Come Dancing With The Kinks The Best Of The Kinks 1977 1986 Music Cd

Kinks - Come Dancing With The Kinks The Best Of The Kinks 1977 1986

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Come Dancing With the Kinks: The Best of the Kinks 1977-1986      Artist : The Kinks      List Price : $16.98 USD        ProductGroup: Music      Release Date : 2000-10-24      Studio : Velvel Records      Label : Velvel Records      Avg. Customer Rating : (15 reviews)

Reviews Customer Reviews for Come Dancing With The Kinks The Best Of The Kinks 1977 1986      2nd rate Kinks      Rating:      I love the Kinks, make no mistake. If you've seen my other reviews, you can tell. But, this collection focuses too much on times in their career when they weren't producing their best stuff. I've never been a particular fan of their recorded output during what I think of as their "arena rock era", though I can tell, from footage I've seen (wasn't that lucky to have seen them in person), that they really must have kicked tail live... An aside: anyone ever notice how similar the chord structures to "Misfits" and "Don't Forget to Dance" are? Doesn't really matter though - they both deserve to exist and are two of the better tunes here...     Customer Reviews for Come Dancing With The Kinks The Best Of The Kinks 1977 1986 Cd      Excellent Job at Covering the Band's Later Material      Rating:      One thing that I greatly admire about Ray Davies - lead singer of The Kinks is that when it comes the music business, he isn't afraid to deviate from the formula. As a result of this, The Kinks became one of the most innovative bands of the Rock Era. In 1977, The Kinks made a widely known switch from RCA to Arista records. It was during this phase that the Kinks would make a comeback in the Rock business - suddenly becoming bigger than they were in the 1960s.. It is this phase of The Kinks that is captured on the compilation, "Come Dancing with The Kinks". This collection features 16 tracks, mostly from the "Arista Years" of the Kinks. While not the deepest compilation by The Kinks, it does focus on a particular period - and does an excellent job at that. There are really three phases to The Kinks. The Kinks started out in the 1960s as a "rebellious" group of rockers as part of the first British Invasion that would soon have a series of hits. I call this phase - "1960s Kinks". This phase goes from 1964-1971. "1960s Kinks" was a commercially successful period. Although this wasn't Punk Rock, many credit the style of the Kinks for becoming the strawman for the Punk Rock movement that would happen in the 1970s. It was during this period The Kinks were mysteriously banned from playing in the U.S.. The second phase is the "Rock Opera Phase" from 1972 to 1976. This was not a commercially successful phase for the Kinks. These concept/Rock Opera albums were not well received by the public, but eventually would be accepted by The Kinks fans. When the group made the switch to Arista Records, The Kinks went toward more of a Hard Rock/Rock Pop direction. This would start the third phase called "The Later Years" covering 1977 onward. There is a bunch of irony in this switch. The Kinks lost much of their popularity in the UK because this new style wasn't considered "in-step" with the UK's Punk Rock craze. However, The Kinks would suddenly become a major band in the U.S. - the very country where they were once banned from. During this phase, much of their style sounds a lot like an American Band as opposed to a band that came up through the Early British Invasion ranks. In a way, even though The Kinks went in the Hard Rock direction, they showed that they could continue to ignore the "rulebook" for the music business by not going with the trends of that time (and basically doing things their own way). During this "Later Years" phase, The Kinks would release six studio albums. "Come Dancing with The Kinks" takes 12 songs from the six albums that were released during this period. These albums are: "Sleepwalker" ("Juke Box Music"); "Misfits" ("A Rock and Roll Fantasy"); "Low Budget"("(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman", "Low Budget"); "Give the People What They Want" ("Destroyer", "Better Things"); "State of Confusion" ("Come Dancing", "Don't Forget to Dance", "Heart of Gold", "Long Distance"); "Word of Mouth ("Do It Again", "Living a Thin Line"). The Kinks also manage to include three songs from their earlier phases. Even though these songs weren't recorded for Arista, they are able to do it by including three tracks from their 1980 Arista live release, "One For the Road". These songs include the classic works: "You Really Got Me", "Lola", and "Celluloid Heroes". Finally included is their dark song about the Christmas Season - "Father Christmas". This appears to be one of the few places on CD where you can get this song. While Ray Davies may be the voice of The Kinks, they are a full band effort. Ray's brother Dave happens to be an outstanding guitarist. Jim Rodford provided Bass from 1979 onward - and his Bass proves to be a key element in the band. Also worth mentioning are Ian Gibbons on Keyboard and Mick Avory on Drums - both solid musicians as well. One may want to take note that while there are several other compilations available by The Kinks, the main one that rivals "Come Dancing" is the 2-disc set, "Ultimate Collection". This particular collection go back to include material from the first two phases of the Kinks career (although it is light on the 'Rock Opera' material). Although this is a much more comprehensive collection, I do feel that "Come Dancing" is complimentary to this collection. "Ultimate Collection" does not include the following songs that are on "Come Dancing": "Destroyer", "Juke Box Music", "Low Budget", "Long Distance", "Heart of Gold", and "Father Christmas". In addition, "Come Dancing" provides the three live versions of "Lola", "You Really Got Me", and "Celluloid Heroes". While the casual fan may be familiar with the songs "You Really Got Me", "Lola", "Come Dancing", "Destroyer", and "Do It Again", this collection will also introduce the casual fan to material that hasn't been heard before. Tracks 10 through 12 - "Low Budget", "Long Distance", and "Heart of Gold" are going to be three tracks that have a distinctive American sound. "Heart of Gold" proves to be an excellent song. To some extent, you may even hear a Southern Rock touch in these songs. Another good song is "Living on a Thin Line". This song is from "Word of Mouth" - an album more famous for the song "Do It Again", however I think "Thin Line" is a better song. This song has almost a mantra-like sound as you listen to it. The liner notes feature an outstanding write-up by Mitchell Cohen - who writes about The Kinks during this "Later Years" phase. Cohen makes a great point by saying "The Kinks have not always been of their time, but at the juncture covered by this set....they reached more people...than any other previous span". I think that really sums things up. This is a terrific compilation - one worth getting. Editorial Reviews for Come Dancing With The Kinks The Best Of The Kinks 1977 1986 Audio Cd      Amazon.com      After Ray Davies exorcised his theatrical demons on the Preservation, Soap Opera, and contract-closing Schoolboys in Disgrace albums, the Kinks left RCA for Arista and what would be their most successful string of stateside albums. Under Clive Davis's direction, Ray returned to writing tighter pop songs, while brother Dave rediscovered the joy of simple power chords. This compilation of tracks from the band's Arista years gathers some of the decade's most contagious works, including "Catch Me Now I'm Falling," "Sleepwalker," "Superman," "Destroyer," Dave's "Living on a Thin Line," and the title track, whose roller-rink organ and music-hall nostalgia made the Kinks MTV heroes. Sure, "A Gallon of Gas" and the tub-thumping "Low Budget" slip into novelty terrain, but they're offset by a selection of revved-up live tracks ("Lola," "You Really Got Me"), wistful masterpieces ("A Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy," "Misfits," "Don't Forget to Dance," "Good Day"), and the best working-class Xmas anthem ever ("Father Christmas"). All in all, a fine sampling of the Kinks' second coming. --Bill Forman