I like this album and it has a great theme, with all these misfits in one place. The only thing is that sounds a little naked, unfinished. It needed more balls, more nuts. Maybe that's just me, though. After going down this laid-back route with Sleepwalker and Misfits, they would serve up something completely different next time.
Get Up: "Pleasant" is the word the comes to mind with this song. It was a favorite at the time. I don't listen to it as much, but there's a rolling, gospel vibe to it that I recognize now and enjoy, like Ray doing Godspell. It's funny that Endicott mentions "I'm Not Like Everybody Else." The last time I saw Ray, doing a solo show in the Westbeth Theatre in NYC's West Village in 1996 (with special guests Yo La Tengo), towards the end, he broke off into a rousing Kinks medley in which he wanted the whole house (a few hundred people in a small off-Broadway theatre) to shift into stadium concert mode. He was waving his arms and yelling, get up everyone, let's rock ... and I just sat there thinking, "Ray, I'm not like everybody else" ... can't I just sit here and enjoy your solo acoustic show? It felt weird! Misfits was one of those landmark albums for me, mainly because of the title track and "A Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy," two powerhouse songs that admittedly, would not have served the whole album if he aimed for the same feeling on every song. Thus, we're left with a real mix of tracks, most from good to great, with a few clunkers that haven't aged well. Between this and Sleepwalker, I was fully on board for anything The Kinks had to offer, and they would shift gears dramatically with the next album. But these two albums solidified my fanhood, along with their earlier legacy that I had the basics of, but far from the full story. Between this time and Low Budget, that's when I would exercise the power of my low budget and start buying all those bargain-bin concept albums, with mixed results, but there was plenty to love, too, in those strange albums. It wasn't until college in the 80s that I'd deep dive the 60s material, which grew harder to come by as time went on. (Face to Face was just about impossible to find for a very long time, save for high-priced imports - I don't think I heard it in full until the Castle reissues in the 90s.) But I can surely say with Misfits - never before, and rarely since, have I felt so aligned with a recording artist and what he was trying to say (even with the songs that I now recognize as having problems). You tend to forgive someone those minor transgressions when he strikes all the right chords otherwise.
Misfits As for the LP as a whole, I stand by my initial take: While I like it for its pleasing diversity within its AOR framework (more so than Sleepwalker, even though Sleepwalker is a better LP), I can’t help but pick up that something is lacking. Maybe it’s focus, ‘misfit’ theme aside. Or perhaps a lack of cohesiveness that was abetted by the shifting personnel in the drum and bass department…but I’m surprised my hearing is that acute on such matters. How would I even know who plays what on what track without consulting the credits? I don’t know…maybe I’ve listened to so much Kinks I’ve developed an intuition on such things. But, whatever, I walk away from the album feeling it was an uneven experience. Ultimately, Misfits sounds like what it is: a dutiful need to fulfill a record company’s release schedule with reworked leftovers from Sleepwalker plus a smattering of new songs, all the while marking time before advancing the band into its next phase. Among their lesser works. The two essential tracks can be found on compilations; the rest of the LP is only recommended for completists. Nice packaging, though.
Get Up: if I had heard this prior to this deep dive I would have bet money, and have been confident of winning big, that this is a Ben Folds song. (My son borrowed my laptop at one point and when he returned it I discovered all sorts of stuff miraculously popping up on my iTunes. I’d put it on shuffle and keep thinking, “who in the hell is this?”, wondering if I was losing my touch at being able to instantly identify artists by the first notes. Anyway, this is by way of explaining why I’m nonchalantly throwing out the Ben Folds name!) Lyrically, this addresses the tug of war, push and pull, between left and right politics upon “the little guy” and exhorts those sitting in their easy chairs to “get up” and make their voices known. Left or right, the lyrics don’t say, staying strictly neutral. Not a real standout for The Kinks but still a good song. 8 out of 10 for the album with three tracks making the playlist (Misfits; A Rock’n’Roll Fantasy; Live Life). Thankfully, this is a much better album than Sleepwalker.
