Preservation Act 2 (Hybr) (Dig) [Hybrid SACD - DSD]

The Kinks | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 21, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD
• Label: Velvel Records
• ASIN: B0002PUH9M
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,031 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Where Preservation, Act 1 created a dramatic framework and set this two-part drama in motion, Act 2 captures the full breadth of Ray Davies's morality play. Act 2 is so ambitiously plotted that it seems as if the narrative was built before the music was considered. The ensemble grows throughout, again detracting from the Kinks' music. (It's worth noting that none of the tracks from either part of Preservation stayed in the band's live sets for long after the LPs were released.) But for all the pretensions entailed in a narrative on community and class, both acts are refreshingly low-key. In each you can hear the roots of so much indie pop that came a couple of decades later. The shifty melodies call for all sorts of harmonic gamesmanship, and the action turns out to be fun, albeit less so on this sequel than on Act 1 or on the brittle Village Green Preservation Society. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars You had to be there, December 24, 2002

By 

Michael Boehm (Costa Mesa, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Preservation Act 2 (Audio CD)

It's important to remember that Ray Davies wasn't just making albums during the Kinks' early 70s concept period. "Preservation," "Soap Opera" and "Schoolboys in Disgrace" all toured as fully developed (if rather low-budget) stage musicals, and Ray, always the most charming and zestful of rock showmen, really outdid himself playing the heroes. "Preservation" truly came alive when I saw it in NYC in 1974; I wish there was a video of the performance, which was the best of the 20 or so Kinks shows I've seen. If memory serves, the character of the Tramp got cut from the stage show, so two of the most memorable songs on the albums, "One of the Survivors" and "Sweet Lady Genevieve," weren't even played. Still, it was magic. One of the neatest devices was live-Ray as Mr. Flash singing to video-Ray as Mr. Black. There have been periodic rumblings about Davies trying to resurrect "Preservation" for the stage in a full-blown West End or Broadway production. If he could recapture what happened that night, it would be wonderful, though realistically a younger actor would have to play the parts; no rocker, especially one pushing 60, could do it night after night through an extended run. The theme of the principled ideological fanatic (Mr. Black) being far more dangerous than the corrupt but recognizably human scoundrel(Mr. Flash)remains pertinent in an age of religious and political extremism. As album experiences, the songs of "Preservation," "Soap Opera" and "Schoolboys in Disgrace" are hit and miss, often geared more toward theatricality than melodic loveliness and rock n roll pithiness ("Schoolboys" comes closest to being a solid rock album). They clearly do not rank with the Kinks' best. But I think the goal from 72-76 was to create terrific, full-fledged stage musicals, rather than to make regular albums. "I'm not like everybody else," indeed. I think the Kinks succeeded, but you simply had to be there to understand how well. That said, I'm glad that, having proved they could pull off the stage shows, they got back to being a rock band rather than a self-contained rock n roll theater troupe. No other rock band can claim such a chapter in its career.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ahead Of My Time, December 22, 2006

By 

J S Freemont (PDX , USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Preservation Act 2 (Hybr) (Dig) (Audio CD)

I don't usually write reviews, after all musical tastes are subjective and my opinion is just that - my opinion. However, I feel so strongly about this particular work that I feel compelled to add my two cents.

I heard this music for years before I really began to listen to it. A friend had a copy and liked it. He played it often. I love the Kinks, hated this record. But I'm one of those annoying persons who has to have everything an artist records if I really like that artists work. I bought a copy of Preservation, but not Preservation 2. It was the exception. I rarely listened to Preservation and never thought about Act 2.

One day many years later I found a copy of Act 2 in a used record bin. I figured I would buy it just to complete my collection. When at home and listening to it, badly scratched and in generally poor condition, I was completely blown away. Here was the same music I'd heard before and hated. Somewhere between then and now I found my way to this work and it found it's way to me. I made a cassette copy of that crappy old record and wore it out before Act 2 was finally re-released on CD. Hearing a pristine copy, even if cd format, made for a good day.

Each and every listen to this album is a reinforcement of it's timelessness, it's joy and pathos, and it's relevence. No, timelessness is incorrect -- this music's time is right now. Any major corporate CEO could be a stand-in for Flash and any Fundamentalist pundit could stand in for Mr. Black. It's as if Ray Davies' "...dream I can't forget..." was really a prophetic dream of our own times.

So what if the announcements are a drag. So what if every song isn't perfect. Read between the lines. Insert personal experience here. Isn't that what one does with art?

I wish someone would write a book and stage this. It realy is a musical play at heart.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the best Kinks, but still pretty good, July 12, 2005

By 

Brian C. Taylor "smug feldspar magnate" (Tallahassee, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Preservation Act 2 (Hybr) (Dig) (Audio CD)

I'll admit I wasn't expecting a whole lot from this album, after reading several negative reviews, but I figured "Hey, it's the Kinks, how bad can it be?" Funny thing, but it's not at all bad. Yes, it's got a more 70s sound (this ain't no "Something Else") but I'm not sure why some people bash this album. It's got Ray Davies' stamp all over it, the same concern about the future, the same characterizations, the same love of melody. True, the announcements tend to interupt the flow of the album, but they're short, and they help fill in the gaps of what might be an otherwise incomprehensible story. Story be damned! This is good music; who cares about the story? If you're a recent Kinks fan and are hesitant to pick up this album because of negative reviews, stop worrying and pick it up. You'll be pleasantly surprised.