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The Kinks

 

	Kinks
	Released 1964
	Track listing: 1) Beautiful Delilah; 2) So Mystifying; 3) Just Can't Go To Sleep; 4) Long Tall Shorty; 5) I Took My Baby Home; 6) I'm A Lover Not A Fighter; 7) You Really Got Me; 8) Cadillac; 9) Bald Headed Woman; 10) Revenge; 11) Too Much Monkey Business; 12) I've Been Driving On Bald Mountain; 13) Stop Your Sobbing; 14) Got Love If You Want It; [BONUS TRACKS:] 15) Long Tall Sally; 16) You Still Want Me; 17) You Do Something To Me; 18) It's Alright; 19) All Day And All Of The Night; 20) I Gotta Move; 21) Louie Louie; 22) I Gotta Go Now; 23) Things Are Getting Better; 24) I've Got That Feeling; 25) Too Much Monkey Business; 26) I Don't Need You Any More.
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	Kinda Kinks
	Released 1965
	Track listing: 1) Look For Me Baby; 2) Got My Feet On The Ground; 3) Nothin' In The World Can Stop Me Worryin' About That Girl; 4) Naggin' Woman; 5) Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight; 6) Tired Of Waiting For You; 7) Dancing In The Street; 8) Don't Ever Change; 9) Come On Now; 10) So Long; 11) You Shouldn't Be Sad; 12) Something Better Beginning; [BONUS TRACKS:] 13) Everybody's Gonna Be Happy; 14) Who'll Be The Next In Line; 15) Set Me Free; 16) I Need You; 17) See My Friends; 18) Never Met A Girl Like You Before; 19) Wait Till The Summer Comes Along; 20) Such A Shame; 21) A Well Respected Man; 22) Don't You Fret; 23) I Go To Sleep.
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	Kink Kontroversy
	Released 1966
	Track listing: 1) Milk Cow Blues; 2) Ring The Bells; 3) Gotta Get The First Plane Home; 4) When I See That Girl Of Mine; 5) I Am Free; 6) Till The End Of The Day; 7) The World Keeps Going Round; 8) I'm On An Island; 9) Where Have All The Good Times Gone; 10) It's Too Late; 11) What's In Store For Me; 12) You Can't Win.
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	Face to Face
	Released 1966
	Track listing: 1) Party Line; 2) Rosie Won't You Please Come Home; 3) Dandy; 4) Too Much On My Mind; 5) Session Man; 6) Rainy Day In June; 7) A House In The Country; 8) Holiday In Waikiki; 9) Most Exclusive Residence For Sale; 10) Fancy; 11) Little Miss Queen Of Darkness; 12) You're Lookin' Fine; 13) Sunny Afternoon; 14) I'll Remember; [BONUS TRACKS:] 15) I'm Not Like Everybody Else; 16) Dead End Street; 17) Big Black Smoke; 18) Mr Pleasant; 19) This Is Where I Belong; 20) Mr Reporter; 21) Little Woman.
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	Something Else by the Kinks
	Released 1967
	Track listing: 1) David Watts; 2) Death Of A Clown; 3) Two Sisters; 4) No Return; 5) Harry Rag; 6) Tin Soldier Man; 7) Situation Vacant; 8) Love Me Till The Sun Shines; 9) Lazy Old Sun; 10) Afternoon Tea; 11) Funny Face; 12) End Of The Season; 13) Waterloo Sunset; [BONUS TRACKS:] 14) Act Nice And Gentle; 15) Autumn Almanac; 16) Susannah's Still Alive; 17) Wonderboy; 18) Polly; 19) Lincoln County; 20) There's No Life Without Love; 21) Lazy Old Sun (alternate stereo take).
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	(the Kinks are) The Village Green Preservation Society
	Released 1968
	Track listing: 1) The Village Green Preservation Society; 2) Do You Remember Walter; 3) Picture Book; 4) Johnny Thunder; 5) The Last Of The Steam Powered Trains; 6) Big Sky; 7) Sitting By The Riverside; 8) Animal Farm; 9) Village Green; 10) Starstruck; 11) Phenomenal Cat; 12) All My Friends Were There; 13) Wicked Annabella; 14) Monica; 15) People Take Pictures Of Each Other.
reviewer: Roland Overall Rating: 15 Record Rating: 10 Band Rating: 5
Ok, here we go.  You get to hear me praise every single note of this album.  (except Big Sky, more on that later). This was the start of the so called 'Golden Age' of the Kinks.  More on that here: http://www.furious.com/perfect/kinks.html It was a series of firsts for them, most notably the first concept album, of which they had more than anyone I know.  The songs here are just superb, I dont care if they dont rock out as much as Arthur, the melodies are what count here.  Ray really took over starting with this album, and his songwriting was showcasing his many talents, which carried him right through the next 4 albums, up through Muswell Hillbillies.   The only flaw throughout is Big Sky, which on a good day I dont mind that much, its an ok song, except I dont like the spoken word parts of it.  The rest just grows grows grows on you until you cant take anything else but Village Green, and you have green oozing out of your ears.  I still think that if someone remade Village Green (the song, not the album), it would be a major hit.  How can anyone not like that song?   When this album came out people stayed away in droves, causing Ray to get pissed off and not write anything BUT concept albums, which is a good thing in retrospect, but not appreciated at the time.  The public wanted Ray to keep writing one hit pop songs, which he was venemously against.   Ok, so he had Lola a few years later, but that was more of an accident.   The Kinks were all about bucking the trend, not leading it or going along with it.  They realeased this album in the middle of psychadelia, and the cover is the only thing even resembling it.  Phenominal Cat is the closest song they had to psychadelia, but theres not much there either.   Instead they were singing about British Nostalgia, which probably wasnt the grooviest thing the public could dig at the time.   Still, with all its failures (commercially, anyway), it is all the more reason that its one of the most important records in rock history.  (And I'm not just saying that cause I'm a Kinks fan).   Its like the Magical Mystery Tour, openly ignored by the public at the time of release, but appreciated more with each passing year.    But the Kinks didnt stop there.  Village Green was the start of MANY commercial flops for the Kinks, reaching record lows by the Preservation years, even though their music seemed to get better and better.  Its mainly because they were throwing away their 'pop' image, just like all the other British groups, they were growing up, and infusing the 'art' into their rock.  It helps that the Davies family always had an olde english music background, and its evident in their many many dance hall and vaudeville tunes, most of which started on this album.   My personal favourites I cant even list, because they all were my fave at one time or another.  I still love Monica, I had that song on a loop for a week straight, lol...of course the title track is excellent, as is Village Green itself, and Walter "one of my Bohemian tunes", says Ray.   The riff from Picture Book was 'borrowed' by Green Day for their song Warning.  Green Day is forgiven though, because they went on to cover another Kinks classic, Tired of Waiting for You, on a subsequent album, and that Billie Joe himself is a self-professed Kinks fan.  Oh yeah, and how could I forget Animal Farm another favourite of mine from this album, and Last of the Steam Powered Trains whose harmonica work can rival any of Dylan's or Jagger's.   Its easier to give this album a 10 because with the reissue you get the original lineup of songs (which was thrown out), as well as the actual album that came out, so in essence you get 2 albums on this cd.  The original one did not have Big Sky, but it also did not have Last of the Steam Powered Trains, so I mix and match to create one super best album, which also by the way includes one of the most successful Kinks numbers of all time, Days  (only released as a single, but included on this cd).   Solid 10, baby.