I’ve always been fond of this record. It’s not a heavy one, it’s got plenty of funny catchy poppy peppy tunes. After re-examining them, some may fall a bit short but they often start so well, I decide not to care too much. As someone told me once on an adorable little island in Brittany (a place resembling Ireland in terms of weather) “here, we're lucky, it gets sunny a few times a day”. I thought it was a wonderful way of looking at the world. Misfits is a record on which it gets sunny at least a few times on each song. I can settle for that, easily. It has a semi-hit that is also a recognized classic (Rock’n roll Fantasy) ; it has a low-key masterpiece (Misfits) ; it has a personal favorite of mine (Out of the Wardrobe) ; it has rockers, ballads, pop nuggets, jokes, melodies, great guitar, racist songs… you name it, it has it all. (disclaimer : there’s a joke in this last sentence) Not everything is top tier Kinks, but it’s a record that breathes, and that in itself makes it a rarity in that mid to late seventies period of the band. As was said before (even by me!), the closest companion to this fine LP is the equally fine and amiable (yet better) Everybody’s in Show-biz. And it has an unbeatable concept for us members of the consistency police: if the songs fit together, great. And if they don’t, it’s still a way to live up to the album’s title!! Clever fellow, this Ray…
Get Up: This one is pedestrian to me, like it's less than the sum of its parts. I think Ray's got some good lyrics here ("get up from the down you're in" is a nice turn of phrase), the track is played with the peppy enthusiasm it needs, and yet... it just doesn't come together. I dunno, for me, it feels like more of a personal problem than an issue with the song. One thing I am reminded of; that acoustic start followed by a peppy, upbeat Ray line makes me think of Yes, and in particular, And You And I. After Ray sings "...time and time again", I thirst for a virtuosic Rick Wakeman synth line to swoop in. Fortuleo also helped me with the Yes comparison by highlighting (well, really, lowlighting!) the bass, which has a bit of the Chris Squire feel (in a band like Yes, it's okay for different band members to move in different directions because they have the skill to all come back together when the need arises; the Kinks couldn't pull something like that off IMO). Anyway, not a terrible song, but not one I come back to frequently. Misfits: There's a lot to like on this album. First and foremost, unless I'm forgetting something, this is the last album filled with a true melange of song styles from the Kinks (you could possibly argue for State of Confusion also possessing that, but that's not the point), and that is not something to take for granted. There are a lot of great songs ahead of us, but they're great in a different way. One final postscript because I'm not sure I commented on it before. I just listened to the album all the way through, and felt the need to tack on a final listen of Hay Fever just to take it in. Everything about that song is FUN! Anyway, thanks for the Misfits journey, Headmaster and fellow Avids!
"Get Up" is a good, if not great, upbeat ending to Misfits, it's apparently lyrical inconsistencies to "Live Life" were nicely explained by our Headmaster. It's not as moving as "Better Things", but it's good enough to end Misfits on a positive note. As for Misfits the album, I still prefer it to Sleepwalker. It has a brighter, more upbeat vibe to it, from the front cover to the songs themselves. I still also think that it's the most Woody Allensque of the Kinks albums (points to the Avid who also saw that in "Out of the Wardrobe"), w/the "misfit" theme going through the songs like the "nighttime" them in the previous album. It's a bit of a miracle that Ray got this album together in the face of the crises that surrounded the Kinks. Ray would stabilize the lineup, focus on the States and come up w/an album that will be a commercial, if not critical, judging from what some Avids are saying, success for the Kinks.
We'll get to it on Saturday, but it was a critical success at the time. (Yes Ladies and Gentlemen, Low Budget will open on Saturday ) The modern era dislike is based on a general dislike for anything that has a somewhat eighties sound about it. In 1979 in wasn't seen the same way
Get Up Okay, Avids, looks like I'm gonna' be the prime advocate for this song once again. Fear not though, I'm not going to wax on about it as extensively as I did for 'Education,' but I do love this song. Here's a song for all the little men who get forgotten time and time again.... Oh crap, here we go with one of those songs placating the masses for being average.... Here's a message for the little guy, don't let this situation pass you by.... Wait..... rather than just another ode to mediocrity, could this be a kall to action? Why yes, I think it is. Musically, I also love this song. From the dramatic opening to the acoustic underpinning of the first line, to the other instruments coming in and building momentum..... yeah, this thing has a groove.... it has momentum! Oh, and I for one love that bass line; it's a key driver of that groovy momentum. Yeah, the chorus is simple, and I'm don't always go for those call and response choruses, but this one hooks me and in the end actually energizes and inspires me. As for shouty Ray, when your central theme is "Get up off your arses," I do believe a little shouting is in order! I don't find this to be mere platitudes. It's a message which is timeless, and in this presentation at least a little unique. Like so many Kinks songs, I find that all the elements brought to bear in delivering this message are brought together magnificently, and in perfect service of that message. I know the last two songs on the album both get mixed reviews from the Avids, but I find them both to be exceptional, and I think of Misfits as one of those rare albums finishing with a great one-two punch, right up there with Beast of Burden and Shattered finishing Some Girls. God save the Kinks!
