Preservation Act 2

by

The Kinks

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I'll admit I wasn't expecting a whole lot from this album, after reading several negative reviews, but I figured "Hey, it's the Kinks, how bad can it be?" Funny thing, but it's not at all bad. Yes, it's got a more 70s sound (this ain't no "Something Else") but I'm not sure why some people bash this album. It's got Ray Davies' stamp all over it, the same concern about the future, the same characterizations, the same love of melody. True, the announcements tend to interupt the flow of the album, but they're short, and they help fill in the gaps of what might be an otherwise incomprehensible story. Story be damned! This is good music; who cares about the story? If you're a recent Kinks fan and are hesitant to pick up this album because of negative reviews, stop worrying and pick it up. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

It's important to remember that Ray Davies wasn't just making albums during the Kinks' early 70s concept period. "Preservation," "Soap Opera" and "Schoolboys in Disgrace" all toured as fully developed (if rather low-budget) stage musicals, and Ray, always the most charming and zestful of rock showmen, really outdid himself playing the heroes. "Preservation" truly came alive when I saw it in NYC in 1974; I wish there was a video of the performance, which was the best of the 20 or so Kinks shows I've seen. If memory serves, the character of the Tramp got cut from the stage show, so two of the most memorable songs on the albums, "One of the Survivors" and "Sweet Lady Genevieve," weren't even played. Still, it was magic. One of the neatest devices was live-Ray as Mr. Flash singing to video-Ray as Mr. Black. There have been periodic rumblings about Davies trying to resurrect "Preservation" for the stage in a full-blown West End or Broadway production. If he could recapture what happened that night, it would be wonderful, though realistically a younger actor would have to play the parts; no rocker, especially one pushing 60, could do it night after night through an extended run. The theme of the principled ideological fanatic (Mr. Black) being far more dangerous than the corrupt but recognizably human scoundrel(Mr. Flash)remains pertinent in an age of religious and political extremism. As album experiences, the songs of "Preservation," "Soap Opera" and "Schoolboys in Disgrace" are hit and miss, often geared more toward theatricality than melodic loveliness and rock n roll pithiness ("Schoolboys" comes closest to being a solid rock album). They clearly do not rank with the Kinks' best. But I think the goal from 72-76 was to create terrific, full-fledged stage musicals, rather than to make regular albums. "I'm not like everybody else," indeed. I think the Kinks succeeded, but you simply had to be there to understand how well. That said, I'm glad that, having proved they could pull off the stage shows, they got back to being a rock band rather than a self-contained rock n roll theater troupe. No other rock band can claim such a chapter in its career.