Something Else By The Kinks

What am I missing? Really disappointing, was expecting more. Released the same year the Beatles released Revolver this sounds like an album made by children. Waterloo Sunset is the only really strong song. Everything else sounds like a collection of bad Beatles throwaways.

Whereas the rock bands of 1967 were submitting themselves to the bold, colorful psychedelic style of the Swinging Sixties, The Kinks were busy doing... Something Else. Remaining in their increasingly character driven world while others were exploring tantalizing terrains, The Kinks showed that they could still keep up with taut, often impressionistic compositions that highlighted the normal people that were left behind in the psychedelic boom. As the album cover suggests, they made quite the usage with the gray, drab lives led by those who were either idolized or sympathized and often wonders whether or not they deserved better. As an alternative to the much heralded Aquarian age, Something Else shines as an example of The Kinks' obvious greatness. Favorites: David Watts, Death of a Clown, Two Sisters, Harry Rag, Tin Soldier Man, Situation Vacant, Love Me Till the Sun Shines, Afternoon Tea, Waterloo Sunset.

Very chill, great atmosphere and just a bit silly. Reminds me a bit of the Beatles, actually. I very much enjoyed it.

The virgin Harry Rag vs. the chad David Watts

Perhaps the Kinks’ best album. Very sonically diverse

A really solid album from The Kinks which showcases Ray Davies' song writing talent. He deserves to be spoken of in the same breath as Lennon and McCartney. And whilst the album isn't replete with hits, it's an enjoyable listen nevertheless, with Davies' eye for observational storytelling holding your attention. Add to that a solid rhythm section and the excellent, under-appreciated Dave Davies on lead guitar and this is one of the best albums of the sixties. And, as if that isn't enough, the album includes Waterloo Sunset - a masterpiece, not just a great sixties record but one of the greatest songs of all time. This is Davies' legacy - a piece of music that will be talked about by future generations.

Prior to the 90s I think I was only aware of the Kinks from Lola (I knew You Really Got Me but I don't think I knew who it was by). I came to the whole 60s psychedelic rock/British invasion/folk revival in my college days. A fine album though I think Village Green is still my favorite

A lot of these songs sound like Beatles songs. I'm not saying they're knock offs necessarily, but they're like the Pibb Extra to the Beatles' Dr. Pepper. Overall passable I suppose. The low point was definitely No Return, which sounds generic and boring and has terrible mixing to boot. Suzanne's Still Alive, Harry Rag, and Tin Silver Man are probably the most notable and enjoyable tracks. I will probably not be listening to this album as a whole ever again, though.

Kinks have some great songs, but this album is boring.

I love The Kinks. Especially on albums like this where they weave a tapestry of these down to earth musical short stories.

It should be in every sensible human's best interests to hate on the British, for they are the British, but the Kinks are the only band in Britain that genuinely make one feel any sympathy for the country. It's quite a shame that the band is merely a national treasure but they're all the better for their uncompromising approach to music. While everyone was playing baby tunes, they were pumping out hard rock riffs and then when everyone went psychedelic, they retreated into beautiful nuanced and bittersweet pictures of pastoral life. On this record, you get genius melodies and you get simple things. As you should.

So far I only new Lola by The Kinks. Nice to know not all of their songs are about a teenager losing his virginity to a middle-aged crossdresser. Nice album, a couple good songs, similarities to the trippier phases of The Beatles. Didn't know Waterloo Sunset was by them.

I had to watch Yellow Submarine last week and it's a watered down version of that. Also, I'm not really a fan of the Beatles so overall: Kinda Butt

Can't even remember listening to it.

