The Village Green Preservation Society

Dope!

Same shit band as before only know this album because of hot fuzz.

Quirky and fun!

Honestly, I just love The Kinks. Long, long album. Weird and upbeat in that Kinks way.

Some red hot lines: We are the custard pie appreciation consortium. I bet you're fat and married and you're always home in bed by half past eight. This album is the definition of twee.

Light-hearted and joyous - I really like this album.

Got me vibing, enjoyed it

Fakker hardt med the kinks

I do love the Kinks. Pretty great.

I like it. Easy listening. Wish I paid a little more attention to listening to this while at the gym. Not the best workout music lol 3.3

Some of the best pop rock I've heard in a while

kamala albumi. kauhea. halloween oli viikko sitten, tarvi pelotella enää tälläsellä KURALÄISKÄLE 60-LUKU POPPEILUA... Kink? Was soll daran Kinky sein? beatles maininta tähän väliin (1/116). album is over... The time is gone, the album is over, thought I'd something more to say... incredible... picture book

No conocía este grupo, y me encantó. Suenan muy bien.

I love this album. Catchy songs with interesting story lyrics. Very English!

Many classics, love the Kinks anyway - so what's not to like. Quite a few songs from Hot Fuzz

Just ok

The songs were ok, but it mostly sounded like they wished they were the Beatles. The Kinks have much better material to include in this list.

Happy go lucky album. Seems like it would be hard to be upset while listening to this one. Doesn’t mean I want to relisten to it though necessarily.

The Village Green Preservation society - 2/5 Do you remember walter - 2/5 Picture book - 2/5 Johnny thunder - 1/5 Last of the steam powered trains - 3/5 big sky -2/5 sitting by the riverside - 2/5 Animal farm - 3/5 Village green - 1/5 Starstruck - 3.5/5 Phenomenal cat - 1/5 All of my friends were there - 0/5 Wicked annabella - 3/5 Monica - 1/5 People take pictures of each other - 2/5 Overall - Not a fan, way too 50s type pop for me

Fuck these guys, they're British, they keep talking about cricket and jam and I have never heard more unrelatable lyrics. They should have deleted everything Phenomenal Cat and after. I didn't outright hate any songs but they kind of all sounded the same, and i would never consciously listen to this album again. Added only Starstruck to my playlist, but I also enjoyed Picture Book, Johnny Thunder, Village Green, and Monica. The style grew on me, was worth the listen. Maybe a 4 or 5/10. All of this bands' good songs were re-recorded by actually good bands on modern equipment, but this handpicked album has none of those originals strangely so I wonder why it's even in this collection

twink beatles, art hoes gon love this

Best Songs -Last of the Steam -Sitting by the riverside -Village Green -

Its incredible to think this is the same band that got big with You Really Got Me. I may be biased because I love this album but the songwriting on this is really strong and its one of those albums that really has its own identity. Not a huge fan of Phenominal Cat but Side 1 is incredible.

I thought I liked The Kinks, but obviously not super well, because this album totally missed me! This is really good! Right up there close to Beatles or Nilsson stuff. Village Green is the right mix of psych and pop. Feeling it a lot. Gonna go 4.5 on this one!

Paul Rudd as Kunu voice: “you sound like you’re from London!”

Very plinky plonky and twee, if you like that vibe then happy days, but it's not for me.

It was ok.

Sounds like they inspired the likes of ELO kind a an oldie but not that goodie in my opinion. My parents would probably love them. a few songs reminded me of green tambourine

I don’t think I like it very much 🙁

Okay

Overall upbeat and cheery, not sure what the lyrics is saying but I would totally dance to this on a random night, by myself.

kinky

Interesting album. At least it's original.

Sounds like knock-off Beatles? Listening further I was pleasantly surprised. This is a good album. It's got a pleasant character and a lot of it sounds pleasantly modern. Lots of Mac Demarco in here, lots of King Gizz, lots of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, lots of Whitney, lots of the Strokes. It's good shit. Well worth a listen.

Fuckin goofy 4/5

Maybe worth 3 stars but I don’t want to accidentally listen to it again.

Very nice Listen

Without getting any context on what exactly I was listening to I just jumped into what the Kinks had to offer and it was…….. interesting? Not a bad listen per se, I was reminded of my first time listening to the monkees or the beach boys or even the EARLY beatles. I didn’t really know how to describe what I was listening to I just knew it was going to be a listen I needed to try and give it an objective look. Well I tried and this definitely isn’t for me. I realize I’m not the biggest fan of the early experimentation with early psychedelic rock/pop. I can’t say I didn’t come out curious though. 3 out of 5 stars.

# 97 : Easy listening and solid musically and lyrically, hard to fault, although no hits on this record. Pretty standard '60s rock, I like it, but nothing special really. Favourite Track : Picture Book Listened : 27/10/2023

I expected way worse, but most songs were actually listenable to. Some obviously aged quite a lot, but not too bad overall

Village green

The Kinks always feel less polished and put together than the Beatles. I think this is a good thing. Lots of tracks on this album sound like they're having a good time recording. Overall, a fun record but I probably won't be on the lookout to own it for my collection or anything. Favorite tracks: Do You Remember Walter?, Last of the Steam-Powered Trains, The Village Green

Nice! Great album.

Eh; there are more interesting work this time period for me. I’d I could do 2.5 I would so a 2 cause I can’t coming back to this lol

Really good!!

Add one star for the variety of instruments

It was ok!

This was moderately enjoyable.

