‘The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society, to be precise, is an interesting album and is not at all what I was expecting. A departure from the guitar riff based offerings that featured ‘Waterloo Sunset’ and the like. I’ve been stuck getting past this album, mainly due to its slightly un-interesting feel, as it seems to me… It was released to a backdrop of big releases from The Beatles, The Who and The Stones so it is not surprising that the quaint wafting tracks like ‘Sitting by the Riverside’ and ‘Picture Book’ didn’t reach the critical ear as it might have done a year or so previously. Although Sgt. Pepper released in June ’67, pre-dated the album by year, writing happened over an extended period of time and its influence on a story telling Ray Davies can be heard. It probably didn’t help that The White Album (also released 22nd November ’68) was also hitting the shelves and the Kinks were totally over-looked, particularly when ‘Beggars Banquet’ came out a few weeks later.
Favourite Track – Picture Book (because I can’t get it out of my brain!)
Released – Nov. 1968
Rating – 7.5
Source – Tidal FLAC
Player/Streamer – Chrome on Apple iMac
Amplifier – Audio Pro LV33
Output – Audio Pro LV33