The Kinks

The Kinks – One for the Road (Live) (1980/2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · November 4, 2023 · Comments off

The Kinks’ scattershot U.S. career never fully flourished like that of their British Invasion peers. The most quintessentially British of British bands especially in the increasingly nostalgic songs of vocalist/rhythm guitarist Ray Davies the Kinks enjoyed a spike in popularity in America in the late ’70s and early ’80s. The gold-selling 1980 double-live album One for the Road is a fascinating document of trailblazing elder statesmen who paved the way for heavy metal and punk, but never felt a glorious pop song was out of their grasp. It also proves that Dave Davies is a criminally underrated lead guitarist. Brothers Dave and Ray Davies, bass guitarist Jim Rodford, drummer Mick Avory, and guest keyboardists Ian Gibbons and Nick Newell recorded One for the Road at several concerts in 1979 and 1980. “Lola” is the best-known track from this album, and this live reading was a minor hit single; Ray Davies’ teasing intro shows his playful side. “The Hard Way,” “Low Budget,” a raw, stripped-down “(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman,” “Celluloid Heroes,” and “You Really Got Me” are the other standouts.

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The Kinks – Muswell Hillbillies (Deluxe Edition) (1971/2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · November 4, 2023 · Comments off

The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential British groups of all time, with millions of record sales and countless awards and accolades to their name. From their explosive beginnings as part of the British Beat movement to forays into concept albums, stadium rock and acoustic balladeering, The Kinks have left an unimpeachable legacy of classic songs, many of which form the building blocks of popular music as we know it today.

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The Kinks – Misfits (1978/1998) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · November 4, 2023 · Comments off

“Misfits” is the English rock band The Kink’s sixteenth studio album. The record is part of the group’s second coming during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, taking a turn for the better after the group’s earlier, less successful concept albums. The 1978 album features US top 40 hit “A Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy”.

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The Kinks – Low Budget (1979/2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · November 4, 2023 · Comments off

Low Budget doesn’t have a narrative like Preservation or Soap Opera, but Ray Davies cleverly designed the album as a sly satire of the recession and oil crisis that gripped America in the late ’70s thereby satisfying his need to be a wry social commentator while giving American audiences a hook to identify with. It was a clever move that worked; not only did Low Budget become their highest-charting American album (not counting the 1966 Greatest Hits compilation), but it was also a fine set of arena rock, one of the better mainstream hard rock albums of its time. And it certainly was of its time so much so that many of the concerns and production techniques have dated quite a bit in the decades since its initial release. Nevertheless, that gives the album a certain charm, since it now plays like a time capsule, a snapshot of what hard rock sounded like at the close of the ’70s. Perhaps not so coincidentally, Davies’ songwriting fluctuates throughout the album, since it’s dictated as much by commercial as artistic concerns, but the moments when he manages to balance the two impulses as on the disco-fueled “(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman,” the vaudevillian “Low Budget,” “A Gallon of Gas,” the roaring “Attitude” (possibly their best hard rocker of the era, by the way), and “Catch Me Now I’m Falling,” where Davies takes on the persona of America itself are irresistible. Low Budget may not have the depth of, say, Arthur or Village Green, but it’s a terrifically entertaining testament to their skills as a professional rock band and Davies’ savvy as a commercial songwriter.

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The Kinks – Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Pt. 1 (Deluxe) (1970/2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · November 4, 2023 · Comments off

Kinks – Lola versus Powerman and The Moneygoround, Part One, commonly abbreviated to Lola Versus Powerman, or just Lola, is the eighth studio album by British rock band the Kinks, recorded and released in 1970. A concept album, it is a satirical appraisal of the music industry, including song publishers, unions, the press, accountants, business managers, and life on the road.

Although it appeared during a transitional period for the Kinks, Lola Versus Powerman was a success both critically and commercially for the group, charting in the Top 40 in America and helping restore them in the public eye, making it a “comeback” album. It contained two hit singles: ‘Lola’, which reached the #9 US, #2 UK and Germany – becoming the Kinks’ biggest success since ‘Sunny Afternoon’ in 1966 – and ‘Apeman’, which peaked at #5 in the UK and Germany. The track ‘Lola’, written by Ray Davies, allegedly details a romantic encounter between a young man and a possible trans-gender person whom he meets in a club in Soho, London.

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The Kinks – Lola vs. Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One (1970/2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · November 4, 2023 · Comments off

Lola , of course, became a classic-rock radio mainstay, but this entire 1970 album is nothing less than essential: Apeman; Got to Be Free; A Long Way from Home; Rats , and more songs that run from the funny to the furious.

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The Kinks – Kinks (1964/2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · November 4, 2023 · Comments off

Although the best of the Kinks’ early work is among the best British Invasion music, their initial pair of albums was far less consistent than those of the Beatles, Stones, and Who. Aside from the great “You Really Got Me,” this was a shabby, disappointing set with surprisingly thin production. As R&B cover artists, the Kinks weren’t nearly as adept as the Stones and Yardbirds; Ray Davies’ original tunes were, “You Really Got Me” aside, perfunctory Merseybeat-ish pastiches, and a couple of tunes that producer Shel Talmy penned for the group (“Bald Headed Woman,” “I’ve Been Driving on Bald Mountain”) were simply abominable. The rave-up treatments of the R&B standards “Got Love If You Want It” and “Cadillac” were good, and the simple “Stop Your Sobbing” would eventually be covered by the Pretenders, but overall this is really patchy.

