Kinks Deluxe editions available for pre-order (part 2)

2 questions on your Village Green Deluxe purchase from importcds...

did it come factory sealed with shrink-warp? I've heard some stories about them selling used items as new ... and

... was it the 2004 or the 2009 deluxe version?

Thanks.

 

Factory sealed, shrink wrapped 2004. Definitely new. The booklet and everything else was minty fresh.
I'm left scratching my head wondering why I didn't get this edition years ago. Still, it's quite a thrill to have the pleasure of enjoying it at this late date.

 

I hope they release a Japanese mini LP of the VGPS deluxe edition...

 

Me too.
We were kicking that around back in post #1017-1020 ... in part 1 of this thread.
See here.

 

I'm really tempted to get the Japanese SHM Mini LPs, they always do such an amazing job on them. But can I justify $140 for the set of 3?

 

I feel the same way.
If it were only 3, I might go for it ... but there's at least 3 or 4 more to come, and if I get the first 3, I know I'll have to get the rest of them, too.

 

Does anyone know what the differences are between the Village Green Deluxe 2004 release vs the 2009 release?

I'm assuming only in the packaging .... with the 2009 having the plastic slipcase, and a slightly different cover?

Thanks.

 

You were suffering from RFS (Rebuy Fatigue Syndrome).

I also waited several years before buying the 3-disc Village Green and couldn't remember why I'd procrastinated either. I had a similar initial impulse with the new reissue series, but pulled the trigger on all three a couple weeks ago. They arrived last Thursday. There's not a lot of previously-unreleased material, but the mastering is a vast, VAST improvement over the Castle CD's. The more I listen to them the more I enjoy them and I'm discovering an appreciation for songs that hadn't really registered/resonated with me in the past.

I didn't buy the Reprise albums when I was a kid, but I've had all the import LP's since the 70's and most of the singles tracks on various comps. The Castle CD's were a treasure of non-LP material, but I'm more than happy to rebuy these things when the fidelity is so dramatically improved.

Color me a satisfied customer.

 

Can some of you comment on the DEs/SACD that I'm thinking of ordering? I confess I've never been much of a fan except for Low Budget (which I have on SACD). Now seems like a good time to jump in with all the remastered DEs coming out. Which do you recommend to someone like me who has never quite gotten the Kinks? Here's my list:

- Something Else
- The Kink Kontroversy
- Arthur
- The Village Green Preservation Society
- Muswell Hillbillies (SACD?)

Should I keep this list or add or take away? Which of these or others would be essential listening to a newcomer to the Kinks?

Thanks!

 

Hmmm... that's a tough one since you've only liked Low Budget which is a different period. Out of their earlier period, I would think Something Else would be the best grab for a newcomer. It's not a concept, and it's kind of a middle period album for this period of them (if that makes sense). It's kind of like their Rubber Soul and/or Revolver.

However, my favorite album is Face to Face (but that's not on your list).

 

I see that Chris (cwitt1980) has already weighed in but I'd like to add a few thoughts.


In the era that we are working with, the Kinks weren't much of an arena rock or hard rocking band IMO, although they had their moments.
If you like more lively material you might like Arthur the best out of this batch of Kinks releases.

Just as a point of interest, the actual album names are The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society and Something Else By the Kinks. I wonder how many people know this, or remember this, or care ?

Anyway, Something Else and Village Green are indispensable albums IF you like witty little slice of life vignettes with great melodies and wonderful stories. Arena rock they aren't though.

The Kink Kontroversy is their earliest release that you list, so I probably wouldn't start with that one, unless you are going to purchase their whole catalog anyway.


Face To Face is a great pop record that began their transition from a great singles band to a great album band, IMO. Ray's style seems fully in place now and the songs flow really well from one to another. It sounds like an "album". Not on your list, but great.

Muswell Hillbillies could have been recorded in New Orleans. There's some bayou style brass and clarinets etc., and an occasional feel of being down south in the US with a beverage in hand.

