Customer Reviews

Muswell Hillbillies [Vinyl]

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Take it from an ancient Kinks fan...this is certainly one of their very best. I consider "Muswell" a masterpiece that stands confidently next to the other generally "accepted" Ray Davies masterworks ,i.e., "Lola vs..." , "Village Green Preservation Society", and the UNDISPUTED GIANT of Kinks works...."Arthur". I fully appreciate the common criticism that always seems to attend any meaningful discussion regarding "Muswell" among Kinks fans: that the album lacks the "English-pop" intensity of their previous works, so therefore it's "not quite" the Kinks...Well, boys and girls, THATS THE POINT of this LP ! It was a CONSCIOUS change of direction. Every great artist in history has experimented with the limits of his or her talents...and Raymond Douglas Davies is no different. Any TRUE Kinks purist would understand this and embrace this 1971 gem with open arms. Granted, it might take several listenings before this worthy disc endears itself to you but it's well worth the effort. However many spins it takes, eventually you'll sit up in your chair and exclaim loudly....Oh yeah, ...NOW I GET IT..! "Muswell Hillbillies" is an ACQUIRED taste. With tongue firmly planted in cheek, Ray teases us with delectible little country-flavored ditties like the Title tune (an effective ode to his hometown suburb in North London)or the heavily horned and witty "Holiday" and "Alcohol". When you first encounter these particular tunes (as I did in the early 70's), you might make the error of dismissing them out of hand as campy novelty tunes far below Ray's abilities. This couldn't be further from the truth.... if you LISTEN, I mean truly LISTEN to the lyrical content you'll detect the desperate sadness that he was trying to convey about the struggles of the English working class to maintain any semblance of sanity in the face of the modern technological society that was threatening to oppress them even more. Ray Davies WAS (and still is) very sensitive to this. Many would scoff at this...the world famous wealthy pop legend? how could he possibly relate to the poor? Easy, his fame aside Ray NEVER lost the common touch. Of all the pop icons, he never forgot his roots. Its a recorded fact that Ray always lamented the passing of a more simpler time. Recall his odes to "Victoria" and the magnificent "Waterloo Sunset" (which I always felt was Ray's greatest single composition, on a par with Lennon's "Day in the Life" on "Pepper') Just listen to the opening rocker on "Muswell" ,"20th Century Man" with it's vehement jabs at modern life and the painfully poignant line "I'm a 20th century man but I don't want to be here......" This seems to be Ray's personal philosophy in an aural nutshell, if you will, and this brilliant album captures this ethos perfectly. Ray is a walking anachronism, a man out of place in his time ...he has stated many times that he feels he was born too late. As far as I can tell he's adjusted pretty well and enriched the world with his genius. I highly recommend this cd, for any serious Kinks fan. GOD SAVE THE KINKS

There are a zillion Kinks albums, and yet only five or six songs--if that many--have ever been touched by radio. After getting sick of those songs before 1985, I had *no* interest in the Kinks by 1998.

I listened to Muswell Hillbillies on a whim and I was shocked. It has nothing to do with the sound of Lola or the handful of mid 60s tunes I've always associated with the Kinks. This is a deep, listenable, folk/blues record that's best dissaociated with the Kinks radio-pop franchise. There are some brilliant songs here--Holiday, Holloway Jail, Complicated Life, the title track--without any weaklings in the bunch. And if I were compiling a list of the ten most stick-in-your-head songs of all time, Skin and Bone would be near the top.

Highly recommended, even if you never pictured yourself buying a Kinks CD.