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The Kinks – Kinda Kinks (1965/2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · November 4, 2023 · Comments off

The Kinks’ second album, Kinda Kinks, was rush-recorded on either side (and in the midst) of a world tour that took them all the way to Australia in the course of bridging the 1964-1965 New Year. Under those circumstances, the fact that every cut but one was an original was no small tribute to the songwriting ability of Ray Davies, even if most of the songs were less than first-rate because what was first-rate was also highly memorable, and what wasn’t also wasn’t bad. In the space of two frantic late-December and mid-January sessions, and a brutal week in February of 1965, the group cut 11 songs to fill out a long-player that was already destined to contain “Tired of Waiting for You” (a product of the previous summer’s work, held back by producer Shel Talmy for a single). Also along for the ride were the latter’s driving B-side “Come on Now” and “Something Better Beginning” (both cut in December 1964). So the resulting record was uneven but filled with promise, and possessed of at least three bright spots additionally, and equally important, this album showcased a much more sophisticated sound, Dave Davies’ guitar turned down (and even switched to acoustic in a couple of spots) as Ray Davies began exploring aspects of emotions and storytelling that transcended anything in the group’s prior output “Nothin’ in This World Can Stop Me Worryin’ ‘Bout That Girl” may have been a mouthful of a title, but it also put them right in the front of the British Invasion pack for seriousness and complexity, out in front of where the Beatles or almost any of the competition were in early 1965, but it didn’t stop them from switching gears to the bluesy “Naggin’ Woman.”

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The Kinks – Give The People What They Want (1981/2014) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · November 4, 2023 · Comments off

Give the People What They Want is the eighteenth studio album by the English rock group, The Kinks. It was released in August 1981 in the US, but was delayed until January 1982 in Europe. It was delayed because Ray Davies wanted to produce a full length video for the album, but financing fell through. Also scrapped were plans to remix the album for the European market. The album was initially aimed to be a statement on the media.

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The Kinks – Face to Face (1966/2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

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The Kink Kontroversy was a considerable leap forward in terms of quality, but it pales next to Face to Face, one of the finest collections of pop songs released during the ’60s. Conceived as a loose concept album, Face to Face sees Ray Davies’ fascination with English class and social structures flourish, as he creates a number of vivid character portraits. Davies’ growth as a lyricist coincided with the Kinks’ musical growth. Face to Face is filled with wonderful moments, whether it’s the mocking Hawaiian guitars of the rocker “Holiday in Waikiki,” the droning Eastern touches of “Fancy,” the music hall shuffle of “Dandy,” or the lazily rolling “Sunny Afternoon.” And that only scratches the surface of the riches of Face to Face, which offers other classics like “Rosy Won’t You Please Come Home,” “Party Line,” “Too Much on My Mind,” “Rainy Day in June,” and “Most Exclusive Residence for Sale,” making the record one of the most distinctive and accomplished albums of its time.

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The Kinks – Everybody’s in Show-Biz (Legacy Edition) (1972) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

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The 2016 Legacy Edition of Everybody’s In Show-Biz includes the original album, produced by Raymond Douglas Davies, in its entirety alongside a full disc’s worth of previously unissued studio sessions outtakes (recorded for the album in 1972 at Morgan Studios, Willesden, London) and live material (recorded March 2-3, 1972 during The Kinks’ triumphant Carnegie Hall concert run).

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The Kinks – Celluloid Heroes (1975/2017) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

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Released in 1976, just as the Kinks ended their notoriously uneven tenure at RCA, The Kinks’ Greatest: Celluloid Heroes is a summary of their time at the label. Since they didn’t have many genuine hits while at RCA, this winds up being a haphazard sampling of concept albums. Occasionally, an album is accurately represented. For instance, the selections from Muswell Hillbilles are perfect, but considering that nearly half this compilation leans on that terrific record, they would have to be. Apart from that album, the selection is decidedly hit and miss. It isn’t that singles are missing – their lone British hit from this time, “Supersonic Rocket Ship,” is nowhere to be found – or that albums are overlooked (no Schoolboys in Disgrace), it’s that highlights like “Here Comes Yet Another Day” and “Sweet Lady Genevieve” are left on their original albums. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

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The Kinks – Best Of (2021) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

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The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s.

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The Kinks – Arthur or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire (1969/2018) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

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HighRes-ReMaster of this 1969 album from the iconic British Rock band led by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. “Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire)” is the seventh studio album by The Kinks, released in October 1969. Kinks frontman Ray Davies constructed the concept album as the soundtrack to a Granada Television play and developed the storyline with novelist Julian Mitchell; however, the television programme was cancelled and never produced. The rough plot revolved around Arthur Morgan, a carpet-layer, who was based on Ray Davies’ brother-in-law Arthur Anning.

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The Kinks – Timeless Classics (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz]

Studio Masters By admin · November 2, 2023 · Comments off

The Kinks - Timeless Classics (2022) [Official Digital Download 24bit/44,1kHz] Download

The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, north London, in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm and blues and Merseybeat, and were briefly part of the British Invasion of the United States until their touring ban in 1965. Their third single, the Ray Davies-penned “You Really Got Me”, became an international hit, topping the charts in the United Kingdom and reaching the Top 10 in the United States.
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