A lot of similarities with The Who (unsurprisingly), and clearly an influence on the next couple decades of rock and early punk music.

Super fun and great album

This was pretty good. I love The Kinks' sound, and this album feels like where they really find it. The themes are strong and they're present in every song. I'm not sure if the album is trying to be a caution against nostalgia or is itself struggling with the present, but either way, it's great.

Well I think I was in the perfect place and time for this album. Seems like it was written for the end of summer in an area obsessed with British Nostalgia but starting to reckon with the realisation that those days are gone It begins twee and sickly sweet but even in the first song it starts revealing the dark underbelly of a society unravelling itself "Preserving the old ways from being abused/Protecting the new ways for me and you/What more can we do?" Do You Remember Walter is where the realisatuon for the loss of the traditional and usual really kicks in Picture Book details the attempt to prove that a marriage isn't fallin apart because the pictures "prove they loved each other a long time ago" Last of the Steam Powered Trains is a masterpiece Big Sky, Animal Farm, Village Green and People Take Pictures of Each Other are all great also I don't actually love listening to it but it's pretty carthartic and interesting to see something that resonates so deeply with rural, ex-tourism town and village life Very very glad it wasn't the unironically bubblegum boyband pop of the 60s and actually had some bite to it

Did not enjoy this

You can really hear the Beatles influence on this album, and several tracks that sound like they could have been on an early Beatles album. That simple poppy melodies, especially on the song "just can't sleep". Then you get to that striking track "You really got me now" that has such a great sound. Overall not a super memorable album for me but I think it just hasn't aged well and can be hard to judge when so much has come after it.

Sounds like a quirky Beatles

I was surprised, quite pleasantly, as my previous exposure to The Kinks was limited to their most well-known tracks. Musically none of the tracks stood out as headliners, but equally, none of them were weaker either. I probably wouldn't be rushing to listen to it again, but neither would I turn it off.

I feel like I'm part of the original audience for this album that wondered what the lads were thinking when they produced this. I like the Kinks so I'll listen to it again in 20 years, and will surely praise it then for its vision and brilliance.

Many great tunes and only a couple granny songs.

You know I’ve actually listened to this one before so I’m excited about that . Also I went to a show once that was a kinks tribute band and they played on the worthington green so they did a bunch of these songs to be thematically appropriate so that was fun. Anyway, yay British Invasion!! (In music. We do not condone British imperialism) This is a fun little album that just goes “I’m a little British guy and I live in a village!” 4/5

it's fun british invasion music idk we listened to it while setting up the tech table I like it

4.5 stars rounded up. I love the concept and almost all the tracks work. My only gripe is that I have to listen all the way through. Everything is solid and coheres. Nothing stands on its own as an isolated track.

It’s hard to get over the blatant Beatles imitation of some of these songs. Maybe this was just a product of the era. Big Sky is the first song to give its own identity and it pays off hugely and it Carrie’s all the way through to Starstruck. The rest of the album falls away a bit

Enjoyed

Meh. Hippy music. There’s a time and place. Not bad. Not great.

Wasn't expecting this from the Kinks, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Light and fun.

Excellent. Animal Farm is a banger.

Impressions: Sounds like The Beatles’ “Rubber Soul” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” As you go along the tracks, it gets better and better. I think it’s much better than the aforementioned albums. They did great work on the 2018 remaster. For a concept album though, I hated the album cover, wish it were more artful rather than just putting the band’s photo in it. Favorite tracks: Picture Book, Last of the Steam-Powered Train, Starstruck, Wicked Annabella Rating: 4/5

viihdytyksen mukaan narriarvo näkyy arviossa päällimmäisenä.. eli 3 star.. Harmi että kinks.. eli -1 star..

Great album. Awesome mix of rock and pop.

jipis

Es un 3.5. Lo disfruté.

Growing up surrounded by 60's pop and rock, I can appreciate the album, but musically I don't find much that particularly stands out. Interesting wiki read. Best Song(s): Sitting by the Riverside, All My Friends Were There Listen Again: Probably not

Pretty good. Even more British than The Beatles. Can't see me regularly listening but good for a kind ol' time.

Pretty good album

Album starts strong with the opening track, but doesn't keep the momentum up and falls flat for the majority of the record unfortunately.

Good

60's Brit pop is one of the few genres I absolutely hate. Album had some nice moments but overall, still 60's Brit pop.

Quite good.

Average

These cats clearly inspired The Mothers of Invention, the Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Group of Four, The Talking Heads. Unusual sounds in pop/rock is such a wonderful concept, and this is some of the best early execution.

Pleasant enough but it wears out its welcome as the album goes on. No single track really stood out. Most of them would be welcome on a playlist, but strung together the album started to feel tedious.

Pretty standard and inoffensive '60s rock. Admittedly my exposure to this decade of English rock is limited, but this sounds like other stuff I've heard from the era. Like I really don't know what the difference between this and The Beatles is--they sound identical to me. Pleasant songwriting and melodies but not adventurous or surprising enough to be interesting. Maybe it was ahead of its time and I'm just dumb? That's probably it.

downloaded 2,3,6,7

So this is DC's versions of The Beatles?

Old-school, feels like Beatles

A little mellow for my taste. Good use of a wide variety of instruments throughout. Sounds a bit like cookie cutter version of Paul McCartney's Beatles songs, so if you enjoy those then you may enjoy this. Sounds a bit like the Beatles "Revolver" from two years earlier without being as musically adventurous.

