Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)

Album was good for the time period. It had a fairly smooth flow from song to song and kept a good beat. Not sure I would listen to it again, but it was decent. Seemed to be well put together. It was a solid 6/10 and I gave it 3 stars.

Esta guay el concepto, el album suena bien, pero es un sonido que tengo muy visto, innovador para su epoca supongo

Zany Kinks, ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Fun time with The Kinks

I’m cool with the Kinks. They’ve got a dated sound, but I like their style.

Not there best

Альбом открывает прекрасная Виктория. К сожалению, ни одна песня, следующая после неё, не дотягивает до уровня первой

A wonderfully weird album. A few of the tracks had a bit too much going on for me - just sounded like a lot of noise. Overall I liked it, though. I’d give it a 3.5 based on my initial listen.

This was so good.

Solid album with some of their better hits. Very whimsical and doesn’t take itself too serious. Kinks always get left behind when talking about the greats during the British Invasion but they consistently put out interesting and different music from their peers

TL;DR: A varied and solid collection of songs with plenty of hooks and some wonderful details, even if it doesn't always hold your attention. Skip the song about the hat. BEFORE: Second Kinks album in a week. First one was mid. Ah well. I honestly don't know any of these songs. AFTER: This is a lot better than the fine but underwhelming Face to Face. HIGHLIGHTS: The production and instrumentation is a lot more complex, and I especially enjoyed the brass arrangements, backing vocals and guitar work. Victoria is a banger and it turns out I did know it. Some Mother's Son is an effective ballad. Australia runs through multiple movements and some fairly complex arrangements and great extended outro without losing its groove. Shangri-La starts with a gentle acoustic arrangement before building to a huge chorus. Young and Innocent Days is melodic and wistful with an almost baroque arrangement. Nothing To Say is an upbeat, rockier song with a great brass arrangement. Arthur has excellent guitar work that reminds me of Graham Coxon, although the song doesn't always live up to it. LOWLIGHTS: She's Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina brings the Knees Up Mother Brown vibes. It's aggressively annoying. VERDICT: Much better than the other one I had to review but the Princess Marina song is dire. 4 stars.

I don't think I fully understand the breadth and depth of this album. At surface value it definitely feels like I'm missing context and it sounds good but also competitive. It's definitely trying to do something here that's competing with another band or within a genre but I am not in-the-know. It's overall a pretty decent album and has some really interesting stereo moments. Stand out song is "Shangri-la". Overall rating is a 6/10.

great run of kinks records

Heard better kinks songs idk might just be me

I went through a massive The Kinks phase back in the day, but I haven't listened to them in ages. My favorite albums are Lola versus Powerman and Village Green Preservation Society, but this one is excellent too. Close to five stars.

Great album

I just find The Kinks to be very safe and uninspiring. Don’t get me wrong they obviously did something right, and I fully think this is a me thing moreso, but they just don’t really move me. There was nothing wrong with this, but then there wasn’t anything to get me up of my seat either.

Really not very good.

I enjoy The Kinks, but this album was nothing to write home about.

Fun pop rock album. I guess it was what I expected, The Kinks haven't missed for me so far. A cool mix of some more rocky tunes and some quirky and joyous piano based songs. Pretty harmonies as well. Favourite songs: Victoria, Australia, Shangri-La, Arthur

Probably my favorite of theirs.

Really enjoyed this one. Dark and serious in parts, fun and upbeat in parts. Excellent sounding. Really feels like it belongs in that American anti-Vietnam era, thematically, even though it’s a British band. Very good.

Ehh

i like its good clear message and sounds nice

i knew i would like the kinks. i wasn’t expecting this to be one of my favorite albums. wow. it’s perfectly 60s. so fun. and a concept album that actually sticks to its concept and makes sense. not sure if i’ve heard one of those yet

2.5 stars, not bad but nothing great

Incredible story of post war Britain

Interesting, but no song sticks out to me.

I don’t vibe that much with 60s music. But this is great for the period. I’d happily listen to this next to the Beatles. 7/10 Quite Likeable

if you put this on and told me it was The Beatles I'd say okay! and if you asked if I liked it I'd say yeah it was fine!