	Arthur (or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)
	Released 1969
	Track listing: 1) Victoria; 2) Yes Sir No Sir; 3) Some Mother's Son; 4) Drivin'; 5) Brainwashed; 6) Australia; 7) Shangri La; 8) Mr Churchill Says; 9) She's Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina; 10) Young And Innocent Days; 11) Nothing To Say; 12) Arthur; [BONUS TRACKS:] 13) Plastic Man; 14) King Kong; 15) Drivin' (mono); 16) Mindless Child Of Motherhood; 17) This Man He Weeps Tonight; 18) Plastic Man (stereo); 19) Mindless Child Of Motherhood (stereo); 20) This Man He Weeps Tonight (stereo); 21) She's Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina (mono); 22) Mr Shoemakers Daughter.
reviewer: Roland Overall Rating: 13 Record Rating: 8 Band Rating: 5

	Lola vs. the Powerman and the Moneygoround, part 1
	Released 1970
	Track listing: 1) The Contenders; 2) Strangers; 3) Denmark Street; 4) Get Back In The Line; 5) Lola; 6) Top Of The Pops; 7) The Moneygoround; 8) This Time Tomorrow; 9) A Long Way From Home; 10) Rats; 11) Apeman; 12) Powerman; 13) Got To Be Free; [BONUS TRACKS:] 14) Lola (single version); 15) Apeman (demo); 16) Powerman (demo).
reviewer: Roland Overall Rating: 15 Record Rating: 10 Band Rating: 5

	Percy
	Released 1971
	Track listing: 1) God's Children; 2) Lola (instrumental); 3) The Way Love Used To Be; 4) Completely; 5) Running Round Town; 6) Moments; 7) Animals In The Zoo; 8) Just Friends; 9) Whip Lady; 10) Dreams; 11) Helga; 12) Willesden Green; 13) God's Children - The End.
reviewer: Roland Overall Rating: 10 Record Rating: 5 Band Rating: 5
Alright, so its a soundtrack to a movie about a penis transplant.  "Show me your soundtrack, and I'll show you what kind of musicion you are".   Bob Dylan - soundtrack to a country western movie.  Queen - soundtrack to Flash Gordon, a cheesy sci-fi movie.  Beatles - soundtrack to a zany Beatlesque comedy (insert Hard Days Night or Magical Mystery Tour Here.  Tom Petty - soundtrack to a laidback  indie romantic comedy.  Paul McCartney - soundtrack for James Bond.    And the Kinks???  soundtrack to a movie about a Penis Transplant!  woohoo.  Heh, these guys are just nuts.  um....ok bad joke.   Its not bad though, I mean half the songs are instrumentals, but they still groove nicely in the background to whatever you're doing.  Unfortunately if what youre doing is heavily concentrating on the music then you'll have to be prepared for a lot of groovin. The Lola instrumental version is all right, with new guitar work in the middle, although the ending is a little annoying. I like Animals in the Zoo, thats a funny, albeit short track.   Some of them are kinda wierd, but I guess you have to watch the movie to understand them, it is a soundtrack after all, so we shouldnt be too harsh.   Its interesting the songs on here are nothing like Muswell Hillbillies, somehow the songwriting style changed drastically between 1970 Lola and 1971 Muswell and beyond.   Isnt this the period when Ray's wife left him?  Maybe he got depressed or something and thats why the whole Preservation thing happened.   And what the heck is Willesden Green?  Sounds to me like a Tom Jones Green Green Grass of Home knockoff, except he's trying to sound like Elvis or something, haha.   Anyway this album is really really good, I'm being overly cruel with my rating.   I mean, McCartney has a number of instrumental tracks as well, and I gave that a 9!!   Ah well...

