The Kinks - Arthur - Or the Decline and Fall...

Decade - 1960's


Label: Pye
Producer - Ray Davies
Country - UK
Genre - Rock

A1	Victoria	3:40
A2	Yes Sir, No Sir	3:46
A3	Some Mother's Son	3:25
A4	Drivin'	3:21
A5	Brainwashed	2:34
A6	Australia	6:46
B1	Shangri-La	5:20
B2	Mr. Churchill Says	4:42
B3	She's Bought a Hat Like Princess Marina	3:07
B4	Young and Innocent Days	3:21
B5	Nothing to Say	3:08
B6	Arthur

The Kinks - Arthur - Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire


This was a nice surprise. I listened to it for the first time straight after Cheap Trick so I was already a bit buzzy and this sounded awesome!

A concept, rock opera album with no filler (wow), the album is an often funny look at the fall of the British Empire through the eyes of Arthur, a very English English man who longs for the past glories. He ends up taking off to Australia to live out his days.

The Kinks were one of the four major 'British Invasion' groups at the time, the others being The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who of course. Everyone knows their song "You Really Got Me" so I'd heard of them but hadn't really listened before. This album was a follow up to what is generally considered their best album (The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society) and was initially a soundtrack to a planned tv show/play that never took off. Never mind, we still got a great album out of it, full of great lyrics and some unabashed rock fun with no pretensions.

Looking forward to the other Kinks albums on the list.

Score - 8.9

Recommended - Yes

Best Tracks - Victoria, Drivin'