The Kinks Album: “Kinks' Greatest: Celluloid Heroes [Expanded]”

I may be alone here, but I had absolutely no problems with the original LP version of this (which I still own). I don't know if the original version has ever been released on CD yet and until it does get released, I'm still holding on to my vinyl copy. As a collection of songs, I think it hung together quite well and had a nice flow to it. None of the selections were bad, with the possible exception of "Sitting In The Midday Sun" from Preservation Act 1.

The track listing for the original Celluloid Heroes was:

"Everybody's A Star", "Sitting In My Hotel", "Here Comes Yet Another Day (Live)", "Holiday", Muswell Hillbilly", "Celluloid Heroes", "20th Century Man", Sitting In The Midday Sun", "One Of The Survivors", "Alcohol" and "Skin And Bone" (live versions), and "(A) Face In The Crowd". Maybe fans thought they included too many songs from Muswell Hillbillies and Everybody's In Showbiz and not enough from the other RCA-VICTOR albums. Whatever the case, I would say the original Celluloid Heroes is one of my favorite albums by The Kinks.

All of that said, this new CD version acts better as an anthology (or overview, whatever term you prefer) of the RCA-VICTOR albums, with three songs apiece from each of those albums. I personally love this era of The Kinks. Ray Davies may not have had all his wits about him at the time with all of those elaborate concept albums, and the band were not exactly at their tightest back then, but all of those albums had a charm of their own..and there are some terrific songs to be found on all of those albums, many of which are included here.

Some welcome additions to this CD are "Complicated Life" from Muswell Hillbillies, "Sweet Lady Genevieve" from Preservation Act 1, and "I'm In Disgrace" and "The Hard Way" from Schoolboys In Disgrace. There were no songs from Schoolboys on the original version and I'm happy that they included my two favorite songs from it. On the other hand, I'm that crazy about the tunes they selected from Preservation Act 2. My favorites from that album include "Introduction To Solution", "When A Solution Comes" and "Shepherds Of The Nation". And...hey, why did they leave off "Sitting In My Hotel" and "Skin and Bone"?

Back on a positive note, the CD includes several pages of liner notes and some cute photos. This was an interesting era for The Kinks and this compilation does a good job capturing most of the highlights.

One thing that I greatly admire about Ray Davies - lead singer of The Kinks is that when it comes the music business, he isn't afraid to deviate from the formula. As a result of this, The Kinks became one of the most innovative bands of the Rock Era. In 1971, The Kinks made a would sign with RCA records. It was during this period where the Kinks would go into an experimental phase and undergo heavy criticism for the direction they would take. For the next five years, commercial sales would decline for the Kinks in addition to the criticism. In a lot of ways, this was very unfair toward the Kinks - who really did make some good music during this period. It is this phase of The Kinks that is captured on the compilation, "Celluloid Heroes". This collection features 18 tracks from the RCA era of the Kinks. While not the deepest compilation by The Kinks, it does focus on a particular period - and does an excellent job at that.

There are really three phases to The Kinks. The Kinks started out in the 1960s as a "rebellious" group of rockers as part of the first British Invasion that would soon have a series of hits. I call this phase - "1960s Kinks". This phase goes from 1964-1971. "1960s Kinks" was a commercially successful period. Although this wasn't Punk Rock, many credit the style of the Kinks for becoming the strawman for the Punk Rock movement that would happen in the 1970s. It was during this period The Kinks were mysteriously banned from playing in the U.S.. The second phase is the experimental phase that was highlighted by "Rock Opera Phase" from 1972 to 1976. As mentioned, this was not a commercially successful phase for the Kinks - While these concept/Rock Opera albums were not well received by the public, they still would be accepted by The Kinks fans. When the group made the switch to Arista Records, The Kinks went toward more of a Hard Rock/Rock Pop direction. This would start the third phase called "The Later Years" covering 1977 onward. The Kinks would enjoy a commercial and critical renaissance in this third phase. For the most part, "Celluloid Heroes" focuses on the second phase of the Kinks career - the RCA years.

During this RCA years, The Kinks would release six studio albums. "Celluloid Heroes" takes 18 songs from the six albums that were released during this period. There is a "sampling" of three songs from each of the albums - therefore each album is equally represented (I like that). These albums are: "Muswell Hillbillies" ("20th Century Man", "Complicated Life", "Muswell Hillbilly"); "Everybody's in Showbiz" ("Alcohol" - a live cut, "Celluloid Heroes", "Here Comes Yet Another Day"); "Preservation Act 1" ("Sweet Lady Genevieve", "One of the Survivors", "Sitting in the Midday Sun"); "Preservation Act 2" ("He's Evil", "Mirror of Love", "Artificial Man"); "A Soap Opera" ("Everybody's a Star", "Face in the Crowd", "You Can't Stop the Music"); "Schoolboys in Disgrace" ("I'm a Disgrace", "The Hard Way", "No More Looking Back"). Throughout this work, the trademark guitar work of the Davies brothers is well demonstrated. On top of it, with Ray Davies at the helm handling the songwriting duties, we get a good snapshot into the creativity from this period.

