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Post by dolly on Feb 24, 2006 13:55:44 GMT -5
Now that's a great British story..., and helps me realize why you hold VGPS w/ such high regard. "Don't eat no mashed potatoes,
Don't eat no buttered scones
Stay away from carbohydrates
You're gonna look like skin and bone. "They used to feed us instant mashed potato (soapflakes) everyday in school. Yeah - you think its Ray being cute and stereotypical, but its not. Or maybe it was never like that if you lived in the city, like some folk claim, but they're idiots. American tourists flock to see the village green.
They snap their photographs and say gawd darn it,
Isn't it a pretty scene? Haha. This is Stratford-Upon-Avon on a Sunday afternoon. |
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Post by Paul on Feb 24, 2006 13:59:46 GMT -5
I love the song "Village Green" it has kinda creepy music...
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Post by dolly on Feb 24, 2006 14:00:43 GMT -5
...although I'm a bit worried that since the 'arena rock' albums did better in the States that he may play those (Sleepwalkers thru Word of Mouth albums circa 1976-1984) instead of the classic British albums (1964-1971) that I love him for. That would be a bit shit. Alright for the Holzman's in the crowd though  You'll just have to get to the front and heckle him to play the good stuff if he tries that on you. The joy he gets from playing those songs from the likes of Muswell and VG and the fact that everyone knows the words and loves them is great to see. He actually said that he loves playing the old Kinks songs as that's what "gave me my star and I'm really proud of them - or I wouldn't play them". I think he's in an 'it's on my terms' kick, so I think he'll play plenty of cool stuff for you - with maybe a small nod to the arena years. I hope so anyway. |
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Post by Kensterberg on Feb 24, 2006 14:01:48 GMT -5
I think you'd be damn lucky if he played Art Lover or Property (from Give the People What They Want and State of Confusion, respectively) ... of course, I don't think those albums are anything that Davies should be ashamed of. Conidering that they kept the band relevant (and arguably more relevant here in the Colonies than at any other point in their career) for a whole new generation of listeners, I think these records get short shrift from many fans today.
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Post by dolly on Feb 24, 2006 14:02:12 GMT -5
I love the song "Village Green" it has kinda creepy music... It sounds very Tudor. Kind of goes with the tudor-houses that you often find in those villages.... |
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Post by dolly on Feb 24, 2006 14:04:37 GMT -5
I think you'd be damn lucky if he played Art Lover or Property (from Give the People What They Want and State of Confusion, respectively) ... of course, I don't think those albums are anything that Davies should be ashamed of. Conidering that they kept the band relevant (and arguably more relevant here in the Colonies than at any other point in their career) for a whole new generation of listeners, I think these records get short shrift from many fans today. Hehe. Hey Holzman....  |
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Post by dolly on Feb 24, 2006 14:06:28 GMT -5
You have a point actually, Ken. America was good to the Kinks, even when we weren't being. He should throw in a few crowd pleasers. It's not bad[/] stuff, it just isn't their best. And from a legend, that's what you want to see.
Someone should tell Mr Dylan that too.
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Post by Kensterberg on Feb 24, 2006 14:07:17 GMT -5
One great thing about those "arena" albums, the production is fantastic! I mean, there's no hiss, the instruments don't sound like they were recorded underwater ... hell, you can actually hear the vocals properly!
Maybe that's why you guys don't like 'em?
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Post by Paul on Feb 24, 2006 14:09:48 GMT -5
I think you'd be damn lucky if he played Art Lover or Property (from Give the People What They Want and State of Confusion, respectively) ... of course, I don't think those albums are anything that Davies should be ashamed of. Conidering that they kept the band relevant (and arguably more relevant here in the Colonies than at any other point in their career) for a whole new generation of listeners, I think these records get short shrift from many fans today. I don't think they're bad albums....they just don't hold up w/ the likes of the klassics. Those klassic albums, in my very biased opinion, are just as good and sometimes better than the material released by their peers. Actually, if he plays "On the Outside" from Sleepwalkers (1976) I'll be a happy man. |
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Post by Kensterberg on Feb 24, 2006 14:12:55 GMT -5
And again, I've gotta say that at least those two tracks I mentioned earlier are every bit as good as (if not better than) anything else in the band's catalog.
