Retro Spins: The Kinks - Give the People What They Want

 

What do I know about The Kinks? Let's see...They sang You Really Got Me, All Day And All Of The Night, Lola, and Come Dancing. Then I came across a song a few years back that took the first three of those, and combined them into Destroyer.

By 1981's Give The People What They Want, the band had already been around for fifteen plus years, having released nineteen albums between 1964 and 1979. Their storied legacy is one the fans take very seriously, so as a newcomer, I won't tread on that ground. Instead, I'll just jump in at my starting point of the 80's.

This isn't the first album from The Kinks I purchased, but I am glad that I get to start from the beginning of the decade, and go through them all in order. It will give me the chance to ebb and flow with the band's transitioning phases throughout the era.

With only Destroyer being familiar to me, I really didn't know what to expect. Honestly, I thought it was going to be a punk album. Turns out, I don't know anything about The Kinks, as this was nowhere near close.

Instead, Give The People What They Want is all hard rock / power pop goodness, and I do mean good. There were only about two tracks that I didn't particularly care for, keeping this one from as near perfect as one could get. Tracks Around The Dial, Give The People What They Want, Killer's Eyes, Predictable, Add It Up, Destroyer, Yo-Yo, Art Lover, and A Little Bit Of Abuse each had their own unique sound, yet somehow cohesively worked together to craft a near masterpiece.

My anticipation for their next record, and expectations of it are way up at this point. I'm on the cusp of yielding to being a new fan of their work. Now 1983's State Of Confusion just has to deliver. Check back tomorrow to see how it all went.

In closing, here are some behind the scenes outtakes from Star Wars.

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