day 24 of not rolling Aja by Steely Dan my first exposure to The Kinks was in 9th grade when my "band" (lol) did a cover of Harry Rag and then the lyrics became our vocal stims for the next like... year. This may have been one point of origin for my British hate. there were two people named Alex in this "band" (we played two shows, one at a church and one at Thursday Night Live and that's literally it) but I was the first one to join the band, so everyone started calling me "Proper" because-- according to them-- it was a Britishism to call the first-to-arrive person in a duo of same-named people "Proper" instead of their given name. So I was the proper Alex, I suppose. At first I thought it was cool. Then I grew to hate it. Maybe it planted a seed. i don't have a sense for how popular The Kinks were (are?), but i felt at the time of my introduction that they really deserved a bigger spotlight than they had. lots of great British musical acts in the 60s obviously, but by the time i was 15 i was sure i'd heard of all of them, and yet The Kinks were new to me. This album and Something Else were pretty frequent plays on my 2009 iPod Touch (how i miss you, wherever you are, dear sweet iPod Touch). the most common comment, i feel certain, is that this album has pretty significant Beatles vibes. i can't imagine The Kinks trying to actually compete, so in my mind this is a love letter to that same pop rock sound. there are some really fun riffs in these songs, and i really enjoy Ray Davies's voice. "Drivin'" is really the only song I don't like.

this was fun

I seesawed back and forth between loving this and hating this and ultimately landed on enjoying this one. I have loved "Victoria" forever because of its feature in an episode of 'How I Met Your Mother,' but I've never heard any other Kinks besides the stray single. It's weird but it's not too off-putting to where it doesn't work. Lol at the one 1969 review that's like "the Beatles still have a lot of catching up to do" as if the Beatles didn't make it possible for this sound to be popular in the US AND like they weren't at their peak during this same year.

Does not reach the heights of Village Green Preservation society but magnificent record

A kinks fan is born

Wide ranging and a bit flamboyant for the rockers

Yep, Australia is just that good.

Decent album this, enjoyed it more than I thought I would

Another Kinks album that is just mid to me. Like if someone asked me to give them a random psychedelic album to give them an idea of what 60s music is like, I'd give them this one. I'd use it as a baseline before sending something much better, so they would be able to discern good from great. Highlight: Mr. Churchill Says

Mid af

Pretty good, had listened to this previously and enjoyed it a bit more this time around.

Enjoyed this from beginning to end and could hear how this would've influenced groups like Of Montreal and other bands that don't take themselves too seriously. The production value is a bit low, but the way the songs morph into other creations is next level. Might get to a 4.5 for me.

I love Thr Kinks. I feel like they got overlooked in their prime, but you can still hear their influence in so many styles today.

Solid album. I have never listened to the Kinks before. Reminds me of the Beatles a lot. Nothing skippable but also nothing is a standout. Worthy of further listens and adding to library.

Rock, baroque pop.

Vähä rasittavaa wanhaa rallattelua.

Hitusen tavanomaista mielenkiintosempi perus rokkilevy kyseiseltä ajalta, mutta silti peus rokkilevy kyseiseltä ajalta. Läpi kuunneltu, ei paljoa kotio vietävää.

Really enjoyed this. Particularly as I don't know much of the Kinks outside the big hits. They've got something so British about them that I enjoy and makes me a bit wistful for a time my parents would have even been a bit too young to live through. Some good stuff on here.

What a weird fuckin' album. A proper sine wave of tone. Dude just repeats 'Australia' over and over again until you have to unbuckle the belt from the semantic satiation. then you get the contemplative quiet Shangri-La goes so incredibly hard. Then you're hearing kazoos and... I don't know, man. It's a lot. It sounds a bit discount Beatles to me, and in chasing that high they don't tap into the same font of imagination they do in everywhere else. I'm a big fan of The Kink's other works, but Arthur is a bit middle of the road. Fav tracks: Shangri-La

Honestly, this felt like a bad copy of the Beatles, and I couldn't really get into it. I can see what The Kinks were going for, but the whole thing just didn't click for me. The melodies and harmonies often felt like they were trying too hard to capture that Beatles-esque sound without bringing much of their own magic to the table. The songwriting has its moments, but nothing really stood out enough to keep me interested. Even when the album tries to be clever or satirical, it doesn't always land the way it should. I also found the whole theatrical, concept-album approach a bit tiresome after a while. There are some decent ideas here, and I can appreciate the ambition behind the project, but the execution left me pretty cold. The production and arrangements didn't do much to change my mind either. Maybe it works better if you're already a big fan of The Kinks, but I just wasn't feeling it. Overall, this was a pretty forgettable listen for me. Not terrible in every aspect, but definitely not an album I'd be in a hurry to revisit.

A 4; I fully understand that it made its mark and was significant at the time, but I found it a bit mundane now! However, I loved “Yes Sir, No Sir,” “Sangri-La,” and a few other tracks - a truly respectable album, but one that, for me, won’t get more than a 4 today And it’s one more on the list for that question: “Is it really essential to listen to this before I die?” I confess that, in this case, I’m torn :-( But it’s perfect for clearing my ears of all the crap I’ve heard here. Thank goodness for that :-)

A la seconde écoute, une note de 3. 3.5 en réalité Australia et mr churchill says=4

I always thought I liked the ‘old’ Kinks albums best. Not so much a fan of their concept albums, but I was pleasantly surprised on relistening Arthur. Australia was my standout track and Victoria a nice trip down memory lane

Starts and ends with great songs. Oh, the songs in between are also great. Finding albums like this are why I decided to do this project.

