The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society Poll

this is really hard

See, I don't think the point is to be condescending toward Walter, but rather it's the big punch line about how memories of people remain. Walter doesn't get a chance to respond, and so I end up wondering if there was a Walter at all, or if he's just a construct of the narrator's memory, a way of hating himself for his own choices.

strangely, walter has always been one of my least favorite songs here. it's uncharacteristically condescending towards an ordinary bloke.

-- fact checking cuz, Tuesday, October 2, 2007 10:41 PM (10 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

it's about him! (the "narrator") it's a really well-written piece of projection.

(x-post)
interesting take. of course walter can't respond, because there's on evidence the narrator has the slightest clue where walter is or what he might be doing. he's just kind of smugly assuming that he's abandoned all his childhood dreams (and we are presumably meant to infer that the narrator hasn't). but, hmmm, if it's the narrator arguing with his inner self over his own dreams and memories, that might make it a very different song.

look at that, i got xpwned!

I have the 3- or 4-CD Village Green. never listen to it. never listen to the Kinks except for the early stuff like "Where Have All the Good Times Gone." think this is overrated album. but kind of love some of it and had excellent LSD experience listening to it in a farmhouse in Kentucky some years ago. my vote was for "Johnny Thunder."

I've never noticed it before, but I have a version of this album missing tracks 5,6, 7 and 8.

It probably has "Days" and "Mr. Songbird" instead then.

Where's all the love for Starstruck?

Where's all the love for Starstruck?

i voted for it! better yet --> the video!!

'animal farm' over 'village green', 'big sky','walter' and 'village pres..'

Nothing beats Big Sky off this by miles.

prolly Animal Farm, but i have a soft spot for Monica. and Walter's pretty great too. so's the rest of it. If we lived in a Castle and counted 'Days' then that would trounce everyting

no idea how anyone could profess to love the kinks yet not this album (and arthur!!)

Quite difficult choice.

had excellent LSD experience listening to it in a farmhouse in Kentucky some years ago. my vote was for "Johnny Thunder."

There should be a thread on what's the best music you've ever heard on LSD; my bet is that it wouldn't be the classic psychedelic albums that most people might expect - but more idiosyncratic albums like this.

That said, acid's blown your mind dude - Johnny Thunder is pants.

This album blows my mind.

...no narcotics needed, I should add.

Where's all the love for Starstruck?

It is out there. My second choice, matter of fact.

Wicked Annabella, 'cause it's scary!

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

what

As always, the lurkers vote for the hit.

that's because the hit is the fuckin bomb

Well, it's OK. There are better tracks though.

3 people voted for "Phenomenal Cat."

Yay!

3 people voted for "Phenomenal Cat."

― da croupier, Sunday, October 7, 2007 9:16 AM (2 years ago) Bookmark

i heart ILM sometimes

(not that i would've voted for "phenomenal cat")

Write-in for single-around-the-time-of-the-album: "Days" blows this whole record out of the water. And that takes some doing.

"People Take Pictures of Each Other" – 2:10 1

I'm surprised, and surprised that no-one else was.

That's probly my fav. It pops into my head all of the time. I hate people who think that just b/c they have a digital camera they've suddenly been appointed documenter(documentarian?) of every goddamn social event.

Also, did anyone else notice this?:

This is really difficult, but I ended up voting for "Village Green".

― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, October 2, 2007 4:49 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark

As always, the lurkers vote for the hit.

― Geir Hongro, Saturday, October 6, 2007 12:33 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

that's because the hit is the fuckin bomb

― roxymuzak, Sunday, October 7, 2007 7:52 AM (2 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Well, it's OK. There are better tracks though.

― Geir Hongro, Sunday, October 7, 2007 7:56 AM (2 years ago) Bookmark

"Village Green" came seventh.

Ha! Song name mixup! My bad!

Title track is easily my least favourite.

I like these:
"Last of the Steam-Powered Trains" – 4:03 1
"Monica" – 2:13 1
"People Take Pictures of Each Other" – 2:10 1

more than these:
The Village Green Preservation Society" – 2:45 11
"Big Sky" – 2:49 8
"Animal Farm" – 2:57 7

"People Take Pictures of Each Other" – 2:10 1

Disgraceful. I've always liked the Fiddler On the Roof vibe of this song.

I never reckoned much on this album back in the day, as it was supposed to be all about British Village Life as such.

Yet, line two is "God bless Donald Duck" which is USA, so I got the impression the whole album was sarcasm. Which put me off.

Eventually, I got a nice copy of the mono album (the opening track has an edge warp, which just about plays OK if the turntable is in a good mood), and enjoyed it more.

Then, "People take pictures" was on some ad, and it prompted me to dig it out again. (That track wouls have been a hit single, reckons I)

Then I managed to get the 10CD Kinks boxset for £25 or suchlike (see pollthread)

I think Ray Davies what knew about 'British Village Life' would probably have fitted on the back of a postage stamp. Unless Muswell Hill counts as a village.

Would have voted for either 'Big Sky' or 'Animal Farm', with 'Monica' and 'People Take Pictures of Each Other' being the two I like but don't love as much as the rest of the album. Superb record though, easily one of the finest albums to come out of the UK in 1968.

title track
walter
starstruck
sitting by the riverside
steam powered train

one of these^

or village green

I love the instrumental break on 'Last of the Steam Powered Trains', and I was surprised to learn that 'Village Green' was recorded a couple of years before the album but yet they didn't do anything with it until '68.

