As our fearless leader noted, I too am a big fan of this album. I suspect I might’ve voted for one song a day previously, but realistically I can see why that might cause the thread to lose momentum. We have already spoken about the meaning of the lyrics on everyone of these songs, so ultimately I suppose it’s going to break down to the differences in how the song is presented musically. Your suggestion of two a day (or even three a day) would help to keep the momentum going. Counterbalance that with the fact that some of the people on here may not know the live versions and might want more time to assimilate each song. I think the way you have laid it out above allows us to move quickly through a double album with lots of songs (none of which are new) but still enables us to share our thoughts on their more testosterone fueled presentation! My $0.02.
I’ll be playing the live album today but, before I do, I was thinking back on my own favorite live albums…back in the olden days (!). And just searched on wiki discographies to come up with the following information: Steppenwolf ‘Live’: I’d see this everywhere. RIAA gold, #7 US chart. Three Dog Night ‘Captured Live at the Forum’: yep, label mate with Steppenwolf and, just as above, everyone had a copy. RIAA gold, #6 chart. Grand Funk Railroad ‘Live Album’: for a 12-13 year old it couldn’t get better than this. RIAA 2x platinum, #5 chart (Made #10 in Japan! I’m curious how that ranks, chartwise, with other foreign live albums). Ten Years After ‘Recorded Live’: I remember first previewing this at Yamaha Music Store in Sendai (northeastern Japan). A listening booth with headphones. I think they’d just started offering that service. No RIAA certification, #39 chart. Humble Pie ‘Performance Rockin the Fillmore’: RIAA gold, #32 chart Allman Brothers Band ‘At Fillmore East’: RIAA platinum, #13. Free ‘Live’: no RIAA certification, #89 US/#4 UK Deep Purple ‘Made In Japan’: RIAA platinum, #6 chart
I just realized Low Budget marked the end of a 15-year run of a new Kinks studio album (though Showbiz was 1/2 live) almost like clockwork. Even though they sat out 1976 the band releasing two albums in 1975 sort of covered for it. But after Give The People What They Want in 1981 they skipped 1982 and only released 5 studio albums over the next decade plus. I wonder how the combination of Dave's solo success with his debut and Arista being under new ownership contributed to them no longer releasing an album a year. Especially since by the end of '83 the Kinks are essentially back with RCA after they buy Arista. The early '80s must've been frustrating for Ray despite the Kinks at the peak of their American popularity. Did Ray ever comment on his thoughts about the UPC code album or its popularity?
There were no new Kinks album released in 1976, although there were actually two that came out in 1975 (Soap Opera & Schoolboys).
Oh, thanks for the correction. I always thought Schoolboys was '76 for some reason. Damn they were prolific during the RCA days: two double albums and releasing two albums in one year. I just came across this interview with Dave from earlier this year (mixed with bits of earlier ones with Ray, including Dave in 1980). The article opens with the author talking about AFL1-3603. Visionary Dreamer: Dave Davies Turns 75 - Rock and Roll Globe Has this been posted yet here?
I just borrowed the ‘Killing John Wayne’ book from the library. The things this thread will compel me to do!
I’m trying to hang in there! I will never completely jump ship, but I will be quieter during several periods coming up. I’m mostly only interested in the Kinks upcoming studio albums, but we have come to the end of all my favorite albums. I haven’t heard a note of Glamour yet, so I’m unsure how that will go. I know there is a lot of love for the live album coming up. I’m not much a fan of it, but will be interested to read why it’s so well regarded. It’s not even near as good as the Showbiz live album! Now that’s probably even more Kontroversial!
In all seriousness Showbiz could have been a great live album, but I don't go to the Kinks for Baby Face, Banana Boat Song, and a 1:30 chorus singalong of Lola.... If that's your version of the Kinks, that's fine, but they do absolutely nothing for me personally
I like the way they're playing on Showbiz better than on One For The Road, even if I really like the latter. They were a great live band in the RCA years. What song is from 1973 on One For the Road ?
