Disco de The Kinks: “Arthur or the Decline and Fall of the British Empi”

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" (see review) and "Arthur..." - and they were right. They're better than previous 2004 single issues - and how. But along with the gains (there's 5 'previously unreleased' tracks), there are some minor omissions too...

Here are the details first - "Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire DELUXE EDITION" was released 20 June 2011 in the UK on Universal/Sanctuary 273 227-4 and breaks down as follows:

Disc 1 (78:24 minutes):

Tracks 1 to 12 are the MONO version of the LP "Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire" released 10 October 1969 in the UK on Pye Records NPL 18317 (no Mono version was released in the USA - only Stereo - see Disc 2)

Track 13 is "Plastic Man" - the non-album Mono A-side of a UK 7" single released 29 March 1969 on Pye Records 7N.17724 ("King Kong" from "Village Green..." is its B-side)

Track 14 is "This Man He Weeps Tonight" - the Mono non-album B-side of a UK 7" single released 12 September 1969 on Pye Records 7N.17812 (the mono A-side is "Shangri La" from the album)

Track 15 is "Mindless Child Of Motherhood" - the Mono non-album B-side of a UK 7" single released 20 June 1969 on Pye Records 7N.17776. The A-side is the album track "Drivin'" - the B-side is credited as Kinks featuring Dave Davies

Track 16 is "Creeping Jean" - credited to Dave Davies, it's the Mono B-side of a UK 7" single released 17 January 1969 on Pye Records 7N.17678 - it's A-side is Track 18 - the non-album "Hold My Hand"

Track 17 is "Lincoln County" - credited to Dave Davies, it's the Mono A-side of a UK 7" single released 20 August 1968 on Pye Records 7N.17514 - it's B-side is the non-album "There's No Life Without Love" which is 'not' on here - it's only available on the 2004 single CD version of "Something Else"

Track 18 is "Hold My Hand" - see Track 16

Tracks 19 to 21 are "Victoria", "Mr. Churchill Says" and "Arthur" - December 1969 studio recordings with further overdubs, mixing and editing - broadcast by the BBC in December 1969 on the 'Dave Lee Travis' show on Radio One

Disc 2 (79:48 minutes):

Tracks 1 to 12 are the STEREO version of the LP - Pye Records NSPL 18317 in the UK and Reprise Records RS 6366 in the USA

Track 13 is "Plastic Man" - a Stereo take released in 1969 on a Dutch LP called "Star Parade" on SR International 79343

Track 14 is "This Man He Weeps Tonight" - a Stereo take originally released 25 January 1973 in the USA on "The Great Lost Kinks Album" on Reprise Records MS 2127

Track 15 is "Drivin'" - Previously Unreleased Stereo Alternate Mix from an Acetate

Track 16 is "Mindless Child Of Motherhood" - as per Track 14

Track 17 is "Hold My Hand" - as per Track 13

Track 18 is "Lincoln County" - a Previously Unreleased Stereo Mix

Track 19 is "Mr. Shoemaker's Daughter" - Stereo, a Previously Unreleased Mix

Track 20 is "Mr. Reporter" - Stereo, a Previously Unreleased Remix

Track 21 is "Shangri La" - Stereo, a Previously Unreleased Backing Track

The 24-page booklet is as tastefully laid out as the "Face To Face" and "Something Else" issues - they all have the same generic look. The liners notes this time are again by noted writer PETER DOGGETT (Record Collector magazine) but with contributions from Ray Davies, Dave Davies and Mick Avory of the band. There's photos of the UK album artwork including the legendarily rare 'Queen Victoria' insert that only came with original copies. There's lovely colour repros of rare Euro and US 7" single picture sleeves, trade adverts, newspaper clippings, memorabilia, lyrics to all the songs and there's even 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 light blue and black 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 mix in particular is STUNNING - leaping out of the speakers in a way it never did before - beautifully clear. And for American fans who've only ever grown up with the Stereo mix on Reprise Records, the MONO variant on Disc 1 will come as a brutal shock. It makes a lot of the songs somehow bleaker, more focused - it's hard to describe, but I like it. In fact - as with "Face To Face" and "Something Else" - the difference between the MONO and STEREO variants is acute, but never more so than here. Some prefer the stark power of the MONO mix - others the spread of the STEREO version - but this is definitely one of those 'Deluxe Editions' that actually benefits from the presence of both. They're different beasts for sure - but equally admirable.

To the record itself - somehow "Arthur..." seemed to sense that the Sixties was coming to a close, but not on a high note. A lot of the lyrics aren't so much acidic as ponderous as to what the future was going to bring - "...Now I've got children, I'm going grey..." from "Nothing To Say" (lyrics above also) or "I see the lines across your face - Time has gone and nothing can replace - Those great, so great - Young and innocent days..." from the slightly sad "Young And Innocent Days" (a band favourite). The zippy album opener "Victoria" is fabulous as is the layered "Drivin'" - very Kinks - very good. "Shangri La" is pretty yet biting, while the lyrics to "Mr. Churchill Says" now sound ever so slightly disrespectful and even revoluntionary. The guitars on the finisher "Arthur" are so clear too...

Niggles - couple of B-sides left off (but they're available elsewhere 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 42 tracks and with full playing times on both discs, there's genuinely very 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 Princess Marina's hat...

The Kinks didn't get much respect for a long period of time. In the U.K. they were always seen as being in the shadow of most of their contemporaries but history does a nice job of adjusting things in favor of the underdog; The Kinks have gotten their due for a series of great albums produced during their peak of creativity when they couldn't get into America to tour due to a ban from the Musician's Union.

