The Kinks...Are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968)Whenever I listen to one of The Kinks many classic albums, I wonder why they never were as popular are such other British Invasion groups such as The Who, The Beatles, or The Rolling Stones. Ray Davies was not only a catchy song-writer, but an innovative one as well. The Kinks basically pioneered the power chord riff. Sadly, in the US, they are just known as the band that did "Lola" and "You Really Got Me".
Village Green is arguably their finest album. By this point, the hard-rocking sound of the early 60's had been ditched for a folkier, more British sound. Almost like "Waterloo Sunset" for a whole album. The chords are perky and fun. The songs are catchy and endlessly singable. I defy one to listen to "People Take Pictures of Each Other" and not clap along. Oddly enough, this album had no charting hits, thus resulting in one of their poorest selling albums of the 60's. Thankfully, this has grown on the music loving public to become their most popular album, outside of greatest hits collections (which is sad, cause The Kinks recorded only a handful of weak songs in the 60's). This is essential for anyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment