The Village Green Preservation Society

This British Pop Rock album feels like sitting in the audience of a quaint British comedy show where the actors keep making cheerful little jokes, pulling exaggerated faces and telling stories about village life, while everyone around me seems to understand why it's funny except me. The acoustic guitars, piano, harpsichord, Mellotron and light rhythmic backing give the songs a deliberately old-fashioned, music-hall character, while Ray Davies delivers his stories with a playful, conversational style. The lyrics constantly move between nostalgic memories, eccentric characters, English traditions and little absurdities, but instead of laughing along, I find myself sitting there waiting for the punchline that never quite arrives for me. Even when the melodies are catchy and the arrangements become more elaborate, the same cheerful theatricality keeps returning, making me feel more like an outsider watching the performance than someone actually sharing in the joke. The album's nostalgia and distinctly English sense of humour are central to its identity, but that very specificity leaves me standing outside the little world it's trying to create.

Doesn't have the flashy singles of other 60s classic rock, but the Kinks were tragically underrated in the 80s-2000s. I hope they get remembered for how good all of their music was.

It was fine. Very whimsical. Felt like a copycat Bdatpes but I don’t know if I would say it was a better version of the Beatles. very similar, sounding songs throughout the whole album.

Beatles like

pretty cool album

The Kinks foi uma boa banda que corria por fora entre Os Beatles e os Rolling Stones. Este álbum especificamente tem boas músicas, mas eu prefiro o anterior de estreia.

England, rendered perfectly by the most English band of the British Invasion.

I went my whole life thinking the kinks were punk for some reason. Never mind that I've definitely heard their music before. I just never went out of my way to listen to them, so I never connected the band name to the music. I do like their music style and the album generally, it's pretty good overall.

pietra miliare, un po' lungo

Like the other Kinks album this was also okay. I don't know why they have so many though! Greedy!

beatles vibes its a good song

Not all of it was my vibe, but I liked a few songs

Nice für einen Listener für zwischendurch. Hat ein wenig Beatles Vibes

Title track is brilliant. The rest is fine, but just background really.

It's fun, reminds me of the Beatles. Sitting by the Riverside made me scared.

J'ai toujours eu un petit faible pour les Kinks.

Je m'attendais à des Beatles copycats et ce que j'ai trouvé est largement mieux. Des belles tounes bien construites avec plein de styles différents dont une qui m'a fait penser à l'époque highway 61 de Dylan. Est-ce que ce sera suffisant pour y retourner?

big shrug

A perfectly good ok album that's nice but forgettable for the most part. Nice driving music

Some cool stuff in here, but also a whole lot of The Kinks sounding like every other British rock band from the era. The Last of the Steam-Powered Trains was a cool track and so was Animal Farm, but ultimately the album as a whole didn't leave a lasting impression on me.

Enjoyable enough but fairly forgettable. I overall have liked their albums on this list but this one just didn't feel like much. My kid liked it though so that's worth noting

This is just run of the mill psychedelia. Could have been made by anyone. The songs are cool but nothing is very memorable about them and I would go so far as to say they are quite predictable. I added an extra point bc it was an easy listen and I didn't hate anything.

This is my third The Kinks album and my third 3 for them, at this point I can confidently say I don't really get the Kinks.

The Kinks can do no wrong in my eyes.

god i hate 60's british music

Very cozy, very psychedelic. Nostalgic but with more range than I would have expected.

The Kinks are yet another example where this list would benefit from curation. Great album but I don't think we need 4 kinks albums on here.

Pretty decent psychedelic rock. 2.5/5 -> 3/5

The Kinks are a class act man. I've said it before, but their ability to craft these little self-contained vignettes in their songs is so impressive. And there's so many of them! The songs are really engaging and (crucially, for me) they manage to avoid coming across as twee, which could have been so easy. Musically, this is just wonderful. Really, really great melodies. When you look at the songs from a broader distance you may classify them as just fun pop songs, but there's loads of experimentation in here. There's plenty of different approaches, with a variety of different instruments, changes in tempo and so on. They always find a way to elevate each individual song. I'll say it again! The Kinks are a class act, man. 4.5 rounded up.

Great band. I can hear how they are influential to rock

I kinda like it but also I like Ringos songs on Beatles albums.

Some of the wittier lyrics I’ve encountered so far. “God save Fu Manchu, Moriarty, and Dracula” - “The Village Green Preservation Society” list a bunch of stuff to save is the gist. “Phenomenal Cat” has an “island of idiot boys.” Refreshing change of pace for song topics. Love and hate songs can get old. “Do you Remember Walter,” “Village Green,” “Animal Farm,” the bouncy “People Take Pictures of Each Other,” and “Picture Book” are wistful musical strolls down memory lane. “Animal Farm” was the stand out for me in that group. “Wicked Arabella” has a good drum beat—it switches up the sound. Perfect for Halloween. Apple Music didn’t even attempt providing lyrics for “All of My Friends Were There.” I understood lyrics anyway and decided it’s perfect for a combo Polka and slow twirly dance. “Big Sky” lyrics were too inane for me. “Johnny Thunder” is similar but it doesn’t bother me. Possibly the music on that won me over. The problem of coherent singers but not coherent lyrics. “Sitting by the Riverside” has a croony carnival sound that appealed to me. “Last of the Steam-Powered Trains” has a different sound—a bit bluesy/ countryish to my ears. “Monica” has a style that one could probably salsa to. “Starstuck” is fun, but somehow it doesn’t seem like an album end song. But I enjoy that one. The Kinks don’t mess around. No 10 minute plus songs on this album. The album has a very 60s sound but points for original song topics, sound variety, and cohesiveness. It won me over.

Better than I thought! Had a few moments where I was bopping along, but overall was pretty basic. 3.5/5 ⭐️ 276/1081

Quintessential essence of 60s. There is probably a straight line from this to Blur singing "Common People". It's either a satire of "Things aren't what they were before the war" Britain, or it actually IS saying "Things aren't what they were before the War". Either way it's full of Music Hall and Mrs Mills and Knees Up Mother Brown and good old fashioned times. It's probably important and influential, but not being British, it's a bit hard to care.

Muy bueno. Inesperado

The Kinks are fine I'm not a super fan by any means. I could put on this album end-to-end and not be too annoyed but I'm not going out of my way to try and get other people to hear it.

300.

I don't hate this, I just wish it wasn't 28 songs long. And maybe that's on me for picking the version of the album that was initially released and not going for the Remastered which is only 15 songs long. But fuck it I'm a purist and I wanna listen the way it was originally intended. Anyway this is a solid brit rock album, just not anything I'll listen to intentionally I think. I liked 'Do You Remember Walter'!! *edit okay it's not actually 28 songs oops sorry guys I can see this being played in an early 2000s British indie film.

It’s was ok. I feel like I’ve heard Animal Farm by them at some point, but this did not really resonate with me. There were a few songs that I skipped halfway through while driving bc I couldn’t continue. Just not for me!!!

Number: 271 Familiarity: Moderate Rating: 4 Before: ======= There are a few songs on here I am familiar with and that I like: The Village Green Preservation Society, Picture Book, & Animal Farm. After : ======= I discovered a couple of songs I like that I don't recall hearing before. Favorite new discovery: Monica.

one of the funkier kinks albums, 40 min of good vibes

This was pretty good, much better than I was expecting. It would kinda fit in to the beatles era of post-pop/pre-experimental

I had only ever heard "Village Green" from this album, a song I would classify as a "fun little ditty". I really enjoyed "Do You Remember Walter?". While I generally appreciated the group's sound on this album (a mixture between more baroque and harder-edged rock sounds), by the end of the album the guitars strumming begin to have the grating sound of just "noise". Still, listening back through, I really enjoy most of the songs individually, I just probably wouldn't listen to this start-to finish often.

Ну чёт не знаю. Куча восторженных отзывов. А мне не зашло. Совсем. Что слушал, что нет.

Nice if you want to hear hell and physically suffer, but otherwise, a huge fracking no from me!

I'm learning I'm a Kinks skeptic; I previously got *Face to Face* and found it too inconsistent, and then got *Arthur* and found it too mean-spirited to function as the type of satire it's trying to be. The latter problem is mostly fixed here: Ray Davies seems to sympathize more with the subjects of these songs even as he pokes fun at them. The former problem is somewhat better also, as there's a bit more musical confidence on display than I heard on *Face to Face*. And yet there's still a feeling of insecurity; this feels a little like a band trying to locate and defend its own little corner of the musical map a respectful distance away from the Beatles and the Stones (and how's *that* for suburban behavior). The mannerliness of these songs, and especially the frailty of the vocals, seems to signify a desire to avoid picking a fight with the band's titan contemporaries in favor of simply building its own little world beside them. No wonder Wes Anderson loves these guys. That said, the concept on this concept album actually works; this is perhaps the quintessential England, In All Its Englishness album, and it's been justly influential for that reason alone. And that concept contains contradictions; "Last of the Steam-Powered Trains," for example, is pure Americana, both in its bluesy riff and its theme of the closing of the frontier - a striking statement from a band that always had a fraught relationship with the Yanks. "Starstruck" is similarly confused, a seeming paean to the moral purity of rural life coming from somebody who had to leave the countryside to be in a position to make it in the first place. (Can you *imagine* Mick Jagger telling a woman she's too into wine and champagne?) The idea of this band is always going to be better than the reality, but here at least the idea is intriguing enough to be thought-provoking. And the reality is this might be their best album.

