One For the Road Okay, so the sound quality isn't the best... It's a product of the arena rock phase and therefore not the best representation of the band... Too much shouty Ray... With all those great songs in the katalog, the set list could have been better..... .... all valid criticisms I won't try to talk anyone out of.... .... and yet this has always been, and remains to this day, my favorite live album of all time. Admittedly, the primacy effect may play a role; this was my first Kinks album and my first exposure beyond the few big hits. This did cement itself in my musical appreciation diary. I also got to see the group live two tours later when they were still in this same mode. I can't say it was the "best" concert I ever attended, but it certainly was the most fun and this live album captured that spirit exceptionally well. Unlike some great first impressions, I never outgrew this one. Always thrilled lo listen to the entire double with no skips.
Opening The album couldn't have opened in a better way for me. Being somewhat unfamiliar with the group's back katalog, they come out of the chute with some great teases of the killer riffs I already knew. And they're bringing it with heay distortion power chords. Yeah, this rocks Yeah, this is gonna' be fun.
Hardway I'd never heard this song, had no idea it was part of a concept album, and yet I was hooked right from the get-go. The riff, the chorus, the lyrics and yes, the delivery all combined to hit me right in the sweet spot. I think this introduction may have even predisposed me favorably to Schoolboys well before I got around to buying a copy.
Opening / The Hard Way The opening is great. That opening You Really Got Me riff teaser... like, yeah, we're those guys. And we are ready to rock. And then, I think for the first time, we hear the lead guitar not only play the riff, but playing the verse melody too. I love Mick's change-up around 1:05, where it almost seems to slow the verse down a bit... but I think it's just an illusion deceiving me? Then to slide into The Hard Way is just perfect. The Kinks journey through their discography and styles from the heavy riff-based sound of You Really Got Me to the heavy riff-based sound of the Hard Way is best illustrated like this: You Really Got Me ---------.,_,.-'``'-.,_,.-'``'-.,_,.='``'-.,_,.-'``'-.,_,.='``'------- The Hard Way A lot of twists and turns, softer, music hall, boozy/trad jazz, country/folky, and theatrical along the way, and finally just straight up riff-based rock again. This is a great live version, and I particularly love how Ray approaches the "cruel to be kind" section. Ramona!
Opening Rip-roaring, sets the mood, puts you right there. Hardway No complaints about shouting or barking in this context. What other kind of vocal style could match the energy of the guitar/bass/drums here? You practically have to pogo to it, even sitting in traffic (not recommended, but I did it this morning). Random Culture is a deep and abiding mystery. Why are certain sounds, words, images, styles completely appropriate to certain eras -- both epitomizing and shaping the zeitgeist -- yet practically unimaginable in earlier or later periods? People responded to this iteration of the Kinks' sound in 1980 in a way I doubt they would've responded if the Kinks had been releasing e.g. Dead End Street b/w Big Black Smoke. Yet, as the Kinks have entered the canon, it seems most post-millennial fans are attracted almost exclusively to their mid/late 60s releases. Maybe the '60s stuff is objectively better. Maybe there's no such thing as objectivity when it comes to artistic taste. I prefer Village Green to Low Budget, but is it remotely possible that the cultural context will shift once again, and the '80s will be considered the Kinks' creative peak?
All it takes is a champion …and sure. It may start out as a brash, contrarian opinion then, with enough momentum, the peak has shifted. (I’ve seen a number of big time changes. Nick Drake? In real time no one heard of him. There’s a number of other forum favorites that have arisen from obscurity or have undergone a critical renaissance.)