When you first listen to Muswell Hillbillies you might be taken aback. Here is one of the greatest bands in rock putting out what seems to be a country/folk album. But give the album a second and third listen and you'll be glad you did. As with all albums, it has it's ups and downs but each song is solid and the album has a sense of continuity that sometimes eluded the Kinks. The album starts out with Ray bemoaning the 20th century ("I was born in a welfare state, ruled by bureaucracy, controlled by civil servants and people dressed in gray"), one of the greatest protest songs ever written and even though it is from the last century, it has even more relevant today. Don't miss the harder version on One for the Road. The theme is picked up again in "Here Come the People in Grey," another great number. The second song goes right into a Dixie land jazz number, Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues, a hilarious ditty about a man so paranoid he can't leave his front door.
The humor throughout the whole album is some of the Kinks best, Ray even teases himself as he sings about places he's never been to. The album also stresses Ray's favorite theme, getting back to a simpler life, while echo's are heard throughout the album (as well as many Kinks albums) nowhere is it more pronounced as in Complicated Life, just try singing the la de da chorus without smiling. Oklahoma USA reminds us that dreaming is one of life's true pleasures.
I could on but suffice it to say, there is not one weak song on this album, which makes Muswell Hillbillies, in my opinion, the best album the Kinks ever made.

I am grateful to the friend who recommended this one to me because it's become a favorite. Ray Davies' lyrics are funny, scary, sad, and sometimes all of these at once. Displacement and loss of privacy resulting from urban renewal is one theme. Other songs lampoon fad diets, portray the melodrama of addiction, and whimsically celebrate English teatime. The musicianship is excellent, featuring judicious use of horns and keyboard and some of Dave Davies most incisive guitar work. Well-produced and arranged, the record's sound nevertheless remains raw and rootsy, reminiscent at times of The Rolling Stones' "Let it Bleed." This is especially evident in the greasy, prickly slide guitar on "Holloway Jail." Released in 1971, "Muswell Hillbillies," like Stones' records of that same era, has country-blues and country-rock leanings, but with more specifically English content and style. It also features more head and heart and a little less crotch!

The Velvel reissue of MUSWELL HILLBILLIES has well been worth the wait. The sound is outstanding(surprisingly,this reissue tops the Rhino cd issued earlier in the decade). The bonus tracks, although they don't add anything significant to the album, are interesting nonetheless. In particular, it is surprising that the beautiful KENTUCKY MOON never made the cut for another Kinks album. The only additions that would have made this reissue more interesting would have been the inclusion of demos for the songs on MUSWELL. One of the most interesting things about the bonus track APEMAN from LOLA earlier in the year, was the contrast between the demo and the final album version.

Definitely one of THE classic rock albums and one of the last nearly flawless albums the Kinks would make. Although EVERYBODY'S IN SHOWBIZ and PRESERVATION were both interesting and accomplished albums, they lacked overall focus and depth of MUSWELL HILLBILLIES.

Though there is no doubt that future! ! Kinks albums would have moments echoing the greatness of this work(and previous ones as well), none of them would be as consistent(or immune from market pressures like the Arista albums of the 70's).

Despite a couple of dated references, Muswell Hillbillies stands up incredibly well in this 21st-Century man's opinion. As improbable as this may sound, some of the lyrics work better now than they did in the 70s (tell me "Skin And Bones" isn't talking about the Atkins Diet). Of course, the album's timelessness is only one facet of its greatness. The playing is excellent, with slide guitar and brass augmenting the arrangements. Ray Davies layers his themes even more deftly than usual, resulting in a tasty lasagna of cultural parallels. Always wistful for ways gone by, Ray introduces the concept that American and English "folks" are not so different, using blues, country and even Salvation Army band sounds to make his point. No song illustrates this better than "Have A Cuppa Tea"... except perhaps the title track itself. The lyrics are replete with stuff you'll want to quote at any opportunity. And what seems at first like run-of-the-mill escapism, on repeated listenings, reveals itself as a complex yearning for freedom from a place one loves but can barely endure.

I can't say enough about this album, and have tried too hard already. Get it! I can't imagine you'll be disappointed.

I own a great many Kinks albums and they are one of my favorite groups. I go through phases with them...I'll feel like listening to a bunch all at once, and out comes the whole collection. Then I might go for months without listening to much. But MUSWELL HILLBILLIES is one of those fantastic albums that somehow moves me at such a deep level that I've got to listen to it every couple of weeks, at least. I've owned it in one form or another for over 20 years, and I just don't get tired of it. The Kinks were a great band that is somewhat forgotten these days when the "great" bands of the past are mentioned...yet even now "You Really Got Me" is background music for a car commercial.

