Now that Lola had resuscitated the Kinks’ career and the lifting of the union ban had allowed the band to return to America, Ray Davies decided to take advantage of the creative freedom afforded him; pushing past mere concept albums into full-blown rock operas.
For most Kinks fans, this era of their career is the most worthy of dismissal and derision. But personally I’ve always like this stretch of albums. Particularly their first, and most ambitious, project “Preservation.”
A lot of the issues people have with this particular rock opera stem from the awkward way it was released. In order to tell the full tale, Ray was going to need three LPs as well as a single and a couple of outtakes that didn’t quite fit. Unfortunately, when the record company deadline hit, the band were only happy with about half of what they’d done. So they were forced to release the single-disc Preservation Act 1, featuring their most straightforward songs presented in an incorrect and unfinished order. If that wasn’t confusing enough, a year later it was followed by Preservation Act 2, a double-album of the rest of the rock-opera, compromising of the more experimental and expository musical interludes and interrupted by faux-radio broadcasts and other snippets of spoken dialogue that did nothing to clarify the plot.Needless to say neither Act 1 or Act 2 were particularly successful, commercially or critically. Although those who saw concerts during this tour, with all the songs in the correct order and with sets and costumes and props, say that the live show was far superior to the albums. They certainly show the Kinks trying a variety of styles and genres in an attempt to differentiate the various characters who populated the narrative. There’s the clueless pastor extolling the virtues of Cricket and the hypocritical busybodies who see themselves as the Shepherds Of The Nation. There’s even a lovely prelude with Morning Song. I think a lot of the confusion stems from the fact that Ray is playing multiple characters (including Mr. Flash and Mr. Black) and whatever other talents he may possess, acting isn’t one of them.
Rather than being discouraged by the failure of Preservation, Ray kept on rolling. His next rock-opera, was based on a BBC teleplay that, unlike Arthur, was actually produced. Soap Opera tells a story that is half “Prince & The Pauper” and half “Trading Places” with an ending out of “Fight Club.” It’s the tale of some magical rock-star named The Starmaker who believes he can make anyone famous, so he trades places with some ordinary schlub; living his life, doing his boring office job, and sleeping with his wife. While this is only revealed in the TV movie and not the album itself – it turns out that The Starmaker is just a schizo-delusional alter ego of the average guy who is just trying to make himself feel better or more important. But the bulk of the album takes place within the confines of this boring, 9-to-5 existence, with tales of rush hour traffic, and happy hours after work. There’s even a whole song about the guy going on vacation and having a short affair. The strangest song, is just a complain by The Starmaker about his new wife’s horrible choice of interior decorating as exemplified by a painting of ducks in mid-flight. Even though Soap Opera was only one disc instead of three, it was still flop critically and commercially.
The final Kinks rock opera, Schoolboys In Disgrace, features their all-time worst album cover. It also attempts to be both a prequel to Preservation as well as a sequel to The Village Green Preservation Society (which is not a rock-opera). Still the desperate attempt to tie together their most beloved album with their most despised into one long, overarching narrative fails to hold water. Of the rock-opera albums, it is my least favorite. Still there are a few good songs on there.
No surprise this album was their fourth bust in a row. The Kinks had spent all of the goodwill they had built up at the beginning of the decade and were now saddled with trying to rebuild their career and re-energize their fan base once more.