#478 The Kinks, 'Something Else by the Kinks' (1967)

‘Something Else’ is a bit of a shift in sound for The Kinks. Following their success with hard rocking singles ‘You Really Got Me’ and ‘All Day and All Of The Night’, as well as the more poppy ‘Sunny Afternoon,’ the band released this, their fifth studio album. The songs on this record were more personal yet introverted, telling stories of real people; ‘David Watts,’ ‘Harry Rag,’ the ‘Tin Soldier Man,’ the ‘Two Sisters,’ Syvilla & Percilla.

The album was a commercial failure. Around the same time a ‘Greatest Hits’ compilation was released and the two hit singles has been released ahead of the album. There was also another album that had dominating the charts for months; The Beatles’ magnum opus, ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.’

Its failure nearly killed the band at the time, but retrospectively it has been hailed as a classic. The album ends with ‘Waterloo Sunset,’ which is up there with The Kinks’ best songs of all time. And Dave Davies shines with his song ‘Death Of A Clown.’ I found the production to be on point and I loved Nicky Hopkins’s contributions on keys. It’s an album full of stories of real people and I like that.

#rs500albums

#477 Howlin’ Wolf, 'Moanin' in the Moonlight' (1959)

#479 Selena, 'Amor Prohibido' (1994)