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Sleepwalk toward this link and click it to get to the main Kinks page... Luke Sleepwalker
Overall Album Score: 8.6 out of 10 I guess Ray Davies suddenly realized that some people were calling him the father of hard rock, so he decided to dress up his next album with some 'lectric guitar -- fully equipped with riffs and solos. ... And I say that's always a nice thing! ... Of course, the songs are very polished and refined. That could be considered a good thing or a bad thing depending on your own personal tastes. I consider it both! It's mostly a good thing, though... When songs are well polished, that means that the artist took great care in its production. (And, fortunately, these aren't as unabashedly hollow as Ray had been doing during his Preservation and Soap Opera days ... these are fairly complex most of the time.) However, well-polished songs usually are too rounded at the edges! I like my songs edgy! Overall, though, this is a pretty good album. The songs, by and large, are well written. I love that Davies decided to do a ROCK album for ONCE instead of another half-witted CONCEPT ALBUM. Yeah, this is commercial rock, but it's good commercial rock. Oddly enough, the album's greatest moments lie in the four bonus tracks supplied by the gracious CD company. More details are provided below, as usual. Overall Album Score: 8.6 out of 10 (Another worthwhile effort from the mid-career Kinks! This time, Ray gives us some nice polished rock acts to gnash our teeth on.) Average Song Score: 8.8 (Great songs! Just like he started doing on Schoolboys in Disgrace Ray Davies continues to go through his stuff and give it a proper polishing job. Also, this stuff is ROCK. No more show tunes, baby!) Album Tilt: 8.5 (A solid album throughout. It doesn't breathe any otherworldly greatness, though. That's what I'm looking for before I increase the album tilt.) Artist Rating: 8.5 (Davies did a nice job polishing these songs. Sleepwalker isn't particularly impressive, though, on the artistic realm.) Track Reviews Life on the Road 9/10 I like this song! It's a nice pop ditty with enough of a hard-rock connection to make it kind of awesome. The best part about it is that it isn't nearly as paper-thin as the stuff we'd been hearing from the Kinks in recent days (ala Soap Opera and Preservation Act 2). The tune could have used some better hooks in it, but the song is very fun. Mr. Big Man 9/10 Whoah ... this song sounds kind of like Layla. ... I don't mean to say that the song is ripped off from Layla, but it sounds kind of like the same thing. ... I'm so glad that Ray Davies decided to treat us to some real rock-and-roll as opposed to those goofy show tune things. ... Not that I'm necessarily against show tunes, but Davies was never that great at them. Sleepwalker 9/10 More good 70s rock-and-roll! The riff is pretty nice, and I really enjoy the electric guitar work. When the piano comes in at the middle of the song, it was a nice touch. It wasn't the perfect touch, but it keeps things interesting. Brother 8.5/10 This mid-tempoed, pseudo-moving song (perhaps slightly reminiscent of "He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother" by The Hollies) gives us more good stuff to listen to. Perhaps this is a bit overlong, but the electric geeeetar saves it. Juke Box Music 8.5/10 Again, this song is a little bit long. I like the riff, though (even though it's hardly original). The tune is pretty good as well. Davies crafts this song together remarkably well. ... Nice arrangements, I say! ... TOOO LOOOOONGGGGG! I hate to say it, Ray, but you're not CREAM. Sleepless Nights 9.5/10 Hmmm... Good song! I like the melody quite a lot. There's some really nice hooks/chord changes. And the instrumentation was nicely done. Certainly, this song sounds old school (remember this album was released in the disco/punk era), but I like the nice electric guitar and that electric organ in the background. It sounds very 60s. Or at least early 70s. Stormy Sky 8.5/10 Uhhhh... Hey! This song is delicate and pretty catchy! Unfortunately, it's delved too much in 70s pop rock that I can't enjoy it to its fullest. C'mon, Ray! You gave us some really nice ROCKIN stuff before on the album! What's with this??? Eh... I still like it. Full Moon 8/10 Fuuuullllllllll Mooooooooooonnnnnnnnnn. This is a little to mediocre/average to be considered to have a whole lot of value. The melody is good, but not that good for Ray Davies. The instrumentation is nice, but unexciting. The song is also solid and enjoyable. Life Goes On 9/10 Why must Ray make these songs so danged looong! This is over 5 minutes and it's essentially a pop song. Fortunately, the pop song has a lot of guitars in it! It's pretty much enjoyable throughout, even though it might not give me such a great impression. BONUS TRACKS Artificial Light Hey! This is a good song! ... And it's a bonus tracks! ....... Bonus tracks are usually supposed to suck, right? This has a good semi-r&b groove and the strange, hollow sweeping synth in the background was a nice touch ... I'd give this one an 8.5. Prince of the Punks Hah! I just knew that Davies would go all PUNK on us! ... Oh wait. This ain't no punk song. This is just another pop song with hard-rock inklings. ... Actually this is a pretty good song. It has a nice melody (though not flawlessly hook-filled) and it's FUN. A 9. Nearly a 9.5. The Poseur COWBELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!! (Oh man, that Christopher Walken corrupted me for life, I think.) This is another very RETRO song that probably should have been released in 1967 and NOT 1977. We want PUNK in 1977. Not goofy Kinks retreads of the past. Anyway, this is a really good song, too. It has a good melody and nice, polished instrumentation. (If it were more sloppy, it would be pretty much UNMISTAKABLE as a '67 masterstroke.) A 9. Nearly a 9.5. For whatever reason, this song was never released. Until now. Bwahhahahahaaaaah! On the Outside This song wasn't originally released either. WHY??? IT'S A GOOD SONG! It sucks that they would keep such good songs under wrap like this. They should have put it on the album! It would have went WONDERFULLY with it! ... At any rate, it's with the album now! This is 70s pop that is GOOD. The melody is among the best of the entire album. It's catchy and fun! Yay! A 10. Use the force! Click on this link to the e-mail form without looking here! Sleepwalker_1977@hotmail.com (Alex) received Feb. 19, 2005 You're an idiot. "The Poseur" isn't a throwback to 1967.
It's their first foray into dance/disco music. Of course, they would
perfect it with "Superman" on 'Low Budget.' (Please keep going in your Kinks
reviews. They're my fave band tied with The Who.)
Also, you may want to re-check some of the songs on these albums that
you find so dreadfully annoying. If you don't like a song, does it
really need to be an 8.5 just because it's The Kinks?
Well, I've no room to talk. Bad Kinks is better than good modern shit
any day.
Speaking of modern rock, if you haven't heard them, I suggest The White
Stripes. The guitarist/frontman Jack White has said before that Dave
Davies is an influence on him. Just by the way he has his hair, (think
1967 era Dave Davies hair,) he is a spitting image. And his singing voice
is very similar. You ought to review their albums. Start with
'Elephant' (2003) and work your way back.
Also, being a classic rock fan, I surprised myself when I found myself
rocking out to the unmellow strains of Marilyn Manson. Get past the
scary makeup and rumors (a lot of which are false,) and give him a whirl.
I did, and I was duly impressed. 'Mechanical Animals' and 'Holy Wood'
are art.
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All reviews are copyrighted by Michael Lawrence. He cherishes all the time we spend together.