	Muswell Hillbillies
	Released 1971
	Track listing: 1) 20th Century Man; 2) Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues; 3) Holiday; 4) Skin And Bone; 5) Alcohol; 6) Complicated Life; 7) Here Come The People In Grey; 8) Have A Cuppa Tea; 9) Holloway Jail; 10) Oklahoma USA; 11) Uncle Son; 12) Muswell Hillbilly; [BONUS TRACKS:] 13) Mountain Woman; 14) Kentucky Moon.
reviewer: Roland Overall Rating: 15 Record Rating: 10 Band Rating: 5
I have no problem with giving Muswell Hillbillies a solid 10, thus ranking it one of the greatest albums of all time, and pitting it against the likes of Let it Be.   It was released in 1971 after all, which is a good sign for any of the greats.  I mean what came out around that time?  Imagine, McCartney, Ram, Sticky Fingers, Pearl, Meddle, Who's Next, I mean come ON people, wasnt that the musical golden age?  Whats coming out now?  Justin Timberlake?  (the man, not the music, lol)   ok enough ranting.  This truly IS one of the best albums of all time, and if you dont believe me, go lock yourself into a soundbooth and keep listening to it until you do!  hah.  I honestly can NOT decide what my favourite song on here is, except I know its not Uncle Son.  That may be the only weak point on the album.  The first 5 or 6 songs are the best I think.  The range of 20th Century Man is incredible, not to mention its probably Ray's anthem  - "I'm a 20th Century Man, but I dont want to be here".  Its also long enough so that you can hear Ray in his many moods throughout, it starts off kindof apathetic, then into a kind of whining, then full on screaming.   Acute Schitzophenia is the kind of thing that Ray does best, a song about total paranoia.   Its got those cool trumpets that you can hear throughout the album, I admit I'm biased because I love those whiny horn sounds, it sounds all vaudevilley.   And add that jangly piano and irregular drumbeat to it, it give syou that old west casino type feel to it!   Alcohol is probably the best example of that sound I just described; I also love the lyrics of that song.   Holiday just might be my fave on the album, just because the way he sings it makes me want to kick it on a beach somewhere a la office space style.   I read that he sung this song with a fat cigar in his mouth to get that Winston Churchill swagger about it.  Plus listen to the lyrics on this one too, he's so determined to have a good time even though his holiday sucks, lol.   I guess you could knock Skin and Bone off for being a silly song, but hey.  First of all the Kinks sang about this no carb diet about 30 years before it became 'popular'.  I mean its a strange thing to sing about, but heck "fat flabby Annie" weighing 16 stone is pretty funny.     Which brings us back to Alcohol, which may just about be my fave Kinks song of all time, at least it is whenever Im listening to it.  Ray sung this at concert while balancing a bottle of beer on his head and swaggering all about the stage.   Love the little things about this song, like the short little mexican horn when he says 'tequila', and the piano at the end, just when you thought the song was over, it sounds like a little drunkard in his lonely room playing to sooth himself.   Complicated Life is just great.  (la de da de daaaa).  I can imagine him singing this one drunk too, except the poor guy sounds so serious, explaining his dilemna, and ending with the conclusion "Gotta stand and face it, life is sooooo Complicated", throwing up his hands.   I've realized that this song is a kind of predecessor to Social Distortion's Story of my Life, they're both about the same thing.   hmm, interesting.   And is that Dave back there at the end going "Life is overrated, Life is COMplicated!"??  haha how funny!   Unless I'm wrong, People in Gray is the only song on here that uses electric guitars, and they even manage to turn this one into a country song as well!   Let me specify first by clarifying that Brit-country is nothing like the country we in America think about.  Its more like Bob Dylanish folk instead of country, which saves it very well.   Oh boy, here we come to Have a Cuppa Tea.  Isnt this just the best song ever?  I mean how English can ya get?  lol...."Hallelujah Rosalie!".  Sounds like another one of those songs made for heavy singing in the pub after everyones good and drunk.  Maybe thats what they did.  An English pub is pictured on the cover, after all.  I can see the whole place getting piss drunk and putting this album on.  "Hall-e-lu-jah!!!!!"  haha.   The next 3 songs are just kind of soft and folky, but Oklahoma USA is just pure gorgeous.  Funny how the best Oklahoma song I've heard was written by an Englishman.   Muswell Hillbilly, the title track, is also a good one.  "I'm dreaming of those Black Hills, that I ain't never seen".  The guitar work is good here, i'm not sure if its Ray or Dave.   I also like the 2 bonus tracks, I even tried to play that last one on the piano, I think its quite clever.  Anyway now that Ive broken the record for longest review ever, get outta here, and go listen to it!!