6/10

was zum teufel, am Fluss sitzen sollte nicht so anstrengend sein

Pretty good.

The Kinks are great songwriters. The Kinks and the Who have something. The Beatles and the Rolling Stones have everything. The Kinks would have benefitted from George Martin’s studio wizardry.

This is a funny one considering their previous entry I had. This feels like they got smashed off their tits watching trumpton and made an album of their drug induced psychosis. Generous 3*

Very uk-ish

had a lot of good songs but it was wayyyyy too long. so many of the songs were unnecessary

they are indeed, The Village Green Preservation Society

I'm always surprised when I listen to The Kinks because they sound so much like my favorite artists of the modern era. Such a foundational band. I'm not the biggest fan of the "Sgt Peppers" Era of 1968 Pop/Rock music. The concept of this album was lost on me(but that may be a personal issue). The songs themselves are well written and well arranged, the flow just doesn't ride like I would like it to.

I'm not a big Kinks fan, but this doesn't suck.

I like these wacky white boys, but this still doesn't feel like the big album I was expecting. There's some good stand alone songs, but it's still not standing out as great as some of their later stuff. At least they've found their sound now.

"I hope England doesn't change....I'm just going to try and hang on to a lot of the nice things." -Ray Davies Invents nostalgiacore, '80s-'00s Brit Pop, and the New York Dolls in one fell swoop.

The Kinks have so many hits in the 60s and 70s, I'm confused that this is the album that has made the list. It was a great listen, and felt like a distilled Beatles, Stones, early Dylan and a few others. They obviously also influenced a generation of rockets that followed. But, where was Lola, Dedicated Follower of Fashion, Sunny Afternoon, etc??? Anyway, really enjoyed it - probably more than I was expecting to! The title track made me laugh out loud...

A solid album, no really weak tracks and a lot more range than I'd originally pinned the kinks for. Definitely be listening to this again! A nice cohesive album as well, the themes of Little England and all it's foibles as part of the British invasion (musical!) tied it nicely together. (Did some reading after my listen and it was cited as an early concept album based on the characters portrayed) Very solid 4

חיקוי ביטלס חביב

The Beatles but make it a bit more whimsical. That's how I feel about this album. So much to like - jaunty, cheerful instrumentals, with interesting songwriting to make it a good listen overall. But too many songs have no memorability and there are times where the vocal delivery feels a bit too odd to me. Almost like my brain can't understand what they were trying to do. It's good but not fully up my alley - 7/10.

I’ve always liked what Ray Davies cobbled together into this view of an England that was disappearing, even as he wrote.

Ta bien, buenos temas

I did not enjoy this album. At times it felt super uninspired, and at times it felt too personal, like I was a spectator on a group sharing inside jokes. I will say, though, when I heard The Last of the Steam Powered Trains, I thought, "Wow they just ripped off CCR." But I then found out that CCR came out only a few months before this, so the album gets a point for that. That point then gets immediately taken away for the BS that happens 3 minutes into that song, and for the fact that the song drags on a minute longer than it should've.

Very nice: melodies, harmonies, layered vocals, good bouncy rhythms All are great and worth listening to, but faves: Big Sky, Village Green Side 2 felt weaker as it went on but ended strong

I really wanted to like this Ambitious project for its time I probably need to give this a few more listenings I like Wicked Annabella

A very 60s pop album. Similar vibes to others of the era, 3* Highlights: picture book (catchy as hell)

Not a huge fan of The Kinks, but it’s decent enough! Favourite track: Village Green

Just some solid tunes. Really enjoyed it.

I was dreading psychedelic rock, but luckily this generally avoids psych for a more bluesy approach, and even when it delves into psych, it's pretty solid, all things considered. Definitely the first half of the record is better than the second (The second half is where the more psych stuff starts showing up, but it's not as overt and again, pretty solid). Overall, a solid record. Probably not something I'd go back to, although there are some good cuts, and I have heard Picture Book before.