I think the problem comes down to trying to grade things directly against each other. I always see these ideas of such and such is objectively better than so and so, because blah blah blah.... and it is a completely moot arguement to me, because the value is only in the ears of the listener. For example I love Waterloo Sunset, it has a certain magic that captivates... but I also love this live version of Celluloid Heroes, because.... it has a certain magic that captivates.... No matter what argument anybody tries to put forth, one is not objectively better than the other.... on an individual level one can certainly be subjectively better than another.... But more importantly from my perspective.... Hopefully a picture that works... If I'm at a buffet, and there are hundreds of options on the tables to eat. Even if to some degree I think it's my favourite, why would I just get the boiled shrimp? The boiled shrimp may be great, but if that's all you eat from that buffet table (smorgasbord if you prefer) aren't I just shorting myself of delicious variety? On any given day may I not actually prefer the calamari, just, because? To me there's nothing objectively better about anything, and the variables ... mood, time, environment, company etc makes a huge difference as to how we hear things. I have only noticed recently... and this is weird to me... that I get a ridiculous amount of pleasure from experiencing someone's reaction to something that moves me. Someone experiencing a big emotional reaction to something that moves me has a profound effect on me ... and I'm not going to get into the pop-psychology of it.... at that point in time, the objective rating of that track against another is poppycock.... because the track is doing exactly what it's supposed to, and is therefore perfect and beyond judgement.... I don't know if that makes sense. Hopefully it does.. That's why I don't believe in any kind of objective best.... my favourite at any given moment is always the best, from my subjective experience of it.... Sometimes, and I'm not pointing at anyone but me here, we can become the most wanky, when we try and rationalize scores for music in order to delineate it into portions of value. For the exercise here I have tried to somewhat list my favourite albums in some kind of order on this thread, but I always have to put in a disclaimer or two... because... well I just don't know ... today item b is looking pretty spectacular, but tomorrow... we'll have to just see
Ok I finally found out who it was! When I said this about Wild Man: I was referring to this by @Jasper Dailey regarding Trust Your Heart: Ok now I can sleep at night. Ramona!
HA! I'm very impressed with your memory, @donstemple . I didn't catch the sound in Wild Man, I need to re-listen. PS: Sorry for my lack of involvement in the thread as of late. I've been reading but I've just been so underwater at work (and at life) that I haven't been able to dedicate the time. I'm doing just fine though and I hope to rejoin you wonderful lot as an active commenter soon enough.
Peter Gabriel did something similar to this all the time too. Check out Genesis “Lilywhite Lilith” at 1:15 on the second syllable of the word “lilith” for one example. Readily available on YouTube if you’ve never heard it. I happen to love these unintentional vocal tics as I call them.
Opening/The Hard Way I have no problems with this energetic opening. I don't really care for the 70s rock version of "You Really Got Me", but it's meant to get your attention for the start of a Kinks Koncert! "The Hard Way" breaks in at lightning speed. At the concert, I would have been hopping around like a madman, but if I'm at home listening on my stereo, I'd rather listen to the studio version. I do like this album version over the one on the video. I can see this song going either way, depending on which version you heard first. Listening to the Schoolboys version after this, and it sounds like it's on the wrong speed. However, if you are most familiar with the Schoolboys version, the live version sounds way too fast. I suppose they both work and it becomes a matter of preference. I like Ray with the mask in the video. It looks like he borrowed it from Peter Gabriel. Did he also wear this mask on the Schoolboys In Disgrace tour? This is a positive start. Let's see how tomorrow goes.
I worked in the commercial traffic department. We made the logs as to what you're going to see on your TV as well as obtaining and placing commercials. Stuff like that. Basically an office job and not too sexy. Lobel and Jack were still working there when I was there. Jack was a particularly nice man.
Earth Day In celebration of Earth Day, here’s a look at the 1992 concert with some Ray and Peter Garrett content. In those primitive days without internet, I only found out about this show a couple of days before it was to occur and couldn’t break prior commitments. Of course I wanted to see our boys, but also around this time I was keen on Midnight Oil. I never did get to see them live. Robyn Hitchcock, who I have seen many times, appeared as well. @mark winstanley how do you feel about your fellow Aussies? Were any of our New England contingent at the show?
I’ve seen Midnight Oil (the Oils) a few times during their peak years and one of those shows (At the Coogee Bay Hotel in Sydney) is one of my favourite gig experiences. They knew how to fire up an audience and keep it going. And there is still time to see the Oils play live on their farewell tour, which is heading to North America and Europe now. I went to their Canberra show a few nights ago but it was cancelled due to heavy rain and thunderstorms. Grrr. My advice is to see them if you get the chance - they are one of the best live rock acts in the world - and you don’t lose that.
Great one two punch to start the album. Particularly like the Hardway. I seem to recall it opening their sets on subsequent tours, but my memory might be faulty. I definitely saw them play it a few times.
I apologize for momentarily wrenching this thread back to 1974, but I only just discovered this epic discussion after re-listening to my Preservation Act 2 album for the first time in a long while. Three notes after reading the comments on this album: -- The opening electric piano riff for "He's Evil" sounds to me like the beginning of "Chopsticks" before Ray twists a little variation to it. -- The theatricality of Preservation appears to turn some people off. I am a collector of musical cast albums, so the hyper-melodrama/musical comedy flavor is right up my alley. -- And I really love "Flash's Dream" which received groans from some of the participants here. I think it's a kick and a hoot, camp vocals and all!
While rooting around this afternoon I found this note from one of the Kinks fan clubs. Maybe Ray was contemplating what you’re suggesting.