My Kinks Phase III Playlist to date: 1) Life On the Road 2) Father Christmas 3) Misfits 4) A Rock’n’Roll Fantasy 5) Live Life 6) Out Of the Wardrobe
"Get Up" - I like this, it makes me happy, but I've had a hard time figuring out exactly where I fall on it. I believe Avid @DISKOJOE sums it up for me: Misfits - Again, I've had a hard time getting my thoughts together on this one, and Avid @DISKOJOE sums it up nicely. Back in the day, I was only familiar with the title track and "Rock and Roll Fantasy," and I assumed the entire album had a similar sound and "serious" theme. On the contrary, there is ample variety here and it is more upbeat than Sleepwalker. It does feel uneven, but admittedly I need to listen to it more. I believe it's an album I'll return to more often than Sleepwalker. Grade (for now): B.
Which is starting to look like a thematic/concept album. The story of the time Father Christmas set out on the road in his rock and roll fantasy. Being somewhat of a misfit he was disheartened, and in order to live his life fully, he took off the traditional Santa suit, essentially stepping out of his wardrobe
Get Up Terrorist bombers on the left, fascist plots on the right What do you do when the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity? Have another drink? Live life for yourself? Get up? You can't align yourself with the bombers and the screamers, but you can't just sit there and let the daily drumbeat of atrocities beat you into the ground. So, epicurean, stoic, or.... what is Get Up advising? Some sort of misfit activism or, as @mark winstanley suggests, just any kind of movement in any direction that isn't total surrender? Unfortunately, I can't get past either the busy bassline (good call @Fortuleo) or the mid/late period Who vibe to spend much time trying to figure it out. And for the first time, I hear a kind of weariness in Ray's voice, a "well I'm doing this because I guess I have to," most evident in the call-and-response get ups. Misfits Yes, I'm also reminded of Showbiz. But weirdly, with Showbiz, I really enjoy the lighter, sillier songs, just as I enjoy songs like Skin & Bones or She's Bought a Hat Like Princess Marina or Ducks on the Wall from other LPs. For whatever reason, the similar songs on this LP (Permanent Waves, Out of the Wardrobe, In A Foreign Land, Hay Fever, Black Messiah) mostly fall flat for me. Are the lyrics slightly more lazy? Has the fun gone out of that particular mode of storytelling? Does it fail somehow to mesh with the Kinks' evolving sound? Or am I just reacting to a couple of indelicate phrasings in a couple of those songs and tarring the rest with the same brush? Who knows, taste is weird. I'll probably listen to Ducks on the Wall a few thousand more times before I die, but if I ever hear any of those songs again, it'll be because I'm not close enough to a button that allows me to skip them. In sharp & perhaps arbitrary contrast, Live Life, Misfits, Rock & Roll Fantasy, and Trust Your Heart are all on the permanent playlist. Taste is weird. Anyway, this is the last Kinks LP that is (tainted? enhanced?) by sense-memory associations from my youth. In retrospect, there's nothing in particular about it that reads as a good reason to put a guy off post-Schoolboys Kinks for a few decades, but that's what it did. Looking forward to coming fresh to whatever Ray & the guys cook up next.
Misfits album: I have listened to this album a couple of times during the last few days, and it just doesn't hold my interest sadly. I guess I will have to live with this album for a while? There's a few good things: there is some variety, the arrangements are nicely colourful, and the singing is vintage Ray as opposed to "modern" Ray starting with the next album. But on the whole, the songs are safe and inoffensive at best and lack the quirky melodies I associate with the Kinks and to be honest, I don't need that kind of material on a Kinks record.
“Get Up” It opens with a strum and some thundering crashes that recalls The Who. Then it breaks into a bouncy beat at 0:30 that practically invents the sound of They Might Be Giants. The melody and vocal has Ray sounding like something the two John’s would cook up 8-10 years later. The busy bass that comes in gives me a fever and makes me want to “Get Up” and dance. A song that is easy to overlook, but it ends the album in a joyous and uplifting mood. The lyrics seem like a call back to the little man sitting back in his old rocking chair from “Shangri-La”. Ray is now advising him to get up out of his easy chair and come out of his home.
Misfits In my opinion, they don’t ever make an album this good again. Something changes and we lose a bit of the classic Kinks sound going forward. It’s the last Kinks album I can put on and enjoy from beginning to end. There may be a couple of songs on here I don’t love, but there is nothing that I strongly dislike. The Dave song is the weakest link, but I have had a slight change of heart with my feelings towards it. I come out of these discussions with less of a problem with the two controversial songs. There is enough about them that I like, and I feel like Ray had good intentions with both of the lyrics. My other least favorite song is the big hit and one of the most popular. I’ll give this album a 70- 80 percent success rate. I will be happy if I can reach 50 percent on any of the upcoming albums. In the past this is where I would say my love for The Kinks is pretty much over. It was a fantastic run of albums. I am happy to be proven wrong. I am already going into Low Budget with a much better “Attitude” towards it. There are several great songs still coming our way. I just don’t think there is anything I would call a great album. Misfits is the last that still qualifies as great. I also now know for sure that I definitely prefer it to Sleepwalker. I made a couple playlists combining both albums that I will share later.
