2003CC: The Kinks
- Greatest Hits (89): *****
- The Kink Kronikles (72): *****
- Arthur or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire (69): *****
- Face to Face (66): *****
- Something Else by the Kinks (67): *****
- The Village Green Preservation Society (68): *****
- Lola vs. the Powerman & the Money-Go-Round, Pt. 1 (70): ****
- The Kink Kontroversy (65): ****
- Muswell Hillbillies (71): ****
- The kink's Greatest: Celluloid Heroes (01): ****
- Misfits (78): *** 1/2
- The Kinks (64): ***
- Everybody's in Show-Biz (72): ***
- Sleepwalker (77): ***
- Low Budget (79): ***
- One for the Road (80): ***
- Give the People What They Want (81): ***
- State of Confusion (83): ***
- To the Bone (94): ***
- The Songs We Sang for Auntie: BBC Sessions (01): ***
- Kinda Kinks (65): ** 1/2
- Percy (71): ** 1/2
- Preservation: Act 1 (73): ** 1/2
- Live at Kelvin Hall (68): **
- Preservation: Act 2 (74): **
- The Kinks Present A Soap Opera (75): **
- The Kinks Present Schoolboys in Disgrace (75): **
- Come Dancing With the Kinks: The Best of the Kinks 1977 - 1986 (00): **
- Word of Mouth (84): * 1/2
- Think Visual (86): * 1/2
- UK Jive (89): * 1/2
- Phobia (93): * 1/2
This is a new entry in an up-dated series I'm calling the New Critical Consensus. Several people have requested updates of the older series, and since critical opinions shift, I am revamping the entire system. I am averaging the opinions of several excellent music critics to produce a list of each artist's albums. Rather than using a number system, which was perhaps a bit clunky, I will now be using a five-star system. The albums will be listed in a recommended purchasing order, so new fans will have an idea of where the best place to start buying an artist's work is.
These are not my opinions, although, since I have chosen the critics used (and I'm using many), my taste will perhaps seep through a bit.
Terribly nerdy, I know, but maybe this will help people only now beginning to dabble into certain artists' bodies of work.
Scale:
***** - Masterpiece
**** 1/2 - Classic
**** - Great
*** 1/2 - Good
*** - Above Average
** 1/2 - Average
** - Below Average
* 1/2 - Bad
* - Terrible
1/2 - One of the worst albums ever
I won the auction, so thanks again for your unintentional help! (I won a vinyl version of the Greatest Hits listed at the top of the list!)
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Anytime, and thank you for this list! I have a question for you though, unrelated to the Kinks.
I've downloaded a few James Brown songs, and I like them a lot. I imagine CC'ing James Brown would take a few years, so maybe you could just give me the names of the most accessible five-star albums? Thanks!
Well, I bet if I CC'd James Brown (which I really should do any way), he would nail five stars with his original Live at the Apollo and the box set, Star Time.
Now, obviously, that box set is quite an investment for the curious. So I'll recommend 40th Anniversary Collection. It is two discs, but excepting his live material, it contains the heart of Brown's music. 20 All-Time Greatest Hits! isn't bad, but it is only a few dollars cheaper and has half the tunes. It misses some really essential stuff. Truth be told, 40th Anniversary Special does an incredible job hitting the highlights of Brown's entire career with its mere 40 songs. Even new, you shouldn't have to pay more than 20 bucks for it, and I know you're a great half.com searcher, so you should land a copy for around 15 or so.
Either way, the 1963 (62, if you're going off of recording date) Live at the Apollo best represents his live side. Be careful! He has many albums with titles like Live at the Apollo. You want the 11 track set represented here.
I wouldn't try an actual studio album, though. Most Brown releases were padded with filler. Grab a great compilation, such as one of the above, especially the 40th Anniversary Collection or, if you're rich and brave (me, my wife gave it to me for my birthday one year!) Star Time.
Well, I hope that helps! More than any other artist, James Brown can get me going when times are too bad or sleep too scarce. Great stuff!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Thanks for the info. Unfortunately, I am neither rich nor brave, so I'll have to pass on Star Time. The 40th Anniversary Collection sounds really cool though, so I think I'll get that pretty soon.
Ugh, buy.com is really pissing me off. A couple weeks ago, you could get virtually any in-stock item for free shipping. Now they've greatly reduced this offer, basically so that it only applies to items released in 2003. I ordered Beggars' Banquet the other day and I had to pay $2.50 for shipping. Jeez, when half.com closes down, I might have to go back to... (shudder) retail!
Have you tried deepdiscountcd.com? They sell new CDs fairly cheap with free shipping. Oddly, their multidisc sets aren't always very attractively priced, but the single disc prices are often tough to beat for new product. They have a sister site for DVDs, deepdiscountdvd.com.
As for used CDs, if the disc isn't wildly popular, ebay and the used Amazon shops often have decent deals. Half.com will surely be sorely missed, however...
I hope you dig Beggars. Is this your first Stones album after 40 Licks? Just curious. Great stuff.
Good luck on the Brown. The 40th Anniversary Collection is stuffed with primo material that should put a smile on your face.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
(PS - My Kinks album arrived in perfect condition and is a glory to hear!)
I'll have to check out those Deep Discount stores. They could replace buy.com for me. Thanks for the recommendation.
Yes, Beggars is my first Stones album after 40 Licks. I was going to go with your next most accessible five-star album, Aftermath, but I couldn't decide whether to get the US version or the UK version. I know you recommended the US version, but I think the UK version has more songs. So I just figured I'd skip Aftermath for now and go with Beggars.
Glad to hear you like the Kinks album.
