Ray was the songwriting equal of Pete Townsend, and theīand had so many underrated classics like Sleepwalker, Soap Opera,Īnd Schoolboys in Disgrace. With Wishbone Ash and dada, The Kinks remain one of my all timeįavorites. Kinks are the greatest rock band from that, or any other era. albums in the mid 70's, not to mention the blandĨ0's stuff), but the band's best work is absolutely essential.Įxcluding the super groups, Beatles, Stones, Zep, and the Who, the The band's discography can be discarded with little pain (especially Of a **** rating as just about any other band on my site. Their albums) that I consider a little annoying, but it's as deserving Its albums (there are a lot of great bonus tracks on the reissues of The band never made what my ears wouldĬonsider a "perfect" album, largely because of the issues mentionedĪbove, and the band had a habit of not putting all its best songs on Still, the band's post-peak failings shouldn't and can't obscure theīand's one-time greatness. So, and never really got it back, except for a very mild resurgence in Nah, Davies just mostly lost it after '72 or The Stones post- Exile, but ehn, Tattoo You is one of my favorite albumsĮver, and albums like Black and Blue and Some Girls sound People like to say that the same problem exists with Or three (or so) good songs per album and a bunch of generic mediocreīleh otherwise. Spotty at best for the last, oh, twenty years of its career, with two Partially as a consequence of those two factors, the band's output was Problem of having only one great songwriter. Useful they might have been at times), and that helped exacerbate the Other the band was always, in essence, the Davies and extras (however They didn't have multiple powerful creative forces at work against each Hardly qualify him for the "great songwriter" title. They might have been at times ("Death of a Clown" was probably the peak) Only one, and the few contributions of his brother Dave, however nice Stones, the band didn't have multiple great songwriters at itsĭisposal Ray Davies was undoubtedly a songwriting genius, but he was Large set of downsides, which I prefer not to dwell on excessively but Simplicity isn't close to as impressive as it is when Ray is at his Way that suggests a musical genius at work (though fairly often the
They tend to be simple and direct, justĪs the lyrics tend to be, but they very often tend to be simple in a Wasted if it weren't for so many AWESOME melodies and riffs as Ray wasĪble to come with in his prime. To unique as this style may have been, it would have been largely Getting old is not necessarily a bad thing. Who are, at least on some level, aged beyond their years, and for whom Piece about nostalgia, for heaven's sake. Supposed to be targeting one of the band's best albums was a concept Not music for the young and rebellious and the people rock music was Screamed out OLD SCHOOL BRITISH as loud as could possibly be. Traditional music hall styles into his songs, and his lyrical topics That the listener knew it very well he loved to incorporate Perfectly happy living 100 years earlier than he did, and made sure Late 60's, and nobody did a better job of ignoring and defying 20thĬentury "progress" than these guys did.
Fewīands ignored mainstream psychedelia (aside from one or two lapses in judgment) quite like these guys did in the Later is the defiant timelessness of the band's classic style. Of commercial success in the 60's and to its deserved accolades decades One of the most important factors contributing both to the band's lack Immaculately consistent at its peak, and the band could've split aroundġ972 with no major negative impact on the music world at large, but theīand's best songs have to be considered among the peaks of rock and pop Helped create both hard rock and Brit-pop (within a short time of oneĪnother), as well as that the number of bands that can claim The KinksĪmongst their influences is through the roof. History ended up being pretty kind to the group, recognizing that they Wonder ("You Really Got Me" in 1963, "Lola" in 1971). Neglected by mainstream culture for years is to say nothing their bestĪlbums sold horribly on initial release, and for a very long time theyĮssentially went down in history (to the average person) as a two-hit "Who is your favorite band of all time?" To say these guys were Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part 1Īmong people who don't want to have an 'obvious' choice like Theīeatles or The Rolling Stones, but who also don't want to come acrossĪs pretentious jerks in their selection, The Kinks have become a veryĬommon and a rather understandable alternative answer to the question, Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire).The Kinks Completely confused by the rating system? Go here for an explanation.
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