One may want to take note that while there are several other compilations available by The Kinks. The 1986 release "Come Dancing with the Kinks" provides a focus into the third phase ("The Later Years") when the Kinks would move to Arista Records. There is also a two disc set, "Ultimate Collection that is more comprehensive and spans all three phases of the Kinks career. "Ultimate Collection" does not include many of the songs found on "Celluloid Heroes". If you are looking for the songs from the RCA phase, this is going to be the compilation to get.

It is also worth noting that this collection will introduce the fans to the "Rock Opera/Theatrical" type albums of "Preservation (Acts 1 and 2)", "A Soap Opera", and "Schoolboys in Disgrace". In particular probably the most "Rock Opera" sounding albums is "Preservation Act 2" and "A Soap Opera". "Celluloid Heroes" is also going to provide the casual fan with very good songs probably like "One of the Survivors", "Artificial Man", "He's Evil", "You Can't Stop the Music" - songs that probably aren't on the casual fan's radar. Finally it is worth mentioning that the first album in the RCA period ("Muswell Hillbillies") shows the Kinks experiment with a country-music influence - again very good stuff.

This album does an outstanding job at arranging the tracks. I like when compilation albums arrange the songs in chronological order because it allows the listener to hear how the band evolves over time. "Celluloid Heroes" does this beautifully - perhaps as good as anything I have heard. On the first track "20th Century Man", it sounds like an offshoot of the strawman punk sound the Kinks became known for in the 1960s. We then segue into the experimental country and Rock sounds. By the time the listener gets to the last two tracks, "The Hard Way" and "No More Looking Back" - we begin to hear the prototype for the Harder Rock/Pop direction that would become a trademark of their Phase 3 work.

The liner notes feature an outstanding write-up by John Swenson- who writes about The Kinks during the RCA years. As with most greatest hits collections, there are no lyrics included. Sadly missing are the musician and production credits. This particular collection does what it is intended to do - provide a snapshot of the Kinks during a particular era. It should not substitute for a comprehensive greatest hits collection of the Kinks. On top of it, I think many will discover some very good music came out of this period. This album comes highly recommended.

Many Kinks compilations and live recordings have focused on a combination of early classics and later work from the Arista years. The nifty things about this collection are:

---it culls material from a middle period (mid70's and thereabouts) between "Lola" and the later arena rock period,

---Even while entertaining our ears with some excellent rock, in conveys the music hall, theatrical, boozy and melancholy feel that Kinks albums and shows had around that time.

Preservation Act 1, Muswell Hillbillies and Schoolboys in Disgrace are 3 of the albums represented here by some wonderful tracks. 20th Century Man, Sitting In The Midday Sun, Celluloid Heroes, No More Looking Back are a few of the noteworthy songs.

This collection is heavy on horns, evocative writing, memorable grooves, and Ray Davies's particular, slightly peculiar genius. If you never got to attend a Kinks concert post-Lola and pre-Sleepwalker, this will give you a hint of what you missed.

The reason the earlier version of Celluloid Heroes stunk is that almost half of it was off of one album (Muswell Hillbillies). Sure the songs were great, but why not just buy the original instead of the compilation? In addition, too many good songs from the Kinks' five other RCA records were left off the 1976 version. An obvious solution to that problem would have been to keep what was there, while adding the good songs that the 70s release missed. Instead, for the 2001 release, Velvel picked 3 songs from each album the Kinks made from 1971-1975. The result is that lousy albums like Preservation Act II and Soap Opera get as much playing time as Muswell Hillbillies. Also, any songs that didn't appear on the six albums covered are left off this compilation (in particular, "Slum Kids" comes to mind).

Still, this CD is necessary for many Kinks fans to own simply because there is no other compilation in print in the US that covers that period, and because most of the Kinks' albums from this era are hardly worth owning by themselves despite having a few good songs each. So even though it ain't perfect, it's the best thing going. And honestly, in spite of its flaws, I must admit that the highlights make it a really entertaining listen.

A good look at the RCA years, yet it excludes 'Supersonic Rocket Ship', a top 20 UK hit fom the era, and perhaps their biggest RCA hit.

Also happens to exclude a favorite of mine, 'Where Are They Now?' but no compilation's perfect.