"Arthur" remains one of Ray Davies' masterpieces. It didn't sell well in the U.S. but it gained a cult following among everyone who cared about music.

This deluxe edition helps redress some of the issues that blocked this great album from receiving its due back in 1969.

Andrew Sandoval went back to the original master tapes, dug around in the archives and done a splendid job of remastering what he found (with Dan Hersh)for this latest CD edition. Audiophiles should note that this is louder than previous editions but Sandoval has done a nice job of balancing the needs of the marketplace to that of the music listener; these are NOT brickwalled and have nice dynamics.

Disc one and two consist of the original (respectively) mono and stereo versions of the album. Which one you prefer will probably depend on which one you heard first but both have some minor, subtle variations in their mixes that make them both essential for hardcore Kinks fans.

PLEASE NOTE: On the mono version of "This Man He Weeps Tonight" there appear to be clicks and pops as if the digital file was corrupted somehow. Just be aware of it and hopefully Universal will fix it in the next pressing.For that reason I've docked this a star from the 5 star to 4 stars.

Both discs are rounded out by a variety of single b-sides/alternate takes/backing tracks and outtakes. Disc one includes the single "Plastic Man" along with the Dave Davies penned songs "This Man He Weeps Tonight", "Mindless Child of Motherhood" (a b-side for an "Arthur" album track), "Creeping Jean", "Lincoln County" and "Hold My Hand" all in their original mono mixes. Added on are BBC tracks recorded to promote the album in the U.K. including "Arthur", "Mr. Churchill Says" and "Victoria" all of which have some subtle differences from their album tracks (since the vocals were usually re-recorded for the BBC and, in some cases, the entire track was recorded).

Disc two features "Plastic Man", "This Man He Weeps Tonight", "Mindless Child of Motherhood", "Hold My Hand" (an alternate stereo mix), "Lincoln County" and an alternate mix of "Mr. Shoemaker's Daughter" (also penned by Dave). We also get an unreleased stereo mix of "Mr. Reporter" a tune that Ray wrote for Dave's solo album which was ultimately not released back in the 1960's. We get "Drivin'" in an alternate mix that's fascinating to listen to and the backing track for "Shangri La" at its full 5 minute plus length. The latter two have never been released before.

As with the simultaneous releases (

and

we get an excellent booklet that has plenty of trivia about the recording of the album (although bassist John Dalton is misidentified as PETE Dalton--obviously thinking of both Dalton and former bassist Pete Quaife). The CDs are in housed in a cardboard digipak.

Highly recommended.

"Arthur" is one of the really great Kinks albums, so it only logical and to release it in a deluxe version. Musically the group was really progressing at this point, and the compositions are generally more complex than on their previous album "The Village Green Preservation Society".

Ray Davies had big ambitions with his music, and the songs were originally written for for a TV drama which unfortunately never materialized.

The original album contains well-known classics like "Victoria", "Shangrila" and "Drivin'" along with lesser known gems like "Some Mother's Son", "Young and Innocent Days" and "Mr Churchill Says".

Both the mono and stereo version are included on a seperate CD, and they both sound great - in fact many songs have a very similar sound to the songs on the early RCA albums.

Both the CDs are supplemented with great bonus-track among several are previously unreleased and others rare and hard to find.

Interesting that it is now possible to compile most the great unreleased Dave Davies solo album, "A Hole in the Sock", if you have this CD and the deluxe versions of "The Village Green Preservation Society" and "Something Else by the Kinks".

The songs that were released as Dave Davies solo-singles all are great and sound better than ever. "Mr Shoemaker's Daughter" and "Mr Reporter" also sound good, though the first may only be in a demo-state. Another great song from the album "Groovy Movies" was included on "VGPS". Only three songs have never been officially released, and apparently the master-tapes are lost. The three songs "Do You Wish to be a Man", "I'm Crying" and "Are You Ready" can be found on bootleg albums, but in very poor sound. A big shame, since all songs are quite good. In fact it the album would have been pretty strong.

In short: This new deleuxe release can only be highly recommended.

The impact of Arthur wasn't felt in America. Recorded before Tommy but released after it, critics failed to appreciate Ray Davies' conceptual masterpiece for what it was--the first true rock opera. Ray's narrative is a bit clearer than Townshend's (since he had written a television script for the album at the same time he was composing the music).

The advantages of this Japanese import are many as are the disadvantages. The packaging is faithful to the original LP down to the pull out lyric sheet and graphics. The sound quality is actually better than the British import (The Japanese pressing uses 20bit K2 superencoding to deliver the best sound). This version isn't as thin sounding, has an improved range, sounds warmer and has sharper details. Kudos to Victor in Japan for putting so much work into this masterpiece.

The disadvantages are also apparent. There are no bonus tracks (unlike the British version which has a number of fine Dave Davies' b sides and mono mixes of some of the album's best tracks). The booklet for the British edition puts the album into its context and is enjoyable reading. It's kind of cool to know what the album was like to record for those involved.

So it's a trade off. Better sound (although not dramatically better when compared to the Brit version) and a faithful reproducing of the original packaging make this well worth owning for Kinks fans. In a pinch the British edition is fine I'd suggest convincing a friend to purchase this and then check it out prior to purchasing it.

If you are viewing this item right now you probably already know about the significance of this album. I have owned the old domestic Reprise edition for years now and just recently picked up this pressing. The sound quality is superior and the booklet is handsome and much more informative. You will not regret buying this import in lieu of the older, more common Reprise pressing.