I gave the people what they want ... a link that goes back to the main Kinks page ... right here ... Give the People a TV Overall Album Score: 8.0 out of 10 I'm not sure the people really wanted this. The people probably wanted more "(I Wanna Be Like) Superman" and, better yet, your real freaking FANS probably wanted you to go back to The Village Green Preservation Society or, at least, Everybody's in Show-Biz ... I seriously doubt anybody wanted the Kinks to attempt giving Kiss a run for their money. But as long as they were going to do that, we had might as well appreciate it as such. Certainly The Kinks (one of the greatest rock bands from the 60s) can give Kiss a run for their money any day of the week (even though, perhaps oddly enough, Kiss went art-rock in 1981 with Music From "The Elder"). ... And it's not exactly hard to give that band a run for their money ... not that the Kinks actually took money away from Kiss ... bad use of cliches. For some reason, the critics have been trashing this album to no end. It's not really that terrible. It's not as good as Low Budget or Schoolboys in Disgrace ... indeed, when you tabulate everything, you'll probably find that this is one of the band's worst albums ... BUT THIS IS THE KINKS! THE KINKS ARE AWESOME!!!!!!!! The album is enjoyable. The melodies could have been catchier, but what do you want? They're doing KISS hard-rock! Kiss hard-rock songs are never catchy. The Kinks win automatically on the basis of comparison. They couldn't go wrong! Overall Album Score: 8.0 out of 10 (I think this album gets downtrodden on by critics too much. It's not that bad! ... Of course, the seasoned Kinks fans might feel a little bit betrayed by the band's flirtation with hard-rock stuff of yon Kiss, but those of us who have listened to Kiss enough to go crazy can appreciate some better stuff for a change!) Average Song Score: 8.4 (A solid collection of hard-rock, heavy metal things ... if you're into that type of thing.) Album Tilt: 8.0 (I'd say this album is fairly consistent. It's kind of weak compared to some of the band's earlier efforts, but ... nothing on here is totally rancid.) Artist Rating: 7.5 (Ohhhhh... this is certainly a disappointing effort from these guys. A stark lack of catchy melodies sort of clouds this ... just because we know that Ray was capable of so much more.) Track Reviews Around the Dial 8.5/10 A nice, confident hard-rock number to start things up with! Hoorayyyyy!!! Really, apart from a general lack of awesomeness, there really is nothing wrong with this song. Ray Davies is a good songwriter (whether you like it or not) and the song is played quite well ... I mean, it's not the Kinks' best song ever, but it's still pretty good! And this kicks well enough for a bunch of middle aged guys trying to act like Van Halen or somebody. Give the People What They Want 9/10 This is another fun song! I don't know how anyone could hate this! ... Maybe I listened to too many bad Kiss albums, but I enjoy this fun, glitzy hard rock song as much as the freaking dickens. Good instrument playing, a nice vocal performance ... the melody isn't great, but hard rock melodies don't necessarily have to be great. It kicks. That's what counts. Killer's Eyes 8/10 I guess the Kinks have to do a mid-tempoed sort of arena-rock ballad since they're heavy metal stars now ....................... or NOT! The melody ain't that great (for Davies), but it's still quite passable. Not a terrible song, but .... It could have been better, certainly! Predictable 7/10 I might have advised Ray Davies against recording this song (that's a sort of sick combination of calypso and hard rock), but I wasn't born yet. So, we're left to listen to this not-great song. And ... ummmmm ... it's not terrible. That's the only good thing I have to say about it. Add it Up 9/10 Now THIS is better! This is a fun, bouncy little pop-rock thing that'll make you want to bounce all up'n'down upon yon chair! .... See?? LOOK AT ME! I'M BOUNCING UP AND DOWN RIGHT NOW AND I'M HAVING A FREAKING BLAAAAAST!!!!!!! ... Oh, it's been awhile since I've had this much fun bouncing up and down in my chair. Destroyer 9/10 Very much a 60s throwback (...you know... back when the Kinks were GOOD...). But, even though this riff has been used quite a few times before, the Kinks do quite good with it. The song is fun (and bouncy, too, I haven't quit bouncing, you know), it has a good tune, and I enjoy the instrumental performances. Yo-Yo 9.5/10 If you were going to call a song from this album a classic, then it had might as well be this one! This is their best attempt at doing the whole hard-rock thing on this album. The melody is pretty good (though, ya know, not as good as the Kinks during their peak ... but they haven't been as good as their peak since ... uhhh ... their peak.) But this is a good song, certainly. Back to Front 7.5/10 They're not really any better than Kiss here!!! ... Oh wait. I didn't mean to insult The Kinks! I'm sorry Ray! You're coo! And totally un-Kiss-like. There. Now that's solved. But I hope that insult at least startled you. Because this is nothing but a gutless (but loud) heavy metal nothing. Art Lover 7.5/10 This song isn't much better. Although, it's not a HARD ROCK NOTHING. It's more of a quiet ballad nothing. It might have been a nice throwback to the Village Green era Kinks if the melody were able to measure up. This is just a boring type song. A Little Bit of Abuse 8.5/10 This is a better type hard-rock ballad type thing. The melody is better, the instrument playing is pretty good, and ... uhhh ... it's enjoyable. That's all I have to say 'bout thaaat! Better Things 9/10 Well, this song is better things! ... Not the perfect Kinks song, to be sure, but it's all the funness that I can ever hope for in this mid-career Kinks. I enjoy the melody! Surely, Davies made catchier ones in his days but ... this will do. The song is enjoyable. That's all I really care about, anyway! Give me what I want ... your thoughts about this album here.

All reviews are copyrighted by Michael Lawrence. I don't throw up well.