Anyway, MUSWELL HILLBILLIES is without a doubt their most solid album. It's not a concept album, exactly, but thematically it is quite unified. It deals with an England of poor people, people who are bored, people who are frightened by the modern world, people with personal problems and people who are, frankly, a little nuts. Most of the songs are a little "vignette", featuring a different character. Some are told in the first person, some are about another character. Many are quite peppy, some are slow and sad, some are breezy. The production values feel skimpy, even by the standards of 1971, but I think this was deliberate. This is an album that feels like it was made out of desperation on a budget that was cobbled together. It sounds raw. But it's quite expertly written, with Ray Davies' best lyrics (and that's saying A LOT) and tight arrangements. The band, backed by a brass section, sounds terrific. It sounds like British country music in a way...it's obviously inspired to some degree by American folk music.

Highlights include:
20TH CENTURY MAN: The opening acoustic guitar is a real treat. And lyrically, it deals with the narrator complaining that he is really in the wrong era...he doesn't like the technology, the modern artists & writers, etc. He's bemoaning the modern state of affairs in general. It sounds like a pity trip, but the great thing about Ray Davies lyrics is that they always walk a line between pathos and incisiveness. He creates empathy for his characters.

HOLIDAY: A little ditty about a guy who's just dieing to get away for a little break...from life. Sounds like they'll be taking him on his vacation in a tight white suit with arms that tie behind him. It's a wacky optimistic novelty piece.

SKIN AND BONES: A truly great song that actually seemed to anticipate the Atkins Diet craze! The guitar work is brilliant and its laugh out loud funny.

ALCOHOL: A great song that manages to be both funny and very pointed about the damage alcohol has done to the main character of the song. "Here's a story `bout a sinner / who used to be a winner / who led a life of promise and position. / But the pressures at the office / his social life engagements / and his selfish wife's fanatical ambitions. / He turned to the booze / and he got mixed up with a flooz...y ...." You get the point.

OKLAHOMA U.S.A. One of the saddest, simplest little songs about a person's totally unrealistic daydreams. How's this for an upbeat lyric : "All life we work, but work is a bore / If life's for living, what's living for?" Yikes. It's a heartbreaker.

HAVE A CUPPA TEA: A celebration of the English obsession with tea. Fun...almost a gospel song.

There are lots more, but this gives you an idea of the variety. If you get this album, here's a hint: please download the lyrics from the web somewhere. Just google them. The production sometimes muddies the vocals...and you want to catch every witty lyric in this classic.

I can't recommend this album highly enough. In my opinion, it should be one of the two dozen or so greatest musical efforts of the 1970s. I've never heard its equal.

This album really grows on you. Really have to listen to the whole CD. It's a case of the whole being greater than the some of its parts (and the parts are very good). Can't say enough about how the Kinks were able to change directions so effortlessy and masterfully.

MUSWELL HILLBILLIES is a true Classic, overlooked by way too many rock fans.

In the era of concept albums whose reach generally exceeded their grasp--TOMMY, SATANIC MAJESTIES REQUEST, and anything by Pink Floyd--Ray Davies took on more down to earth topics: urban decay, urban renewal and, always, the problems of the common man often left behind in the modern world.

"20th Century Man," "Holiday," and a half dozen others on MUSWELL HILLBILLIES are true greats. The Kinks out-rural the late 60s/early 70s Stones and sound more like a full-fledged band than they would again until MISFITS.

To my ears, with a couple of decades since its original release, MUSWELL HILLBILLIES remains the best album the Kinks ever recorded

Anyone who claims to be a fan of music must own this album. Ray Davies is a genius, and his genius is in full force on this album. The fact that the Kinks can change their musical style so drastically and still make wonderful records is amazing. 'Have A Cup of Tea', 'Here Come The People In Grey' and 'Holloway Jail' are some of the greatest songs ever recorded. This entire album will dazzle the mind and illuminate the listener. The Kinks truly are amazing.