Kinks - 1966 - Face To Face

The Kink Kontroversy was a considerable leap forward in terms of quality, but it pales next to Face to Face, one of the finest collections of pop songs released during the '60s. Conceived as a loose concept album, Face to Face sees Ray Davies' fascination with English class and social structures flourish, as he creates a number of vivid character portraits. Davies' growth as a lyricist has coincided with the Kinks' musical growth. Face to Face is filled with wonderful moments, whether it's the mocking Hawaiian guitars of the rocker "Holiday in Waikiki," the droning Eastern touches of "Fancy," the music hall shuffle of "Dandy," or the lazily rolling "Sunny Afternoon." And that only scratches the surface of the riches of Face to Face, which offers other classics like "Rosy Won't You Please Come Home," "Party Line," "Too Much on My Mind," "Rainy Day in June," and "Most Exclusive Residence for Sale," making the record one of the most distinctive and accomplished albums of its time. [The CD reissue of Face to Face included six bonus tracks: the singles and B-sides "I'm Not Like Everybody Else," "Dead End Street," "Big Black Smoke," "Mister Pleasant," and "This Is Where I Belong," plus the previously unreleased "Mr. Reporter" and backing track "Little Women."]

		1		Party Line	Davies, Davies	2:35
		2		Rosie Won't You Please Come Home	Davies	2:34
		3		Dandy	Davies	2:12
		4		Too Much on My Mind	Davies	2:28
		5		Session Man	Davies	2:14
		6		Rainy Day in June	Davies	3:10
		7		A House in the Country	Davies	3:03
		8		Holiday in Waikiki	Davies	2:52
		9		Most Exclusive Residence for Sale	Davies	2:48
		10		Fancy	Davies	2:30
		11		Little Miss Queen of Darkness	Davies	3:16
		12		You're Lookin' Fine	Davies	2:46
		13		Sunny Afternoon	Davies	3:36
		14		I'll Remember	Davies	2:27

¡Aquí!

Yardbirds - 1966 - Roger The Engineer

Once Jeff Beck joined the Yardbirds, the group began to explore uncharted territory, expanding their blues-rock into wild sonic permutations of psychedelia, Indian music, and avant-garde white noise. Each subsequent single displayed a new direction, one that expanded on the ideas of the previous single, so it would seem that Roger the Engineer -- Beck's first full album with the group and the band's first album of all-original material -- would have offered them the opportunity to fully explore their adventurous inclinations. Despite a handful of brilliant moments, Roger the Engineer falls short of expectations, partially because the band is reluctant to leave their blues roots behind and partially because they simply can't write a consistent set of songs. At their best on Roger, the Yardbirds strike a kinetic balance of blues-rock form and explosive psychedelia ("Lost Woman," "Over, Under Sideways, Down," "The Nazz Are Blue," "He's Always There," "Psycho Daisies"), but they can also bog down in silly Eastern drones (although "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" is a classic piece of menacing psychedelia) or blues tradition ("Jeff's Boogie" is a pointless guitar workout that doesn't even showcase Beck at his most imaginative). The result is an unfocused record that careens between the great and the merely adequate, but the Yardbirds always had a problem with consistency -- none of their early albums had the impact of the singles, and Roger the Engineer suffers from the same problem. Nevertheless, it is the Yardbirds' best individual studio album, offering some of their very best psychedelia, even if it doesn't rank among the great albums of its era.

		1		Lost Woman	Beck, Dreja, McCarty, Relf ...	3:12
Composed by: Beck, Dreja, McCarty, Relf, Samwell-Smith
		2		Over, Under, Sideways, Down	Beck, Dreja, McCarty, Relf ...	2:21
Composed by: Beck, Dreja, McCarty, Relf, Samwell-Smith
		3		The Nazz Are Blue	Beck	3:01
		4		I Can't Make Your Way	Dreja, McCarty, Relf ...	2:22
Composed by: Dreja, McCarty, Relf, Samwell-Smith
		5		Rack My Mind	Beck, Dreja, McCarty, Relf ...	3:12
Composed by: Beck, Dreja, McCarty, Relf, Samwell-Smith
		6		Farewell	McCarty, Relf, Samwell-Smith	1:28
		7		Hot House of Omagarashid	Beck, Dreja, McCarty, Relf ...	2:54
Composed by: Beck, Dreja, McCarty, Relf, Samwell-Smith
		8		Jeff's Boogie	Beck	1:44
		9		He's Always There	McCarty, Samwell-Smith	2:35
		10		Turn Into Earth	Beck, Dreja, McCarty, Relf ...	2:22
Composed by: Beck, Dreja, McCarty, Relf, Samwell-Smith
		11		What Do You Want	Beck, Dreja, McCarty, Relf ...	2:12
Composed by: Beck, Dreja, McCarty, Relf, Samwell-Smith
		12		Ever Since the World Began	Beck, Dreja, McCarty, Relf ...	3:03
Composed by: Beck, Dreja, McCarty, Relf, Samwell-Smith
		13		Psycho Daisies	Beck, Dreja, McCarty, Page, Relf	3:21
		14		Happenings Ten Years Time Ago	Beck, Dreja, McCarthy, Relf ...	2:05

¡Aquí!

Kinks - 1967 - Something Else By The Kinks

Face to Face was a remarkable record, but its follow-up, Something Else, expands its accomplishments, offering 13 classic British pop songs. As Ray Davies' songwriting becomes more refined, he becomes more nostalgic and sentimental, retreating from the psychedelic and mod posturings that had dominated the rock world. Indeed, Something Else sounds like nothing else from 1967. The Kinks never rock very hard on the album, preferring acoustic ballads, music hall numbers, and tempered R&B to full-out guitar attacks. Part of the album's power lies in its calm music, since it provides an elegant support for Davies' character portraits and vignettes. From the martial stomp of "David Watts" to the lovely, shimmering "Waterloo Sunset," there's not a weak song on the record, and several -- such as the allegorical "Two Sisters," the Noël Coward-esque "End of the Season," the rolling "Lazy Old Sun," and the wry "Situation Vacant" -- are stunners. And just as impressive is the emergence of Dave Davies as a songwriter. His Dylanesque "Death of a Clown" and bluesy rocker "Love Me Till the Sun Shines" hold their own against Ray's masterpieces, and help make Something Else the endlessly fascinating album that it is.

		1		David Watts	Davies	2:40
		2		Death of a Clown	Davies, Davies	3:15
		3		Two Sisters	Davies	2:03
		4		No Return	Davies	2:03
		5		Harry Rag	Davies	2:19
		6		Tin Soldier Man	Davies	2:53
		7		Situation Vacant	Davies	2:43
		8		Love Me Till the Sun Shines	Davies	3:23
		9		Lazy Old Sun	Davies	2:49
		10		Afternoon Tea	Davies	3:25
		11		Funny Face	Davies	2:29
		12		End of the Season	Davies, Davies	3:00
		13		Waterloo Sunset	Davies	3:16

¡Aquí!