Not a bad album, with some interesting experimental songs, but not to my taste. Carried mostly by the strong title song. Favorite song: The Village Green Preservation Society. 6/10

There's some moments in this album that I feel transcend time and touch on feelings still relevant today, but there's not many. Most of the album is fine, if typical 60s rock. There's also a few moments where all I can think is "br*tish 💀" Favorite track: Wicked Annabella

Great

nice album

Didn’t love this one. Felt a bit like off-label Beatles. 3/5

Fits well into any categories with The Beatles and the Zombies

Quite twee. Vibey

Two albums ago was my review of a Radiohead album. I realized that there are similarities between them and The Kinks. Radiohead's music meandered and Thom Yorke's singing sounded like he is clinically depressed. But The Kinks seems lighter, doesn't meander, and their singer, who can't really sing either (let's be honest), pulls it off because he doesn't come off as trying to convince everybody how depressed he is that nobody "gets" him. This was a really good listen.

not really for me

really great sound, can sound a bit like a musical, but it makes you dream and float so i forgive it

I’m sure this album was prodigious for the time, but 1968 was a long time ago and music has come a long way since.

All the songs have a very similar sound to them.

Une belle découverte, dommage que le son sorte d'un poste radio des années 30

tres belle voix bravo

Чувствовал себя как дома ))

3.5

Its good but its like a ripoff Beatles. In fact when I listened they recommended me George Harrison songs…

4.5

Super fun! The Kinks!

Pretty wild how a record can flop and then 30 years later all of a sudden it comes out of nowhere and influences every indie band on the planet.

I would not hesitate to put this on a list of my 10 favourite albums ever.

The opening tracks have this fun jangle pop rock quality that is infectious. Phenomenal Cat is stupid as hell.

Side 1 is flawless Side 2 is also great

Overall really liked this. Sounds a lot like Rubber Soul or Revolver, just missing the standout tracks that those albums have. 3.5/5 Would listen again

An all time classic by one of the all time greats! I can't help but equate this album to a Monty Python skit for some reason. It's like in that realm of specific British humor with its musical tone, even though the lyrics are pretty dense. Davies does a great job of balancing happy, silly, baroque pop music over top of concerning lyrics about the fast-approaching modernization of our world. The compositions here though are what I'm really drawn to. Unique chord progressions like on Do You Remember Walter? really challenge the typical pop structures of the time, and only a handful of bands managed to achieve this well. The vocal panning is also bizarre in ways that wouldn't work for hardly anyone else. It continues to amaze me that The Kinks aren't talked about the same way The Beatles or Pink Floyd are in terms of their songwriting abilities. Sure, they may not have defined what studio production would mean for the next 40 years, but the Davies were so damn good at BEING this band that continued to evolve their sound across their whole career.

A satirical yet sincere, biting yet bucolic romp of a record from an iconic band that somehow still remains underrated after all these years.

It reminds me to David Bowie

HAIKU REVIEW English countryside captured in tiny snippets. British time capsule!

Not my favorite Kinks album, it does have a few decent songs. Picture Book, Village Green, The Village Green Preservation Society, Last of the Steam-Powered Trains, Do You Remember Walter? Sitting by the Riverside, Animal Farm, People Take Pictures of Each Other 3.5

The more I listened, the less I liked this.

I like the kinks greatest hits and I LOVE the song Strangers. However, when I listened to this album back in 2019 I didn't like it at all. Today though, I enjoyed it quite a bit. I think its a grower for sure. I don't love the opening track, I actually prefer the football chant of it to the original song. Village Green is a highlight It's either a 3 or a 4. It might be a high three for now, but certainly has the chance of becoming a 4

simply amazing

Enjoyed it, went to some unexpected places.

Solid, entertaining.

Great listen, will listen again

Typical 60s ish.

really nothing special tbh

hobbit rock!

I've always loved the Kinks but for some reason this album was off my radar for many years. I was given a burnt copy as a last minute birthday gift one year and on first listen I found it bizarre on first listen. Months later it cam up on random and I decided to give it another go and discovered this is one of the best concept albums ever released. Why the change in opinion? There isn't a song out of place, no filler, no half sketched ideas. Perfectly crafted pop that's influence lives on over 50 year later - it is more important to Brit Pop than most other albums.

I've never heard an album that sounds so much like The Beatles before. It was pretty good!

Not Kinky enough

Probably the most English album ever recorded and I'm all in for that. Ray Davies is one of the geniuses of British pop.

Better than the other early generated albums

Nice raw, happy and energizing sound

It started of a bit boring, but still okay. "Phenomenal cat" and everything after that is just bad.

Nice album but not that special

This gets close to being actually good, but the impression it leaves after listening is "just okay"

Decent but forgetable

Saai hippie gezeik

starts off slow and I really was getting annoyed that I had to listen to this, but it hits its stride midway through and is great! Songwriting is good and sounds sillier than ever. best tracks: Big Sky, Village Green, Phenomenal Cat

good overall and a couple stand outs

Like the kinks, Some of the goofy stuff is whatever

Love the kinks, and this is a good album, just not their best!

Found it pretty boring. Nothing really sounded interesting, that caught my attention.

4.5/5. What an incredible and under appreciated band, the musicianship and songwriting is in peak form. The fact that they were banned from touring in America could’ve definitely been a huge blow to their best days, but the latter 60s emphasis on Britishness rather than commercials hits were quite influential on the Britpop movement and even American indie rock so perhaps it wasn’t so bad.

