This is pretty much the last Kinks album I had left to explore (I guess there is also Sleepwalker, but still). Not enthralled by Act 1, I never bothered to get Act 2. I find that I am liking it a good deal. I haven't even tried to follow the story, but songs like "Mirror of Love" (here in two versions), "Money Talks" or "Slum Kids" can more than hold their own in the Kinks Kanon.
It's tempting to say "Preservation" is where Ray Davies jumped the shark, but this holds up remarkably well. There are some oustanding songs here -- "He's Evil," "Oh, Where is Love?" and "Money Talks" are as good as anything the Kinks ever did. The production can be off-putting, with that RCA-era trebly bass, and there are some turds in here; but Dave is in fine form and it ends with the wonderfully ambiguous anthem "Salvation Road."
It used to be easier to pretend that an album was its own perfectly self-contained artifact. The great records certainly feel that way. But albums are more permeable than solid, their motivations, executions and inspirations informed by, and often stolen from, their peers and forbearers. It all sounds awfully formal, but it's not. It's the very nature of music — of art, even. The Six Degrees features examine the relationships between classic records and five… more »
