Kinks - Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) CD


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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

List Price	$11.97 (You save $0.72)
Category	Rock Albums, Oldies CDs, Rock/Pop, British Invasion, 60's
Label	Reprise
Orig Year	1969
All Time Product Rank	7,638
CD Universe Part number	1099382
Catalog number	6366
Discs	1
Release Date	May 02, 1990
Studio/Live	Studio
Mono/Stereo	Stereo
Producer	Ray Davies
Personnel	Dave Davies - vocals, guitar Mick Avory - drums Ray Davies - vocals, guitar, piano John Dalton - bass

Kinks - Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) Songs

	Trk	Song
	1	Victoria See All 30
	2	Yes Sir, No Sir See All 7
	3	Some Mother's Son See All 8
	4	Drivin' See All 10
	5	Brainwashed See All 13
	6	Australia See All 7
	7	Shangri-La See All 12
	8	Mr. Churchill Says See All 7
	9	She's Bought A Hat Like Princess Marina See All 8
	10	Young And Innocent Days See All 7
	11	Nothing to Say See All 8
	12	Arthur See All 8

Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) Music

Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) CD (1969) 5 stars

(Import) Bonus Tracks; England; Remastered

$12.29

Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) CD (1969) 5 stars

(Import) Japan; Mini LP Sleeve

$62.19

Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) Vinyl LP 5 stars

For Sale Pre-Order Now! Release Date Not Determined

$37.89

Arthur (Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire) Music Review

Average Rating: (5 out of 5 stars) 5 stars

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 1 of 1 found this helpful.

5 stars 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 1 of 1 found this helpful.

5 stars five star album
arthur is truly the kinks at their best.
Submitted by robert (rockford,il.usa)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No

5 stars 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

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