So glad I found this. Fabulous video. Although I've listened to every Kinks album at least 100 times over my life, I have new things to listen to thanks to your discussion. I'm with you on MISFITS and SLEEPWALKER. I think MISFITS is one of the best produced and engineered albums EVER, and you're the first person to ever mention that. I put it up with The Beach Boys' SUNFLOWER and few other records that have a pristine warm sound that just draws you in and makes listening to it such a pleasure. Yeah, those two lyrical glitches on MISFITS are terrible, but other than that, it might be my favorite Kinks record of all time. My first Kinks record was EVERYBODY'S IN SHOWBIZ, but I never completely warmed to it. But I will listen again with fresh ears after listening to you. Same with SOAP OPERA. I went to see the band on that tour, and I think they were all drunk. So I'll listen to that again without drunk ears and see if I can enjoy it more. Endless fabulous music from The Kinks! Saw a tribute concert four years ago here in Los Angeles, with amazing performances using the original charts/instruments/etc. You can find samples by searching for "Wild Honey" and "Kinks." Wild Honey is the name of the orchestra. Lots of well-known musicians took part and played about 40 Kinks songs! Incredible stuff!
Meeting the Kinks way back in '64 in Peoria Illinois at the fairgrounds..I was with a friend it was dark and the band approached us. I was wearing hip huggers and a crop top, I'm 15 and I asked for an autograph, Ray asked if he could sign my tummy. He signed on a drawing of Paul McCartney.
"Preservation Act 2" is Ray Davies' hidden gem with the Kinks. The most beautiful exquisite and risky operetta that has been done to this day. Thank you Ray, for having made this operetta so successful!!!!
I gave Preservation Act 2 a listen. I never listened to the whole album again, although I have listened to Scrapheap City from time to time. I think Preservation Act 1 is the "hidden gem"; it's my favorite RCA album. Don't get me wrong, though, I respect your opinion.
All of the first 3 albums are in mono only. Shel Talmy also produced the first album by The Who (My Generation) and that was also only available in mono. That was sort of his style. The Kinks album Face to Face was their first stereo album. About a decade ago, they located the stage tapes to the first album by The Who and remixed it to stereo, but I don't think they ever did The Kinks that way.
Yeah.... That album got short shrift because it's a mono recording. I simply don't listen to it anymore because of that. But as an album of songwriting, it's fine.
The entire early Beatles catalog was produced to be listened to in mono. They had the resources to also produce stereo versions. It's weird not to listen to it because it's mono.
I am not that mad on a many 60's bands, Beatles, VU, CCR & The Kinks are pretty much the only bands that I absolutely love... The Kinks lose their appeal to me towards the late 70's, stadium rock, air metal and 80's type U.S rock fair is just not for me... 01...The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society … 1968... Monica, Big Sky, Picture Book, Starstruck, The Village Green Preservation Society & Do You Remember Walter... 02... Muswell Hillbillies … 1971... Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues, Have a Cuppa Tea, Holiday & Muswell Hillbilly... 03... Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire … 1969... Victoria, Drivin', Mr. Churchill Says & Arthur... 04... Face To Face … 1966... Sunny Afternoon, Holiday In Waikiki, Most Exclusive Residence For Sale & I'll Remember... 05... Something Else … Death Of A Clown, Lazy Old Sun, Afternoon Tea & Waterloo Sunset 06... Everybody's In Show-Biz - Everybody's A Star … 1972... Hot Potatoes, Sitting in My Hotel, You Don't Know My Name & Supersonic Rocket Ship 07... Sleepwalker … 1977... Sleepwalker, Stormy Sky, Life Goes On... 08... Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround... 1970... Lola, Apeman & Got To Be Free... 09... Kinda Kinks … 1965... Tired Of Waiting For You, Something Better Beginning, Nothin' In The World Can Stop Me Worryin' 'Bout That Girl & Don't Ever Change... 10... Kinks … 1964... You Really Got Me, Stop Your Sobbing, Got Love If You Want It & Just Can't Go To Sleep... 11... Soap Opera … 1975... Nine To Five, Holiday Romance & Underneath The Neon Sign... 12... Preservation Act 1 … 1973... Cricket, Sweet Lady Genevieve & Sitting In The Midday Sun... 13... Schoolboys In Disgrace … 1975... Schooldays, Jack The Idiot Dunce & The Last Assembly... 14... The Kink Kontroversy … 1965... Where Have All The Good Times Gone... 15... Low Budget … 1979... Little Bit Of Emotion... 16... Preservation Act 2 … 1974... Mirror Of Love... 17... Word Of Mouth … 1984... Do It Again, Good Day... 18... Misfits … 1978... 19... State Of Confusion … 1983... Come Dancing, Don't Forget To Dance... 20... Give The People What They Want … 1981... 21... Think Visual … 1986... 22... UK Jive … 1989... 23... Phobia … 1993... The only song I remotely like is 'Hatred' (A Duel). TOP TEN... 01… Waterloo Sunset, 02… Victoria, 03… Sunny Afternoon, 04… Apeman, 05… Picture Book, 06… The Village Green Preservation Society, 07… I Go To Sleep (I never knew it was a Ray Davies song till many years later), 08… Big Sky, 09… Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues, 10… See My Friend...