	Everybody's in Showbiz
	Released 1972
	Track listing: 1) Here Comes Yet Another Day; 2) Maximum Consumption; 3) Unreal Reality; 4) Hot Potatoes; 5) Sitting In My Hotel; 6) Motorway; 7) You Don't Know My Name; 8) Supersonic Rocket Ship; 9) Look A Little On The Sunnyside; 10) Celluloid Heroes; 11) Top Of The Pops; 12) Brainwashed; 13) Mr Wonderful; 14) Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues; 15) Holiday; 16) Muswell Hillbilly; 17) Alcohol; 18) Banana Boat Song; 19) Skin And Bone; 20) Baby Face; 21) Lola; [BONUS TRACKS;] 22) Till The End Of The Day; 23) She's Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina.
reviewer: Roland Overall Rating: 11 Record Rating: 6 Band Rating: 5
Ok so I like Sitting in My Hotel, and Motorway is mildly amusing, but aside from a few other gems on the first side, its largely forgettable (which is amazing, because accounting for the fact that this album was between Preservation and Muswell, it should be damn good).   Celluloid Heroes truly is one of the most beautiful songs that Ray ever wrote, and its not just me saying it this time.  I'm just concurring with general opinion.   The highlight, though, is the second side.  This was a double album, with new stuff on side 1 and live tracks of their recent stuff on side 2.  Its well knows that Ray never liked playing the 'hits', because that would mean he's washed up on new stuff and trying to milk the past.  So he would do things like substitute Top of the Pops for Waterloo Sunset for example.  Heck theres even a version of the Banana Boat Song, done just as traditionally as ever.  Then the concert favourite, Alcohol, which I'm sure must have been hilarious to see live.  But Lola, for example, is only included on here as a snippet, and they only did it because they had just released it.     Someone once said "Its a truism that every Kinks record has some priceless gems on it, while at the same time they all have one or two of their worst crap".   I'm not inclined to agree fully with this, but I can see that starting with this album in 1973, there are one or two tracks on every album that I just cant stand.  They're similar to the Stones with this.  Oh well, cant fault them, they only got Ray (ok occasionally Dave, once in a blue moon) writing the songs, its not exactly Lennon-McCartney-Harrison.

	Preservation, Act 1
	Released 1973
	Track listing: 1) Preservation; 2) Morning Song; 3) Daylight; 4) Sweet Lady Genevieve; 5) There's A Change In The Weather; 6) Where Are They Now; 7) One Of The Survivors; 8) Cricket; 9) Money And Corruption/I Am Your Man; 10) Here Comes Flash; 11) Sitting In The Midday Sun; 12) Demolition; [BONUS TRACK:] 13) One Of The Survivors (single edit).
reviewer: Roland Overall Rating: 12 Record Rating: 7 Band Rating: 5

	Preservation, Act 2
	Released 1974
	Track listing: 1) Announcement 1; 2) Introduction To Solution; 3) When A Solution Comes; 4) Money Talks; 5) Announcement 2; 6) Shepherds Of The Nation; 7) Scum Of The Earth; 8) Second-Hand Car Spiv; 9) He's Evil; 10) Mirror Of Love; 11) Announcement 3; 12) Nobody Gives; 13) Oh Where Oh Where Is Love; 14) Flash's Dream (The Final Elbow); 15) Flash's Confession; 16) Nothing Lasts Forever; 17) Announcement 4; 18) Artificial Man; 19) Scrapheap City; 20) Announcement 5; 21) Salvation Road; [BONUS TRACKS:] 22) Mirror Of Love (single edit); 23) Slum Kids (take 1).
reviewer: Roland Overall Rating: 12 Record Rating: 7 Band Rating: 5
I originally did not like this album much at all...I like it better now but theres still way too much dialogue to sift through. At least on the cd you can skip those tracks cleanly.  See this is a full blown (3 record set in total) rock opera thats pretty story heavy, especially act 2, so you have to sit through it a couple of times to understand it, cause its pretty interesting.  But after a while you just want the music anyway, which is hit and miss on this record.   Introduction to Solution  is a great way to kick off the album, even though it really starts with a lot of monologue.   Money Talks is great too, and tis the closest the Kinks ever came to being the Rolling Stones, what with the whole band shouting out the lyrics, and those big beefy horns and all.   Then of course theres more of the 'announcement' which carries throughout the disk, followed by Shephards of the Nation, which I kinda dig (most of the time).  lol "sodomites beware!"   I like Scum of the Earth a lot better, and your heart goes out to Flash when you hear it, even if its a little corny. It just gets cornier with Second Hand Car Spiv, and its just ridiculous by He's Evil.  I generally skip over these 2 tracks, they just drag on.   Mirror of Love redeems the previous 2 songs however, even though when I first heard this song I could have sworn I heard it somewhere else before...maybe Mr Davies is starting to recycle his material, eh... Then comes my favourite part of the record: Nobody Gives, Where of Where is Love (One of my favourite Kinks songs of all time, and by the way soooooo true), Flash's Confession (Probably the best song on the album, just listen to Dave making those chords squeal and whine), and Nothing Lasts Forever (note the totally American accent of the girl, what happened to Britain you foo?)

