Disco de The Kinks: “Something Else by the Kinks (Reprise)”

Like many fans of this great British band, I've watched the release of 6 Kinks 'Deluxe Editions' since the beginning of 2011 with a certain amount of scepticism. Haven't these albums been done to death already and isn't this just more monetary milking of it? But then several of our customers began to rave about the great new remastered sound on these doubles - so I took the plunge on "Face To Face" (see review), "Something Else" and "Arthur..." - and they were right. They're better than previous 2004 single issues - and how. But along with the gains (there's 12 'previously unreleased' tracks), there are some minor omissions too...

Here are the details first - "Something Else By...DELUXE EDITION" was released 20 June 2011 in the UK on Universal/Sanctuary 273 214-1 and breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (79:46 minutes):

Tracks 1 to 13 are the MONO version of the LP "Something Else By The Kinks" released 15 September 1967 in the UK on Pye Records NPL 18193 and January 1968 in the USA on Reprise Records R 6279 [Mono Variant Was Promo-Only in the USA]

Track 14 is "Act Nice And Gentle" - the Mono non-album A-side of a UK 7" single released 5 May 1967 on Pye Records 7N.17321

Track 15 is "Mr. Pleasant" - the Mono non-album A-side of a UK 7" single on Pye Records 7N.17314. Released 21 April 1967, it pressed up for export issue to Europe. It was also issued in the USA on 24 May 1967 on Reprise Records 0587. Its non-album B-side is "That is Where I Belong" - that track is 'not' available here - it's on the "Face To Face Deluxe Edition"

Track 16 is "Susannah's Still Alive" - credited to Dave Davies, it's the Mono A-side of a UK 7" single released November 1967 on Pye Records 7N.17429 - it was issued in the USA on 31 January 1968 on Reprise Records 0660

Track 17 is "Autumn Almanac" - the Mono A-side of a UK 7" single released 13 October 1967 on Pye Records 7N.17400 - it was also issued 29 November 1967 in the USA on Reprise Records 0647

Tracks 18 and 19 are "Harry Rag" and "David Watts" - Alternate Takes, both are 'Previously Unreleased'

Track 20 is "Afternoon Tea" - An Alternate Mix - It was originally issued as a Canadian 7" single on Pye 828 in October 1967

Tracks 21 to 29 are "Sunny Afternoon", "Autumn Almanac", "Mr. Pleasant", "Susannah's Still Alive", "David Watts", "Love Me Till The Sun Shines", "Death Of A Clown", "Good Luck Charm" and "Harry Rag" - all are BBC Recordings (August to October 1967) with 21 to 25 being 'Previously Unreleased'

Track 30 is "Little Women - Unfinished Backing Track" - first released in 1998 on the "Face To Face" CD reissue

Disc 2 (69:42 minutes):

Tracks 1 to 13 are the STEREO version of the LP - Pye Records NSPL 18193 in the UK and Reprise Records RS 6279 in the USA

Tracks 14 and 15 are "Susannah's Still Alive" and "Autumn Almanac" - these 2 STEREO versions were first slotted for release on the 1968 "Four More Respected Gentlemen" UK LP, but withdrawn - they finally saw release in the USA on the 2LP Reprise Records retrospective "Kinks Kronikles" in March 1972.

Tracks 16 to 20 are "Sand On My Shoes", "Afternoon Tea", "Mr. Pleasant", "Lazy Old Sun" and "Funny Face" - all are Stereo and 'Previously Unreleased'

Tracks 21 is "Afternoon Tea" - a German Stereo Mix released on the German LP version in December 1967 on Pye Hitton HTSLP 340044

Track 22 is "Tin Soldier Man" - and is 'Previously Unreleased'

The 24-page booklet is as tastefully laid out as the "Face To Face" issue is - they all have the same generic look - liners notes by noted writer PETER DOGGETT (Record Collector magazine), photos of both the UK and US LP artwork along with many rare Euro and US 7" single picture sleeves, trade adverts, newspaper clippings, memorabilia and input from fan sites etc. The breakdown of the tracks is very well done too - what came from what and why. Both of the discs are also themed - the CDs reflect the purple colouring of the original UK Pye Records LP label - with Side 1 pictured beneath the see-through tray of CD1 and Side 2 beneath the tray of CD2 - all nice touches.

