The Journey, Pt. 2

by The Kinks

Overview

The Kinks continue their series of plus-size overview anthologies with 2023's The Journey, Pt. 2, in which the great band takes a look back at its career and the themes and ideas behind its songs. While this album is sequenced thematically rather than chronologically, for the most part it's devoted to the period when their string of brilliant but commercially overlooked albums like 1967's Something Else by the Kinks and 1969's Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) was broken by the smash hit "Lola'' in 1970. After signing a new record deal with RCA, Ray Davies next occupied himself with overblown rock operas such as 1973's Preservation: Act 1, 1974's Preservation: Act 2, and 1974's The Kinks Present a Soap Opera, which derailed the momentum they'd gained. While there are plenty of great singles and superb album tracks included in The Journey, Pt. 2, most fans and critics regard the band's (or at least Ray Davies') fascination with unsubtle narrative pieces in the '70s as the nadir of their catalog, and it's hard not to feel like Ray wanted to use this compilation as an opportunity to prompt a re-examination of those albums. This set cherry-picks most of the best songs from the two Preservation albums and Soap Opera, and while "Scrapheap City," "Money Talks," and "Where Are They Now" are better than most folks remember, their inclusion makes it obvious that they were written as part of a larger narrative, and their insistence on establishing ongoing characters weighs them down. That said, any album that includes "David Watts," "See My Friends," "A Well Respected Man," and of course "Lola," is going to be worth hearing, and the remastering makes the tracks sound as good as they deserve. A few relevant Dave Davies solo sides are also included (including "Susannah's Still Alive" and "Lincoln County"), and three previously unheard tracks from a 1975 concert show that the Kinks still knew how to deliver on-stage even if their albums of the period were lackluster. (The set also includes song-by-song notes from Ray Davies, Dave Davies, and Mick Avory, though they usually seem to be going out of their way not to reveal anything interesting.) A large portion of The Journey, Pt. 2 is dedicated to exploring a fallow period in the story of a truly great band, but the Kinks were truly great, and even their lesser material was smarter, more interesting, and more ambitious than what nearly all their peers were doing, and that is made clear on this album. ~ Mark Deming

Product Details

Release Date:	11/17/2023
Label:	Bmg Rights Management
UPC:	4050538897685
Rank:	2851

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Kinks   Primary Artist
Dave Davies   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Vocals (Background)
Mick Avory   Drums
John Dalton   Bass,Guitar (Bass)
Alan Holmes   Horn,Clarinet,Saxophone,Sax (Baritone)
Mike Cotton   Trumpet
Pamela Travis   Vocals (Background)
The Mike Cotton Sound   Brass
John Beecham   Horn,Tuba,Trombone
John Gosling   Accordion,Keyboards
Ray Davies   Guitar,Vocals,Harmonica,Keyboards,Guitar (Rhythm)
Lee Pavey   Vocals (Background)
Krysia Kocjan   Vocals (Background)
Laurie Brown   Horn,Flute,Trumpet,Sax (Alto)
Sue Brown   Vocals (Background)
Lyndsey Moore   Vocals (Background)
Peter Quaife   Guitar (Bass),Vocals (Background)
Lewis Rich   Vocals (Background)
Shirlie Roden   Vocals (Background)
Marianne Price   Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Shel Talmy   Producer
Andrew Sandoval   Supervisor,Audio Restoration
The Kinks   Composer,Project Coordinator
Barry Hammond   Engineer
Roger Quested   Engineer
Ray Davies   Mixing,Composer,Producer,Project Coordinator
Martin Levan   Engineer
Mike Butcher   Engineer
Mike Bobak   Engineer
Doug Hinman   Assistant
Mal Luker   Engineer
Dave Davies   Composer
Dezo Hoffman   Cover Photo
Daniel Hersch   Mastering
Gregg Jackmann   Engineer
Darren Evans   Design,Artwork
Matt Jaggar   Mixing
Fraser Kennedy   Project Coordinator