1. The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968) 2. Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One (1970) 3. Arthur (or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) (1969) 4. Everybody’s in Show-Biz (1972) 5. Something Else by the Kinks (1967) 6. The Kinks Present a Soap Opera (1975) 7. Face to Face (1966) 8. The Kink Kontroversy (1965) 9. Kinks (1964) 10. Muswell Hillbillies (1971) 11. Sleepwalker (1978) 12. Misfits (1978) 13. Kinda Kinks (1965) 14. Preservation Act 1 (1973) 15. Preservation Act 2 (1974) 16. Low Budget (1979) 17. The Kinks Present Schoolboys in Disgrace (1975) 18. State of Confusion (1983) 19. Percy (1971) 20. Word of Mouth (1984) 21. Think Visual (1986) 22. UK Jive (1989) 23. Phobia (1993) 24. Give the People What They Want (1981)
1. Great video 2. Great channel (just subscribed) 3. Great list with some genuine surprises. Pleased to see Sleepwalker and Soap Opera ranked so high as both are tragically underrated. My list places Village Green and Arthur at the top (Arthur gets the edge over Village Green) but any Top Kinks List that has Something Else at the tip of the spear knows what it’s doing. Are you planning on ranking their compilation/best ofs like The Kink Kronikles?
Probably not with the best ofs and suchlike. There's so much music to get to before then... Thanks for subscribing, though. Right now I'm finishing up my top ten best albums of the year for each year of the 1980s. But I'm sure I will get around to the 'best of the 60s and 70s' type of list at some point, in which case you'll get to see The Kinks absolutely decimate their rivals.
You are clearly a bigger fan of The Kinks 70s concept album period and their late 70s arena rock period than I am. I like Schoolboys pretty well and the Preservation albums have a few ok tunes. The late 70s and early 80s albums are good, but lack the unique identity of the mid 60s to early 70s period. Arthur at number 7 is just way too low. As another commenter said Face to Face at 15 is a big sign of trouble. We all have our tastes and way of hearing these things. It's all good. The Kinks rule. We can agree on that for sure. Here's a partial ranking from me: 1. Arthur 2. Village Green 3. Lola 4. Something Else 5. Muswell Hillbillies 6. Face to Face 7. Showbiz 8. Schoolboys 9. Sleepwalker 10. Misfits 11. State of Confusion 12. Give the People 13. Phobia
Chuchu, I disagree with you about Phobia. It has more than one good song. For one thing, the last song on the album (on the U.S. release) is Scattered, which is a classic Kinks' song, one of Ray Davies' best. Other good songs: Only A Dream, Over the Edge, The Informer, and Close to the Wire. Also, I think the U.K./Japanese releases had a bonus song on the CD, at the end, called Did Ya, which is good. I will agree with you about Phobia's production style and excessive 70+ minute length. At the very least, give Scattered a re-listen. Based on your list, I'm going to give the Sleepwalker album a re-listen. I've never been a fan of the Kinks post-RCA albums on Arista and MCA, but I'll at least give Sleepwalker a second chance.
I agree about Face to Face. I really missed the mark on that one. I'm currently making a 1966 album of the year list and Face to Face really lept out at me. It's going to go fairly high on that list.