The early 80's were actually prolific times for Ray. It only wasn't within the Kinks. Arista did not want Ray/Kinks theatrical shows, but the man's hunger for it was still there. Thus he broke off and did "Chorus Girls" as a side project. Plus the burgeoning music video industry lead to Ray's cinematic ambitions, which resulted in the Return to Waterloo film. Both these projects were huge demands on his time and energy. The result was it took away from the Kinks normal routine. Plus, of course, Daves solo LPs.
The single release of Where Have All The Good Times Gone ... that may be a light cheat, but even if you take that out, it's still a comprehensive coverage of the years they had been releasing music
Great list! oh man, humble pie doing I don’t need no doctor, with frampton’s looooong solo, that just shook my world. That taught me as a young kid what happens when a real band plays live and stretches and improvises. I’d add: UFO: Lights Out Skynyrd: One From the Road Lizzy: Live and Dangerous Ac/Dc: if you want blood I like all of the above bands, but as far as I am concerned, you haven’t ever REALLY heard them until you hear them live on these albums.
Yea there are a ton of great live albums in 79/80... some favourites in fact, and I'd put One For The Road up there with any of them
One for the road is how my dad got into the Kinks. So in a way how I got to learn about the Kinks. It holds a special place in my heart.
There weren't near as many after 1980. I don't think that needs to be debated. It absolutely is. It holds up well too.
I don't mind "Baby Face" or "Banana Boat". They fit in fine with the loose and campy quality to that live show. It would have been entertaining if you were there. Maybe they shouldn't have been included on the live album, but it's a glimpse at what the live shows were like at the time. I agree with @The late man I much prefer the sound of the band and Ray's vocals on the Showbiz album. I'll give One For The Road more of a chance when we get there, but I have never cared for it. It must be much different for those of you that were introduced to The Kinks by One For The Road. I didn't listen to this album until long after all the others before it. I'm happy it was a success and turned people onto The Kinks. I'll try not to be too negative. I know many of my Kinks friends love it.
I need a tropical island and some cocktails lol IT's all good. It's just with two songs a day, I have to stay ahead, or all I'll be saying is "I like this one" lol
A 1965 song considered as 1973 as it was a 7" reissue is a light cheat as much as Maradona's hand of god goal was!
The World Is Changing Hands. stereo mix (2:55), recorded Apr 1980 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London There is a war going on, A Spiritual change, There is a world going wrong, Don't ya wanna run away and hide, And it seems so hard. We're on a psychic battlefield, Fighting for our souls, To make us free, You and me. Chorus The world is changing hands, There will be a bright tomorrow, The world is in our hands, We are Spirit, We are free. Repeat There is a world going on, And it won't go away, There is a love going on, That's stronger than all these silly words I say, Yes it's true. Think of the most selfless thing to be, Send it, To the whole humanity, You and me. Chorus The world is changing hands, There will be a bright tomorrow, The world is in our hands, We are Spirit, We are free. Repeat Written by: Dave Davies Published by: DABE Music Limited, London, 1980 This is a pretty good guitar driven pop song. Lyrically I actually like the direction Dave has gone with these lyrics even if they have some typical Dave quirks. We open with the idea that there is a war going on, and it is subtly suggested that this is a spiritual war, and it is. The world isn't working the way it should, and it never has. we have an enemy we don't recognise effecting everything. Sometimes we want to run away and hide, but there is no escaping our reality. Dave goes on to put forward the proposition that this is a psychic battlefield, which is an interesting way of putting it. A battle of the mind .... the ability to see through the facade... the need to see behind the curtain of the physical world. The fight for our souls, our dignity and to keep love a real thing in the world, rather than just subjugating ourselves to the dominion of the dollar. The chorus takes us a bit further into his idea about this... at some point the world is changing hands from the place it currently is. The second verse starts off by saying the world is going on with what it does, and we are not in control of the big picture and we are humbled by it.... But, there is a love that is stronger than any silly words Dave can write ... I really like the way he set that line up. The next bit is a very cool perspective, but very hard to enact. Our lives should be a selfless gift to those around us, and if we all lived this way, it would enact a change bigger than any of us could imagine..... but alas we all get caught up in our self, and our need to satisfy our self first. This is actually a very cool lyric, and for Dave it is very straight forward, and if the concepts aren't foreign, it rings true. We open with some staccato rhythm guitar, and then move into arpeggio guitar in a more gentle mode. Dave's vocal delivery is smooth and gentle. The melodic and chordal construction is very good, and Dave manages to show he does have some subtlety towards these things. Again we have a very eighties type production and sound mindset, but for me it works really well. What I hear in this album, particularly with Dave doing the recording and producing and mixing, is that I think that Dave had a pretty firm grasp on the eighties sound, and he was able to use it to his advantage in making this album. Although many may not like the sound of this, the majority of folks wouldn't have batted an eye at it in 1980... it may perhaps even have a sound a few years ahead of the curve for the time. The key modulations or fake outs are really very good. The chorus guitars are very good, and we get the chords, and a little riff, but we also, again, get these really nicely put together harmonised lines, again working as chords.... to me the way layered single note lines come together as chords always sounds beautiful. It has an orchestral sound if folks can hear past the fact that they are guitars.... This is really a very well constructed song... in fact I could see this as having been a single in 1980, though it wasn't... For the record the singles from this album were Doing The Best For You and Imaginations Real. I like this song quite a bit, and as we move along I feel like I like this album quite a bit now.
