After much enjoying all the band's thematic LP:s from the 1968 "Village Green" up to "Schoolboys In Disgrace" 1975 I totally missed out on "Sleepwalker", their first after leaving RCA for Arista and the return to a more conventional form. A lot was going on in the music world and also in my own life back then so I just skipped it, thinking Kinks belonged to my past, not the future. Then I heard the song "Misfits" on the radio and it all came back. Bought the comprising album next day and it was like meeting an old friend after years apart - some things had changed, but the atmosphere and connection remained. Production is a little more exact and the audio less cozy. Apart from Andy Pyle taking over bass after John Dalton it's the same group playing, this time with further studio reinforcement from Clem Cattini on drums and Zaine Griff on bass. Even though the surface is glossier and I miss some of the improprieties that made their earlier recordings so direct and personal, the songwriting and special vocals shines through and make it important. Favorite tracks - "Misfits", "Rock'n'Roll Fantasy" and "Black Messiah". US issue (Arista AB-4167) came with slightly different track order and a much shorter edit of "Live Life" - 3:12 against UK 4:47. Later CD releases on Velvel/Konk included three '45 edits and a christmas song. First UK had label as shown here, fully laminated cover and picture/lyric insert. (KYX*)
Inga kommentarer:
Skicka en kommentar