WHAT AN AWESOME BAND,

Second Kinks album in two weeks. Still not an album with hits, but I guess they don't have as many "hits" as I thought. Like the first, this is certainly fine music. I admire it a little more for committing to this old timey music bit. It's less 1960s rock, and more 1860s saloon music. But aside from that novelty, I wasn't too impressed. At this point, I think I'm good on the Kinks for at least a few months. Favorite tracks: No Return, Death of a Clown, Situation Vacant. Album art: Pretty simple design, but I give them credit for again committing to the old timey music bit. The ancient-looking photos and layout fits the aesthetic perfectly. 3/5

The kinks really bring the whimsy

i just love the kinks now i guess

The first of 4 classic albums in 4 years for the band. 3 “hits”, including one of the most achingly beautiful songs of all time, Waterloo Sunset. The lesser known songs are all still quite good. A no-brainer 5 for me. I bought this in a photo and camera shop in Wichita in (I believe) 1968 when we were visiting my aunt and uncle. The store had a rotating kiosk with a few albums on it — no clue why they had them in that kind of store.

I fucking love The Kinks.

The essential Kinks album. Will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy, and Googling what a 'Harry Rag' is...

I really need to listen to this band more. Feels like a transitional record for them, but it’s still great.

no more Kinks Please

Meh. This one's pretty boring, honestly. There's nothing that stands out as particularly interesting or unique and a lot that just sounds like low-budget rip-offs of other bands.

- They remain, even on this project that encourages people to LISTEN .... undervalued, under-appreciated and over looked. The Kinks are a gift to us .... -

клево, очень клево, клоуна жалко((( 5/5

This is a great record. Ray Davis is a wonderful songwriter, catching that introverted, view of normal (British) life in the many varied ways, with the most gorgeous melodies. And the top, Waterloo sunset is just a pure delight, a timeless song, every time I hear that opening it takes me away, whatever I’m doing, however many times I have heard it. 5 Star, again such a great, eclectic record, the most British of the 60s British Invasion, and all the better for it.

“Waterloo Sunset” alone is an all-timer, but Ray Davies (along with his brother Dave) consistently delivers lyrics that both lampoon and celebrate English culture with catchy melodies.

when it comes to british rock, i feel like these guys are just as historically notable as the beatles. very creative and catchy songs, especially in a time where many bands were kinda... stinkers. a true psychedelic inspired album that's simply wild and unafraid and not like... echoey warbly yodeling, lewis caroll-esque absurdism, backwards guitars and sitars. finally a real example of how psy-rock should be composed!! i've been looking forward to this day for a long time. some people may think this genre is an acquired taste but i think a lot of people will enjoy this one.

Before today, I'd never heard a Kinks song I didn't like. And nothing has changed now that I've listened to Something Else! This was a great listen, truly delightful. I'm giving it 5 stars. Those 5 stars don't hold the same weight as some of the others I've had so far, but I enjoyed myself for 100% of the album and would absolutely listen to it again. And I'm in such a good mood now, what else is there to do?

I am a really big Kinks fan and I love this album but I can also recognize that I don't think they are firing on all cylinders quite yet on this one. It's still great and I love the very baroque-y harpsichord on here. There are some great tunes and some that are a little out of character for them, which I appreciate them trying different things. Of course, the highlight here is 'Waterloo Sunset' but I also really love 'David Watts' and 'Death of a Clown' as well. I don't think there's a bad song on here, but I also don't think it's perfect either. I still love it to pieces though.

A lost gem

I am tempted to give this album a 5. It is so fun, and makes me happy. I love that some of the songs sound like jingles. I have only really heard a handful of songs by the Kinks before listening to this album. Waterloo Sunset has always been one of my favorite songs so it was cool to listen to the whole album. I love the light heartedness attitude of this album, it is refreshing. I also the lead singer’s voice. I also like that they aren’t trying to be like anyone else from this time period

I've said it before, I'll say it again: The Kinks are the most British band of the British Invasion. The Who, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones all drew their inspiration from American rhythm and blues, where the Kinks wrote clever pop songs from a more distinctly English perspective. You can almost hear the tea kettle whistle in the background as they play. This is an utterly charming album, and I wouldn't change a thing about it.

An eclectic, fun and thoroughly English album.

Chronically underrated.