I think that another reason that I like some of these track is that Davies was sometimes writing from a more personal perspective. Property is broad enough to be true about almost any divorce, but it's obviously about his break-up with Chrissie Hynde. While he wasn't writing confessional songs by any means, there's a much more personal note to some of those tunes that I don't hear on those older recordings. Village Green may be a great song about Britain, or rural Britain, to be more precise, but Property is a great song about being human.
Damn, wish I could find my tape of that LP ... maybe I need to go buy the friggin' thing on disc (finally!) ...
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Post by dolly on Feb 24, 2006 14:13:10 GMT -5
One great thing about those "arena" albums, the production is fantastic! I mean, there's no hiss, the instruments don't sound like they were recorded underwater ... hell, you can actually hear the vocals properly! Maybe that's why you guys don't like 'em?  Low blow! Listen to VGPS remastered deluxe triple disc set. Sounds clear enough to me. But anyway.... back in the day - VGPS was 1966 wasn't it? (England's world cup year - woo!) Production had obviously moved on in terms of clarity and quality by the 1980s arena stuff. Stereo for a start! Doesn't mean that the songs weren't better - just because the technology wasn't there yet. I personally love the fuzzy dirt of Davies guitar and the manic crackle of Ray's lyrics right at the very start. I'm not a fan over overclean and smooth production, admittedly. |
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Post by Paul on Feb 24, 2006 14:13:45 GMT -5
One great thing about those "arena" albums, the production is fantastic! I mean, there's no hiss, the instruments don't sound like they were recorded underwater ... hell, you can actually hear the vocals properly! Maybe that's why you guys don't like 'em? Well, in 1998 all the Pye albums got the remastering job. They do sound much better, but there is still work to be done... The Konk re-issues (the RCA and Arista years) which cover 1971 (Muswell Hillbillies) through 1984 (Word of Mouth) all have been transfered to SACD and sound terrific. |
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Post by dolly on Feb 24, 2006 14:15:28 GMT -5
Village Green may be a great song about Britain, or rural Britain, to be more precise, but Property is a great song about being human. You know we're stiff shirts here in Britain, Ken. Feelings? personal stuff? *squirms embarrassingly in seat* My, hasn't the weather turned nippy in the last few hours? Bathtime! Later people  |
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Post by Paul on Feb 24, 2006 14:19:40 GMT -5
One great thing about those "arena" albums, the production is fantastic! I mean, there's no hiss, the instruments don't sound like they were recorded underwater ... hell, you can actually hear the vocals properly! Maybe that's why you guys don't like 'em? Low blow! Listen to VGPS remastered deluxe triple disc set. Sounds clear enough to me. But anyway.... back in the day - VGPS was 1966 wasn't it? (England's world cup year - woo!) Production had obviously moved on in terms of clarity and quality by the 1980s arena stuff. Stereo for a start! Doesn't mean that the songs weren't better - just because the technology wasn't there yet. I personally love the fuzzy dirt of Davies guitar and the manic crackle of Ray's lyrics right at the very start. I'm not a fan over overclean and smooth production, admittedly. I don't like clean production either...I'm a fan of fuzzy/dirty sounding guitars, and that raw/live feel. Typically the more produced and slick the song is, the less I listen. Case in point --Eric Clapton in the 1960's was a maniac on the guitar and wasn't affraid to muck the sound up a bit, that gritty/dirty sound...since then, he's Mr. Slick and has way too much of a 'clean' sound. Another example, Pearl Jam's Ten album. Talk about being over produced, yuk! Then listen to Vitalogy, it's raw, aggressive, and dirty sounding; I love it. |
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Post by Kensterberg on Feb 24, 2006 14:24:11 GMT -5
I blame the shitty sound of those klassic Kink LPs on two factors. The first is shitty care-taking by the record label. The Kinks katalog just hasn't gotten the same kind of attention that the Stones, Who or Beatles have. The second, and IMO more serious, problem is much more fundamental: these sessions just weren't well recorded in the first place. Just compare Revolver and Village Green ... hell, toss in some Stones or Who sides from '66 as well. It's apparent (to my ears anyway) that one of these bands was getting sonic short shrift.
It would be one thing if we were talking about stuff recorded under some really shitty conditions, or back in the thirties, for example. But given that their contemporaries all made much better sounding records at the same time, well ... I don't think that it's unfair to factor the poor sound quality into one's judgment of these releases.
Ah well ... shit to do, and all that ...
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