	A Soap Opera
	Released 1975
	Track listing: 1) Everybody's A Star (Starmaker); 2) Ordinary People; 3) Rush Hour Blues; 4) Nine To Five; 5) When Work Is Over; 6) Have Another Drink; 7) Underneath The Neon Sign; 8) Holiday Romance; 9) You Make It All Worthwhile; 10) Ducks On The Wall; 11) (A) Face In The Crowd; 12) You Can't Stop The Music; [BONUS TRACKS:] 13) Everybody's A Star (Starmaker) (mono); 14) Ordinary People (live); 15) You Make It All Worthwhile (live); 16) Underneath The Neon Sign (live).
reviewer: Roland Overall Rating: 13 Record Rating: 8 Band Rating: 5
hey whatdya know, another concept album!  Gotta love it. I can actually imagine this one being played out on stage (and thats what they did actually, but yours truly wasnt exactly alive for most of the 70s).  Its an interesting story.  Rock star takes the place of the ordinary man to do research for his songs, to see what living the ordinary life is.  He goes through rush hour traffic, long workdays, comes home to a nagging wife with bad decorative tastes, has a secret holiday romance, and in the end realizes that he cant break out of the 'ordinary' cycle and admits defeat by becoming one with the faceless crowd.   Starmaker is just your average intro single, but the story really starts with Ordinary People.  "I'll even sleep with his wife....for the sake of art!" (what a sacrafice, lol).   Sadly, the working people (i.e. you and me) see much of ourselves in the songs that follow.  Rush Hour Blues and especially Nine to Five is very Office Space-esque, although made 20 years prior.  I like when he says "making decisions that affect no one"  hahaha.  And when the workday is over, theres not one, but TWO songs about going to the pub afterwards for mucho drinking.  "Dont stop and think, have another drink!......Have another drink it'll make you feel better!"  Can you imagine an artist singing that today?  They might get sued, lol....   Underneath the Neon Sign has been called 'one of the finest Kinks mid-seventies tunes'.  (if you think about it, that statement is nothing more than testament to the fact that these guys have been around forever.)  I'm not sure I'd go that far, but its very nice indeed.  Dave plays those notes like liquid, they just melt into each other.   Then we shove right into Holiday Romance, which is kindof like a funny tango.  I can just imagine them dancing on a cruise ship being all pompous.   I have a soft spot for You Make it all Worthwhile, I'm not sure why.  I do like when he complains about his job though, thats funny.  I guess its nice cause when they sing the coda it gets all soft and sweet, the transition is whats key here.  And when he says "no, I hate sheppards pie", and they play that shrill organ like on those old horror movies, and at the same time she starts panicking, noooooooo!   Hilarious!!  haha.  The song ends with him yelling the coda, after they had made up.  cool.  :)   Ducks on the wall opens with the most ANNOYING quacking possible, you just want to sock the person who made that sound.  The Kinks make up for it though, with a fun rocking number, that includes both Dave and Ray yelling rather than singing the song.  Nice piano work in the background too.   The story ends with A Face in the Crowd where he gives up and decides to blend in, and You Cant Stop the Music which I still dont after a million listens know what the hell its about.  Oh well.  Good enough.  :)   The music overall is not wanting for excitement.  It guides you through the story much like a modern day musical does, in fact, I'm sure if it were remade today, it would be quite funny.  (with the general attitude towards the Kinks though, dont count on it).  Its very enjoyable, with ups and downs, but its hard to imagine it being anything other than what it is, a soundtrack to a musical that doesnt really exist (anymore).  A proper album it cant be, because theres too much story in it.  I'm not sure if this shuld be causation for docked points or not, cause I'm fine with it being what it is.  The rating stands at a solid 8.

	Schoolboys in Disgrace
	Released 1975
	Track listing: 1) Schooldays; 2) Jack The Idiot Dunce; 3) Education; 4) The First Time We Fall In Love; 5) I'm In Disgrace; 6) Headmaster; 7) The Hard Way; 8) The Last Assembly; 9) No More Looking Back; 10) Finale.
reviewer: Roland Overall Rating: 10 Record Rating: 5 Band Rating: 5
The Kinks had more concept albums than anyone I know.  (11 total, and this was the 3rd in a row.).  Schoolboys in Disgrace is no different, and I have nothing wrong with the concept, or that its actually a prequel to the Preservations series (which it is, Flash himself being the 'schoolboy in disgrace', and growing up to be a bitter man who wants revenge.  George Lucas, did you take notes on this?  lol).     However the only problem is that most of the songs dont hold much substance for me.  At the same time, some of them, notably Schooldays, The first time we fall in Love, and The Last Assembly are perfect.  Jack the Idiot Dunce is not bad either.  The rest I actually skip over, not that theyre THAT bad, but they're just...recycled from earlier Kinks rockers.  I think this is actually the first album I bought that I was pretty disappointed with.  I kept playing it over and over, waiting for the recognition to kick in, and waiting to love the album, but all that happened was me ending up playing Schooldays and The First Time We Fall In Love (which by the way, is so moving, I cant say enough good things about this song, when I hear it, I want it to never end, so I just put it on loop.  Is this Ray's attempt at mocking the Beach Boys?  Dave does an excellent falsetto midway through, and Ray's vaudeville deep moaning is a perfect compliment to it).  Schooldays is cool just because its so true, and I dont know many songs that have a nostalgic school story about it, so I'm glad someone wrote one, and I'm glad it was Ray.   Other than that I cant say too much about the album.  I guess The Hard Way is ok, but not much melody in there...

	Sleepwalker
	Released 1977
	Track listing: 1) Life On The Road; 2) Mr Big Man; 3) Sleepwalker; 4) Brother; 5) Juke Box Music; 6) Sleepless Night; 7) Stormy Sky; 8) Full Moon; 9) Life Goes On; [BONUS TRACKS:] 10) Artificial Light; 11) Prince Of The Punks; 12) The Poseur; 13) On The Outside; 14) On The Outside (1994 mix).
reviewer: Overall Rating: ? Record Rating: ? Band Rating: ?