Love this album! I've liked lots of individual songs by this band, but haven't listened to this particular album. There was an a song another band covered, that I didn't realize was a cover!

5/5

I ripped this album from LimeWire when I was like, 15. And I remember the copy I downloaded was labeled as a Beatles album. I just believed that for years before I realized it wasn’t them. Anyway this is my overall favorite Kinks album and without doubt my most listened to.

One of my favourite albums from the "classic" period of the Kinks. It's got their wonderful signature songs "Waterloo Sunset", "Death Of A Clown" and "David Watts", but in all honesty, I'm equally smitten with quite a few deeper cuts as well here. There's the lively rocker "Situation Vacant", the (quite rare for them) psychedelic foray of "Love Me 'Til The Sun Shines" (penned by Dave Davies), the very moody and poetic "Lazy Old Sun", and the mischievous "Two Sisters", where Ray Davies uses the two titular characters to actually address in a metaphoric way the complex relationship he has with his brother Dave. Ray was a stay-at-home dad while Dave was the life of the (sixties) party around that time (and this is also actually hinted through the song Dave wrote all by himself for the LP). Quite a funny and elegant way to go "meta" here... I could split hair and say that a couple of cuts on side one play the "oh-so-quaint" card a little too much. But those less enticing tunes remain important for the album's concept, all about the daily routines of "normal" British folks: commuting from the "city", afternoon tea, typical self- deprecation, and so on... "Cool Britannia" has rarely sounded any cooler than this. 4.5/5 for the purposes of this list of "essential" albums, rounded up to 5. 9.5/10 for more general purposes. Number of albums left to review: 82 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 395 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 229 Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 295

I think this is a very underrated and overlooked album from The Kinks and was honestly pretty surprised to see it on this list. I think it's one of their best and nearly perfect.

Favorite: Two Sisters I had never heard this album and thoroughly enjoyed each short story/song. Would like to hear No Return without lyric track, as I really like the melody. Will definitely listen to this one again. Rather than ranking on married life, Davies turned it around in Two Sisters, I didn't expect it to go that direction.

Trying to be the Beatles. Not my favorite. Their later work is my favorite.

Something Else By The Kinks by The Kinks kicks off with the peppy energy of David Watts, closes with the divine Waterloo Sunset, and ranges from baroque pop to garage rock in between. Probably my favourite The Kinks album, and just a really lovely way to spend half an hour

Some great tracks on this one, The Kinks are awesome! Lazy Old Sun is a standout

Great album and Ray Davies shows himself to be a writer of some excellent enduring songs.

In the shadow of The Beatles, but just as innovative, provocative and generative. “David Watt”,, “Death of a Clown”, “Waterloo Sunset”. WOW!

Nice album.

Nice album full of psychedelic gems. The Kinks do an amazing job of providing trippy instrumentals, whether it be through their chord progressions or choices of instrumentation. 4.8/5 Favorite: “Death of a Clown” Least Favorite: I have none.

First Kinks album I’ve heard all the way through and loved it. First half was stronger overall but end of the season and Waterloo sunset are probably my favorites. Rating: 4.7

Not sure I’m a fan

Nice, this was a easy to enjoy throwback, on par with some classic Beatles sounds of the era. The Kinks are a fantastic listen and this LP is top notch!

Loved it, Not a kinks album I had listened to before, knew waterloo sunset of course but not many of the others. Need to listen to more music by the kinds. I used to live in North London and saw Ray Davies standing on a street corner waiting for something in Highgate Village once.

I feel like I should know The Kinks better than I actually do. I’ve yet to hear a bad song by them, yet I still wouldn’t consider myself overly familiar with them. It’s fair to say that I’m quite looking forward to this album today. Let’s listen! Songs I already knew: Lazy Old Sun, Waterloo Sunset Favourites: Waterloo Sunset, Afternoon Tea, Tin Soldier Man This was such a nice, pleasant listen. I always expect The Kinks to be a lot more rocky than they are. Perhaps I’ve listened too much to You Really Got Me by Van Halen and confusing it with The Kinks’ original version. This was very light, summery pop rock with very lovely vocals. That said, Tin Soldier Man is instrumental and is also frankly lovely. Overall, I loved this.

