Main menu
Fretplay home Submit tabs

The Kinks
The Kinks tabs The Kinks discography

Channels
Guitar channel Bass channel Guitar videos Reviews

Message Forum
Guitar forum Bass forum Bands and artists Promote your band Recent discussions All categories

Fretplay.com

The Kinks guitar tabs

CD reviews

The Kink Kontroversy

The Kinks - The Kink Kontroversy Audio CD

A fair review of the The Kinks "The Kink Kontroversy" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Kinks reviews here, or go back to the The Kinks tabs.

Band: The Kinks
Title: The Kink Kontroversy
Rating:

Release Date: 2001-08-21
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Milk Cow Blues 2: Ring the Bells 3: Gotta Get the First Plane Home 4: When I See That Girl of Mine 5: I Am Free 6: Till the End of the Day 7: World Keeps Going Round 8: I'm on an Island 9: Where Have All the Good Times Gone 10: It's Too Late - The Kinks, Shel Talmy 11: What's in Store for Me 12: You Can't Win 13: Dedicated Follower of Fashion [*] 14: Sittin' on My Sofa [*] 15: When I See That Girl of Mine [Demo Recording][#][*][Demo Version] 16: Dedicated Follower of Fashion [Alternate Stereo Take][#][*]

kinks finest
it isnt over produced. The kinks KONTROVERSY is a cd that goes back to the simpler style of rock n roll. it doesnt have flashy guitar slingin' or crazy pyscodelic cha cha. it just rocks. "till the end of the day" is a underrated classic. . "the world keeps going round" has a cool sense of insight_times will ger hard. . the rain will fall youll feel mighty low. . but the world keeps going round" how simple is that! and true. This cd like the vast other Kinks cds never get recognised as GREAT OR GOTTA HAVE! well folks this is a must have!! and it does have some catchy songs and some raw production of the mid sixties! retro bands anyone!?.

Another Strong Release
There is a selection of short melodic pop songs, some are exceptional. This is another one in the series of strong releases for the Kinks during this time period. "Sitting On My Sofa" features strong vocal interplay by the Davies brothers, "Till the End of the Day" is a Kinks classic that still stands the test of time, anchored by a distinctive Dave guitar riff, "Where Have All the Good Times Gone" and "Dedicated Follower of Fashion" are also Kinks classics, showcasing Dave's killer guitar and Ray's lyrical wit. I recommend this one strongly!.

No Longer a Singles Band
The difference with 'Kontroversy' is that the non-single cuts, which were for the most part quickly tossed together afterthoughts on the first two LPs, show real development of Ray Davies into the songwriter who would further blossom on the three masterpieces to follow. I bought this one as a teenager the day it came out, and played the grooves off of it, as I did ever other Kinks LP until 1970. The lyrics are introspective on 'I'm on an Island' and take a look at society on 'Where Have All the Good Times Gone'. This is a rock'n'roll record-in the cover of 'Milk Cow Blues', 'You Can't Win', and 'It's Too Late', the latter pounding hard with acoustic guitar and keyboards rather than the overdriven electric guitar of the early singles, and repeated to lesser effect on the churning 'Til the End of the Day'. This album shows a band in transition, and while there are a couple of cuts that are forgettable the growth in songwriting and more complex arrangements is a sign of great things to come.

Bridge to Waterloo
My Dad was stationed in Germany when this came out, and I remember all the high school bands playing "Milk Cow Blues" and "Til the End of the Day" at the dances. Maybe I am just nostalgic for this album. The rhythm lick of "Milk Cow Blues" was especially difficult. You were way cool if you mastered it (I never did).

I suppose like all transition works this one is unsatisfying at some levels, but it does rock hard. The bar-chord progression of "Til the End of the Day" and "Where Have All the Good Times Gone" (nostalgia for the old days as we wish they were which would find full flower on "Arthur" four years later) is married to more thoughtful lyrics than before. This is the second album to feature Dave's writing ("I Am Free"). Ray's bouncy "I'm on an Island," which would get a more calypso treatment live on the "Live at Kelvin Hall" album in 1967, revisits the isolation theme that would pop up so often in Ray's writing ("See My Friends," "Waterloo Sunset," and "Searching" being outstanding exemplars). Dave's voice is expecially effective on "What's in Store for Me. " "You Can't Win" is basically the Kinks "Wall of Sound" style at its best, even though the song itself isn't much. Basically, the Kinks are saying good-bye to their older style and embracing the more mature style and material of "Face to Face" and "Something Else. " "What's In Store for Me" reminds me of the same questioning of the kind of person the singer will be as a man contained in the Beach Boys' "When I Grow Up. " Dave's high harmony on "It's to Late" presages the harmony system the Kinks used from "Arthur" on to the end (Ray singing lead and Dave signing an octave or so above sometimes on the melody sometimes on a harmony line).

Unlike what one of the reviews said, Shel Talmy would continue to produce the Kinks for two more years. His slightly tinny sound would continue through "Face to Face" the next year. "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" would not appear until the B-side of "Sunny Afternoon" in 1966 (check out the whacking great live version of "Everybody Else" on the Kinks' last album "To the Bone" (1997) this time with Ray singing and Dave wailing on the guitar).

The extra tracks don't add much to the canon, though I am very glad to finally see "Sitting on My Sofa" and "Dedicated Follower of Fashion" (check out Ray's solo version of the latter on "To the Bone") remastered on CD. I am still waiting for "Act Nice and Gentle" (B-side to "Waterloo Sunset").

If you are a fan of '60's rock, you'll like this. It contains the Kinks' last R & B cover (fittingly, the first track) and continues the venture into social commentary begun with "Well Respected Man. " Compact at about 38 minutes, it packs a lot of punch into that time period.

Wondering if I'd done wrong...
It was without a doubt the most mature record the band had put out to date but was not as strong as their later lps of the decade. The Kinks' 3rd album released in November of 1965 was as many of the previous reviews have said the end of one era for the band. "Milk Cow Blues" definitely seems to make a statement as "this is the last classic R&B cover we'll ever do", but it is a great kickoff to the album and sees the brothers Davies trading vocals over some pretty raucous noise for 1965! Most important songs include "Til the End of the Day", a latter day early Kinks classic which has much similarity with "You Really Got Me" and "All Day"; "I'm on an Island" which many have stated as the beginning of the introspective Ray Davies though I think he did this on much of 'Kinda Kinks' as well; "Where Have All the Good Times Gone" which moans away the nostalgia of still a very young man (only 21!). I really enjoy the last three tunes: "It's Too Late, "What's in Store for Me" and "You Can't Win" especially the last with its menacing stomp and biting lead guitar. Ray and Dave seem to sing more harmony on this record than on either of the previous two and it works. "Dedicated Follower of Fashion", included here as a bonus track would begin Ray's career as a social critic, inspired by a rather pompous individual at a party according to legend. 'The Kink Kontroversy' was not a hit in the States and barely got a release here but the Kinks were fast becoming a albums band who seemed to shun potential success of singles for the artistic genius of Raymond Douglas Davies.

You can see a complete list of all The Kinks discography, or go back to the The Kinks tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.