	Misfits
	Released 1978
	Track listing: 1) Misfits; 2) Hay Fever; 3) Live Life; 4) A Rock'n'Roll Fantasy; 5) In A Foreign Land; 6) Permanent Waves; 7) Black Messiah; 8) Out Of The Wardrobe; 9) Trust Your Heart; 10) Get Up. [BONUS TRACKS] 11) Black Messiah (single edit) 12) Father Christmas
reviewer: Roland Overall Rating: 14 Record Rating: 9 Band Rating: 5
Let me just say that I have this record as a MoFi vinyl, and have had the privelidge to listen to this album in the closest way possible to the original studio sound.  Nowhere is the warmness of MoFi more evident than in the title track, where those gorgeous notes just drip around you like soft rain.  Misfits is indeed one of the most beautiful songs that Ray ever wrote (we say that a lot though dont we?), even though its (once again) about social outcasts not conforming to society.  (which is all the Ray EVER wrote about, right?  lol).  The rest of the album is no different (hence the title).   People with Hay Fever, Black Messiahs, Gays, Tax Evadors, you name it.   But lets concentrate on the music for now.  Dontcha just love that transition between the end of the first song, and the adrelinine that comes from the first notes of the second track?  and all those woohoooos in Hay Fever (with Ray singing them, and Dave riffing them right after him), ha, those are great.   Black Messiah is a hilarious track.  "Everybody got a right to speak their mind, so dont shoot me for saying mine", Ray says 3 times, just to make sure he doesnt piss us off.  He needn't worry so much cause it more funny than serious.  "I'm the only honky living on an all black street.  They knock me down, cause they brown, and I white."  ..Love those horns in the break too, very vaudeville.   Have I ever mentioned that Ray and Dave sing great harmonies together?  Dave has a freaky high voice, but it goes very well with Ray's low one.   Rock and Roll Fantasy has some great keyboard work, its kindof always moaning in the background.  This is an ok song, sometimes it drags on, but its great for one of those rainy day moods.  Heck the whole album is great for that purpose.   In a Foreign Land, I didnt used to like this song much early on, but now its one of my favourites on the album.  It kinda reminds me of something that might belong on an earlier Kinks album, like Face to Face or The Kink Kontroversy.  Or maybe I'm thinking that cause of I'm on an Island(on Kontroversy).   Permanent Waves kicks ass though, its a great rocker, funny lyrics, and great riff from Dave.  Love it.  Ditto with Live Life  (although that one for me, is a hint of what is to come, more of those types of rockers, on the next few albums).   I think that at this point Ray was finally able to let Dave and the others (and the fact that the last 6 or so records bombed) steer him away from the stage-show vaudeville Preservation type of stuff, and get back to their rockin roots.  If we stretch it, we might even be able to argue that the Kinks' rockin 80s period begins here, and not with Low Budget, but thats an arguement for another day.   I just love Out of the Wardrobe.  Only the Kinks can have as many songs about kinky gay and transsexual stuff and still make it so funny.  (Maybe theyre trying to live up to their name?)   At one time Trust Your Heart was my favourite on the album.  It still is, depending on my mood.  Its the only Dave composition on the album, and it has that pent up energy, like he's ready to release a whupping on you anytime during the song, but it always just melts back just when you think its coming, and you relax but anticipate it at the same time.  It does get a little faster at the end, not as much as you'd expect, but just when its over, Get Up starts, and that one delivers everything that Trust your Heart builds up.  So what can I say, the album just blends well together.   Maybe its the Kinks' Sgt Pepper.  Hey, its possible to argue it.   A real treat on the reissue of this cd is the bonus track Father Christmas, one of the, ahem, more unorthodox christmas songs you'll hear.  Definitely try to get that track.

	Low Budget
	Released 1979
	Track listing: 1) Attitude; 2) Catch Me Now I'm Falling; 3) Pressure; 4) National Health; 5) (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman; 6) Low Budget; 7) In A Space; 8) Little Bit Of Emotion; 9) Misery; 10) A Gallon Of Gas; 11) Moving Pictures.
reviewer: Roland Overall Rating: 10 Record Rating: 5 Band Rating: 5
The first 'Hard Rock' album, seemingly to usher in the 80s as quickly as possible, seeing as their 70s albums didnt sell at all, good as they were.   Hell with them, thinks Ray, lets just give them what they want.   I'm not sure that Low Budget would have been what I wanted after such great albums as Misfits, but hey, its a new sound (well ok its as old as 1964, but they kinda strayed away from that for about 10 years so...), and its not bad. Attitude and Pressure are sort of generic, I cant say anything special about them, but they rock on, mon.   Catch Me now I'm falling  has a nice chorus, but again, not really special.    I like National Health  a bit better, it has some funky wind instrument that they use to good effect on the track.   Superman is where it starts though.  This is a killer track, and if I remember right, even a mildly hit single.   Same with the title track, very groovy.  The other 2 notables are Little Bit of Emotion and especially A Gallon of Gas, another one of their songs remade on their To The Bone double cd set.  This cd had a lot of potential, the range went from terrific to horrible, back to terrific.  Thus the cd has to suffer a mediocre rating, which for the Kinks standards is terrible.  :(