Another baroque pop masterwork. I like how the two things people call it are just Something Else, which kind of makes it sound self-touting, all futuristic like, and the full title, which makes it sound ordinary, plain, just another release. But just another release by The Kinks still clearly makes a great album. Firstly, something I noticed was that as the album went on is that the first side feels less polished than the second. Of course, it doesn’t change the quality of the album; so many great songs; ‘David Watts’, ‘Death of a Clown’, ‘Two Sisters’, I’m really just listing the whole album here, aren’t I? The extremely obvious highlight is ‘Waterloo Sunset’; what a beautiful masterwork of a song. I also particularly like ‘Lazy Old Sun’ and its unique chord changes. What more can I say. The gods of baroque pop make a great baroque pop album.

10/10 endlessly fun and creative these guys were *almost* on par with The Beatles and it sounds really damn good

Complete!

Well, I already think Death of a Clown is one of the greatest tracks ever (show in for my funeral). But this album is a little bit of history, I mean it gave the world Waterloo Sunset. Sit back and enjoy...

These songs are wonderfully told vignettes, each with a distinctive sound, old-timey and modern at the same time. This gives us three consecutive Kinks albums from the 1960s, but I'm okay with that, as long as we get to hear more.

I am really not familiar with much of The Kinks. I enjoyed this album very much.

"Nice and smooth." I love The Kinks. They have a kindness, a gentleness, a cuteness about them that makes them unique and endearing. David Watts and Waterloo Sunset are two of their best.

The last album produced at least partly by Shel Talmy, this album is a sardonic observational album that discusses and skewers British society. Musically, this album is all over the place. There are moments of baroque pop, bossa nova, music hall, and flashes of the harder edged proto-punk that typified their earlier work. Here, we see the Kinks really leaning into the more heavily conceptual work that would come to fruition on 'The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society' and 'Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire).

Such a good album. I love the kinks. Memories of my dad's old Volvo!

love it!

Cross between folk and rock - character driven music and so, so good. Comparisons to the Beatles are unfair - they are more than their own band.

I love this album. Waterloo, Sunset and death of a clown are some of my favorite songs. I could definitely lose no return. Otherwise, it’s a great British album that those sounding a little dated has plenty of melody and witty writing.

Own on Vinyl

I LOVED this. Such good vocals and lyrics.

Fantastic album. Feels like they were simply a step or two better than the Beatles in terms of this type of rock. Hard to dislike it at all

THESE CATS WERE COOKING!!!! Sounded like the Beatles lowkey

First of all, the Kinks are one of my favourite bands of all time and they have released a ton of good music, I would rank Something Else in my top 3 Kinks albums. This album began an amazing run of albums from the late 60's to early 70's (Arthur, Lola, Village Green and Muswell) which is a testament to the great songwriting and musicianship of the band. Something Else doesn't rely just on hit singles, though arguably Waterloo Sunset is one their best, it's a wonderful collection of eclectic songs filled with nostalgia, sentiment and humor. How many bands can use a harpsichord to good effect (Two sisters) in a "rock song? If you think of the Kinks only because of All Day and All Night, You Really Got Me and Lola, explore the depth and brilliance of these essential albums for the full Kinks experience.

very cool

Really enjoyed this album

I never knew how much I loved The Kinks until Village Green a few weeks ago and now this. They are awesome.

Would listen to again.

Can't go wrong with The Kinks.

Good

KK GOOD GOOD GOOD GOOD GOOD GOOD. Gooovy, baby! Very Shagalicious!

Great song writing

Very odd, in that specific 60s way. Very good though, and touches on themes few other bands wrote about.

