL
LOL. I actually quite like both of those. Moving Pictures should've been a single. I'm not crazy about Gallon of Gas, Little Bit of Emotion while a nice song is too long and the title track is better live.
Moving Pictures was a UK single that of course went nowhere fast. This song has grown on me over the past 40 (!) years and I find I quite like it. Doesn’t really fit in with this collection of songs (a misfit?) and maybe that’s why it was tacked on at the end.
We're starting to have a fairly precise idea of the @Brian x family ! And I love it. Agreed. Low Budget was the big US breakthrough as far as I know, but whenever I listen to the 80's record, they scream Britishness. Maybe it's because I started to actually spend some time in London then, but I recognize this Britannia thing in these albums. Starting as early as State of Confusion. Here's a proposed breakdown of the Kinks periods, in 3-4 albums chunks, disregarding any label stuff (and with a bit of inevitable overlapping): 1/ Early Kinks : Kinks/Kinda/Kontroversy 2/ The Swingkinks sixties : Face to Face/Something Else/Village Green/Arthur 3/ The Basement Kinks : Lola/Percy/Muswell/Show-biz 4/ The Ray Davies Revue : Act 1/ Act 2/ Opera 5/ AOK (Adult Oriented Kinks) : Schoolboys/Sleepwaker/Misfits 6/ The Kinks Kick Back : Budget/People/Confusion/Mouth 7/ Long Live the Kinks : Think Visual/UK Jive/Phobia
It doesn't really fit you're right. It's like Better Things doesn't really fit on GTPWTW. Both great songs though. 2nd side of Low Budget is sequenced a bit oddly. I didn't know it was a single in UK. An edited National Health would've made a better UK single choice I believe.
I was talking about the album, not just the song. I also don't understand how anyone in MI could avoid REO Speedwagon ...
I hope everyone will remember to post all these post-Sleepwalker comments when we’re actually discussing the albums/songs. All flying right over my head.
I think they are all better live. As I've said, One For The Road was my first Kinks album. When I first heard Low Budget, the sound of it put me off, but once I allowed the sound to become familiar, it fast became a favourite. I love the Kinks studio albums, but the Kinks are also one of the few bands, that for me their live versions almost always sound better... I'm yet to have had a chance to dive into the later live albums, but I'm looking forward to them.
To quote an idiosyncratic rugby league coach from the past “I’m impressed. And I don’t impress easy.” Returning to that Midwest FM playlist from the late 70s I was scanning the names going “yep, yep, yep, yep, Sex Pistols! WTF?…” They sure didn’t get airplay in Brisbane, Australia - still AM then - except on the edgy University-based station. Nor did the Kinks except for Superman and later, Come Dancing.
I remember seeing the Pistols on Countdown, I was still fairly young .... my thoughts at the time? "who are these idiots?" ... though I did end up liking some of their stuff