Move Over. stereo mix (3:46), recorded Oct 1979 at Konk Studios, Hornsey, London Don't want to surrender anymore to the likes of you, Don't want a pretender to show me what to do. No degree of immunity, Gonna give you freedom guaranteed. But it ain't no joke When there ain't no hope. There's no political system gonna satisfy me. Chorus Move over. Can't you hear what I say, Move over, Move over. Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. Move over, Yeah, yeah, yeah. No man made laws, No government rule, Broad concepts are makin' fools of us all, Answer to yourself, And let nobody else Stop you doing what you wanna do. Chorus Move over, Can't you hear what I say. Move over, Move over. Now we've tried it your way. Move over. Don't want to remember people as they used to be, Just want to see changes, Whatever is fine by me. Is all that money gonna free you from sin. Is all that virtue gonna save your skin. When the going gets rough, There'll be no turning back. Then what of your gold and your shammy seat backs. Chorus Move over, Can't you hear what I say. Move over, Move over. Now we've tried it your way. Move over. Yeah, yeah. Move over. Written by: Dave Davies Published by: DABE Music Limited, London, 1980 This opens up like a guitar rock boogie. The groove created is pretty good, though the opening may be a little longer than works for it. When the vocal comes in, Dave has chosen a terrible reverb for his vocal... it's easy to do. When you're in the room putting stuff together you hear something and think it sounds pretty cool, but later on you shake your head and ask yourself what was I thinking.... I recorded one of the best lost love songs I ever wrote, and in a particular section that built up towards the end, I thought it would be a really cool effect to have the vocal disappear into a big pool of reverb, like the singer was disappearing off the planet .... whenever I hear it now I want to slap myself, because it was a terrible idea, and a bad decision..... and this is why it is a great idea to have a producer, because they can reel you back from bad decisions you may make on the spur of the moment.... I was never in a position to have a producer though lol Anyway... This is a me against the man lyric. No political system is going to satisfy Dave, and that's fine, it's an imperfect world, full of imperfect people, so there is no system that will actually work. I guess the idea here is a form of anarchy. No rules and no laws .... a "Do what thou wilt" mentality ... I wonder if Dave was reading Crowley? Anyway it's a nonsense really... sure we have to be true to ourselves, but I think laws and rules become an unfortunate necessity in light of the fact that people are generally not very switched on, and tend to be selfish and self serving..... but anyway. This is a somewhat confused lyric from my perspective, and it attempts to be rebellious but it ends up sounding a little naive. Musically this is probably the most dull song so far. Dave has washed it in a little too much reverb, and it sort of takes the edge off what could be a pretty decent rock song ... We also get some of Dave's overwrought vocals, where he pushes it a bit hard, and instead of an emotive explosion we get, kind of unpleasant vocals. This is the first song that I feel comfortable that I didn't really like much initially and a closer listen hasn't changed it that much. I wouldn't need to skip it, but it is a lesser track on here... for me.