サイケデリックが全盛の時代にあえて逆行して、イギリスの田舎の風景などについて歌ったアルバムらしい。 初期のビートルズとかもこんな感じらしくて、歌詞メインな感じなんかな、やから正味何も感じなかった。 イギリスのこういう系のはしりらしい。 てかイメージしてたキンクスと違うわ You really got meのイメージしかなくて、

This album was released in 1968 and is considered pop, pop and baroque pop. This is very British, whimsical, nostalgic music. You can hear Beatles and Syd Barrett in the music. One can see why Ray Davies is considered the godfather of Britpop (think Blur). I like it expect many people won't. Overall the album is good but does become twee over time. Top songs for me are: Do You Remember Walter? Picture Book Last of the Steam-Powered Trains Village Green People Take Pictures of Each Other

Would be 3.5 if you could do half

Soooooo goated

A fun and enjoyable listen. Some of the best of its era. 4/5.

Okay

If inspired by the Beatles, then the 2 star rating is correct. If they inspired the Beatles, maybe 3. Keeping it 2 tho.

Quintessential English album Love it

Had me in the first half

It's a bit unfortunate for the Kinks that the Beatles are so incredibly dominant in the cultural memory of the late '60s, because this is a clever, articulate, poignant concept album about nostalgia and aging...but as I was listening to it, all I could think was, "Man, this sounds like a lost Beatles album." But of course, the Kinks and the Beatles were operating in the same zeitgeist, influencing and feeding off each other (and the Stones, the Who, and many many lesser-known bands). The Kinks' big hits never excited me that much, but it's impossible to deny Ray Davies' talents as a lyricist and songwriter.

Didn’t blow me away, but I enjoyed it a lot more than most of the British bullshit on this list. The songs are fun and varied making the album a pretty dynamic listen, but at the end of the day you’ll only get as much enjoyment out of it in relation to how much psychedelic silliness you can stomach. My tolerance for this one was higher than usual.

Enjoyed this 😎

Life is like a Kinks album--you never know what you're going to get. 8 keepers in 15 (53%). 3 stars.

A colorful album that should have put The Kinks up there with the Beatles and the Stones. Banger after banger.

So so

The word that kept coming up in my head is “kitsch.” It’s uncool, goofy, corny and unserious. I get the appeal.. it’s just not appealing to me.

Not my bag baby

The Village Green Preservation Society - 4/5 Do You Remember Walter? - 4/5 Picture Book - 4/5 Johnny Thunder - 3.5/5 Last of the Steam Powered Trains - 4/5 Big Sky - 4/5 Sitting by the Riverside - 3.5/5 Animal Farm - 4/5 Village Green - 4.5/5 Starstruck - 4/5 Phenomenal Cat - 3.5/5 All of My Friends Were There - 3.5/5 Wicked Annabella - 4/5 Monica - 4/5 People Take Pictures of Each Other - 4/5 After being shadowbanned from the U.S., the Kinks decided that they would deviate away from their rock-and-roll and garage rock sound and instead decide to influence the Britpop genre from 30 years later with an album about the England that once was. This nostalgic yearning is different from their next album Arthur (which has similar subject matter) since this is about the more simple things in life rather than wanting the society as a whole to go back to what it was. I'd also like to hand it to them for fitting 15 tracks in 40 minutes, a nice and tight listen for the yearning of the things that once brought comfort. Overall: 4/5 Favorites: Village Green

Just a good and decent album. So: 3/5

based conservative music??? is it possible???

4/5

If i didn't know better I wouldve said this was an early Beatles album.

Ray’s masterpiece? There’s a question I don’t see asked about the Kinks very much during this period, but we have the benefit of hindsight: what is this English culture that Davies wanted to preserve in light of the decline of the British Empire? I’m twice as old as Ray was in the 1960s but am experiencing what feels like a comparable decline of US dominance. It’s not like there was a great deal to be proud of v-a-v the British Empire at the time: the beat-up, persevering role played during the Blitz, abandoning Palestine, the fall of the Suez Canal, Partition and losing India, and then all of the sudden in the 1960s you get the haute bourgeois Swinging Sixties/London and the Beatles becoming the world’s most popular band, English culture becoming “cool” or at least something widely loved? Into this space around 1968 we get a mid-20something Ray Davies contemplating memory, of which he had very little, and nostalgia, of which he either had a lot or was happy to critique. Does he see the British in decline already and does he even have a point of reference being so young? Is this all just dressed up disappointment with an adult world he had idealized earlier? That he soon got to an album length meditation on the decline of the British Empire (albeit via tracing a working class experience of 20th century English decline) somewhat answers these questions, but the VGPS is a real big deal still!

I read the Wikipedia article and I thought it was really up my street and I really wanted to love it, but it was twee overly English twaddle. It was okay I suppose

I call this puffy shirt rock

Good

idk

Great stuff

Nope