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Post by martin53 on Apr 10, 2011 0:30:42 GMT -5
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gary
Dreamer
Quiz Master
Posts: 995
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Post by gary on Apr 11, 2011 9:19:00 GMT -5
Picked it up this past weekend. It's kind of odd, isn't it, that in this album of collaborations, all the photos in the booklet are of Ray alone?
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Post by martin53 on Apr 11, 2011 16:21:19 GMT -5
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Post by Smiley on Apr 11, 2011 17:05:29 GMT -5
I hope these friends will come round and help in other ways.
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Post by martin53 on Apr 13, 2011 14:31:25 GMT -5
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Post by martin53 on Apr 18, 2011 12:55:19 GMT -5
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Post by martin53 on May 5, 2011 15:25:26 GMT -5
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gary
Dreamer
Quiz Master
Posts: 995
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Post by gary on Mar 28, 2012 10:17:08 GMT -5
I bought this CD and played it a couple of times when it came out, and didn't think it would hold any more interest for me after that. But the other day I gave it another listen and rather enjoyed it. That's often the case when I let an initially disappointing CD marinate for a few months. I think it's because the CD no longer carries the burden of being the hot new thing that you're hoping will knock your socks off. You can just enjoy it for what it is -- every CD doesn't have to be great.
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Post by sleepwalker24 on Mar 28, 2012 16:14:19 GMT -5
I must confess that I haven't listened to this album that much Gary, although I did give it a fair chance when I first got it. I don't dislike the album, but I guess I just prefer to listen to the original versions of the songs. Perhaps I should listen to this again after not hearing it in several months? I like this quote from you - 'You can just enjoy it for what it is -- every CD doesn't have to be great'That's a good way of looking at things! As far as re-workings of Kinks songs go, I personally prefer the choral album Ray did, I've seen Ray perform with the Crouch End Chorus and I think they sound great together. Perhaps YRGM wasn't the best choice of song to sing with a choir (IMO) but it wasn't bad! I do however really enjoy the Village Green Medley from the Choral Kinks album I know what you mean about letting things 'marinate' for a while too Gary! One album, that's springs to mind for me is 'On' by Echobelly. I thought it was good when I first got it, but not great. I left it around 2 years and when I listened to it again I fell in love with it and went on to buy several more of their albums. Sometimes these things grow on you if you leave them a while, I guess our musical tastes grow and evolve as we get older too.
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gary
Dreamer
Quiz Master
Posts: 995
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Post by gary on Mar 28, 2012 16:58:07 GMT -5
Yes, that's why it's a good idea to never get rid of music -- advice which I've not always followed, to my regret!
I too especially like the Village Green medley on the choral album, Sleepy.
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Post by sleepwalker24 on Mar 28, 2012 18:47:09 GMT -5
I got rid of a few CDs several years ago Gary, I can't say I've missed any but maybe that's because I forget what a lot of them were! Yes, that Village Green Medley is great, I was lucky enough to see Ray perform the entire VGPS album with the Crouch End Choir at the Meltdown festival
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Post by HollyH on Mar 28, 2012 20:36:20 GMT -5
I find See My Friends uneven -- but the duets I do like I have grown very fond of. This is one case where having it on my iTunes is an advantage -- I've only loaded up the songs I do like from the album, so I don't have to navigate around the ones that irritate me. The presence of those clunkers would otherwise keep me from ever pulling out the the CD. I must say that the songs I don't like are not Ray's fault. I enjoy his half of the duets, but I hate some of the other artists he decided to work with.
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donl
Session Man
Posts: 299
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Post by donl on Mar 28, 2012 22:35:48 GMT -5
i agree with you holly, i downloaded maybe 5 songs on itunes from this cd. i have stated here and on the other board that this was basically an unneccessary cd, especially after the choral collection. i look forward to a cd of new music from ray and hopefully a live cd of the vgps with orchestra and chorus from the meltdown(?) festival last year if it was recorded. i don't know how many of the duet albums were sold or if it brought any new fans into this thing of ours but i was never thrilled with the project from the start and sadly was the first ray/kinks related album that i for the most part took a pass on getting.
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Post by HollyH on Mar 28, 2012 22:53:14 GMT -5
I know that it did get a surprising bit of airplay, at least on Sirius Radio -- certainly more than the Choral Collection or either of Ray's solo albums. But will Bruce Springsteen fans, or Metallica fans, buy any Kinks CDs as a result? I fear not.
From the start I thought it made sense for Ray only to record with new and emerging artists, so that their young fan base could be introduced to the Kinks, while Ray got some good press for being "cool with the kids." No surprise that those numbers were the successful ones (the Mumfords, the 88, etc.).
I was pleasantly surprised by the Jackson Browne duet; somehow I expected Alex Chilton to be a good duet partner. Otherwise the duets with the more established artists all fell flat. Too much ego, too much imposing their own sound on Ray? Whatever the cause, they didn't work.
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Post by martin53 on Mar 29, 2012 0:27:35 GMT -5
I agree, Holly.
"See My Friends" was actually a fine album per se. I would have however not included "You Really Got Me" and "All Day And All Of The Night/Destroyer". I would have preferred some songs from Preservation or even more classics from VGPS - the respective medley works amazingly well and is a winner.
Mumford & Sons are a great band!
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