Kinks, The - The Village Green Preservation Society - 1968

Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, Bach...and I suppose Pink too.

Kinks, The - The Village Green Preservation Society - 1968

Postby Roland Bru » Sun Aug 17, 2008 3:07 pm

The Kinks are well known for some rocking singles in 1965-66. Together with The Who they brought a punkish attitude to the Britpop scene of the day. Songs like "You really got me" may not sound very sophisticated today (as indeed it didn't back in 1965) but they contained some raw energy, conveyed a British middle class outlook on life and created a niche that other bands found hard to get into.

Possibly because they were prohibited from playing in de States (bad luck or silly U.S attitude, considering the behaviour of other artists at the time), they more and more cultivated their Englishness. 'They' is actually mostly Ray Davies, composer and lyricist (and singer, although his brother, David, sang some tunes as well). This album, and the sequel Arthur or the decline and fall of the British empire, are to well crafted Britpop albums. Like Blur in 1990s they convey a supremely British view on life in its subject matter. Listen to this and you might well believe that the Stones are North American. You know they would never write a song called The last of the steam-powered trains! All things British are dealt with, fondly, respectful, but with the sad knowledge that those days are really over.

The Kinks legacy is underrated, partly because for a long time they were not in print (or just some lousy compilations). There is a lost world to discover in the Kinks' career from 1966 - 1975 and this is a very nice example.
Roland Bru
 
Posts: 77
Joined: Fri Aug 15, 2008 5:11 pm

Return to Music

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests

cron