Being a Kinks fan from You Really Got Me at age 10, I grew-up listening to Ray Davies’ storytelling. He was the O. Henry of rock music. Well Respected Man was the watershed moment, I’d never heard anything like it. I became addicted to Ray’s tales of life. Dedicated Follower of Fashion, Dead End Street, Situation Vacant, Two Sisters, Big Sky, Shangri La, She's Bought a Hat Like Princess Marina - who was writing/recording anything like this in the 60’s? Therefore, the early LP’s have far more meaning to me than the later ones. Stereo record players were big and expensive, mono record players were small portable (D batteries!) and cheap. So, mono recordings didn’t faze us at all. If you were an early fan, you became disillusioned from Preservation on, when Ray expanded the band with a horn section, and his lyrics became heavy-handed and preachy. The subtleness, quaintness, innocence was gone. Sleepwalker and Misfits regained my attention, both are excellent LP’s. After that, arguably when the Kinks were at their peak in popularity-headlining Madison Square Garden-I basically stopped listening. It took me 20yrs to revisit their last 8-10 LP’s. There’s gems on each one but there’s also a lot of uninspired heavy-handedness. The last song on their last LP is genius. Listen closely to Scattered, it is Ray’s life, and our lives as fans, wrapped-up in one unforgettable song. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-h7a8VOeCeEY.html
"Hatred" the ONLY good song on Phobia? Maybe you should give "Scattered" another listen? - perhaps by then you were flagging, because it is, I'm pretty sure, the next-to-last track on the album. Anyway, even if we might differ a bit in our rankings (especially with regard to Face to Face), I enjoyed your video and comments. Thanks.
Hi, great video, my top 3 keeps changing, it depends on my mood, at the moment is: 1) Arthur 2) Village Green pres society 3) Face to Face I like Muswell hillbillies a lot as well, not a great fan of " something else " apart from waterloo sunset and david watts. Lola vs the powerman could be in the top 5. I don't know much about albums that came after everybody's in show biz, i've only got Misfits and preservation act 1. I'll have a go at "Soap opera" it seems to crop up in every album ranking
Phobia deserves more love. There are some stinkers on it but take off those and you have a really good album. Better than some of the preceding albums from the 80s
I appreciate your effort and interest but I was shocked to see Face to Face at 15. To me, it is the most consistent Kinks album and while Village Green Preservation Society or Arthur may be higher or lower depending on mood it is certainly in my top 3. That being said I like the Kinks quite a bit but mainly their early period music through about 1971.
Phobia is their best. Great tunes, powerful sound. Take off Babies and Don’t and it’s perfect. I don’t see how you can put Phobia below the two Preservations, the first album, Think Visual, Schoolboys, etc.
That’s cool. I know I’m in a minority of people who would rank it at the top but I was shocked to see it ranked so low in your list when there are some truly poor Kinks albums out there. One man’s Dark Side of the Moon is another man’s Final Cut I guess.
@@catsofsherman1316 I love the big sound of it which combines the great melodies you are used to hearing from the Kinks with the power of something like Who's Next or Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome. Wall of Fire, Drifting, Phobia, Only a Dream, Over the Edge, Surviving, Hatred - some of the greatest songs in their catalogue. God bless.
My catchphrases too. "Let's be complete rankers and rank up a storm" "Just keep on ranking". Yes, I'm an idiot but I find it quite amusing. I wonder if American viewers get the joke immediately.... 🤔
This list lost all credibility when Face to Face appeared in the bottom half. Now, even I might not try to argue that Face to Face is an objectively better album than Village Green or Arthur, but not to have it at least in the top 5 is a travesty. And didn't you kind of slag off Preservation Act 2 for some of the same reasons that you (rightly) praised Soap Opera?
I love Face to Face but I definitely prefer other albums for regular listening. I don't think I ever pretended to have credibility, though. It's just my opinion. Preservation act 2 just doesn't have as good a batch of songs as Soap Opera in my opinion. If you disagree that's totally fine. Thanks for commenting on now discredited list! 😉
I winced a bit when I saw Face to Face so low. That was the first album in a run of spectacular albums that continued until Lola or maybe Muswell if I'm feeling generous.
Word of Mouth and Phobia are better than Think Visual. And I'd argue Word of Mouth should be much higher. "Living on a Thin Line" and "Do It Again" are Kinks classic. Not a great album, but better than listed here, IMO.
Also man, you missed Art Lover, which is absolutely THE worst song in their catalogue. The bad production, the un-melodic sound, the cringey and creepy lyrics, it’s so incredibly god-awful! lol
it's just the quirky side of Ray Davies coming up with a creative way to tell the story of a father missing his children. I'm guessing most people that hate that song are most likely to be Gen Y or Z. Am I right?
