The Kinks

[darth_vedder]

The Stones and Beatles have a thread. The Kinks deserve one too.

Their 1966 to 1971 stretch rivals, and in some cases exceeds, the work of their peers.

Who has heard the brilliance of 'Arthur'? Or played 'Face to Face' followed by 'Lola v. Powerman', followed by Muswell Hillbillies?

What are your favorite tracks? Do you like the early garage rock thing, the middle rock opera stuff, the late 70's / early 80's "give the people what they want" phase?

Is Ray Davies not one of the best song writers of all time?

[Gods' Die]

Who has heard the brilliance of 'Arthur'? Or played 'Face to Face' followed by 'Lola v. Powerman', followed by Muswell Hillbillies?

Me...Village Green-Lola is about as good as back-to-back-to-backs can get; and like other bands with 3 stunning records in a row the ancillary records on either side of this run are pretty damn good as well.

What are your favorite tracks? Do you like the early garage rock thing, the middle rock opera stuff, the late 70's / early 80's "give the people what they want" phase?

Victoria, Some Mother's Sun, Shangri La, Nothing to Say, Strangers, Lola, A Long Way from Home, Rats, Powerman, Got to Be Free...and that's just off of Arthur & Lola (my 2 favorites).

Is Ray Davies not one of the best song writers of all time?

Yeah.

[epilogue]

Village Green is one of my all time favorite albums.

[Gods' Die]

Have you guys ever given Blur a fair shake?

[darth_vedder]

Who has heard the brilliance of 'Arthur'? Or played 'Face to Face' followed by 'Lola v. Powerman', followed by Muswell Hillbillies?

Me...Village Green-Lola is about as good as back-to-back-to-backs can get; and like other bands with 3 stunning records in a row the ancillary records on either side of this run are pretty damn good as well.

Absolutely. I'd expand it though to include Face To Face, Something Else, and Muswell Hillbillies. That right there, paired with Village Green, Arthur, and Lola give the Kinks 6 back to back albums that are 6 of the best rock records ever made.

What are your favorite tracks? Do you like the early garage rock thing, the middle rock opera stuff, the late 70's / early 80's "give the people what they want" phase?

Victoria, Some Mother's Sun, Shangri La, Nothing to Say, Strangers, Lola, A Long Way from Home, Rats, Powerman, Got to Be Free...and that's just off of Arthur & Lola (my 2 favorites).

Such great songs..."Rats" is insane. Mick Avorey's drumming is phenomenal. Speaking of Mick Avorey, he was the Stones original drummer. His drumming style is pretty awesome. He kinda reminds me of Charlie Watts mixed with Keith Moon. He's not as smooth as Charlie, but kinda smooth, and he's not as wild as Moon, but he does a crazy amount of fills / rolls.

"This Time Tomorrow" and "Strangers" are also such good songs.

For those that don't know "Rats" here it is:

[epilogue]

Have you guys ever given Blur a fair shake?

This thread is about The Kinks, not Blur! You wanna talk about that band, go start another thread for 'em!

[darth_vedder]

Have you guys ever given Blur a fair shake?

This thread is about The Kinks, not Blur! You wanna talk about that band, go start another thread for 'em!

You tell him goddammit!

[epilogue]

Have you guys ever given Blur a fair shake?

This thread is about The Kinks, not Blur! You wanna talk about that band, go start another thread for 'em!

You tell him goddammit!

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

I was amazed when I first heard the "Village Green" album and I wondered why I had never heard it before. I was even more amazed to see that it didn't chart at all when it was originally released. People were way more into the Beatles & Stones at the time. Despite this, Ray Davies is as good a songwriter as any of those guys.

[epilogue]

Village Green is another classic album that I didn't hear until much, MUCH later in life. I think I first heard it about 3 years ago, on a friend's recommendation. Just blew me away from first listen.

[doug rr]

the best part of being ray davies is that he can walk the streets of NYC (or anywhere else) and nobody knows who the hell he is..that's perfection

[epilogue]

the best part of being ray davies is that he can walk the streets of NYC (or anywhere else) and nobody knows who the hell he is..that's perfection

He's a regular doug rr.

[Gods' Die]

Village Green is another classic album that I didn't hear until much, MUCH later in life.

Quit phishing...you are old enough to capitalize every letter in the duplicate word describing your advanced age.

[Fuzzcharger]

The Stones and Beatles have a thread. The Kinks deserve one too.

Their 1966 to 1971 stretch rivals, and in some cases exceeds, the work of their peers.

Who has heard the brilliance of 'Arthur'? Or played 'Face to Face' followed by 'Lola v. Powerman', followed by Muswell Hillbillies?

What are your favorite tracks? Do you like the early garage rock thing, the middle rock opera stuff, the late 70's / early 80's "give the people what they want" phase?

Is Ray Davies not one of the best song writers of all time?

I am definitely a fan. I got the Kinks BBC Sessions 6 disc boxset just before Christmas and it's got some great stuff on there. The dvd is particularly enjoyable. Apart from the amazing lyrics, some of Ray's chord progressions are quite incredible. Songs like Autumn Almanac are quite complex but fascinating in their arrangements.

I think Arthur is definitely their best record based on consistently high quality songwriting from start to finish but Muswell would be my second favourite. I do like Village from a sonic point of view but I do feel it is a bit over-rated.

[Fuzzcharger]

Village Green is one of my all time favorite albums.

I sure have. Have you been through the Blur 21 boxset at all?

[Birds in Hell]

Village Green is one of my all time favorite albums.

I sure have.

[darth_vedder]

I need to give Blur some more listens. Outside of a few songs, I don't really know much about them.

[darth_vedder]

One of my personal favorite Kinks songs. The lyrics are still relevant after 40 years. This whole album really (Arthur), could be about the USA; the fall of the American Empire...

Lyrics:

You look like a real human being
But you don't have a mind of your own
Yeah you can walk, you can breathe
You can work, you can stitch you can sew
But you're brainwashed

Yes you are, yes you are
Get down on your knees

Mister you're just brainwashed
You've got a job and a house and a wife
And your kids and your car
Yeah you're been trained just to be
What they want you to be
And be happy to be where you are

Yes you are
Get down on your knees
Get down on your knees

You know the bureaucrats and aristocrats
Are dirty rats for making us what we are, yeah
They're up there, we're down here
You're on the ground and they're up with the stars

All your life they've kicked you around
And pushed you around till you can't take any more
To them you're just a speck of dirt
But you don't want to get up off the floor

Mister you're just brainwashed
They give you social security
Tax saving benefits that grow at maturity
Yeah, you're been trained just to be
What they want you to be
And to do what they want you to

Yes you are, yes you are
Get down on your knees

[epilogue]

Village Green is another classic album that I didn't hear until much, MUCH later in life.

Quit phishing...you are old enough to capitalize every letter in the duplicate word describing your advanced age.

It was supposed to be more of a reference to my musical ignorance than my age. I'm still a young guy. But it shocks me how long it took for me to discover some of my favorite musical things: Village Green, Astral Weeks, The Zombies, Tom Waits... all these things came to me in my mid to late 20s. Hell, Tom Waits came to me in my 30s.

It's great! I really used to believe that these kinds of great discovers were for your teenage years. Really thought these mind blowing connections were behind me. It's good to know life still has tons in store for me as I travel down my 30s.

[Fuzzcharger]

Village Green is one of my all time favorite albums.

I sure have.

Ha! Well that was awkward. Obviously I meant to quote the post directly below the post I accidentally quoted, it being:

Have you guys ever given Blur a fair shake?

Funny stuff