ANDREW SANDOVAL, DAN HERSCH (of Digiprep and Rhino fame) and ANDY PEARCE carried out the remasters - and the sound quality is exceptionally good. The STEREO mixes in particular are superb and so fresh, not just separated two-channel reprocessing, but a cohesive whole - very warm and beautifully clear. The difference between the MONO and STEREO versions in fact is acute (as it is on "Face To Face"). Some prefer the stark power of the MONO, but I think this is one of those 'Deluxe Editions' that actually benefits from the presence of both - they different beasts for sure - but equally admirable.

To the record itself - with "Sgt. Peppers" thrashing everything in sight from 1 June 1967 to the end of the year, that goliath's presence perhaps goes some way to explaining why an album as brilliant as "Something Else..." was virtually ignored by the public on both sides of the pond. It made number 35 on the LP charts for 2 weeks in the UK and barely scraped 153 in the USA for 1 week. Talk about lost masterpiece...

The album opens with a double-whammy - "David Watts" (lyrics above) and "Death Of A Clown" - a duo of lyrical and musical brilliance. "Situation Vacant" is another gem - with lyrics like "...to keep his Mama satisfied, he went and bought the weekly classified...". Few bands excepting maybe The Beatles and The Stones had their finger on the pulse of Sixties society like The Kinks did - the light and the dark. The sonic punch out of both "Afternoon Tea" and the beautiful "Waterloo Sunset" is fantastic too. I love the even-more-trippy vocal on the Alternate "Lazy Old Sun" while the 'Alternate Backing Track' on "Tin Soldier Man" sounds like it will turn up on some retro TV program soon (it may be vocal-less, but it's fully-formed and ready to use). And as with "Face To Face", the keyboard flourishes of ace sessionman Nicky Hopkins can now be heard clearly throughout. Again - the whole thing feels like an embarrassment of riches.

Niggles - couple of B-sides left off (but they're on the "Face To Face" double if you really want them) and I find these new card-digipaks easy to dent and mark without the outer plastic wrap that was on all initial Deluxe Editions. But these are minor points - at a whopping 52 tracks, there's genuinely little to moan about.

To sum up - a superb new remaster on both mixes, properly upgraded packaging and liner notes and extra tracks that actually warrant the title 'bonus'. Very nice indeed.

Recommended like gazing on a fine Waterloo Sunset...

Okay...even in this "original format", this is probably the best Kinks album, but I must lead you to the remastered & expanded import. However, even its original format you get:

David Watts: The famous "fa fa fa fa" song. Great driving rhythm. Blueprint for the Jam (and covered by the Jam in the 70's).

Death of a Clown: over-rated, as far as I'm concerned, but most folks find it to be a classic.

Two Sisters: a transparent metaphor for the rivalry between brothers Dave & Ray. Dave was the rave-up sex toy, and Ray was the jealous domesticated husband/father (at the time).

No Return: absolutely BRILLIANT shuffling, jazzy ditty. Yo La Tengo does a nice cover of this...

Harry Rag: Music hall sing-along tune about everything being okay as long as you've got a smoke.

Tin Soldier Man: another song disparaging the middle class (such as "Well Respected Man"). Great horny section (I mean, section with horns).

Situation Vacant: an organ jiving 60's rocker about giving up everything to keep your mother in law happy (and being miserable as a result).

Afternoon Tea: one of several Ray Davies songs espousing the merits of tea (like "Have a Cuppa Tea")...great Beach Boy'esque harmonies.

Waterloo Sunset: probably Ray Davies single best song...poignant lyrics about love and love's ability to make a substandard environment (have you ever been to Waterloo station?) seem like paradise. Harmonies like melted gold boulion.

The album also includes several other second rate numbers (Lazy Old Sun, Love Me till the Sun Shines, Funny Face, & End of the Season), which are also good/great but pale next to their neighbors.

Finally, the import contains EIGHT bonus tracks included the marvellous "There is No Life without Love" (sounds cheesy, but it's sublime). Do you yourself a favor and get ANY VERSION of this album...even a stretched out 8 track tape. These songs represent, in my opinion, the pinnacle of rock's potential. The Kinks have MANY great albums, and made great songs as late as 1976 (I personally adore the "Soap Opera" album), but this one has the highest number of A+ tracks, and also the greatest stylistic variety.