I love this album. Definitely one of the best 60s pop albums (up there with Pet Sounds, Revolver...).
The flow of fantastic melodies is unstoppable and the sound is warmer and fuller than on their previous output.
I'm surprised by the winner of the poll, though.
It's a good and fun song but nowhere near many of the other tracks.
I would have said "Animal Farm" or "Village Green".

"Walter", definitely.

Also, "King Kong" from that time is such a prelude to T-Rex !

I'm surprised by the winner of the poll, though.
It's a good and fun song but nowhere near many of the other tracks.

I agree - I love the track but see it more as an extended intro to the LP.

honestly think this is one of the best albums ever made. hard to pick a favorite but "Animal Farm" bounced around in my head for a very very long time.

this thread reminded me to listen to this beautiful album again, good job guys

They were on fire from 1966-1971 ... they had an excellent singles discography from 'You Still Want Me' onwards, of course (their cover of 'Long Tall Sally' is a bit meh) but I love pretty much almost everything they put out 1966-1971.

The six albums from Kink Kontroversy to Lola are a fantastic run. Who has done better than that besides Frank Sinatra in the 1950s?

Is hard to pick a worst one!

imo there's a difference between albums that sound grungey and lo-fi and those where you suspect the engineer or producer actually fucked something up and Muswell crosses that line. I actually looked up my copy on Discogs and there are a bunch of comments about whether or not Dynaflex pressings just suck along with responses that say "no it actually just sounds like that"

I think it was the first one they recorded at Konk Studios?

... strike that, "Preservation Act" was the first Konk album.

xps I dunno, VGPS sounds fine to me in the sense that it's not unlike most British rock LP's I listen to from the '60s (a tube recording, usually mixed to mono with tons of compression). There is the stereo mix, but the band was focused more on the mono mix and that's what I listen to. I haven't heard the stereo mix in ages because I had an immediate preference for the mono mix.

Arthur is the first album where they really focused on the stereo mix, and it shows - it's an excellent stereo mix. (There is a mono mix, but IIRC it's just a fold down for promos.)

I think the mix on Village Green Preservation Society might suffer from the era of switching from mono to stereo. The mono version of the record sounds fine, except for the songs recorded late in the process like "Big Sky", which have a cramped feel from trying to cram in too many separate sounds. Meanwhile, the stereo mix has a lot of eccentric decisions about panning that would get smoothed out only a year later, as "the rules" of stereo sound were codified.
Apparently "Johnny Thunder" is the only multi-track tape still left from the sessions; there seem to be at least two later remixes, as this one does not sound like the one I have on the deluxe reissue, but see how you feel about the sound on this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw-ARA3LdjM

actually think Muswell Hillbillies is the worst produced Kinks LP

Ray insisted they record with vintage microphones for that dusty feeling.

xps I dunno, VGPS sounds fine to me in the sense that it's not unlike most British rock LP's I listen to from the '60s (a tube recording, usually mixed to mono with tons of compression).

Yeah, and it reminds me of S.F. Sorrow just in terms of sonics; it’s definitely of its time. It sounds like there were a few bounce-downs from one 4-track to another, resulting in a lack of top end most noticeably on the drums. I know the Beatles used that technique too without it sounding like VGPS, but they were exponentially more concerned with, and involved in, the production of their records than anyone in the Kinks, Ray included.

Production always seemed to be an afterthought with Ray, and I can’t think of another band of their era that would’ve benefited more from an outside producer. The only Kinks record where the production stands out (in a good way) is Give The People What They Want, which was apparently the blueprint for Albini’s approach to miking drums.

Reminds me that I am thinking of ponying up and Patreoning Andrew Hickey for the SF Sorrow bonus episode.

The Beatles were allowed as much time and money as they wanted to record their music, that certainly was not the case for the Kinks.

That’s a good point, but other bands of roughly the Kinks’ stature at the time — say, the Zombies, or Manfred Mann — made much clearer-sounding records than VGPS.

I blame Shel Talmy

(I love this record and have never noticed anything weird sounding abt it)

(original US stereo LP version with the killer "Wicked Annabella")

can't really compare anyone to the Beatles, particularly when it comes to records made before 1968 or so, they kinda all sound shitty but that may or may not be part of the charm

yeah all those early Beatles albums should all be remixed by Steve Wilson

honestly I wouldn't mind seeing him give it a go

I blame Shel Talmy

haha probably something about the mic placement

I can’t think of another band of their era that would’ve benefited more from an outside producer.

so otm, as are the preceding posts re: production. this has always bothered me, even though i've learned to love the records dearly in my own way. it's a shame, such a shame

I got the ridiculously big "Muswell/Showbiz" box for ridiculously cheap from the official kinks website.

I don't hear any production issues, although there must have been some as "Rays Remixes" are all over it.

VGPS is definitely a murky sounding album. They did all their early albums at Pye (Downtown, In the Summertime). When they switched studios for Lola Vs Powerman.... holy shit, what a quantum leap in sound quality.

Totally agree that VGPS shares sonics with SF Sorrow (done at Abbey Road, though...)

(done at Abbey Road, though...)

And produced by Norman Smith! Leaving aside his Beatles track record, Sorrow doesn’t even have the clarity of Piper At The Gates Of Dawn.

Oh Ray, what would you say?