Any love for this album here ? I just started to re-listen to it again and am struck by how it seemed to be the Kinks "Beggars Banquet"

Lots of acoustic, country blues, great slide guitar all over it, good songs---

Wish they had kept this up instead of all those soap operas that Davies became infatuated with in the early-mid 70's

Arthur / Muswell Hillbillies / Lola versus Powerman... pretty solid suff

any feed back ? Thanks

I've never actually thought about it that way, but yeah it really is like the Kinks Beggars Banquet. Its an absolutely phenomenal album. I think I rediscovered it when they put out a deluxe box version of it a few years ago. But 20th Century Man is a great rocker, one I rediscovered when I saw Ray Davies like 15 years ago and he did a cracking version of it. He also did a great version of Oklahoma USA at that show. But strange little numbers like Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues and Alcohol never tire, and then just silly songs like Here Come The People In Gray To Take Me Away and Uncle Son. Complicated Life, Cuppa Tea and the title track regularly get stuck in my head.

Its a terrific album, but then I love most Kinks stuff. Face To Face all the way through Muswell is pretty flawless (when you discount Percy), and all of that stuff is pretty underrated in its own way, as the Kinks always are. Muswell was the last gasp for a little while, and then I didn't really pick them back up till A Soap Opera and Schoolboys which I personally love but I get some of the critical nature of them. I think Schoolboys is a far more cohesive album than Opera, but Opera has its moments and I applaud his swinging for the fences. I think it works for the most part. And then Sleepwalker is an underrated excellent later era work for them. I think they'd kinda lost everyone by then but it was a fantastic return to form. I was ashamed to not know it till many years later.

In short, the Kinks are just phenomenal. Even though they are always listed amongst the greats, they still never get the respect they deserve. Every bit as good as the Stones, the Beatles, The Who, Zeppelin, etc.

Dave Davies guitar playing is wonderful on this album.One of my favorites.

I remember reading a story once of a fan who ran into Ray Davies and asked him what his favorite Kinks album was. Ray replied that he loved them all and turned to walk away. Then Ray turned back and with a smile on his face said, "But it's Muswell Hillbillies"....

I have the SHM Japanese version of this CD. Great album

Quote
RollingFreak
I've never actually thought about it that way, but yeah it really is like the Kinks Beggars Banquet. Its an absolutely phenomenal album. I think I rediscovered it when they put out a deluxe box version of it a few years ago. But 20th Century Man is a great rocker, one I rediscovered when I saw Ray Davies like 15 years ago and he did a cracking version of it. He also did a great version of Oklahoma USA at that show. But strange little numbers like Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues and Alcohol never tire, and then just silly songs like Here Come The People In Gray To Take Me Away and Uncle Son. Complicated Life, Cuppa Tea and the title track regularly get stuck in my head.

Its a terrific album, but then I love most Kinks stuff. Face To Face all the way through Muswell is pretty flawless (when you discount Percy), and all of that stuff is pretty underrated in its own way, as the Kinks always are. Muswell was the last gasp for a little while, and then I didn't really pick them back up till A Soap Opera and Schoolboys which I personally love but I get some of the critical nature of them. I think Schoolboys is a far more cohesive album than Opera, but Opera has its moments and I applaud his swinging for the fences. I think it works for the most part. And then Sleepwalker is an underrated excellent later era work for them. I think they'd kinda lost everyone by then but it was a fantastic return to form. I was ashamed to not know it till many years later.

In short, the Kinks are just phenomenal. Even though they are always listed amongst the greats, they still never get the respect they deserve. Every bit as good as the Stones, the Beatles, The Who, Zeppelin, etc.

Hear, Hear Rolling Freak! I'm with you 100% on this.The Kinks put out so many great albums, especially that period starting with Face To Face in 1966 and culminating with Muswell Hillbillies in 1971. Not to diminish the early catalogue or post Hillbillies albums, but that middle period was simply exceptional. I still listen to The Kinks frequently. Quality music is timeless and The Kinks from that era are right up there with the best of them. Kinks concerts were always fun. They could be brilliant or a complete shambles, but always entertaining. I especially love the front and back covers and gatefold interior inside The Archway pub of Muswell Hillbillies. Would have been cool to share a pint with those guys in there or at The Flask. Never mind the old Clissold Arms(pity it went gastro)!!A Kinks London tour is a fun thing to do.

Not a Kinks fan per se, never listened to rhis album before. Just tested each track, oh yea, it's a solid kissin cousin to BB.
Will listen in its entirety soon.

A classic!

A top 4 album for me, but my favourite is Village Green, followed by Arthur and Something Else.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-01-13 10:02 by DandelionPowderman.

Indeed lovely record. Overall for me the best one the kinks did is Arthur.

Love this album and especially 20th Century Man. Alcohol is great too. I think the Kinks are very underrated. Compared to bands like the Stones and the Beatles, they lack personality, but when it comes to songwriting.. man, They wrote some great tunes. Lots of them.

Just adding my Kinks love going back to the beginning. Plus, I'm one of the outliers that loved and still play Schoolboys to this day. The riffage on that is classic Dave and to me does not sound as dated as a couple of their other LPS from those years.

HBK

Two thumbs up- one of their best. Funny how it stiffed at the time but like "Village Green" its gotten very favorable critical re-appraisal. The 2 LP Deluxe re-release is a must have....


video: [www.youtube.com]

Quote
batcave
I remember reading a story once of a fan who ran into Ray Davies and asked him what his favorite Kinks album was. Ray replied that he loved them all and turned to walk away. Then Ray turned back and with a smile on his face said, "But it's Muswell Hillbillies"....

Thats awesome and sounds very Ray lol. I will say, did anyone see the Village Green documentary they did for british TV a few years ago? It included all of them and my god, in a short amount of time Ray Davies got VERY old. I know its bound to happen to everyone, but he was so much frailer and slower than the last time I saw him. Still seems like he's all there, but was jarring at first.

Quote
HouseBoyKnows
Just adding my Kinks love going back to the beginning. Plus, I'm one of the outliers that loved and still play Schoolboys to this day. The riffage on that is classic Dave and to me does not sound as dated as a couple of their other LPS from those years.

HBK

Schoolboys is such a great album. The Hard Way and I'm In Disgrace have some great guitar work from Dave. Headmaster, No More Looking Back and Education are up there with some of their best IMO. Unassuming but fantastic tracks. And seriously the rest of the album: The Last Assembly, Schooldays and even Jack The Idiot Dunce and First Time We Fall In Love. I get it not being everyone's cup of tea, but front to back its classic Kinks and its a great record.

Quote
RollingFreak


Schoolboys is such a great album. The Hard Way and I'm In Disgrace have some great guitar work from Dave. Headmaster, No More Looking Back and Education are up there with some of their best IMO. Unassuming but fantastic tracks. And seriously the rest of the album: The Last Assembly, Schooldays and even Jack The Idiot Dunce and First Time We Fall In Love. I get it not being everyone's cup of tea, but front to back its classic Kinks and its a great record.

I'm 100% totally with you on that. So many great songs on that record.

I wish that "Education" (with it's chorus, "Everybody needs ed-u-cation!!") had become an FM Rock radio staple, as opposed to hearing "We don't need no education" from that Pink Floyd song being played over and over and over again.

I am a huge Kinks fan since my high school days in the late 70's/early 80's. My first concert was Cheap Trick opening, Kinks headliner at The Riverside Theater in Milwaukee, WI April 1977.

I have to admit that Muswell Hillbillies was not a big favorite for me. Great songwriting but the sound was just not my favorite.

The Kinks had 4 periods in my mind.

1) early 63-67
2) introspective 68-71
3) rock opera 72-75
4) arena rock 76 thru the end

My favorite period is early and arena rock. I saw them about 10 times between 77 and 92. They were a extremely tight band from 79 thru about 88. Dave Davies could light up an arena.

I agree with some of the love here for "Schoolboys in Disgrace" the last of the rock operas and they finally got it right.

My top five (no order) LP's by The Kinks are:

One For the Road
Schoolboys in Disgrace
State of Confusion
Kinks
Lola versus Powerman

All of their LP's have some strong offerings, even Phobia, which is the last LP?

It is really a crime how poorly the majority of their LP catalog sold. They really struggled for all that they have achieved.

My top five (no order) LP's by The Kinks are:

Muswell Hillbillies
Village Green
Arthur
Everybody's in Showbiz
Lola versus Powerman

Quote
timmyj3
It is really a crime how poorly the majority of their LP catalog sold. They really struggled for all that they have achieved.

It never ceases to amaze me. Even with everything, it still seems like they never REALLY broke. Which obviously isn't true, but how some people call Rush the biggest cult band (and I'm a big Rush fan), The Kinks are the forgotten face on Mt. Rushmore. But then you see everyone they influenced, and everyone who speaks so highly of them. I guess its so many reasons. They were so instinctively British, which I'm not, but it still resonates. But maybe that didn't translate to everyone.

Ray's live album Storytellers is masterful at telling their early story (to me its far superior to Bruce Springsteen's recent Broadway run, and I'm a Springsteen devotee being from NJ), and he could have done a ton more about their other eras. Their being banned from America for years and other struggles. I highly recommend that and the Village Green Doc, called Echoes Of A World. The Kinks were always up against everyone, when Ray and Dave were some of the best out there at their respective positions. You're right that they never really were bad, they just got forgotten at times. Even later stuff like Hatred and Low Budget later on were fantastic tracks. Their final live album To The Bone, also criminally unknown, is a tremendous one. You'd think they were done but its arguably the best they ever sounded. The version of I'm Not Like Everyone Else on there (later made famous on The Sopranos) is an instant classic, particularly for the choruses when Ray sings NOTHING like Ray Davies. For years I remember people thinking the Sopranos version was a cover by someone else.

Anyway, I could talk about them forever but won't bore anyone. My top 5 is probably this, but it literally changes by the week:

1. Something Else by the Kinks - the first album of theirs I fell in love with. My brother and I listened to David Watts, Tin Solider Man, Harry Rag endlessly as children.
2. Village Green - tremendous album, front to back
3. Schoolboys In Disgrace - Love it, revisit it often. That wasn't MY schoolboy experience but Ray in his masterful wisdom seemed to nail everyone's to some extent. Its a perfect picture memory of growing up, particularly No More Looking Back.
4. Lola - every song's a winner
5. Arthur - Victoria is maybe my favorite Kinks song and some of the album took a little while to really hit (Australia, Mr Churchill Says, Arthur) but truly every song is amazing. So brilliantly Kinks. Oddly enough, I always loved Shangri-La which seems like one that would grow on most people lol.

But seriously, Muswell, Face To face, Sleepwalker could all creep into there at any moment.

This discussion had me take a look at their discography and its sterling by any judgement. Looks like only a handful of their LPs are RIAA certified Gold. Sad and disgusting.

Any Kinks fans here really really love "top of the Pops" live from Everybody's in Showbiz? It was like grunge and a 69 live stones song thrown in a blender. Magnificent.

I love this track, "Money Talks" from their theatrical period:

[www.youtube.com]

My Top 4, have to consider the wonderful anniversary editions for the first three

Lola
Arthur
Village Green
Sleepwalker(would like a live album supporting this album. (Nice Intimate feel)

Then Muswell…

The Kinks are one of my favorite bands since You Really Got Me-Dead-end-Street-Death of a Clown-Lola…Muswell Hillbillies is a very nice album with great lyrics.

Quote
RollingFreak

Quote
timmyj3
It is really a crime how poorly the majority of their LP catalog sold. They really struggled for all that they have achieved.

It never ceases to amaze me. Even with everything, it still seems like they never REALLY broke. Which obviously isn't true, but how some people call Rush the biggest cult band (and I'm a big Rush fan), The Kinks are the forgotten face on Mt. Rushmore. But then you see everyone they influenced, and everyone who speaks so highly of them. I guess its so many reasons. They were so instinctively British, which I'm not, but it still resonates. But maybe that didn't translate to everyone.

Ray's live album Storytellers is masterful at telling their early story (to me its far superior to Bruce Springsteen's recent Broadway run, and I'm a Springsteen devotee being from NJ), and he could have done a ton more about their other eras. Their being banned from America for years and other struggles. I highly recommend that and the Village Green Doc, called Echoes Of A World. The Kinks were always up against everyone, when Ray and Dave were some of the best out there at their respective positions. You're right that they never really were bad, they just got forgotten at times. Even later stuff like Hatred and Low Budget later on were fantastic tracks. Their final live album To The Bone, also criminally unknown, is a tremendous one. You'd think they were done but its arguably the best they ever sounded. The version of I'm Not Like Everyone Else on there (later made famous on The Sopranos) is an instant classic, particularly for the choruses when Ray sings NOTHING like Ray Davies. For years I remember people thinking the Sopranos version was a cover by someone else.