724/1001 2026.10.15 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑

I really enjoyed this album,

4/5

i hate this so much please RELEASE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE yes so no sir :nerd: like this is not a nursery rhyme gang dnfed this alvum bro get out 1/10

I appreciate anyone poking fun at the British Empire. However I’m not a fan. A tad bored, but didn’t actively dislike it. 2.5/5

I wanted to like this more than I did. 3 Boolean: True?

Listening session: october 15th, while getting ready in the morning Listened to before: no Thoughts: the Kinks are classic but somehow most of this didn’t really stand out to me Favourite tracks: Victoria & Shangri-La

It's a perfectly cromulent pop record of its activist era. The songs are catchy in the moment, but I didn't come away from it with anything particularly memorable.

Best so far, but should have given Amy a 4 lol

Interesting. But probably a reason I have never heard it before.

Upbeat, fun, no big wow factor to me.

It’s like a more fun version of the Beatles until the last couple songs. Good stuff, easy listening

This album sometimes loses itself in a wall of noise but the varied nature of the tracks keeps me coming back for more. There are some real gems in here even if none of them have had staying power in the sense that there are no big breakout singles from this one.

Interesting Kinks album. Not their usual sound, mostly. Didn't mind it, but didn't really get overly excited by it either.

Very Beatles esque from the kinks. Enjoyable!

Okay I loved this, what a surprise but someone please get The Kinks on the phone because they know sweet FA about Australia. No class distinction? (Get out of here!), no drug addiction? (Tell ‘em they’re dreaming), nobody’s got a chip on their shoulder? (baby we INVENTED tall poppy syndrome)

I don't know what I was expecting but it was not this! thought I was going to enjoy it more but unfortunately something about the overall sound here grated on me a bit

Highlights: Victoria

What a wonderful little record!

I'm biased here because the title track is on a mix tape I made when my son was born. The album dipped a bit in the middle but some great stuff on this.

I found this a bit irritating…. It got better but it’s not something I will listen to again I don’t think

Not sure why this irked me so much. One or two moments to lift it above the terrible, but I found it a bit smug and knowing.

Lovely to finally have a bit of Ray D and the boys after nearly 300 days and one of their best too!!!!!! Four stars. Tom.

I have now completed my list-mandated education in The Kinks. Very not for me.

Hmm. I thought I liked The Kinks. I really didn't enjoy this. It felt interminable during and forgettable after.

Pa nije loš album, okej su mi skroz. Neke pjesme imaju baš dobar gruvić. Nisu mi sve dobre, ali većina je i to je good enough! 3/5, 6/10

not my favorite kinks by any means, but it’s got some good stuff on it.

This is also for Lola !

Forgot how much I like the Kinks

Appreciate this came out at the same time as Abbey Road which overshadows it somewhat, but this is another excellent album by a band that never seems to have the streaming numbers it deserves

”Det var ändå vibe”

Enjoyable but nothing memorable.

Overall good. Not a lot of their hits but musically very good

Classic Kinks.

It gave me Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club vibes!

I thought that Victoria was a Fall song!

Again not my favorite by a band I like.

good

This seems to be a concept album. I am not too familiar with the Kinks except for their hits (you really got me, all day and all of the night, Lola, Waterloo Sunset etc). I am somewhat aware that they were a very influential band but guess mainly overshadowed by the Beatles. This album sounds like Paul McCartney was hired as a ghost writer and/or was secretly in the studio while recording. I think it is a good record with a lot of creativity but it does not really resonate with me very deeply. Maybe it sounds a bit too much 60s and outdated or I need more spins. For now I stick with 3 stars

Totally good!

Really good album. Hadn't heard this album by the Kinks before

Weird in a good way.

This is a very solid classic rock album. It's not groundbreaking, although you can hear the sounds of the music that will follow later (even Nirvana!). I definitely need to revisit this album later, because it was a fun listen.

kinda like the sound

The Good: We are certain that things are going downhill!!! The Bad: We all love Arthur, that drunken fool... The Ugly: Realizing the decline and fall refer to the album... I am not a fan of the Kinks, and this album has not done much to change that. Sure, there are diddly diddles on this vinyl, yet, somehow, they aren't enough to make me want to listen to this album again... And what's with the odd German accent song there in the middle? Guess humor has changed a lot since those late '60s So, let's flip that coin to see if it lands on 2 or 3*...

I made it half-way through this album, paused to go do something else, and then never came back to it. I don't feel like I missed anything.