Overall ret god, fine vibes og kunne lide de fleste af sangene :)

De jaren zestig: de een begon De Eenzame-Hartenclub van Sergeant Pepper, de ander hield een Bedelaarsbanket, en deze heren stichtten De Vereniging tot Behoud van de Dorpsbrink. Het leuke aan de Kinks is die relaxt-ironische houding die hier tot grote hoogten wordt doorgedreven. Zowaar ga je een beetje naar de teksten luisteren, toch een prestatie voor iets in het Engels. Het schijnt dat er onder alle ironie zowaar echt een laagje gemeende nostalgie zit. Hoe dan ook, ik vond dit album een aangename verrassing. Ik ben voor de aardigheid maar eens royaal met de punten.

Dit is The Beatles, af en toe net zo kinderlijk (Johnny Thunder 'ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba'), maar iets minder zeurend. Zou het voor de vergelijking meer willen waarderen dan de Beatles. Maar ik krijg hier echt geen derde ster uitgeperst.

Het ademt in alles de Beatlesque 60s sfeer en met hun grappige teksten en vrolijke deuntjes zullen ze weinig vijanden hebben. Maar het wreekt een album als dit, dat er niet een hitje op staat, die ze wel degelijk gehad hebben. Dit is typisch zo'n bandje waarvan het beter is om de greatest hits op te zetten

I enjoyed it! Need to listen to more of the kinks

4. Really enjoyed this! Starstruck is definitely one of my fave songs.

A hopping 60s bop

Lots to pull from musically.

Love the Kinks, but this was mid

I like it. It doesnt seemed forced or trynna fit in something.

I liked the last song on side one (Sitting by the Riverside). Tracks 2, 9 also good.

3/5

fun beatles contemporary music

I’ve had two The Kinks albums come up now and I have really enjoyed both of them having not heard them before. This one was really weird but still had some great singles, eg Picture Book. I really enjoyed the 60’s groovyness mixed with wacky English eccentricity. Some tracks near the end were a bit much but I will definitely come back to this.

Pretty Good. I love the kinks, but this is not their best album (i prefer Face to Face, or Something Else). It is saved by the title track, and its double, 'village green' for the image of snotty, verdant middle english angst it creates, but it feels rudderless from the third song onwards, becoming an almost stale recreation of the experimental music of the period. Worth listening to, but i'd rather just listen to three of these songs in a sixties playlist than this album all the way through again.

Pretty good, great to hear songs that are great lyrically, even if its not particularly exciting! The first half was a lot better than the second

We are the Draught Beer Preservation Society God save Mrs. Mopp and good Old Mother Riley We are the Custard Pie Appreciation Consortium God save the George Cross and all those who were awarded them

Good

i enjoyed it !! solid album 😁

Uno de los álbumes más consistentes de la legendaria banda inglesa. Con canciones como “Picture Book” construyeron el panorama del Jangle Rock alternativo de los ‘90s, además de jugar de forma sumamente eficiente con la psicodelia con canciones como “Big Sky”, “Phenomenal Cat” o “Do You Remember Walter?”. Un indispensable para cualquier fanático de las tendencias más alternativas de la música anglosajona.

August 6, 2023 not 1st listen maybe the most British-sounding album I've heard, and I've heard many British-sounding albums But it's also an old favourite of mine, as far as non-Beatles 60s pop goes, and I relish an excuse to listen to it again. I actually had the opener as a morning alarm last month, and it's been stuck in my head continuously as a result. "God save Donald Duck, vaudeville and variety!" <3 HL: title track, "Animal Farm", "Village Green", "Picture Book", "Big Sky", "Last of the Steam-Powered Trains", "Starstruck"

Lovely but dated.

nice música de conducir por nacional

Enjoyable.

Good

Good album. Not every song was a winner but solid overall.

The Kinks is rapidly becoming one of my favourite bands. Before I went on this journey I didn’t give them too much attention, but now, they’re really hooking me. They have this unique way of crafting songs and melodies, they were one of a kind! 8,5 out of 10

Really liked this, need to listen to more of them.

Not their best

Didn't find it very interesting

OK.

2/5 Best: Last of the Steam-Powered Trains Worst: Monica

\"We have Beatles at home...\", but that does not make them worse, I just still like Beatles more.

Didn't know they did village green!

Quaint but nostalgic, love the song Village Green, has a melancholy feel

old rock full of brit style

Love a bit of Kinks: honestly not too bad from an album which is just solid classic rock/pop music which has held up really well even 50 years later. Definitely could see myself coming back to this one but still on the fence for a 5, not definite on it which is my issue. Just felt it was missing one thing I couldn't put my finger on.

Reminded me of the Beatles, good but not a genre I am into.

Is there a name for this style of music? 60s British rock? Anyways, I don’t think I like it. All sound like knock offs of the Beatles.

Boring old hippy music

Very samey

Luistert lekker weg en geeft een positieve draai aan een dag. Daar blijft het wel bij.

Of all the 60s era i definitely love Kinks the most

Fun Album to listen to. Lots of upbeat tunes and very easy to sit through the whole things.

Thought I would like this more, but other than the title song, a bit bland

This was fun!

The Kinks always feel like to me like they make kid’s songs for adults. A fun journey.

This was okay. Still feels like a knock off Beatles. Maybe a little more punk. But not a lot. This is still really safe.