(raises eyebrows) These Deep Discount prices are awesome!
A boon to us non-rich folk!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Well, you certainly won't go wrong with Beggars. Enjoy!
The Deep Discount stores are quite the money savers for me at times. Their stock isn't the deepest, but they often have the cheapest price on new stuff when they have it.
MySimon.com is another useful tool. You can choose an item, and it will compare prices at several sites for the item. You can even compare 'total' prices including shipping. They could survey more sites (no doubt shops pay to participate), but it still has saved me some dough in the past.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I've been listening to the 40th Anniversary Collection and I've been loving it. It took a little while to get off the ground (a few of the earlier tunes are a bit boring) but once he started getting funky, the compilation became a real joy to listen to.
Good! The funky Brown songs are certainly some of the greatest tracks I know of. Not too many people could work a groove for as long as Brown and keep it half as interesting.
The earlier stuff took longer to grow on me, but now I love it. The funk material, though, will probably always be my favorite.
I still think James Brown is sadly over-looked by too many people today. I'm glad you are not one of them. Enjoy your great collection!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Well, lbangs, despite your generosity in granting my CC requests, for which I am incredibly grateful, I am still not sure what to do about the Kinks. Perhaps you (or any other Kinks fans out there) could give me your musical advice.
The problem is, I kan't decide whether to get a Kinks kompilation (most likely The Kink Kronikles) or actually get the albums - I probably won't do both. While it looks like they have four solid five-star albums up there, you don't find those albums on too many "greatest albums" lists or anything like that. Is that because most of the other songs (beyond the ones on The Kink Kronikles) are somewhat enjoyable but ultimately forgettable? Does The Kink Kronikles do a good enough job of representing their work? Or do you need the other songs on Arthur, Face to Face, Something Else, and VGPS? (and I'll probably also have to get Lola if I do go for the album route, because I love the song "Lola")
It may depend on how much I really like the Kinks - well, I love all of their songs that I have downloaded, but it's only a few. Maybe a test would be in order? Like, tell me to download a few more songs and see if I like those to decide how much I really do like the Kinks?
Any advice that anyone has to offer is highly appreciated, as I am baffled. I'll tell ya, when it comes to the Kinks, it's a mixed-up, muddled-up, shook-up world.
I hate to do this, especially when a band is such an excellent album artist, but in this case, I think you should go for the collections. This isn't very easy, either, since there is no great compilation that covers their entire career.
You own the Stones' 40 Licks, so imagine if the two discs were sold separately. You'd have to buy two to really see the picture. That's where the Kinks are right now.
Ideally, you'd grab the Rhino Greatest Hits and Kronikles, which roughly equal the first and second discs of Licks, with hits being the earlier (in this case often nearly punky) material and Kronikles holding the later stuff. Unfortunately, the Rhino set is out of print, and while just a few months ago I found it used and cheap all over the net, I see now it is hard to get a hold of. That is terrible. So, what to do now?
Well, you can grab Kronikles and keep an eye out for the Rhino set, grab Kronikles and forget about the Rhino set (but oh, the great songs you miss!), or, perhaps, pick up the inferior Ultimate Collection, which is still pretty easy to nab used. It covers the entire career (not necessarily a good thing, since the post-Kronikles material largely can't touch what went before), yet it is quite inferior in track selection and sequencing. Me, I'd go with the first plan mentioned above, but you may not dig that.
As great as the albums are, no one or two albums really paint anywhere near the entire picture, and even a small handful would miss essential tracks. I think I would certainly vote for the collections.
Does that help? I hope so. Good luck! (I just noticed that a few Rhino CDs are available at gemm.com, but be careful and make sure it is the Rhino set you're getting. There are tons of Kinks albums called Greatest Hits.)
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I think a good copy of Greatest Hits is available at www.secondspin.com, which I've never bought anything from, but which is the largest seller of used CDs on the Internet, so how bad could it be? If that doesn't work out, I could fall back on the "Acceptable" one on half.com, which is advertised as, "Scratched, but plays fine all the way through" (the user has 89 positive comments out of 89).
Thanks very much for your help. If I really love both compilations, I might just get a Kinks album or two as well.
Yes, that Second Spin (thanks for drawing my attention to that store, BTW; great stuff) copy is the right one. Great material. Careful about the half.com one, though; I think that seller may have a vinyl copy, not a CD. The vinyl is great, but only, of course, if you have a record player. I think CD is you medium of choice, yes?
I hope you enjoy whatever you end up with!
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Hmm, I thought they only sold CDs on half.com. I could be wrong, though. And you are correct, I don't own a record player.
The only thing that bothers me about Second Spin is that I can't find information on the condition of the used album. I'll have to take it on faith.
I think in theory half.com is a CD site, but I have certainly seen people selling vinyl on there, so be careful. I'd just shoot the seller an email to confirm the format.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
Well, because of the problems with ordering High Noon and since that was the only album I told anyone I was ordering ahead of time, I've decided not to reveal my orders in limbo anymore because I think I jinxed it. However, I hope the Fates won't be offended when I say that the half.com e-mail won't be necessary.
:)
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs (knockin' on wood...)
lbangs, thank you very much for your compilation recommendations. I love both of them, and in fact, I think I'll have to go back on what I said here, because the music on these Kinks compilations is so wonderfully infectious. I think I'll have to pick up a Kinks album or two or six.
Which gives me MORE options for possible music to buy. Just what I need... :-)
I'm glad you like them. I always hesitate to suggest compilations for such strong album artists, but The Kinks made such great singles also, and those are some incredibly well-constructed compilations. Plus, I got into them with the same two comps, so I know they tend work well at catching fans...
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs