Muswell Hillbillies

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Muswell Hillbillies album cover
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Total Tracks: 14   Total Length: 51:39

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Lenny Kaye

eMusic Contributor

As musician, writer, and producer, Lenny Kaye is intimately involved with the creative impulse. He has been a guitarist for poet-rocker Patti Smith since her ba...more »

04.22.11
This troubled 1972 masterpiece might just be the grandaddy of alt-country
2000 | Label: KOCH Records / Entertainment One Distribution

The split personality that is Ray Davies 'genius is never more apparent than on this 1972 classic. Though the Kinks 'initial breakthrough was built on ruffled-shirt decadence and guitar distortion, Davies early on revealed a nostalgic yearning for a simpler England, the Village Green and the local pub. But the price paid is steep: none of the many characters in Muswell Hill seem able to escape the modern world. Beset by alcoholism, starvation, jail and "Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues," they take refuge in their dreams, and even those turn out badly. In "Holiday," the narrator lies on a beach only to be burnt by the sun, with the sea "an open sewer." In "Oklahoma U.S.A.," the punchline is "If life's for livin 'then what's livin 'for."

Unrelieved gloom? Hardly. Davies 'affection for his characters and the Kinks 'skill with a hook shines through. Despite the hard times amidst the omnipresent "People In Grey," his songs allow that a sense of community will grant a shoulder to lean upon, a friend to share a cuppa tea, a tune to hum. More than that, his "Muswell Hillbilly" can imagine the West Virginia he'll never see, the there of not-there, and the most powerful… read more »

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Thank You

shameful

I wanted to get some good Kinks and being not that familiar with them the reviews helped. This is what I was looking for. Much better than the Kinks played over and over on FM radio. I recommend this to any one.

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THE Kinks album, IMO

hoosiertoo

It seems odd to be writing a review of a nearly 30 year old record, but such is modern life. This is the first and, except for the two-cd greatest hits compilation, the only - Kinks album I ever purchased, none of the rest of their albums being of much interest to me except for the occasional song. This is a cohesive and altogether fascinating concept album featuring Davies at his songwriting best. Unfortunately, the 30 second snippets don't do the songs justice. As a youngster, my favorites off the LP were "Alcohol" and "Skin and Bone." There's not a bad song on the album, though. I still listen to the whole album occasionally. The songs are loaded on my MP3 player and I've yet to skip one when it pops up in rotation. As I've aged I've grown to appreciate Ray Davies' songwriting more. If you even think you might like this based on the samples, download the whole album and really listen to it a couple of times. If you don't get it at first, you will.

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je Kink

kittensheartme

I'm a 20th century woman, but I kind of wish I had been around when the Kinks were kickin it.

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Oh The Kinks

so good to have found you again. Muswell truly is the birth of modern alt-country.

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Muswell Hillbilles

judysmusic

2 stars Don't care for this music

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Blueprint of the modern alt country movement

EMUSIC-020B0DA5

This is the most cohesive Kinks LP available on emusic....in my opinion. Still wainting for The Village Green Preservation Society.

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Ain't that America?

panchodog

If anything surpasses Village Green, it's this record. I don't think 'masterpiece' is an overstatement.

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What's with the Brits and music hall???

wonk_and_roll

Such an awesome band, but then they did all this music hall inspired junk. Sure, they were better at that game than the Stones, but the Stones had the good sense to keep making rock records with at least 3 good songs.

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Captures the time

carinnatarvin

This album evokes a groovy mood, and I like it better than any other Kinks album.

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Their last great record...

CosmicBob

For me, this was the last great effort by the Kinks. There are some decent records and songs from their later 70's and (less so) 80's oeuvre, but this record is fabulous. Get it for the song "Alcohol" alone. All of it is great.

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They Say All Music Guide

How did the Kinks respond to the fresh start afforded by Lola? By delivering a skewed, distinctly British, cabaret take on Americana, all pinned down by Ray Davies’ loose autobiography and intense yearning to be anywhere else but here — or, as he says on the opening track, “I’m a 20th century man, but I don’t want to be here.” Unlike its predecessors, Muswell Hillbillies doesn’t overtly seem like a concept album — there are no stories as there are on Lola — but each song undoubtedly shares a similar theme, namely the lives of the working class. Cleverly, the music is a blend of American and British roots music, veering from rowdy blues to boozy vaudeville. There’s as much good humor in the performances as there are in Davies’ songs, which are among his savviest and funniest. They’re also quite affectionate, a fact underpinned by the heartbreaking “Oklahoma U.S.A.,” one of the starkest numbers Davies ever penned, seeming all the sadder surrounded by the careening country-rock and music hall. That’s the key to Muswell Hillbillies — it mirrors the messy flow of life itself, rolling from love letters and laments to jokes and family reunions. Throughout it all, Davies’ songwriting is at a peak, as are the Kinks themselves. There are a lot of subtle shifts in mood and genre on the album, and the band pulls it off effortlessly and joyously — but it’s hard not to hear Dave Davies’ backing vocals and have it not sound joyous. Regardless of its commercial fate, Muswell Hillbillies stands as one of the Kinks’ best albums. – Stephen Thomas Erlewine

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