Очень приятный барокко альбом. green vilage великолепный трек алкоальбом: яблочный сидр со своей яблони

Вы скажете: но ведь это же просто ещё одни Битлз? Ну в целом - да. Однако не всё так просто... Эти парни были возможно даже популярнее чем Битлз в своё время. А ещё они ебашили адовые концептуальные альбомы. Наверное, где-то этот концепт уходил уже за грань и слушать это было очень тяжело. Однако мне понравилось, как они настаивали на вот этой своей "британской" тематике альбомов: клавесин там в паре мест прям отлично залетел. Итогово: сложно. Концептуально - 4: я не бритиш, мне понять сложно, но задумка заебись, контекст конечно решает. Эстетически - 2: бля, да это нереально слушать, ещё и в стерео ебаном... P.S. Прикольно, что у альбома есть и моно версия в том числе: хотя мне в итоге часть треков понравились в стерео, а часть - в моно.

мой мозг залипал на паре моментов, но в основном весело и позитивно летело мимо

Generic pop. Fair. Not outstanding. 3/5

Very much of the 60s, sounds like something the monkeys would release, not a particularly enjoyable listen

Folk-pop-rock. Está entretenido. Un 4.

Of its time.

3.5/5

Enjoyable esp with the eeriness that creeps in

I've heard 3(4? 5? 100?) Kinks albums now on this list. My opinion remains the same as before instattes this project: The Kinks were fine and quite influential, but I just don't get the hype.

I usually appreciate the heavy amount of Kinks on the list, but this one is a bit too unfocused and silly for my tastes ('All of My Friends Were There'). Still very impressive songwriting and adventurousness!

Ray Davies completely loses it on the silly-train toward the end of this otherwise critically acclaimed cult album.

i enjoyed this album! i didn't know anything on it in advance, except picture book sounded a bit familiar. the main riff from it also reminded me of Green Day's "Warning," which was fun. i liked how the character portraits of each song worked together and how this was basically just an early concept album of sorts. favorites: the village green preservation society, picture book, village green, all of my friends were there

its just okay

correct

Very Beatles. Pretty good.

just good old fashioned pop rock, 60’s style. as with many other bands of the era, very reminiscent of the beatles. quality. highlights: “the village green preservation society”, “village green”, “wicked annabella”.

This was pretty good. I can see the draw. It's not as good as I really expected though, thb. Lola is epic and this is... simpler.

Man, the Kinks are so good. Ended listening to two more albums after we finished this one.

The Kinks at their most generic imo. The riffs are nice and their signature baroque charm emerges here and there, but it's pretty dull overall, especially when compared to their other efforts.

quite good! a little british for my taste Favorite Tracks: The Village Green Preservation Society, Picture Book, Village Green 4/5

The beginning of the Kinks’ most creative years. This record is great and tells a lot of old British traditions and ways of living. Very influential in my opinion. I feel like they influenced a lot of britpop groups.

What if the Beatles were boring

Maybe I'm not in the right mood for this but it really irritated me. It all feels very forced, and they're trying to take the piss out of something, but I think it's what they're basically saying. Nah. Just got on my tits.

I'm impressed. I only knew of The Kinks big hits. This is very good. It reminds me some of Pink Floyd's Piper at the Gates of Dawn. But this is better, in my opinion (and I'm a big Pink Floyd fan).

Decent. I think Lola vs Powerman is better.

Given the reputation these hairy ding-dongs have, I expected more. Instead we got the Diet Beatles but it's the generic kind and 8 months expired.

I prefer the poppy Kinks. It’s great that they wanted to create a concept album, but I don’t like concept albums and based on the critical reception this album received, neither does anyone else.

3.5

C+ The Village Green Preservation Society - 2 Do You Remember Walter? - 3 Picture Book - 3 Johnny Thunder - 2 Last of the Steam-Powered Trains - 2 Big Sky - 4 Sitting by the Riverside - 3 Animal Farm - 3 Village Green - 3 Starstruck - 2 Phenomenal Cat - 2 All of My Friends Were There - 3 Wicked Annabella - 2 Monica - 2 People Take Pictures of Each Other - 2 This is a very strong 2, but it isn't deep enough to earn a 3. I will definitely return to a couple 3's, but it wasn't the most memorable album I've heard. The first time I heard this album was in high school. I was hanging out with this girl who I always had a thing for: tall, attractive, great personality. On top of all that, she was Jewish. For a non-secular Jewish person, such as myself, finding out that a girl is Jewish is like finding out the car you might buy has heated seats. It's a fantastic added bonus, but not the make or break requirement. Whereas for a secular Jew, it'd probably feel more like the engine. Anyways, I was hanging with her one night and she was playing music. Did I mention she had great music taste too? Ya, she was wifey material. She played "Big Sky", which I immediately liked and have listened to since then. So, when this album popped up, I recognized the cover, but had never listened to any other tracks, so I was excited. Honestly, it's quite good. However, 3's are a tough threshold, and this couldn't quite cut it. Just barely though. If it had received a single more grade point, it would have made it a 3. As for the mystery girl, she's a 5 out 5, and I never became more than a friend. Maybe we'll run into each other one day at Whole Foods and catch up on old times. My beard will be fully filled in and I'll dress like a professional writer, cardigan and all. She'll tell me she's gone corporate and shatter all my hopes, dreams, and memories all at once. I'll slo-mo drop my quinoa onto the ground in shock, collapsing and losing all sense of what's going on. As I lay in a pile of quinoa on the cold, hard floor of Whole Foods losing consciousness, Big Sky will eerily play on the store's speakers: my Rosebud.

