Published on January 19th, 2009 | by mark
0Spotlight On The Kinks
Me-thinks the Kinks are better than the Who.
Actually, after the Beatles, and then the Stones… there are the Kinks.
The Kinks are that good.
The Kinks came across as slightly schizophrenic. Manic one minute what with the invention of heavy metal on “You Really Got Me” (thanks to a shredded guitar amp), and the likes of “I Need You” but then dispensing tenderly folkie sentiments with “So Long.”.
One thing about the Kinks- they are guaranteed to make you smile. Their humor is innate, they totally lack any pretense of rock stardom, and they created a lot of great music.
Recently treated to a reissue series of the Kinks output on Pye records (replete with bonus tracks) on Castle, these cds offer no new sonic revelations as the recordings of the vintage Kinks were pretty rudimentary monophonic affairs until “Face to Face”.
However the acoustic songs such as ‘Nothin’ in the World Can Stop Me Worryin’ Bout that Girl” and their Beatle inspired debut single “Long Tall Sally’ sound pretty darn good on these CDs.
All of these reissues are worth seeking out:
You Really Got Me
Kinda Kinks
Kink Kontroversy
Face to Face
Something Else
Village Green Preservation Society
Arthur
Lola vs. Powerman and the MoneyGoRound
Highlights in this series are really too much to mention – but such highlights include electric rock ballads such as “Tired of Waiting” and “Set Me Free”, proto Raga-rock “See My Friends’, the Dylan inspired “Mr. Reporter”, the epic “Shangri-La”, and “King Kong” which pre-dates the T-Rex sound by a few years. Interesting to note that those amazing girlish background vocals on “You Really Got Me” and “Waterloo Sunset” were actually provided by a female- Ray’s wife Sasha. These Kinks Cds are essential in any rock collection.
The Kinks : BeatRoom 1964
The Kinks : Milk Cow Blues
Related Posts
Woods: I Was Gone:: Live →
NOW-AGAIN RELEASES WITCH ANTHOLOGY →
THE MEN announce west coast tour →