features in: Album Chart of 1967 ● Album Chart of the Decade: 1960s ● 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die  |
A decent Kinks album with some very fine highs, all written by the Davies brothers themselves, including 3 by Dave. Both sides of his recent single are included; the bitter folk-rocker “Death Of A Clown” and the crunchy rock-swinger “Love Me Till The Sun Shines”, an ode to the joys and benefits of the one-night stand.
“David Watts” is a classic album starter, punchy, danceable, with great hooks and a set of lyrics which would fuel the psueds for decades to come: “I am a dull and simple lad, cannot tell water from champagne, and I have never met the queen, and I wish I could have all he has got, I wish I could be like David Watts”. The band's change of tone for verse two underlines that things are getting slightly weird: “And when I lie on my pillow at night, I dream I could fight like David Watts, lead the school team to victory, and take my exams and pass the lot”. Envy and self-doubt or homoerotic? You decide!
The weighty tone of the album is broken surprisingly with “Tin Soldier Man”, a breezy, brassy affair, like a chirpy English oompah. As far as I can tell, it's pretty much all about a tin soldier man. I was pretty sure I hated it at first, but grew to love it; it gets me smiling and brings out my inner daftie (you should hear my mouth trumpet).
Ray saves the best 'til last with the fantastic “Waterloo Sunset”; it's beautiful but lonely in London: “People so busy, makes me feel dizzy… as long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset I am in paradise”. But is it a fool's paradise? “Every day I look at the world from my window, but chilly, chilly is the evening time, Waterloo sunset's fine”. Maybe not, as Ray himself pointed out: “The song is about how innocence will prevail over adversity. It starts out delicate, but by the end has become awesome in its power. Those triumphant chords come in – and the angels tell you everything is going to be OK”. I'm comforted.
On the whole, “Something Else By The Kinks” is not a patch on the preceding “Face To Face”, and that's got to be a relative disappointment.
The Jukebox Rebel
03–Aug–2008
| Tracklist |
| A1 | [02:32]  The Kinks - David Watts (Ray Davies) Cerebral Pop |
| A2 | [03:04]  The Kinks - Death Of A Clown (Ray Davies, Dave Davies) Folk Rock / Americana |
| A3 | [02:01]  The Kinks - Two Sisters (Ray Davies) Cerebral Pop |
| A4 | [02:03]  The Kinks - No Return (Ray Davies) Songwriter |
| A5 | [02:16]  The Kinks - Harry Rag (Ray Davies) Folk Rock / Americana |
| A6 | [02:49]  The Kinks - Tin Soldier Man (Ray Davies) Pop |
| A7 | [03:16]  The Kinks - Situation Vacant (Ray Davies) Blues Rock / Soul Rock |
| B1 | [03:16]  The Kinks - Love Me Till The Sun Shines (Dave Davies) Blues Rock / Soul Rock |
| B2 | [02:48] The Kinks - Lazy Old Sun (Ray Davies) Psychedelia |
| B3 | [03:27]  The Kinks - Afternoon Tea (Ray Davies) Pop |
| B4 | [02:17] The Kinks - Funny Face (Dave Davies) Psychedelia |
| B5 | [02:57]  The Kinks - End Of The Season (Ray Davies) Crooner / Cabaret |
| B6 | [03:15]  The Kinks - Waterloo Sunset (Ray Davies) Psychedelia |