Pretty solid album about how small town life might not be as bad as we remember.

eh

5/10. Decent, nothing special.

C'est super bon, ils ont un peu de genre melanger mais ca sonne bien et c'est agréable. 4

De vieux sons, j'aime bien le style, on voit que ça a été précurseur de plusieurs autres groupes après. Je connaissais pas tant, belle petite découverte.

I love this album. I loved it the first time I heard it and it has held up on countless listens. I was really into the early Blur albums before I listened to Village Green, so I immediately connected to the similar observations on provincial English life. One of my favorites.

It's very beatles-esque but with a nice zane to it

Still very satisfying stuff from the Muswell Hillbillies

Some fine songs on this early concept album but lacking the immediacy of other Kinks output.

Three 60’s albums in a row. That’s cool, I guess. I love the Kinks for how much they indulge in their… Britishness? Britainism? Britishity? Wait. Anyway, their baroque pop is just really enjoyable. Apparently this is a concept album about stories or something like that. I just think it has good songwriting . I don’t know how to end this, so I’ll just close out with the fun fact that my band at School of Rock (a music learning place, I play guitar) played Picture Book once. I wasn’t on it.

I don't think I've ever listened to The Kinks outside of radio play or media placement before this. They're one of those bands I've been "sort of" aware of for a while. I knew of this specific album's existence due to it being an early volume in the 33 1/3 book series and now I've some more reason to seek that one out - this is fabulous stuff! Very enjoyable first listens - twice back-to-back! "Do You Remember Walter" is my favourite song right out of the gate, but there were no songs I didn't enjoy!

I really enjoyed this album, the Kinks are highly underrated.

Enjoyable

Not their best, bit long winded

Really nice 60’s pop 4/5

Pretty good album if you like 60's folk-rock. Kind of weird in a good way which I show that genre typically is. Personally I liked it. Sometimes the vocal inflections were a little too weird for me to the point that they were not a good listening experience like at the start of "People take Pictures of Each Other" and in "Monica". Some of the guitar melodies and riffs on this album though were incredible. Loved the instrumentation in general on "Wicked Anabella", "Village Green" and "Sitting By the River". Overall though I liked the album and my favorite songs were "The Village Green Preservation Society", "Wicked Annabella", "Village Green", "Animal Farm", "Do You Remember Walter?", "Last of the Steam-Powered Trains" and "Picture Book". 9/10

Riktigt bra asså kommer absolut lyssna på flera gånger. Har aldrig riktigt lyssnat på dem men ja.

Fan det är ju bra - ska jag våga ge en fyra fast jag lyssnar på det för första gången… eh annars blir det bara treor

Really great, can see why its a classing. Just nice!

A quintessential English album of the 1960s. Just perfection!

Great tunes here. All time band at their best. 4star only due to all songs sounding the same. Trying to be objective here

Chronically underrated . . . But this early stuff IDK.

Great

Peeling back the curtain on an interesting, quaint English village…

Well preserved.

Blur's third best album

One of the greatest albums of the sixties. How could I not love a song and album that name checks Sherlock Holmes and moriarty. Overall the perfect mix of nostalgia and critique. Sure, this turns into the worrying politics of ray davies, but this album remains a perfect encapsulation of a certain type of Englishness that has understood it’s no longer the world power, but is happy to remain British, unflappable and unbowed. I love this album, despite where it points. But where it is (not where it points) is an expression of my Anglophilia.

"Fly or die" . Ok let's get urban and possibly deeply ironic, yeah :-) . It ticks a genre box I suppose. I'm curious as to why it's on the list... I drop my bias for a moment... I looked for their most popular track.. "she wants to move".. and reluctantly, I can say , on the 2nd listen, does have a certain catchy and original style, on the 2nd listen. Sometimes you have to give new music some time... As the album cover advertises so well what it is, it's easy to see this as juvenile american boy music with attitude. Mostly not for me, and at first it really defies me to see what it defines, achieves or says. ... I actively disliked much if it. As the review mentions they worked hard to make something that others see... Party Rap rock. I started to hear influences of Nirvana harmonies and heavy 90s rock updated ....with modern bit band overtones - moments of Timberlake without the vocal gifts. So that's how I got to 3 stars instead of 1. Bruv slates, andLive long and prosper, fellas. (But I am not sure you broke the metaphorical shell of our understanding of brash American culture).

The late 60's period where the main British pop songwriters started turning their minds to more "serious" work is a whole genre unto itself. I love those early seventies films That'll Be The Day and Stardust, with David Essex playing prototypical British 60's popstar who then becomes a bit of a legend in his own lunchtime and gets all conceptual etc. Sports fans if you've not seen those films they are well worth checking out. I don't think it is any coincidence that Pete's going down the Pinball Wizard/Quadrophenia path and Ray pops out Village. Serious artists they are by gum. Now in Pete's case I lurrvve Quadro, and as big a Ray (and Dave) fan as I am Village just doesn't cut it for me. I was told to listen to back in the day, in one of those Pet Sounds moments we've all had, but despite repeated listens it just doesn't do it for me. The master melody maker spent a little too much time on the concepts and forgot about the melodies, now that I think about it I don't think he ever really got the magic back, bar a couple of super moments later. The problem dear brethren is that it is just straight out boring. I saw Ray at the Enmore about 10 years ago, great show, not a whole lot of Village in the set let me tell you..