Lawd the Kinks were great! "Death of a Clown" and "Waterloo Sunset" are load-bearing songs in the English psyche. This is the album where they really hit their stride, right? Fave track - As well as the aforementioned, "Harry Rag" is infections AF - I had to look up what the dickens a harry rag, was though - apparently it’s rhyming slang! Harry rag -> fag -> cigarette! Makes a bit more sense why everyone in the song is crazy about them - I was assuming it was some sort of miraculous cleaning product! The Kinks also continue their somewhat bewildering habit of releasing some absolutely cracking singles that don't appear on the albums. "Autumn Almanac" and "Mr. Pleasant" are awesome...

Fantastic album, love it

Storytelling and music hall mixed in this is pinnacle 60s brit pop

So excited to get this one. Already listen to it fairly regularly and love this album and 60s Kinks in general. No Return such a beautiful little bossa nova. Harry Rag sounds almost like a sea shanty. Beautiful little snapshots of a the old guard English life that was quickly disappearing, but not delusionally nostalgic in the sense of "ah the good old days" but rather pointing out the small day to day, with it's good and bad and wondering if the societal changes would actually change everyday life very much. So much domesticity in this album which is really interesting in comparison to the "kids tell your parents to fuck off" rock of the times. This album totally makes sense for 1967 - with the return to Edwardian fashion and the likes of The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's. Wonderful album and I just love the whole feel of it. Takes me back to a place I didn't know, yet still somehow missed.

Arguably The Kinks best album. This is the album where The Kinks could now be considered on a par with The Beatles. Each song is a little gem that paints a portrait as vivid and palpable as any band ever managed. This was The Kinks magic and when done well like on this album well there was very little on this level. 5 stars

Super solid. Great vibes.

David Watts to Waterloo Sunset. Golden age Kinks.

Waterloo Sunset is one my favorite songs

Lovely tunes disguising acerbic social commentary. Fabulous

Wonderful, unparalleled storytelling, varied sound, perfectly English.

Woah this album blew me off! It's so moody and cool! Typical nonsense childish lyrics of the summer of love (in a good way, I like 'em). I'd describe it as a Piper At The Gates Of Dawn lite in terms of weirdness. It's more commercial but atill enough weirdness. 5/5 it's soo fucking good! Fav. Song is Afternoon Tea.

Waterloo Sunset is amazing

My eyes lit up when this appeared. It's from the mid sixties, when Ray Davies was at the peak of his songwriting, with whimsical ditties, stories of various characters loaded with period charm. Song titles like 'Afternoon Tea', 'End of the Season' and 'Lazy Old Sun' tells you this is a very British sounding album. The production is understated and typical of a 1967 UK Act with hints of vaudeville, psychedelia and a vast array musical instruments. It's an organic sounding record with lots of standout tracks like the insistent 'David Watts', Dylan-ish 'Death of a Clown', the striking 'Two Sisters' (featuring a harpsichord), the slightly humorous Cossack rhythm of 'Harry Rag' (rhyming slang in England for fag, as in cigarettes) before ending with the timeless 'Waterloo Sunset'. Fans of 'You Really Got Me' etc may possibly hate this but I love it.

Understated, charming, grounded, enjoyed it a lot. 4.5

Another great 60s album of the Kinks - I always rated it above Face to Face, which I gave 5 stars half a year ago or so. The two singles are evergreens of course but the majority of the other songs are equally good and some of them are just as known as well.

A nice mix of psychedelic and silly.

this is such a good album. i wanna say something goofy about it but it is so good. the songwriting is beatles-y but not in an annoying derivative way. i just love the kinks

Damnnn

I love the Kinks. They are so playful with their lyrics and theme. This album was a hoot. '60s Brit pop rock at its finest.

Can really hear the DNA of rock n roll in this. One of the rare Beatles contemporaries who, despite being in the same space, sound different and unique. The first time I heard Act Nice and Gentle was as a Black Keys cover, and it took me a while to even figure out that it was a cover, but it goes to show how much they have influenced subsequent generations. Excellent album.