The Kinks became arena rockers with Sleepwalker, and its follow-up, Misfits, follows in the same vein, but it's a considerable improvement on its predecessor. Ray Davies has learned how to write within the confines of the arena rock formula, and Misfits is one of rock & roll's great mid-life crisis albums, finding Davies considering whether he should even go on performing. "Misfits," a classic outsider rallying cry, and "Rock and Roll Fantasy" provide the two touchstones for the album -- Davies admits that he and the Kinks will never be embraced by the rock & roll mainstream, but after Elvis' death, he's not even sure if rock & roll is something for mature adults to do. Over the course of Misfits, he finds answers to the question, both in his lyrics and through the band's muscular music. Eventually, he discovers that it is worth his time, but the search itself is superbly affecting -- even songs like the musichall shuffle "Hay Fever," which appear as filler at first, have an idiosyncratic quirk that make them cut deeper. Although Ray would return to camp on their next album, Misfits is a moving record that manages to convey deep emotions while rocking hard. The Kinks hadn't made a record this good since Muswell Hillbillies.
The Kinks are an interesting band in history, everyone has heard their singles, but yet they never reached the massive commercial success of others at the time. The Kinks released a large amount of sensational records, yet you would be hard pressed to find people being able to name just one. Things become even more obscure when you look at the latter period of their career when they weren't d...
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Lately I've been going on a little bit of a Kinks binge. Maybe I decided to jump onto The Kinks because I've been listening primarily to metal in the weeks prior to last. The Kinks were the perfect band to brighten up the mood, and what better way to satisfy my vinyl cravings, then by purchasing a Kinks record. Misfits isn't the kind of album you expect from The Kinks, but while it may stray...
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for those of you maybe too young to have heard this, give a listen now!! you won't be disappointed, promise!!
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This started out as a comment to someone else's MOG, but it grew, and i decided to put it here, instead.While i haven't attended nearly as many live shows as some pople out there, i have been to my share. When i ran across someone's MOG entry reminiscing about the local band that opened for the Clash when he saw them Way Back Then, it got me thinking.Herewith my List of Memorable Opening ActsF...
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for those of you maybe too young to have heard this, give a listen now!! you won't be disappointed, promise!!
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On some unnamed bit torrent site [heh], I saw that OK Go has covered The Kinks' Christmas classic, "Father Christmas," on a new KROQ holiday compilation. And it made me pine for the original.A few years back, I think the SoCal ersatz ska band Save Ferris covered it as well on yet another KROQ Christmas album.I've heard both covers and the Save Ferris one is better than the OK Go version. Then...
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The Kinks are an interesting band in history, everyone has heard their singles, but yet they never reached the massive commercial success of others at the time. The Kinks released a large amount of sensational records, yet you would be hard pressed to find people being able to name just one. Things become even more obscure when you look at the latter period of their career when they weren't d...
More >
Lately I've been going on a little bit of a Kinks binge. Maybe I decided to jump onto The Kinks because I've been listening primarily to metal in the weeks prior to last. The Kinks were the perfect band to brighten up the mood, and what better way to satisfy my vinyl cravings, then by purchasing a Kinks record. Misfits isn't the kind of album you expect from The Kinks, but while it may stray...
More >
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 "Misfits")