Anyway, I could talk about them forever but won't bore anyone. My top 5 is probably this, but it literally changes by the week:

1. Something Else by the Kinks - the first album of theirs I fell in love with. My brother and I listened to David Watts, Tin Solider Man, Harry Rag endlessly as children.
2. Village Green - tremendous album, front to back
3. Schoolboys In Disgrace - Love it, revisit it often. That wasn't MY schoolboy experience but Ray in his masterful wisdom seemed to nail everyone's to some extent. Its a perfect picture memory of growing up, particularly No More Looking Back.
4. Lola - every song's a winner
5. Arthur - Victoria is maybe my favorite Kinks song and some of the album took a little while to really hit (Australia, Mr Churchill Says, Arthur) but truly every song is amazing. So brilliantly Kinks. Oddly enough, I always loved Shangri-La which seems like one that would grow on most people lol.

But seriously, Muswell, Face To face, Sleepwalker could all creep into there at any moment.

Good to see some love for Something Else. It's a superb album. Occasionally, it's my favourite, too. Face To Face is up there as well, imo.

I love just about everything about The Kinks including the stage show, 'Sunny Afternoon' and the Sunny Afternoon single, with'I'm not like everybody
else' on the B side is a particular favourite.
Those songs fitted in so well in the stage show.
Only time I've spoken to Ray was outside the West End theatre where 'Sunny Afternoon' was on stage with the last night of original cast performing.
I said to him it was a memorable time for the show.
He replied by saying it's a big night for the show on Monday as well.
I was a bit puzzled and said 'What's happening on Monday then ?'
He rightly said 'Will be the first night with the new cast'.

Saw the show again that same week and could see Ray and his missus up in their favourite box watching the show.







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2022-01-14 20:19 by crawdaddy.

I started listening to The Kinks when they released their superb One For The Road live double album in 1980.

I like just about every era of the band although I do think that the early to mid seventies' concept albums are somewhat hard to enjoy.

My favourite couple of Kinks records are:

1. Something Else;
2. Muswell Hillbillies;
3. Give The People What They Want;
4....other masterpieces like Sleepwalker, Village Green Preservation Society, Lola vs Powerman & The Moneygoround, Misfits, Word Of Mouth, and indeed, the terribly overlooked To The Bone.

Oh dear

I don't like it and never did

Partly it is the brass - the Mike Cotton Sound just sound too trad, too dull

And I don't think the songwriting is great

So I stop at the Lola LP, apart from a few subsequent singles eg Celluloid Heroes, Sitting In My Hotel

Sorry

(I like the photo on the sleeve)

Quote
johnnythunders
Oh dear

I don't like it and never did

Partly it is the brass - the Mike Cotton Sound just sound too trad, too dull

And I don't think the songwriting is great

So I stop at the Lola LP, apart from a few subsequent singles eg Celluloid Heroes, Sitting In My Hotel

Sorry

(I like the photo on the sleeve)

I'm firmly in your camp here.

This one resonates with me more and more every year:

[www.youtube.com]



Life goes on.
It happens ev'ry day.
So appreciate what you got
Before it's taken away.
Life will hit you
When you're unprepared,
So be grateful and take all
That you can while you're there.
Get that frown off your head,
'Cause you're a long time dead.
Life goes on and on and on.
Life goes on and on and on.

I feel like most of Ray's writing only gets more relevant as the years go on. Its like it was a 60 year old man in a 20 year old body writing these timeless songs.

Kinks 1969-1975 is hard for me to enjoy. I prefer the beginning and the end.

Just bumping this thread up:

Even though most didn't like A Soap Opera, and while I do I get why, every Kinks fan should revisit the song You Make It All Worthwhile. Even on a possible throwaway album, Ray still manages to bang out a winner as usual. An all timer thats not talked about as much.

To a lesser extent, the final song You Can't Stop The Music is also very good, and kind of a little brother to Celluloid Heroes.