My favorites are Something Else and Village Greenbut give us more information about what you are looking for from them.

 

Not sure I can verbalise. For some reason I've never found the music accessible. So, I'm hoping to find out what's great about the Kinks. Which albums would one start with?

 

Ok..if you don't need hard rockin' start with Something Else and Village Green.

If you don't like these you don't like this period Kinks. There is nothing wrong with that, but it's as simple as that.

 

Simple is good!

 

I think the live album One For The Road (it has a hot pink cover) might be the best match for you. For starters it has the a great version of "Low Budget" on it. The album rocks, and perhaps through liking older songs off of the album you might decide to follow up on checking out the albums they're from. It worked that way for me at least.

I have a friend who loves the Beatles, Stones & Who and so I thought he was a natural fit for The Kinks, especially Village Green. Essentially he found it to be too English. In retrospect Something Else might have been a better suggestion since "David Watts" is on there which he knows from The Jam. But perhaps not. For many the later period is a better fit.

 

I'd get "The Ultimate Kinks" 2 CD set, which covers much of their career. Notice what you like and then get the individual albums. Village Green is never adequately conveyed on the comps, though. I missed it for several years for that reason.

 

IF you were only ever going to buy 2 Kinks cds, imo, they would be

1) A singles compilation
2) Village Green (their masterpiece imo).

After that, if you fall in love with them, you might as well buy them all (60's stuff first).

 

Ding Ding!

 

I've never heard Low Budget, but their most "Rock" album of the Reprise years is Lola Versus Powerman and the Money-Go-Round. Muswell Hillbillies - their first on RCA - has a rootsier acoustic sound; Arthur has horns (I've always found some of Davies' vocals overly strident on that one); Something Else isn't a full-bore psychedelic production, but it has a certain 1967 baroque flavor with varied intrumentation and effects. Village Green is a fairly straight production with occasional mellotron and woodwinds, the focus is the songs and characters. The Kink Kontroversy is a rock solid mid-60's LP with typically terrific Ray Davies songwriting.

Have you not "gotten" The Kinks because you didn't like what you've heard or because you've heard precious little?

 

Wise advice — I'd say their best album is Face to Face, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it to a newcomer. The Ultimate Collection is a good comp to start with, or (despite some iffy sound) The Kink Kronikles. Kronikles doesn't have the early radio hits, but I assume you're already familiar with those.

Muswell Hillbillies is also worth sampling, since the influences from the likes of the Band and Hank Williams make it unlike anything else in their catalogue. But it might be worth waiting for reports on the Deluxe Edition before going for the SACD.

 

Thanks for the advice everybody!

To answer your questions:
- I rarely listen to Low Budget anymore. It has that New Wave sound that feels a little dated to me. And I played the hell out of it on cassette when it first came out.
- I can relate to the person mentioned who found the Kinks too English. I think that's why I've never gotten them. Now I'm being seduced by the new DEs.

Sounds like of all the new DE releases I should just get Village Green?

 

I've given out VGPS for the novice before and it didn't do much for them. As great as an album that is, you kind of have to know some other Kinks first (from this period). Otherwise it just doesn't really stand out from the rest of their output during the time. It takes a little history I feel. Even something like knowing this was made at the height of psychedelia and drug pop music, here come the Kinks with this. And it bombed, but it's gained such a cult following that it's finally being appreciated. But I really do not think this album, nor Muswell Hillbillies, are good first albums to a novice of this period. I'm sure many will disagree. I think if you want to catch a little bit of this type of music (smart, crafty, insightful), and a little bit of their garaginess at the same time, Something Else is still my suggestion.

 

Well said.
VGPS was somewhat of a divergence from what would've been your "expected Kinks", and that was part of its appeal.
You can't appreciate it in that way ... if it's your first Kinks album.
It does stand on its own anyway, but with that historical perspective, it is that much better.

 

As far as cwitt1980's suggestion of Something Else ... great choice ...
it's one of Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

But you'll have to wait a few weeks for the Deluxe release.

 

Excellent recommendation.