	One for the Road
	Released 1980
	Track listing: 1) Opening; 2) Hardway; 3) Catch Me Now I'm Falling; 4) Where Have All The Good Times Gone; 5) Lola; 6) Pressure; 7) All Day And All Of The Night; 8) 20th Century Man; 9) Misfits; 10) Prince Of The Punks; 11) Stop Your Sobbing; 12) Low Budget; 13) Attitude; 14) (Wish I Could Fly) Like Superman; 15) National Health; 16) Till The End Of The Day; 17) Celluloid Heroes; 18) You Really Got Me; 19) Victoria; 20) David Watts.
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	Give the People What They Want
	Released 1982
	Track listing: 1) Around The Dial; 2) Give The People What They Want; 3) Killer's Eyes; 4) Predictable; 5) Add It Up; 6) Destroyer; 7) Yo-Yo; 8) Back To Front; 9) Art Lover; 10) A Little Bit Of Abuse; 11) Better Things.
reviewer: Roland Overall Rating: 12 Record Rating: 7 Band Rating: 5
Woohoo, the Kinks usher in a new 'Hard Rock' era.  Trying to get back to their You Really Got Me sound, which is of course rightfully theirs, and combining it (this case could be argued) with melodies. Actually, they do an OK job here.  Around the Dial is a great opening tune, very catchy.  Same with the title track.   The blandness starts to creep in around the middle of the album however.  I dont care much for Killers eyes, Yo-Yo, or Back to Front.   Predictable was a music video however, and since the video is what I watched first, I kinda like it as a song too.   And I'm going to be REALLY biased here, because since Live: The Road was basically the first Kinks album I owned, I have a soft spot for Destroyer, and especially Art Lover.  "Come to daddy", haha.  That stuff's great. I also like A Little Bit of Abuse, I think its an underrated song, and fits perfectly here.  Better Things is a song I heard first on To The Bone, an album that just came out, so it was a little confort to find it here, its kind of an upbeat song, and puts you in a good mood, which is Ray's favourite way to end an album (seriously, check out just about any kinks album to confirm this). Basically the album has that same grungy sound throughout.  Apparently Dave decided not to hold back anymore and treats entire songs like a playground for his lead guitar soloing.  This could be fine at times, but if the album was any longer it would start to get really old.  Thankfully its brief, and to the point, so this actually works in the Kinks favour this time around.

	State of Confusion
	Released 1983
	Track listing: 1) State Of Confusion; 2) Definite Maybe; 3) Labour Of Love; 4) Come Dancing; 5) Property; 6) Don't Forget To Dance; 7) Young Conservatives; 8) Heart Of Gold; 9) Cliches Of The World (B Movie); 10) Bernadette; [BONUS TRACKS:] 11) Don't Forget To Dance (extended edit); 12) Once A Thief; 13) Long Distance; 14) Noise.
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	Word of Mouth
	Released 1984
	Track listing: 1) Do It Again; 2) Word Of Mouth; 3) Good Day; 4) Living On A Thin Line; 5) Sold Me Out; 6) Massive Reductions; 7) Guilty; 8) Too Hot; 9) Missing Persons; 10) Summer's Gone; 11) Going Solo.
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	Think Visual
	Released 1986
	Track listing: 1) Working At The Factory; 2) Lost And Found; 3) Repetition; 4) Welcome To Sleazy Town; 5) The Video Shop; 6) Rock'n'Roll Cities; 7) How Are You; 8) Think Visual; 9) Natural Gift; 10) Killing Time; 11) When You Were A Child.
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	Live: The Road
	Released 1987
	Track listing: 1) The Road; 2) Destroyer; 3) Apeman; 4) Come Dancing; 5) Art Lover; 6) Cliches Of The World (B Movie); 7) Think Visual; 8) Living On A Thin Line; 9) Lost And Found; 10) It; 11) Around The Dial; 12) Give The People What They Want.
reviewer: Overall Rating: 13 Record Rating: 8 Band Rating: 5
Can ya believe it, this was acutally the FIRST kinks album that I owned.  Oh sure, I had compilations that included some early stuff, but this was my first cd.   And this is ALL 80's Kinks, with the 1 exception from the Lola album: Apeman.   And that is an amazing thing, because these are all great songs.  I had no idea they were 80's songs until later.  Heck I didn't even know the Kinks SURVIVED the 80's until later. Needless to say Apeman is easily the best song on the album, and it prompted me to buy Lola vs Powerman, which of course, rocks.  I kindof got involved with their 70s period after that, rightfully so, and didnt revisit the rest of these songs until much much later.  Come Dancing turned out to be a huge 80s comeback success for them, complete with a hit music video on MTV (hey, who better to embrace the new music medium than the pioneer of 'lets combine music with theatre' than Mr Ray Davies himself?).  Art Lover, Destroyer, and Living on a Thin Line continue to be favourites of mine, even if by sentimental value alone.   The real hit, I think, on this album is The Road, which by the looks of it was written just for this album (the rest are live tracks, obviously), and is the only studio track on here.  In The Road Ray describes the beginnings of the Kinks' journey, citing the original band lineup (which has undergone several changes since then), and their trek through Rock and Roll stardom.  Its an excellent song, and may I say yet again....one of the Kinks best ever??   ok so I say that a lot, but if I were ever to compile a list of their best songs, I sure as heck wouldnt leave this one out. It might be the only part of this I dont like, there is too much setting up of the story that Ray does in the beginning of it, and the song itself is just average.