I find Get Up to be a nice, upbeat number, with a hummable melody - a fine way to close out the album. No, it's not a classic, nor is it aiming to be, but it gives me positive vibes and brings a smile to my face at the end of the album. That's good enough for me. The album is probably my favorite from the post-RCA era; Low Budget has its charms too. I like my Kinks light and whimsical, with a variety of styles, rather than hard rocking. Moving on from here, the scales are tilting more towards rock. There will be many great individual songs to come, though I don’t revisit the albums much. But Misfits is worth a spin every once in a while.
Get Up: It took a long time for me to wrap my ears around this song. I guess, using a term of art from my business, it’s not particularly sticky. I’m not sure if it’s a “great“ kinks song, although I would argue it’s a pretty decent song nonetheless. I almost wonder how it would’ve worked as the album opener. It would be an upbeat way to kick off the album, which could then be followed (after the sudden hard stop at the end of the song) with the more wistful Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy. I think that would have been a wonderful transition that would’ve highlighted the delicacy of rock ‘n’ roll fantasy. This would then open up the space at the end of the album for Misfits. ….or it could’ve ended with black messiah as a hidden track, shining a spotlight on that whack a doodle of a song even more!
Get Up Here’s another flat, one-dimensional lyric offering no wit and no reward. With all the clumsy lyrics on Misfits it could easily have been titled Mis-fires. This patronizing little ditty at least will be surpassed by Mick Jagger’s Let’s Work a decade or so later. I was about to compare and contrast these two with a more jaundiced eye but life is too short. The line, ‘you’re in the middle while the big mouths fight, you get it from the left and the right’ never fails to get me smiling as I imagine Mick Avory or Andy Pyle in the role of the middleman. Say what you will about Misfits’ sequencing but they got this one right. Teenage me was very grateful of this songs placement as it allowed me go fast forward my cassette and start all over again. I must admit over the past weeks the music has won me over. The opening seems like another stab at Hard Day’s Night’. Dave’s fluid guitar is his tastiest playing on the album. The entire band is spirited, everyone doing their bit. Is it me or does this song, musically, resemble Denmark Street in a fun house mirror? See what you can miss by automatically skipping songs without revisiting it from time to time. Like sentencing a song to the slammer with no chance for parole. Well this song is now free to reenter society. It has some redeeming qualities, I have even listened to it on repeat, just don’t take those lyrics to heart.
Get Up The opening chords really surround you. It also reminds me of the opening chord of I Need You. A nice little throwback.... When the song proper comes in, after reading @Zeki's post earlier, I also hear some proto-Ben Folds in here as well. And I absolutely don't mean this as an insult, but I also hear some mid-70s Billy Joel in this too. I think it's the piano part and the sound of the bass in certain areas. Some of the drum fills (this is not Mick) sounds like something Liberty Devitto would do for Billy Joel. I like mid-70s Billy Joel. All that said, it's an enjoyable song, but for the reasons mentioned above, it doesn't seem very Kinky to me and seems more generic that I could imagine other artists coming up with this kind of song and feel. Misfits As for the album, many have brought up Everybody's in Show-Biz as a similar kind of light-hearted feel, and I see that. Definitely when compared to the overall sound of each album's predecessor (Muswell and Sleepwalker). But the last album that had this much variety that was not a concept album was I think Something Else. Not comparing overall quality, because, come on.... but, when it comes to there always being something different from song to song, and light-hearted character studies... a Dave rocker... quirky (kwirky?) melodies... a bossa nova or "reggae" style song... that's what I'd compare this to. Our Headmaster has been considering juggling the track listing, and again, when was the last Kinks album where you could even consider really shuffling the running order like this? I suppose Sleepwalker... but before that? Percy? Practically all their other concept albums are designed in this sort of opening, storytelling, closer/reprise format. Getting back to just writing 3-4 minute rock/pop songs gives a bit more freedom to shuffle and re-arrange without affecting a narrative.
Get Up This is an excellent closing song. A good little rocker with some quality lyrics. MISFITS This is a comeback album for me after a slew of inconsistent albums. It is their best since MUSWELL HILLBILLIES. Plus it sets the stage for even better albums to come over the next several years!
Great album to begin with. My first Kinks album was Kontroversy. That was way back in 1965. Got it for my birthday. I've been a Kinks fanatic since.
