| | Kinks Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) CD Kinks Discography of CDs
 (3 Customer Reviews)
After the commercial failure of VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY, the Kinks could have gone one of two ways. They could have forgotten about making cohesive, "veddy British" albums and gone back to simply putting together album-length collections of unrelated songs. Or they could have moved from concept albums to full-fledged rock operas, full of third-person tunes that would enable Ray Davies to further distance himself from his audience.
They chose the latter, earning themselves a solid core of new fans along the way. The pleasure of ARTHUR is that, while it shows the Kinks' readiness to tackle the rock opera form, it retains a close connection with their more pop-oriented past. Opener "Victoria" remained a concert favorite for years afterwards, while the delicate "Shangri-La" likewise took on a life of its own outside the rock-opera format. Clearly, the group had more creativity at this point than it knew what to do with. ARTHUR is probably the only album that you could play for a fan of the pop Kinks and a fan of the theatrical Kinks and please both.
Live Recording
Recorded at Pye Studios, London, England.
The Kinks: Ray Davies (vocals, guitar, piano); Dave Davies (vocals, guitar); John Dalton (bass); Mick Avory (drums).
Rolling Stone (3/6/03, p.73) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...ARTHUR sounds like a quiet masterpiece....Davies' tunes are spilling over with ideas and melodies..."
Rolling Stone (11/1/69, p.38) - "...An incredible album, the band in their finest form, turning it in from start to finish...a masterpiece on every level: Ray Davies' finest hour, the Kinks' supreme achievement." Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) Music Kinks Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) Songs Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) Music Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) Music Review Average Rating: (5 out of 5 stars)  top 10 album, all categories
Simply one of the greatest masterpiece of rock music. Hugely innovative and creative, although never pretentious, this is the album that establishes the Kinks (at least) as the equals of the Who, the Beatles or the Stones. You can never get tired of this album.
Submitted by Walhoo (Switzerland)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No A rockier "Village Green"
This is just a phenomenal CD.
Like its predecessor, the classic "The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society," this CD has a very British theme.
However, the instrumentation on this one is much more interesting and imaginative, and Dave Davies' guitar is much more evident than on the subdued "low-fi" (Ray Davies' word, not mine) Village Green CD.
Submitted by Mike (Chicago)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No Absolutely Brilliant!
Even if you've never bought a Kinks' disc, you must own Arthur. It is superb on every level!
Submitted by a reviewer (Central New York State)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No | Have you heard this album? |  |
Purchase Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) CD To buy, Click on price to add to cart | Something Else By The Kinks CD (1967)
Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) album
 $10.35    
| | Kinks Village Green Preservation Society CD (1968)
Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) CD music
$9.99
Contains original 15-track mono album as well as 12-track stereo version.
It's easy to imagine the confusion with which this manifesto for the defense of the status quo was received on its release in 1968. The world was in turmoil and the pose of the Street Fighting Man, rebellious and politically aware, was far sexier than the quaint homebody image the ...
| | Kinks Lola vs. The Powerman & The Money-Go-Round, PT. 1 CD (1970)
Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) music CDs
$9.35 
This 1970 album serves as the final installment in the Kinks' string of '60s masterpieces. In an age when most rockers were capitalizing on the new sound inspired by The Beatles' SGT. PEPPER, Ray Davies and the Kinks were looking back in time for musical inspiration on records like ARTHUR and VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY. Mixing classic rock & roll, blues, American country, and English dance hall ...
| | Who Sell Out CD (1967) Remastered
Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) songs
$9.29
This 1995 reissue of THE WHO SELL OUT includes songs and jingles not available on the original version.
Originally released on Track (612002/613002). Released in the U.S. on Decca (4950/74950) in 1968.
Only three albums into its recording career, the Who had already begun to distance itself from its proletarian R&B beginnings. Here, songwriter Pete Townshend follows up on the rock-opera idea he had introduced on A QUICK ONE with the extended, multi-part composition "Rael" and would later expand upon with TOMMY. The band had also begun exploring the form of the concept ...
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