	UK Jive
	Released 1989
	Track listing: 1) Aggravation; 2) How Do I Get Close; 3) UK Jive; 4) Now And Then; 5) What Are We Doing; 6) Entertainment; 7) War Is Over; 8) Down All The Days (To 1992); 9) Loony Balloon; 10) Dear Margaret; 11) Bright Lights; 12) Perfect Strangers.
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	Phobia
	Released 1993
	Track listing: 1) Opening; 2) Wall Of Fire; 3) Drift Away; 4) Still Searching; 5) Phobia; 6) Only A Dream; 7) Don't; 8) Babies; 9) Over The Edge; 10) Surviving; 11) It's Alright (Don't Think About It); 12) The Informer; 13) Hatred (A Duet); 14) Somebody Stole My Car; 15) Close To The Wire; 16) Scattered.
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	To The Bone
	Released 1994
	Track listing: CD I: 1) All Day And All Of The Night; 2) Apeman; 3) Tired Of Waiting For You; 4) See My Friends; 5) Death Of A Clown; 6) Muswell Hillbilly; 7) Better Things; 8) Don't Forget To Dance; 9) Sunny Afternoon; 10) Dedicated Follower Of Fashion; 11) Do It Again (acoustic); 12) Do It Again. CD II: 1) Celluloid Heroes; 2) Picture Book; 3) The Village Green Preservation Society; 4) Do You Remember Walter; 5) Set Me Free; 6) Lola; 7) Come Dancing; 8) I'm Not Like Everybody Else; 9) Till The End Of The Day; 10) Give The People What They Want; 11) State Of Confusion; 12) Dead End Street; 13) A Gallon Of Gas; 14) Days; 15) You Really Got Me; 16) Animal; 17) To The Bone.
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	The Great Lost Kinks Album
	Released 1973
	Track listing: 1) Ballad Of The Virgin Soldiers; 2) I'm A Hog For You Baby; 3) I Believed You; 4) Revenge; 5) Got Love If You Want It; 6) Don't Ever Let Me Go; 7) This I Know; 8) A Little Bit Of Sunlight; 9) Tell Me Now So I'll Know; 10) There's A New World Just Opening For Me; 11) All Night Stand; 12) Time Will Tell; 13) Spotty Grotty Anna; 14) And I Will Love You; 15) She's Got Everything; 16) Dedicated Follower Of Fashion; 17) Mr Reporter; 18) Sand On My Shoes; 19) Lavender Hill; 20) Rosemary Rose; 21) Misty Water; 22) Mr Songbird; 23) Did You See His Name; 24) Where Did My Spring Go; 25) When I Turn Off The Living Room Light; 26) 'Til Death Us Do Part; 27) Pictures In The Sand; 28) Berkely Mews; 29) Easy Come There You Went; 30) This Man He Weeps Tonight.
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	The Kinks: BBC Sessions
	Released 2001
	Track listing: CD I: 1) Interview; 2) You Really Got Me; 3) Interview; 4) Cadillac; 5) All Day And All Of The Night; 6) Tired Of Waiting For You; 7) Everybody's Gonna Be Happy; 8) See My Friends; 9) This Strange Effect; 10) Milk Cow Blues; 11) Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight; 12) Till The End Of The Day; 13) Where Have All The Good Times Gone?; 14) Death Of A Clown; 15) Love Me 'Til The Sun Shines; 16) Harry Rag; 17) Good Luck Charm; 18) Waterloo Sunset; 19) Monica; 20) Days; 21) The Village Green Preservation Society. CD II: 1) Mindless Child Of Motherhood; 2) Holiday; 3) Demolition; 4) Victoria; 5) Here Comes Yet Another Day; 6) Money Talks; 7) Mirror Of Love; 8) Celluloid Heroes; 9) Skin And Bone/Dry Bones; 10) Get Back In The Line; 11) Did You See His Name; 12) When I Turn Off The Living Room Lights; 13) Skin And Bone; 14) Money Talks.
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	The Storyteller
	Released 2002 ?
	Track listing: 1) Storyteller; 2) Introduction; 3) Victoria; 4) My Name; 5) 20th Century Man; 6) London Song; 7) My Big Sister; 8) That OId Black Magic; 9) Tired Of Waiting For You; 10) Set Me Free (instrumental); 11) Dad And The Green Amp; 12) Set Me Free; 13) The Front Room; 14) See My Friends; 15) Autumn Almanac; 16) Hunchback; 17) X-Ray; 18) Art School; 19) Art School Babe; 20) Back In The Front Room; 21) Writing The Song; 22) When Big Billy Speaks/The Man Who Knew A Man; 23) It's Alright (managers' dialogue); 24) It's Alright (Havana version); 25) It's Alright (uptempo version); 26) Julie Finkle; 27) The Ballad Of Julie Finkle; 28) The Third Single; 29) You Really Got Me; [BONUS]: 30) London Song.
reviewer: Roland Overall Rating: 11 Record Rating: 6 Band Rating: 5
There really is nothing about this album not to love.  The intro song is great, al the snippets of the hits are there (though rarely the full versions, I guess Ray has gotten tired of playing whole songs by now, lol).  The version of 20th Century Man is excellent, and I dig the new one too, London Town.   There is a plethora of dialogue throughout, but I guess thats the point, isnt it, being the Storyteller and all.  But still, thats makes for sparse listening, because you dont want to sit through the dialogue every time, and skipping doesnt work, cause he talks through most of the songs too.  You dont want to skip anyway, cause the story has be told from beginning to end.  So once in a while I'll put it up beginning to end, and pretend like i'm hearing it for the first time, its still excellent.   I would give it much higher marks if it had no dialogue, cause it really is such an excellent record.  Where else can you hear Ray doing That Old Black Magic in that great 50s (40s?) style.  And that version of You Really Got Me at the end is unique in itself, even apart from the whole "fuck off!" joke in the middle.  (I swear I still havent been able to hear it on the original track, like he says).    I also love that story about the art school babe, and of course the Ballad of Julie Finkle (does that exists on a real record somehwhere or it this the only version?  its a great song!) This is probably the lowest rating Ive given a record that I absolutely loved.

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