Yet another white boy rock critic cult classic... an overlooked gem of 1960s chamber pop, just like soooo many others we have reviewed as part of 1001 albums. I mean, it's pleasant enough (by design). This marks the point at which Ray Davies had successfully torpedoed his career by fighting with seemingly everyone who might be able to help him, and the Kinks transition from pop-hitmakers to cult favourites (i.e., commercial irrelevancy). I have long liked the title track (never released as a single in the UK!) and The Last of the Steam-Powered Trains is a rollicking English take on Smokestack Lightning. But I have no great nostalgia for the Britain of years past, so it's a bit of a non-committal shrug from me. The 1968 NME considered the album "too twee" even then, and I tend to agree. 2.5 stars, rounding down.

Started out as a solid 3 and dropped off toward the end. Could easily dip into 2 star

I liked the start, got a little weird at the end.

I'm glad I listened to this but I didn't really like it. The sort of pseudo-medieval lute-playing bard gimmick never really landed with me and I don't really understand that vibe though it seemed pretty prevalent for a while in the 60's Picture Book wasn't bad but I think I'd skip the rest of this record.

This album was okay. Took me a minute to realize why "Picture Book" seemed so familiar: Green Day snagged that guitar riff for their song "Warning." "Sitting by the Riverside" almost sounds like a McCartney track, especially the old-timey-sounding piano bits. Not for the first time, I get the feeling the Kinks are sorta riding the Beatles coattails. Going to round up from 2.5.

This era of The Kinks is pretty great. I enjoyed this.

Nice easy listen to start the day. Not something I'd ever put on voluntarily, but it was fine for what it was.

Everything that's great about the 60's 2 Missing the killer single

Not for me, can see its importance but its just a bit too 60's english for me.

Title track is quaint, otherwise just average.

One or two alright tracks does not make an album

Musically, very low-fi 60’s. Does not sound passable in 20xx…Lyrically, I suppose the album is stronger than most. 2.9/5

60’s English rock. Similar in style to the stuff the Beatles were doing a couple years earlier but not good. It lost me at the “fum diddle dee” part of phenomenal Cat. 1-2?

I hate this. Sitting by the riverside is like a nightmare circus. Phenomenal cat and all my friends are some of the worst things I’ve ever heard. How can someone make a song like that. Steam powered trains sounds like a rip off of smokestack lightning. I hate when these square British bands play blues, it’s so cringe.

Super duper not into this.

Cool

Very poppy 60s stuff

A strong album of its time and the band plays well. Not a huge fan of the individual tracks, however.

God save this and that, whatever rhymes. So begins the tongue-in-cheek themes surrounding the village green, tying together a very loose concept of sketching out characters from Anywhere, UK, including the more unsavory village types, like the hoodlum and the prozzie. It’s all a kind of false walk down Memory Lane. You know, the place where Walter used to stroll? Anyway, a fine place to escape to when things get rough or hectic.

I'm a huge fan of this album. It doesn't have the recognizable hits of some of the Kinks' other albums, but it's the one that solidifies them as the smartest of the British invasion bands, and probably the one Kinks album I listen to the most. The album is so well crafted, full of delightful, melodic songs, sly wit, sweetness and charm. Subtly and elegantly arranged, with elements of baroque pop, folk, and English music hall as well as odd little detours into old timey vaudeville, calypso and psychedelia. The musical choices for each song cleverly highlight the album's central themes of nostalgia and memory, acknowledging the past while also understanding that nostalgia isn't all it's cracked up to be. There's a high level of creativity and nuance here that you rarely find in music. Fave Songs (All songs, from most to least favorite): Picture Book, Sitting by the Riverside, The Village Green Preservation Society, Johnny Thunder, Animal Farm, Last of the Steam-Powered Trains, Do You Remember Walter, Village Green, Big Sky, Starstruck, Monica, Wicked Annabella, All of My Friends Were There, Phenomenal Cat, People Take Pictures of Each Other

Certainly better than their Arthur album but still pretty bland. Starts off ok but descends into bland 60’s twee shite nearer the end

Love

I love The Kinks, and can see why this was so beloved of the 90s BritPop cohort. They do have a way with a lyric and a tune, although I prefer some of the catchier singles to many of the songs here, truth be told, even the ones from this particular era. In 2023 this sounds very dated. The idea of 'quaint old England' feels regressive, rather than progressive or celebratory. And the 60s stylings do sound just that now. This was a great idea at the time, and even made sense in the nineties, and it's hardly Davies & co's fault that the world they tried to convey ended up quite so bent out of shape. But it's hard to hear this in the spirit it was intended from this far away.

Clever lyrics and some interesting themes. This requires your full attention. I was unable to give it this today. I kinda get the nostalgia fest. It probably made more sense in 1968 than 2023. I don't want to go back to a bland world of black and white and shitty suburbia.

Classic album by the Kinks! Peak period for the Kinks with an album devoid of any hit singles, yet has a strong collection of songs that highlight the quality songwriting and musicianship that has been the core strength of the band. This probably was a commercial flop at the time, but artistry shouldn't be judged by sales. This is one of the few deluxe box sets I own, because I want to hear all the music from the recording sessions over multiple vinyl platters, both mono and stereo. I can't say the same for most albums.

Picture Book is a great track.

I knew hardly anything about The Kinks before starting this generator, with them just being one of the other British Invasion bands for me, but as my partner got a couple albums by them and showed me a few of their songs, I really fell in love. It is just so creative and charming compared to the rock 'n' roll focus still happening at the time. Obviously, The Beatles were also at their creative peak, but that doesn't stop The Kinks, and especially this album, from really standing out. Really looking forward to their three other albums on this list, as this one was awesome. Shame that the leads of the band seem to be twats at times, but that doesn't matter here!

