Customer Reviews

Chosen People

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's nice to finally be able to hear Dave Davies' "Chosen People" after the album being out of print for two decades. It is certainly more accessible than his first two solo efforts, which sometimes buried great songs in murky, plodding production. For "Chosen People" Dave brought in a full backing band instead of playing everything himself in endless overdubs, and the result is a tighter, crisper, and far more lively sound. Dave also turns in some great vocals, especially on the haunting "True Story" ("Are you talking to me?"). There's a good mix of rockers and ballads, but not much of the heavy metal that characterized his previous albums.

The songwriting here is fairly solid (but not as consistently good as the high water mark he would hit on his next album, "BUG"). And as always, Dave's heavy-handed peace-and-love preaching is leavened with enough mysticism and UFO lore to keep things interesting!

Overall, this is a good-but-not-great set sure to please diehard Dave fans, and probably inconsequential to anyone else. Go for "BUG" first.

Chosen People is easily the best and the most accessible of the three albums Dave recorded in the early 80s. While the first two albums sounded like heavy metal work outs, with the third album Dave chose to introduce acoustic guitars, keyboards and strings. This makes the album more diverse and the songmaterial is more mature and much stronger. Would be nice if Dave would add some tracks of this album to his setlist if and when he goes back on the road. Cheers dave!

This album shows how diverse Dave is as a soloist. Listening to this and his two earlier efforts reinforces just how much he contributed to the Kinks. His guitar work speaks for itself and his songwriting is very strong. He shares his views, beliefs and personal experiences intertwined with some really haunting melodies. All of his work is worth listening to as well as his live performances. He doesn't disappoint. Lets hope he gets back on stage real soon

When this album was released in August 1983, the Kinks were riding high in the charts with "Come Dancing", and their album "State of Confusion". So it must have been very frustrating for Dave to see his third solo album not connect with record buyers in the U.S. and U.K. I rank this album right up there with the Kinks best work as a band. His first two albums away from the band, AFL1-3603 and Glamour, were like a burst of pent up feelings and ideas. This collection of songs develops those ideas even further. Although Dave had been interested in yoga, meditation and spiritual matters for a number of years, an experience he had in 1982 ("my epiphany" he calls it) only deepened his focus on that side of life. It affected his outlook on life, the world around him, and his relationships. I immediately connected with these songs when I first heard them, they conveyed so much of what I wanted to express. There's also a greater ranges of styles musically - still plenty of Dave's hard rockin' side, but some beautiful ballads, too. Kinks fans know him as mostly a rocker, so they may be surprised at how sweet he sings on "Take One More Chance", which is my favorite song of his. "Love Gets You" is a simple love song, should've been a hit single. The title song "Chosen People" was inspired by the book "Black Elk Speaks". "Danger Zone" warns about the dangers of nuclear power. Dave's guitar work on this album is better than ever - listen to the opening instrumental "Tapas", "Charity", and the multi-layered guitars on "Mean Disposition". The cover art is as good as the music itself - a masterpiece (glad I still have my copy of the original vinyl!).

I was just a kid in the 80's when I got this album on tape. It was a huge influence on my musical taste and life. Most of the songs on this album I still remembered -even though I hadn't even listed to the album in 20 years! I have been looking for this on CD for quite some time now and finally found it. Well worth the wait and just as good as I could remember it. Quite a clean remastering and one of my favorite albums of all time.