In a three-year span (10/66-10/69), the Kinks succeeded in releasing four classic albums: Face To Face, The Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur, and the crown jewel Something Else. Unfortunately this creative peak of Ray Davies and Co. coincided with problems with a U.S. musicians' union and the band did not perform in the United States during this time. [Note: During this three-year period only two Kinks songs charted in the U.S.--"Dead End Street" (#73) and "Mr. Pleasant" (#80).]

And in the fickle world of rock 'n' roll, the Kinks never really regained their momentum with their fans. And that is our loss. While I still enjoy going back and listening to the early sixties Kinks' hits like "You Really Got Me" and "All Day And All of the Night," it was only after Ray Davies began writing more introspective and personal songs that the band set themselves apart from all of the other British Invasion Bands.

Something Else brims with such songs. The wistfullness of "David Watts," the touching "Two Sisters," the emotional "Death of a Clown," and perhaps Ray's best song ever "Waterloo Sunset."

Back in the Sixties when I was a teenager, my allowance barely allowed me to keep up with purchasing all of the Beatles' output. But when I came across a cutout version of Something Else on vinyl for 99 cents, surely the gods were smiling on me that day. What a terrific album! I, of course, was hearing all of these songs for the first time since the radio long ago quit playing the Kinks. This has got to be one of the best Kinks albums no one has ever heard--it peaked at #153 on the album charts.

Now on CD we get the added treat of eight(!) bonus tracks, including the UK singles "Autumn Almanac," "Wonderboy" and "Susannah's Still Alive," along with a couple tracks that I don't think have shown up before on a Kinks' CD or vinyl album before: "Act Nice and Gentle" and Dave Davies' "Lincoln County." The other three bonus tracks are "There's No Life Without Love" from The Great Lost Kinks Album, "Polly" from The Kinks Kronikles and an unreleased stereo alternate take of "Lazy Old Sun."

The Kinks' late 60s and early 70s output deserves a closer look by a wider audience. After you pick up on this and the other three albums mentioned above, move on to Lola vs Powerman and the Moneygoround and Muswell Hillbillies and find out why Ray Davies should be mentioned in the same breath as John Lennon, Paul McCartney or Brian Wilson.

Hard to argue with any of the reviews here - even the negative ones. This is a great Kinks album, no doubt. But the Kinks sound in the late 60s early 70s is a bit of an acquired taste. It's at its most commercial on the pop hits of the albums ("David Watts" and "Waterloo Sunset") but the rest of the album is a mixed bag of different styles. There are music hall numbers ("Harry Rag", "End of the Season" and "Tin Soldier Man"), bossa nova inspired love songs ("No Return") real 60s rockers ("Situation Vacant" and "Love Me 'Till the Sun Shines") and obligatory olde-fashioned psychedelia ("Two Sisters" and "Lazy Old Sun"). There is no easy way to classify this album. It really does grow on you but you MUST have a great sense of the absurd. If you can't handle feeling silly while listening to rock, then stay away!

Lead singer/songwriter Ray Davies never shied away from his dislike of modern progress and glorification of a Victorian Utopian England. He mixes his love of the old with the drive of a 60s rock band and the result is "Something Else" indeed. They are the most English of the English invasion bands and if you are simply looking for straight ahead Britpop from the 60s, this is not it. If you are looking for a unique voice and vision from a Britpop band, then check this out. Really fun and different.

This UK mini-LP CD is not only a faithful reproduction of the Japanese version of the album, but it's in full, glorious stereo. Anyone familiar with the Castle remasters will know that they made a huge mistake by releasing this Kinks klassic in mono. This CD, done in conjunction with Sanctuary, is the remastered album in stereo... the way it always should have been.

This CD stands heads and shoulders over the Castle remaster for several reasons. First of all, it's in stereo. Second, "Love Me Till The Sun Shines" once again starts with a thunderous, pounding rhythm capable of blowing out your speakers. Third, the first two notes of "Tin Soldier Man" have been restored. Oh... and this CD is in remastered stereo.

The only place where this release falters is in the song "Situation Vacant". On the original it faded out, faded back in, then faded out to the end of the song. On this CD, it fades out, and then ends. No reprise. No nuthin'. This makes the track about 40 seconds shorter than on any other CD that's been released. But hey... it's in stereo!

If you love The Kinks, you need this CD. Did I mention it's remastered? In stereo?