Enjoyed this, but definitely liked it more when The Beatles did it. 3/5

I listened to the first half of this yesterday and rather foolishly decided that perhaps it isn't my favourite Kinks album - but starting from the beginning again this morning makes me think that maybe that's simply a lack of familiarity... It is 60s pop masterwork. Each track is short and punchy. When you listen closely you notice that the harmonisation is absolutely top class. The guitar, bass and drums are faultless. Some of the hooks are just astonishing. I think it is sage to say that The Kinks will continue their 5-star streak.

Very experimental album for the era, '69 rock from the uk is now what i expectef to hear but really up my alley. 4/5

13.04.23. Очень сочный и красочный альбом, который может похвастаться шикарной работой с инструментами, нежной британской атмосферой и обилием невероятно красивых песен. Эту пластинку я рекомендую послушать абсолютно всем, кто увлекается 60-ми.

I've never listened to this album before. Classic Kinks.

OK-ish. Sounded like they were trying too hard trying to make a point, failed in the process and the album suffered as a result. 2.5 stars.

This is a wonderful album, I enjoyed it more than I expected.

One of my favourite Kinks albums.

Their crowning achievement acc Ian. Jess disagrees.

I can see how people with this music taste can like it. I personally don’t listen to this kind of genre. I can appreciate the art🕺

love it

Reminded me of the Beatles and a little of the beach boys. Fun happy vibe, great lyrics and rhythm. Very diverse song content.

Quite boring and very corny... liked village green though

Old England. Rural retreats, vast swathes of farmland, friendly neighbourhoods, tea parties, Victorian music hall, the village green. Almost fifty years before this kind of nostalgia exposed itself as a complicated, damaging, Brexit-leaning force, Ray Davies was reading Dylan Thomas and reflecting on The Kinks having been banned from touring the US. What did his country mean to him? How was it changing with more and more technological advances? What was going to happen to it? Could the British Invasion go both ways, with the increasing Americanisation of his beloved home turf? The result is The Kinks’ maturation into one of the most versatile and singular bands of the 1960s, and Ray Davies’ blossoming into the next in a great line of romantic English poets pining for the pastoral. The title track of this album, “The Village Green Preservation Society”, is a perfect distillation of these ideals: a seemingly nonsensical lyric mostly comprises jumbled pop culture references from Davies’ childhood and beyond, expressed freely with little fuss or force. Desperate Dan, Sherlock Holmes, Mrs Mopps, Dracula, Donald Duck and many more sit side by side in a cozy, Utopian vision, as Davies searches for one group or another to feel part of. The music- gently strummed acoustic guitar, ramshackle piano intro, a hypnotic backbeat, short and simple riffs on electric guitar and whistling organ, breezy vocal harmonies- is absolutely spellbinding, perfectly capturing a naive innocence which grows more desperate with every key change. The album never quite surpasses its opener, but the themes of nostalgia, memories, change and aging are returned to again and again with a range of interesting perspectives and far more nuance than most of Davies’ contemporaries would have been able to muster. “Picture Book” and the ready-made-for-the-2020s “People Take Pictures of Each Other” consider our obsession with cataloguing memories, and the forlorn hope that a picture could somehow bring it all back. In “Do You Remember Walter”, a childhood friend may be fat, married and sedate, but “memories of people can remain”. Later, “Big Sky” and “Animal Farm” are pure joys of escapism in the face of an indifferent, unfeeling world. Then there’s the astonishing album-centrepiece, “Last of the Steam-Powered Trains”, in which Davies imagines himself as a train, all soot and scum, the voice of a missing-link generation. The album is at most threat of collapsing when the Kinks dial up the whimsy and branch into “When I’m 64”-style vaudeville. “Phenomenal Cat” is a sleepy Mellotron-led number which isn’t quite as clever or timeless as it wants to be. “Sitting by the Riverside” is pleasant but doesn’t quite land its cheap attempts at “Day in the Life” style crescendos. “Wicked Annabella” feels like an early-era Kinks track tacked on towards the end. But it’s easy to overlook these half-decent songs in favour of the brilliant ones. “The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society” is never unlistenable, and at its best it is transcendent. It also deserves points for having much more of a valid hold on the “early concept album” tag than Sgt. Pepper, or Pet Sounds. This is Davies making a full set of songs out of Brian Wilson’s “I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times”. Peerless and unique songwriting, pitch-perfect performances… it’s superb.

Umulig å hate, men ikke elskbar heller. Var sikkert revolusjonerende på 60-tallet, men høres litt gammelt ut i 2023

Ups and downs, but interesting parts. Want to listen again.

Listened Before? N I'll confess that I think these guys were very talented in what they did... but man, did everything in the 60s in England sound like the Beatles. Jeebus. I've had enough and I'm not even halfway done with the list. All good, but not for me really. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Picture Book

4 stars all day long.

People trying to recreate Sgt. Pepper’s but ending up overdoing it with the drugs.

To be honest I was hoping for a bit more. Still a good listen

Such a good album. It’s the perfect length for what it is and such an easy listen. Love it.

Wondeful

Folk-pop-rock. Está entretenido. Un 4.

Bien

5.0 + A bouncy and tuneful record brimming with Kinks' signature British charm. To me this is their magnum opus. I sing along to every song.